Hua Hua You Long - Volume 1 - Chapter 7.1

Chapter 7.1: Confusion of a rope with one thousand knots

Silken peonies embroidered on a carpet of shallow red, lifelike dragons avariciously curled around looming pillars of gold and precious stones - a mere fraction the luxuriousness of Datong Dynasty's Forbidden City (Chinese palace). Although just a side hall, it was enough to accommodate a large crowd of commoners and their lords alike, all of whom could not help but gape, awestruck,at the grandeur of it all.

Lu Cang, however had neither the mood nor desire to admire this rare sight (of the emperor's house) like the rest of the plebeians. He knelt, head lowered, among the hundred champions of the Hero's Assembly, all the while having an internal debate over whether to return to Hangzhou by land or by water.

A well dressed chamberlain had ordered the crowd into the hall before giving a lengthy speech which only served to trouble Lu Cang more and more as it dragged on and on. Because of Jing's excessive demands on his body the previous night, as well as hthe awkward kneeling position, his whole body ached and he knew his knees were definitely not enough to support him. Lu Cang sneakily lowered his hips to rest on his ankle, finally relieving himself of some discomfort.

The chamberlain stood behind a thin floor length curtain and behind him sat Datong's well known yet mysterious Emperor Jing Zong. The curtain was just thick enough for the crowds to see a vague silhouette of their ruler.

Maybe he's so secretive about his appearances because he's uglier than a ghost? Lu Cang thought.

Being a mountain bandit, he never held emperors in high regard but looking at the repose of this Emperor Jing Zong somehow made Lu Cang's disgust for him triple.

"--Qin Ci!" (I have no idea how to translate this, it basically means the guy's done with his royal speech)

The chamberlain finally finished his unnecessarily flowery speech, half of which the not-very-highly-educated comonners and martial artists couldn't understand anyway.

"Xie zhu long en--" (something like "thank you, your grace") the crown chanted. Lu Cang had no choice but to follow the masses and likewise bow lower.

--Thank you my ass. Lu Cang silently mouthed vulgarities as his head was lowered but reverted to a submissive look as he straightened his back.

Wu(sigh), it's finally over. Lu Cang took a deep breath: this should be the last item for the ceremony and then he could finally return to his old mountain bandit Lu Cang self. The thought gave him a sudden urge to laugh out loud.

The chamberlain stepped back but frustratingly, an official in ludicrously purple robes replaced him. Lu Cang looked around but found that everyone else was grinning as if they were about to become rich.

-- There was prize money?!?

The Lu Cang who hadn't paid an ounce attention before was suddenly filled with enthusiasm and straightened his almost broken back with much effort.

"In first place --Lu Xuanting of Changzhou."

A big bearded man stumbled out from the first row and knelt in front of the crowd as if he was afraid of something.

"Lu Xuanting of Changzhou, a reward of ten thousand liang, qin ci."

"Thank you you honour, thank you...." The crowd looked on with eyes of admiration while Lu Xuanting was moved to the point of not knowing what to do except for repeatedly professing his gratitude. Since times were peaceful, swordsmen had a very low standing in the social hierarchy. Now that he had received such a large amount of money, he was touched to the point of crying tears of joy.

"--bring the wine." Pretty ladies brought forth wine, and Lu Xuanting gulped it down, a proud smile slowly appearing on his face.

"Second place, Haowei from Shandong."

...........

The officials called the champions out in order of positioning, but even though the ranking decreasedd, the prize money was still a considerable amount, so everyone was of good cheer and thanked the officials and drank the wine.

Because Lu Cang just wanted to make it to the top hundred, he did not bother to strive for a better ranking and ended up in 90-somethingth position, so he still had a long time to wait before his turn. He estimated he'd have to wait approximately until his legs broke from kneeling. Lu Cang kept glancing at the silver pieces that would soon fall into his palm to quell his impatience.

"In fifty sixth place, Xizhen of Tongan."

Lu Cang perked up at hearing the name of an acquaintance. He craned his neck a little to watch that pretty youth step forward- Xizhen was clad in red and purple and scarcely looked like a martial arts hero, but having defeated thousands of opponents to obtain his ranking, he definitely had quite the talent.

