While the noise was extremely loud and unpleasant, it sounded like it came from afar. One could hear that it was a combination of all sorts of sounds including people singing, screams of shock and someone complaining in tears.
It could be described with three mere words - a chaotic mess.
Chu Yu frowned ever so slightly and swept her hand across the hidden arrow up her sleeve subconsciously. Soon after that, she stood up decisively and walked toward outside. "Yue Jiefei, follow me to take a look."
Yue Jiefei leaped down from the rooftop and waited by the door once again. He walked alongside Chu Yu with graceful steps. He spoke while he walked, "Princess, it's best you don't go. It's rather strenuous for me to fight that madman. I'm afraid it'll be hard for me to protect you at the same time. He's just making a fuss. We can clean up afterward."
Chu Yu did not stop walking despite his words. She learned two things from Yue Jiefei's words.
Firstly, the other person was more powerful to the extent that even Yue Jiefei admitted to his inability to fight him. Chu Yu learned from Liu Sang that in the mishap in the mountain the other day, the three assassins Yue Jiefei stopped were first-rate experts. Yue Jiefei had the ability to fight against three skilled assassins by himself and managed to stop them. This already proved that he was very skilled in the art of wielding a sword.
Secondly, it was not that pressing a situation now. Judging by Yue Jiefei's tone, this had happened more than once, thus this was not the first time. It was possible that it was already a matter of common practice. Most likely, Princess Shanyin should be aware of this matter too.
However, Chu Yu was unaware and wanted to find out what was happening. She walked out of Yonder Residence with quick strides and found a group of people walking toward her from the distance. There was a red silhouette among these people that appeared especially conspicuous.
Chu Yu fixed her eyes upon the crowd and saw that the red silhouette was actually Hua Cuo whom she had met once in the past.
At present, Hua Cuo was very different from the person Chu Yu recalled from the other day. His face was flushed scarlet, his brows were raised and his dazed eyes were watery. His ordinary-looking facial features contained slightly threatening femininity. He held a sword in one hand and a flagon in the other. Staggering with a swaying unsteady gait, he walked while humming a tune to himself. He behaved as if there was no other person in his eyes. On the other hand, the majority of the people around him were the guards and servants in the residence. They surrounded Hua Cuo cautiously, yet they dared not get too close to him either. With every step he took, the people encircling him would move as well.
Chu Yu could understand the situation vaguely upon seeing Hua Cuo. Standing by her side, Yue Jiefei continued to speak, "Princess, don't get too close. The madman Hua Cuo can't recognize anyone when he's drunk. He's also able to wield his sword with enhanced capabilities when he's drunk. It can even get quite challenging for me too."
She smiled casually. She found a hidden corner and just stood there with Yue Jiefei to observe Hua Cuo being a mad drunk.
Yue Jiefei was right. Hua Cuo was genuinely behaving akin to a mad drunkard now. Chu Yu wondered how many drinks he had in order to be intoxicated by the liquor that had such low alcohol content.
In her perception, the alcohol content of the liquor from this era was genuinely unworthy when compared to the mellow wine of the modern age with higher alcohol content.
Hua Cuo sang aloud while he walked closer and closer to Chu Yu's inconspicuous spot slowly. Just as he was about to pass her, a loud clang similar to a warning alarm was heard when the flagon was tossed onto the gravel-paved path. Hua Cuo stopped walking and the people around him instantly reacted as if they were confronting a formidable enemy. Yue Jiefei had also shielded himself before Chu Yu with agile movements. His hand clutched the hilt of the sword tied to his waist to signify that he was combat-ready.
Chu Yu's vision was blocked, so it was rather inconvenient for her to watch the situation. She tilted her head to the side and stuck her head out from the side of Yue Jiefei's body silently to continue observing the drunk swordsman.
Compared to the solemness of the people around him, Hua Cuo's behavior was exceedingly sloppy and even arrogant. The femininity on his drunken expression was so prominent that he looked like a fully-bloomed rose. He raised the rapier in his hand slowly. The rapier was vaguely glimmering with a red radiance. Word had it that the red radiance was derived from being tainted by the blood of countless people he had killed.
Hua Cuo raised one of his brows and looked sideways back and forth. Whoever his gaze was fixated upon, the person would be seized with a sudden impulse to take a step back. However, Hua Cuo's gaze swept past the people surrounding him in the end and stopped on Yue Jiefei.
