Chapter 041: Life in the Imperial Capital (19)
“Word is you’re pretty capable? Interested in working with me? I promise you’ll have a bright future.”
The captain of the ‘Rose’ team stood with arms crossed, showing no signs of attacking just yet.
“You’re their captain?” Lan’s team casually took a 2-1-2 formation but also didn’t make the first move.
“Let me introduce myself, you probably don’t know me. I’m Wang Qi. The Gu King of the Southern Capital is my grandfather, and my father is the Southern Capital’s liaison officer stationed in the Eastern Capital.”
Wang Qi introduced himself proudly, clearly trying to flaunt his status.
Lan and his crew were all born into ordinary households and didn’t know much about politics, so it was Hou Ting who explained it to them in more detail:
“The Empire has one emperor and seven feudal kings. These seven royal clans govern their own territories—they just need to pay taxes to the empire and help defend the borders from foreign threats. They also have to obey a few empire-wide decrees. These clans each have a grand city: the Gu Clan’s Southern Capital, the Gong Clan’s Mechanized City, the Jiang Clan’s Iron City, the Jian Clan’s Western Capital, the Shang Clan’s Merchant City, the Yu Clan’s Dragonrise City, and the Bing Clan’s Northern Capital. As for the Imperial Capital, that’s called the Eastern Capital. Every royal clan stations a liaison officer in the Eastern Capital to maintain communication with the royal family.”
“Wait, nobles of that level come to study at our academy?” Luo voiced his doubt.
This time, it was Lubing who answered:
“Those royal clans do have high social standing, but their liaison officers don’t hold much governmental power. Take Wang Qi for example—his grandfather is still alive, and it’s unclear when his father will succeed the title. So Wang Qi’s father is just another member of the clan. These big families have tons of descendants; no one can say if his father will inherit anything, much less him. Also, while the liaisons might play key roles like coordinating intel and liaising between their clans and the Empire, their political power is basically nonexistent. They’re like human megaphones, not real officials. So government officers don’t even take them seriously. Their rank isn’t high enough to enter a noble’s academy. To qualify for one of those, you’d need to be at least the child of a marquis or a high-ranking military or political official.”
“Oh, so he’s just a kitten from a tiger’s family. In that case, that Tao Ji guy must be nothing more than a little mouse.”
Xiao Xiong, always ready to stir the pot, chimed in cheerfully.
“I’m a mouse? Then you’re just an ant! Just wait—I’ll crush you like the bug you are!”
Already annoyed at Wang Qi for trying to poach the Lan team, Tao Ji snapped when he got dragged into the insult.
Wang Qi’s face turned pale with anger when he heard Xiao Xiong call him a kitten. He trembled with rage.
“If you’re gonna act so shameless, then don’t blame us for showing no mercy.”
“Hey now, don’t be like that! We’re not done negotiating yet. As team captains, we can’t just let our guys do the dirty work for nothing, right?
If you want to win us over, it’s not impossible. But you’ve gotta give us something in return.
Forget about long-term promises. Let’s talk now. Like my bro Hou Ting here—he’s got no real needs and still lives off his dad. So how about you promote his dad a rank or two?
And for this girl, her dad deserves a raise too, don’t you think?
Otherwise, if everyone on the team ends up at the same rank, it won’t sit right.
My guy Liu Xiong is easy. Just make him captain of the guards or something.
As for the rest of us—how about deputy general, or at least commander of a thousand troops, just for fun?
What do you say? Otherwise, being under your command would be a total embarrassment…”
Lan wasn’t known for his temper, and today’s whole setup had put him in a good mood. His words were sharp without being profane, but every sentence mocked Wang Qi’s lack of real power while pretending to be friendly.
At first, Lan’s teammates thought he was serious about trying to climb the social ladder, but as he kept talking, it became clear he was mocking their opponents. Watching the look on Wang Qi’s face, they couldn’t help but laugh, feeling completely refreshed.
Wang Qi’s expression grew darker with every word. His initial irritation turned into full-body tremors. Before Lan could even finish, he growled through clenched teeth:
“Attack! Beat them to death if you have to—I’ll take responsibility!”
The ‘Rose’ team sensed things were turning ugly and lunged at Lan’s team the moment Wang Qi gave the order.
These pampered noble brats always did whatever Wang Qi said. Now that someone had dared humiliate him in public, they were all scrambling to earn brownie points by attacking.
“Engage! Knock each of them down fifteen times in five minutes!”
Each person was allowed three technical knockdowns before they were ruled out. Lan wanted every opponent on the ground.
The ‘Rose’ team thought they had the upper hand due to their age and physical strength, believing their combat techniques and power far surpassed Lan’s crew.
They assumed Lan and Luo’s victory in the West City incident was exaggerated—that they’d only beaten some younger kids. They didn’t think much of it and even believed that the formal challenge from Southwest Academy had gone unanswered because Lan and Luo were too weak.
Lan stood at the center of the formation, making any attack on him require getting through Luo and Hou Ting.
Hou Ting’s physique was no weaker than his opponents’, and he was skilled in defense.
Against two enemies, his defense was flawless.
Luo was even better than Hou Ting in all areas. Defending against two attackers was easy for him, though he had to coordinate with Hou Ting and couldn’t go on the offensive yet.