"I pay my respects to his majesty." Xizhen said in a delicate tone as he knelt, taking the officials by surprise. After two awkward coughs, the official read out from the list in his hands,"Reward--"

"Wait a minute!" A clear male voice rang abruptly. It was Emperor Jing Zong, who hadn't said a word the whole time.

The officials flinched in surprise before bowing deeply,"What does his majesty command?"

"Xizhen, come up the steps so I can see you more clearly." Emperor Jing Zong's voice was neutral, but had undertones of a kind of stormy unhappiness.

But Xizhen, totally unfazed, wore a grin as he climbed the steps and knelt before the thin curtain between himself and the emperor. “Your majesty--" He slowly raised his head to look at Emperor Jing Zong through the veil- Lu Cang could well bet his life he saw a flash of coldness though the veil.

"Shameless!" (More accurately translated as "How dare you?!" but i feel "shameless!" is better for this context?) Jing Zong stared furiously at Xizhen through the veil and stood up and raised his hand to attack Xizhen.

"Your majesty--" The official hurried to his knees. "Your majesty, do you wish for the ceremony to continue?"

As if suddenly reminded of his surroundings, Jing Zong slowly sat down,"Reward Xizhen later, continue calling out the other heroes." He flicked his wrist behind the veil, gesturing the officials to continue.

"In fifty seventh place, Suzhou....."

As it dragged on, Lu Cang had long been concentrating on guessing Xizhen's true identity-- while still grinning, Xizhen knelt in front of the curtain, not one bit affected by Emperor Jing Zong's scary expression-- but looking at Jing Zong's angry face, it was as if Xizhen had no right whatsoever to participate in the Heroes' Assembly.

What's the story behind all this? Was Xizhen a royal? Was that why he's not allowed to participate?

But there were no restrictions to participating.

Lu Cang racked his brain but could not think of any possible reasons. But seeing Xizhen still kneeling there and smiling, he blinked at himself and let out a small laugh despite the situation.

"In ninety seventh place - Hangzhou Lu Cang."

Finally, his turn. Lu Cang rushed to the front to kneel, putting on his most submissive look. (....hah....) The official took a disconcertingly long time digging out his reward, but Lu Cang didn't mind as long as there's the prize.

"Reward -- you are to serve as a guard for the inner court, first class. Reward, one thousand liang."

Once said, the hall broke out in surprised gasps - it is known that such positions are only reserved for the super elite, and Lu Cang's promotion was thoroughly unexpected.

Lu Cang himself was greatly surprised, though not flattered. The reward tasted like bitter herbs to him. How he not only had to stay in the capital- but also had to stay very close to the emperor as an inner court guard.

Being near a monarch is like being next to a tiger; staying at the foot of the emperor isn't really a good thing, there was no freedom at all.

Damn that senile old emperor! Lu Cang was so excited to escape from Jing's evil clutches, but he never would've expected such an outcome. He stood frozen in shock.

"Please give your thanks." Apparently, the official was getting impatient with his prolonged silence.

"Thank you, your majesty--" Under the scrutiny of a large crowd, Lu Cang had no choice but to lower his body in a bow, but there was nothing sweet about his words.

"Bring the wine." The official's voice was a blur to Lu Cang's ears and his heart was filled with unspeakable hate. He just wanted it all to end. He hurriedly swallowed the strange tasting green liquid he was served. Who wants to guard whoever's ass can do whatever they like, Lu Cang was going to abscond.

"In ninety eighth place....." The annoying programme went on, but none of the other champions had Lu Cangs "fantastic luck" of getting awarded with such an high position.

A short while later, after all hundred heroes had been called out, the official put the long list of names away and turned to the emperor. Bowing,"Your majesty, all hundred heroes have been rewarded, please give your command."

"Raise the curtain." The emperor did not announce it like a command, but rather quietly instructed female attendants standing by his side to roll up the thin curtain in front of him.

The official was shocked; he had always thought the emperor liked to keep his appearances a mystery, and now he wanted to reveal himself in front of so many people?