Yue Jiefei heaved a sigh sorrowfully as if he was tormented. "Why does it have to be me again?"
Hua Cuo squinted his eyes that were overflowing with drunkenness as he pointed the tip of his sword toward Yue Jiefei. Everyone realized that he had already chosen a target, so they dispersed into the surroundings gradually. They made a path so that Hua Cuo could reach Yue Jiefei conveniently.
With a sigh, Yue Jiefei ordered the rest of the bodyguards to protect Chu Yu temporarily. He took the initiative to unsheathe his sword and charged toward Hua Cuo without waiting for the latter to advance to him.
Both of them fought in chaos once again.
Chu Yu thought to herself in amusement. It felt as if Yue Jiefei needed to fight Hua Cuo every time she encountered the latter. The same thing happened during the previous occasion. It seemed as if these two people were archenemies in their past lives and could not hold back from fighting one another as soon as they met.
At the sound of Hua Cuo's hoarse singing, both of them fought from a near distance to go further just like the previous occasion. Countless plants and trees were damaged during the process. The only difference this time was that Hua Cuo's sword which glowed with a faint red radiance seemed to appear more beautiful than before and its light was glowing brighter ever so slightly.
Chu Yu noticed that something was wrong after watching them for a long period of time. She wondered if her vision was blurry because she felt like she was seeing some broken bits mysteriously splattering out from the sword's glowing radiance.
However, she was not standing close to the battle. In addition to that, the two foes were moving too swiftly. Chu Yu tried to convince herself that she could be mistaken, yet she suddenly noticed that Yue Jiefei's clothes seemed to be lesser during the interval of their battle a moment later.
Now, Yue Jiefei was only dressed in a white woolen undershirt that was missing a sleeve. His long, slim, muscular arm was exposed. Where were his outer clothes?
Chu Yu lowered her gaze slowly to the ground to see that the broken bits that were scattered along the path were all tattered fabric. To her surprise, Hua Cuo tore the clothes on Yue Jiefei's body into strips of rotten rags.
A vicious tearing sound was heard.
The crisp sound of fabric being torn apart split through the air. Chu Yu raised her head upon hearing the sound just in time to see Yue Jiefei's undershirt being cut open by Hua Cuo's sword. Almost his entire upper body was exposed to the air and the eyes of everyone in the vicinity.
Yue Jiefei's upper body appeared perfectly contoured and muscular after the bulky layers of clothes were removed. Every muscle of his was filled with powerful strength. Although his muscles were not bulging like a bodybuilder's, they exuded a sense of natural beauty.
Yue Jiefei's face flushed scarlet when he became the center of attention with envious, jealous or judgemental gazes of the people around him. He spoke through clenched teeth, "Hua Cuo, that's enough. You have targeted me almost every single time when you're drunk and removed my clothing with your sword. Cut it out." Getting stripped naked in public would not be a pleasant event for anyone to go through.
The ultimate aim of a person successful in learning martial arts was to make a living by contributing his skills to the imperial household.
He was here to make a living with his skills but not to sell his body like a whore.
Hua Cuo behaved as if he did not hear Yue Jiefei's words. He stopped singing for a moment and narrowed his eyes to look at Yue Jiefei with a meditative gaze. Then, he turned his hand holding the sword over and shaved himself. The layers of red clothing on his body fell to the ground gently and exposed his upper body as well. Next, the tip of Hua Cuo's sword wobbled once as he took a stab toward Yue Jiefei once again. This time, his aim was the part below Yue Jiefei's waist.
"Hua Cuo loves his wine, but he doesn't tolerate alcohol well." A voice was heard beside of Chu Yu who turned her head to the side and darted a glance to find Rong Zhi's bandaged arm was wrapped around her neck. He was standing by her side with a smile on his face. "He must drink until he's drunk, and then he must strip naked when he's intoxicated."
Hua Cuo could not recognize anyone after he was drunk. He would only pick the person that disgusted him the most from the crowd for his act. Then, he would not only strip the other person's clothes but also his own as well.
The rest of the people in the residence enjoyed the lewd act of watching Hua Cuo strip himself and someone else as long as they were not the ones involved. After all, the sight of a martial art practitioner's body was always very pleasing to the eyes.
Everyone enjoyed beauty, and the art of enjoying the beauty of men was considered a trend in this era.
This was a huge event that would certainly take place in the inner court of Princess's Imperial Residence once every three months.