Succession Trial of Princes

Sunlight filtered through the large windows of the second training room of the palace casting a glow over the circular main area in the middle. A young man dripping with sweat stood taut in front of a wooden dummy that was covered in marks from constant fist strikes. Taking in a deep breath the man struck out at the target with lightning speed, following a complex pattern of hand movements that had been ingrained into him over the years. He slumped against the dummy in exhaustion after finishing the technique to the best of his ability.

“You’re still not at Heaven Crushing Strike young prince,” a voice called out from behind. Elder Zhao Ming sat on a small chair watching closely. “Li Yong you are to be the true heir to this kingdom and as such refining your skills to the final technique of the Righteous Palm is of extreme importance.”

Yong stood up from the dummy gathering himself and once again fell into the familiar starting stance to all Righteous Palm techniques. “Yes master Ming, I will try my best to master this.”

“The Succession Trial does not care for your try,” Elder Ming said motioning at Yong’s hand and feet positions. “You have to DO.”

“Yes sir,” Yong struck the dummy again with renewed vigour, focusing on making every strike as precise as possible. The floor underneath was slick with sweat which caused him to lose his balance and slip, colliding with the dummy and knocking it aside.

“Young master!” Elder Ming rose to his feet and motioned to the nearby servant who had been assigned to helping them today. “Gao Yu quickly check if the prince is unharmed.”

Gao Yu, a slim young man of low birth who would live and die his life as a servant rushed forward quickly towards Yong. He got to work setting the dummy aside and upright in its original position before kneeling over the prince and helping him up.

“I’m fine,” Yong said, annoyed as he got up and stepped back. “Maybe if the floor had been properly cleaned then I wouldn’t have lost my balance.”

Gao Yu looked down at the floor in shame, not daring to voice his objection that he hadn’t had time to clean in between the practice because the prince forbade being interrupted. “I apologize, master. I will do so immediately.”

Elder Ming beckoned the prince to follow him as he left the room. “That’s enough training for today, knowing when to rest is a virtue.”

Yong shook his head still thinking about the Heaven Crushing Strike and how he had failed. “What do you know of my older brother’s progress?”

Elder Ming paused and stayed silent for a few minutes before letting out a sigh. “Prince Ren is as exceptional as expected and I believe he hasn’t mastered the Soaring Blade style’s final technique yet either but he is ahead of you.”

Yong looked at the ground as they walked forward to the large balcony of the palace reserved for the royal family and their tutors. “What if I can’t win against him?”

They came upon the edge of the balcony and looked down at the scenery stretching into the horizon, a waterfall gushing next to them completing the view. “Do you love your empire young prince?” Elder Ming asked.

“Yes I do,” Yong replied with no hesitation. “I want the best for my people.”

“Good, you must keep that in mind when facing your brother for the contest isn’t entirely about who is stronger of fist but more who is stronger of will.”

Yong leaned against the railing looking down at the ducks swimming in the river that the waterfall fed. “My brother may be a genius but his bloodlust will lead our empire to ruin.”

He didn’t notice the arm put around his shoulder from behind at all until Ren was right next to him looking down at the same view. “Bloodlust and me? You misunderstand me little brother.”

Elder Ming bowed immediately. “Welcome Prince Ren, I will take my leave immediately.”

As Ming walked away Yong relaxed a bit. Concealing their presence was one of the foundational skills that both of them were taught but to think that Ren had managed to perfect it to that extent that neither he nor his far more experienced teacher had noticed him was beyond impressive. He shook Ren’s arm off and stepped to the side looking over the balcony with his brother.

“You know Yong, the safest empire is the strongest empire,” Ren began to explain. He always used this same line of reasoning and could never be talked out of it. “I will crush the enemies we have remaining to ensure our people are safe for the next millennia.”

“And what about the ones who will have to die in that pursuit currently?” Yong countered. “There’s also no guarantee that you’ll win against everyone, there’ll always be a new enemy.”

Ren rolled his eyes. “Yes we’ll lose people now but for the sake of ensuring the future generations are safe I think they’ll make that trade.”

“And as for there always being a new enemy, I’ll always crush them every time.”

Ren stepped back a few feet away from Yong. “I’ll show you a treat, little brother, watch closely.”

Yong turned to face him and immediately dropped into a defensive stance when he saw Ren had adopted the primary attacking stance of the Soaring Blade style he specialized in. What happened next was a blur that he couldn’t hope to follow. It was almost as if he’d just blinked and Ren was there with his palm to Yong’s neck which in a real fight would have been fatal.

“That’s-that’s the final technique of Soaring Blade?,” Yong stuttered out. “The Heaven Splitting Strike?”

Ren chuckled and pulled back. “It has a few flaws still but yes I have almost mastered it.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat made both princes turn to look at the entrance where Gao Yu stood watching in awe. He snapped out of it before bowing and calling out to Yong. “I have finished cleaning the training room and it is ready for you again young prince.”