Ugh, who wants to look at your ugly face?! After hearing the stupid emperor's pointless command, Lu Cang grew extremely impatient- his legs hurt like hell and he wanted nothing more than to return to his mountain and see his brothers. Every second more in that gorgeous hall was like a special kind of torture in itself. He didn't bother to raise his head even as he heard the curtains being pulled aside, or as the collective gasps of the people filled the air around him.

Could it be that the emperor is so ugly that even all the martial arts heroes are shocked?

Lu Cang finally busied himself with lifting his head, but found that the emperor had already walked down the steps. Emperor Jing Zong was standing a mere three paces from Lu Cang. Inevitably, two pairs of eyes collided-

"Aah--"

In that moment, Lu Cang could not stop a yelp from escaping - it was like seeing a ghost. He sincerely hoped it was a gaffe, but right in front of him stood the one person he was truly terrified of :

Elegant, fair skin clothed in robes of embroidered silk.

A beautiful man. Those eyes that Lu Cang recognized so distinctly curved into a a gentle smile, a hateful,hateful smile that hung from his perfect lips like Lu Cang's worst nightmare. Other than being a total pervert, this was the man who had turned Lu Cang's life upside down the past few months. Who else could it possibly be other than Jing the demon?

"You-- you-- you--," pointing a violently trembling finger at Jing, "you" was the only syllable that could make it past Lu Cang's petrified lips for a very long time. Blood drained from his quickly paling face, and his first reaction was to turn and run towards the huge doors of the hall.

But once again, Jing proved his martial arts skills to be superior. With speed too fast for the eye to catch, he crossed several feet and caught a Lu Cang who was desperately trying to escape.

"You're a liar...trickster...bastard son of a bitch ...."  Jing harshly pinned a desperately struggling Lu Cang on the floor. Vicious insults flowed unabated from Lu Cang's mouth, cursing approximately eighteen generations worth of Jing's ancestors over and over again.

"You're quite feisty, aren't you,"  Jing quietly laughed, not a hint of anger in his voice. Jing severely underestimated Lu Cang. In all honestly, he expected  Lu Cang to collapse from shock after he had revealed his identity. Seeing as the first part of his plan had already failed, Jing took more drastic measures to subdue the flailing rascal beneath him. He quickly used the drape-like material of his outermost robe to cover up their little commotion and boldly, in front of the crowd, stuffed his hand down the front of Lu Cang's trousers, ruthlessly pinching its sensitive centre.

"You...you...." Although he felt Jing's ferocious grip on his most vulnerable area, Lu Cang did not stop struggling, but it hurt so much that his resistance weakened considerably and his loud cursing faded to soft sobbing sounds.

All the people were shocked to see the drama unfold- no one could guess the relationship between the young, beautiful emperor and that desperately struggling youth beneath him was. Lu Cang's screaming and kicking was testament to Jing's brutal treatment. Only Xizhen silently stayed by the side and giggled as if he had known what was going on all along.

"Go go, quickly move the guests to another resting hall--" Jing obviously did not want to carry out his 'refining procedure' in front of so many other random men. He used one hand to crush against the floor the Lu Cang who was resisting like there was no tomorrow, freeing his other hand to gesture for the officials to empty out the hall.

Despite the confusion, officials -  being, well, official figures - asked everyone to vacate in loud, steady voices.

Even the Heroes were terribly curious, but after all, such private matters were the emperor's own. Even if they were to eat extra animal guts, they still wouldn't muster the courage to poke their nose in. Like everyone else in the crowd, they too followed the officials' directions and quickly left the hall.

Jing turned his head slightly and realised Xizhen was still standing by the side. Jing could not help but scowl, "You go back to the palace as well. When I'm done with my business i will reward you!" He threw a fierce glare to that idiot who couldn't himself gauge the severity of the threat.

"Even I cannot stay and watch?" Xizhen muttered as he moved to leave. "Clearly it's going to be very fun...."

Listening to the weird exchange between the two made Lu Cang even more anxious to know what they had to do with each other. But he was still stubbornly held to the floor and his lower body hurt like hell, so he had no energy to think about anything.