The team’s formation had been designed so that the three others would handle counterattacks.
At this moment, Lan was finally starting to show his true strength.
He launched a straight punch from behind Hou Ting, targeting one of the two opponents in front of him.
The attacker quickly raised his elbow to block, but doing so left him wide open. He instinctively retreated, not knowing Lan wasn’t trying to take him out—just reduce Hou Ting’s pressure. Hou Ting would never counterattack himself.
After knocking one opponent back, Lan sprang up and used a flying elbow to strike the other attacker positioned between Luo and Hou Ting.
The attacker caught a glimpse of a shadow coming and hastily protected his right side with a bent knee and elbow. But the elbow strike was too fierce—his arm couldn’t fully absorb the blow, and standing on one leg made him unstable. He staggered backward from the impact.
Landing smoothly, Lan placed his hands on the ground and used one leg to sweep at the waist of another opponent attacking Hou Ting.
The waist and ribs are vital points; the attacker crouched, guarding with his lower arm, trying to absorb the blow with his shoulder.
Despite full defense, he was kicked over a meter away.
So far, four attackers were blocked by Luo and Hou Ting’s joint defense, and Lan had taken out three of them. Only Tao Ji remained, on Luo’s left flank.
Luo blocked Tao Ji’s kick and then stepped forward.
Lan returned to the center of the 2-1-2 formation, with Luo and Hou Ting facing the three beaten ‘Rose’ members.
Wang Qi still stood at his original position, clueless, while Tao Ji found himself isolated—facing Xiao Xiong and Lubing.
Tao Ji had fought Xiao Xiong before and believed he could win if not for the crowd. But now with Lubing there too, his confidence wavered.
A wave of weakness rose from his heart to his mind, and panic made him retreat.
Xiao Xiong wasn’t about to let such a perfect revenge opportunity slip by.
He lunged forward and launched a sweeping kick.
With one hand and one foot on the ground, he slid forward and swept his right leg at Tao Ji’s lower legs.
Tao Ji’s retreat was too slow. He couldn’t dodge, and the kick came in too aggressively for him to block, so he jumped.
Lubing, already beside Xiao Xiong, followed a half-beat behind.
Just as Tao Ji jumped to avoid Xiao Xiong’s low sweep, Lubing arrived and launched a medium-height roundhouse kick.
Originally aimed at Tao Ji’s waist, the kick hit him mid-air since Tao Ji had jumped.
It struck with full force, sending Tao Ji spinning.
Footnote:
In mid-air, Tao Ji let out a scream: “Aaargh!” His body twisted sideways, and gravity slammed him into the ground.
The fall was brutal. His left pelvis hit first, making him grimace, but he hadn’t lost his fighting will. That scream had come from fear, not pain—it was a reflex before he even hit the ground.
A technical fall wasn’t a loss. Even the ugliest fall didn’t count unless it came from a knockout.
But Xiao Xiong and Lubing weren’t letting that slide. They saw this as a chance to press their advantage.
Xiao Xiong recovered from his missed kick and immediately followed with a side kick.
Tao Ji had just fallen on his side, the pain barely subsiding, when the kick hit his stomach.
He curled up quickly, tensing his abs and covering his belly to protect his organs.
The force was blunted, but he still got kicked two meters away.
He didn’t suffer internal damage and used the momentum to roll and spring back up.
But he forgot about someone—
A girl he had insulted just days ago.
As the old saying goes: “Beware the fury of a woman scorned.”
Especially a girl whose whole family had been cursed.
Her grudge was like a needle in the ocean, a bee’s sting laced with venom.
Just as Tao Ji rolled and stood, Lubing was already sprinting forward to beat the “drowning dog.” seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
She twisted mid-run and launched a violent spin kick.
Her left leg planted, her right leg drove all her momentum into Tao Ji.
He had just gotten up—barely lifting his head when he saw a dark shadow closing in.
He reflexively raised his hands, but it was too late.
All he heard was a loud “buzz” in his head, and before the pain registered, he was flying backward, then everything went black.
Xiao Xiong, watching from behind, suddenly broke into a cold sweat.
He had only one thought:
Never piss off a woman.
A kid who had grown up without a mother, he used to envy Xiao Yi’s motherly affection.
He was even grateful for Aunt Shen.
But now? He thought it was a blessing that his father and Uncle Tian Tie and Uncle Tian Bo were all single.
He vowed to never get a woman himself.
When Lubing planted her foot on Tao Ji’s face, she felt completely vindicated.
She didn’t notice the psychological shadow she might’ve left on Xiao Xiong.
All she cared about was the sweet payback.
She called out excitedly for Xiao Xiong to return to formation.
On the adjacent battlefield, Luo and Hou Ting calmly pressed forward.
Their opponents attacked—they defended.
Their opponents retreated—they followed.
Lan, in the middle, seized openings to land powerful strikes.
Among the three foes they faced, one had already been knocked down three times and ruled out of the match.
Honestly, getting ruled out was already a mercy.
If Lan’s punches had fully landed, the outcome would’ve been worse than what Tao Ji suffered.
But Lan had no personal grudge against these guys, so he held back—
Even against the ‘Rose’ team’s captain…
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