After Xizhen's deliberately prolonged departure, Jing slowly loosened his death grip on Lu Cang, who took this opportunity to attempt to crawl out from under Jing and stand up, only to have Jing lift him into a carry.

"What are you doing?!" He cried out in shock and fear. Jing ignored him and tightly carried him up the golden steps.

"Don't..." As his buttocks brushed against a soft brocade couch, Lu Cang, despite the fogginess in his mind, knew what Jing planned to do with him. (translated as couch but it's more like a bed.ahem.) He'd never comply. Using his hands to resist, he stiffly refused to let himself be pressed beneath Jing again.

"What are you trying to do? You want me to hold you so badly?" Jing teased, but his tone soon turned threatening, "The wine you were given just now contained some special ingredients...If you still don't obey what I say, I'll abandon you here to look wretched as hell!"

That made Lu Cang so, so angry- the freedom he had fought for had been a plot by Jing all along - as if drugging him was insufficient, he also used his position as Datong's Emperor to change the law and bind Lu Cang's hands. Appointing him as a high ranking body guard made it all the more difficult for Lu Cang to escape his clutches.

"You're so cruel..." Lu Cang resigned do doing what most people would have done long ago and became quiet and subservient; this was a war he dared not fight. Being a bandit, Lu Cang had never felt intimidated by any form of law or authority, he had even dared to speak out and curse in front of the world's most powerful people. "You...you...you," But now, he was so angry that he could not even articulate.

Jing smiled despite Lu Cang's disposition, that brilliant smile that was like a terrifying illusion of a million blooming flowers. Lu Cang hesitated for a split second, and Jing took advantage of the opening to harshly press their lips together.

"Nnnh....." Lu Cang parted his lips to let out a soft cry and man above him used this slight falter to bite down on his tongue. Jing relentlessly teased Lu Cang's frantically thrashing tongue, ******* (it's like this in the chinese version) juice flowing from Jing's mouth into his own, from the tongue all the way down to his throat. Lu Cang, who was completely inexperienced with this kind of play, could only freeze with his eyes wide open, daring not to move his throat lest he swallow anything. Suddenly, Jing yanked his hair back to force his head up, forcing the warm liquid to sluice down his throat, into the depths of his body.....

"Ah...guh..." Lu Cang was gagging, almost suffocating, and couldn't help but open his mouth to swallow the embarrassing liquid. Jing used this opening to lift Lu Cang's upper robes, his fingers latching onto the sensitive protrusions on his chest. In the intense moment, he pressed a stunned and overwhelmed Lu Cang into the wide brocade couch.

"Go away...." Finally getting some respite, Lu Cang tried to curse, but Jing's dexterous tongue once again seized the chance to trace the insides of Lu Cang's mouth, trapping his verbal abuses in his vocal chords.

Lu Cang frantically shook his head, still trying to shake Jing's hands off of his sensitive regions -  the nub of flesh on his chest was tightly pinched between Jing's index finger and thumb, while that hateful man's other hand wandered down into his trousers, stroking, kneading....

Lu Cang couldn't make a sound. Pleasure and humiliation was filling him up like steam. He felt like collapsing.

"Good...you're so obedient..." Jing's hands were scarily hot and his voice was breathy, evidence of his desire. He sucked Lu Cang's swollen lips, while eagerly fondling the hem of the man's robes. After struggling to untie Lu Cang's inner robes, he gave up and anxiously tore open that piece of expensive cloth.

The brocade couch was soft, and being pressed from above my Jing made Lu Cang look as if half his body had sunken into it. Lu Cang used his hands and feet to resume struggling, but it only served to make him look horribly pitiful.

"You...you liar..." After Jing had slackened his mouth with much difficulty, Lu Cang wasn't fast enough to wipe away a silver strand of saliva that hung from his lips. He wanted to shout and scream, but all the curses he knew had been spent.Even the angry expression and the hatred on his face did nothing to stop Jing's roaming hands. His outer robes were spread open, under clothes torn to rags. He looked utterly obscene.

-To be continued-
.....