As the servant dashed away, Yong gathered his wits. “Stupid boy, slowing my training down because he can’t clean.”

“Oh really?” Ren chuckled. “You’ll blame a bit of cleaning as the issue, that boy also helps me on certain days and he does good work.”

Ren walked up to Yong and clapped him on the back. “How will you ever be emperor if you’re so petty about the small things?”

***

The day of the Succession Trial drew crowds from all over the kingdom as everyone got ready to watch the trial by combat that would determine the rightful heir to lead the Empire. The arena was similar to the training rooms that the princes used for their training, a wide circle marked with a clear out of bounds. The rules were simple, either prince to incapacitate the other or push the other out of the ring wins. The stands around the arena were filled with spectators to the brim.

Prince Yong stood with Elder Ming on his side preparing by putting on his combat uniform and lighting a candle for good luck. “Any tips?”

“Do your best,” Elder Ming replied, properly fitting Yong’s gear in place. “There isn’t any trick or tip I could give you that would help honestly, give this fight your all and remember your love for this empire.”

On the other side Ren was already suited up and ready, standing with his hands behind his back an imposing figure looking at Yong with the same arrogant grin as always. “You can always quit now little brother,” he called out teasingly.

Yong shook his head angry. “I’ll win today, Ren, I swear!”

Ren just laughed and turned away to look up at the largest stand reserved for the Emperor. The crowds had finally stopped trickling in and once everyone was seated the drums started beating which announced the arrival of the Emperor. Everyone went silent and observed as music reached a crescendo and the man stepped out onto his stand and stood before the throne-like seat created for him.

“All rise for Emperor Li Tian!”

Everyone in attendance stood up immediately and bowed until Tian motioned for them to sit back down. The Emperor never directly spoke to the people and his attendant read off a script provided to him.

“The Emperor is pleased to see his loyal subjects in attendance for one of the most important traditions in our culture,” the attendant bellowed out. “May the best prince win!”

Cheers went up around the stands, deafening as the ground itself almost shook from all the feet stomping. Yong and Ren took up their positions in the ring across from each other in their respective stances. Yong looked to the side as someone caught his attention.

“Him again?” he thought as he noticed Gao Yu ready with his usual cleaning gear. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Let the fight begin!”

***

The contest dragged on for hours with neither prince relenting but Ren did have an advantage as the blows he inflicted on Yong piled on. The crowd watched in silence, everyone could tell that this fight was about to end soon. Both princes assumed the stances necessary for the final techniques of their respective fighting styles. The Emperor leaned forward in his seat to watch closely and yet if anyone saw closely they’d see that it wasn’t either prince that he was looking at.

“Ren, we don't know if either of us will survive this,” Yong panted. “Pull back now!”

“No, I don't think so, little brother,” Ren replied. “You pull back and stay out of my way.”

Both princes entered a trance and were unable to hear or notice the outside world as they fixated on their respective perfect techniques. They didn’t hear the overseer call for a pause for the fight, they didn’t notice Gao Yu walk into the ring with his mop to clean. They didn’t even see that he was directly in between both of them.

“Stop the fight, that boy will die!” Elder Ming called out frantically. But interfering was completely against the rules and he looked in shock as both princes launched their techniques.

Heaven Splitting Slash and Heaven Crushing Strike both flew at each other with Gao Yu right in the middle and just when both would’ve hit and destroyed the boy he whipped his hands out and grabbed either prince’s strike expertly and redirected them sending them falling to the side.

“You know both your techniques are lacking work,” he said calmly. “I’ve observed you both practice and have had a chance to learn on my own as well.”

The crowd watched in silence before bursting out into cheers. Both princes bested by a cleaning boy was the kind of drama that never happened. Gao Yu tossed his mop aside and settled into the same stance as Prince Ren while looking at him lying a few feet away.

“You’re the one called the genius right?” Yu said with a smirk. “I’ll show you that there’s always someone better.”

Elder Wen, who was the master to prince Ren watched in awe as Gao Yu executed the perfect Heaven Splitting slash with his palms and sent Prince Ren flying out of the ring immediately disqualifying him.

But Gao Yu was not done yet, he turned to Yong. “And you’re the one that’s always blaming me and being an annoyance.”

Elder Ming watched the cleaning boy push the Heaven Crushing Strike to its absolute limit and send prince Yong flying out of the ring.

The crowd cheered louder than ever and Emperor Tian stood up and began to clap.

“Sire that’s a servant not your son,” his attendant called out.

And then finally the Emperor spoke so everyone could hear.

“You’re wrong, Gao Yu is my son a bastard but he’s mine nonetheless. I placed him near the princes because he convinced me he could be better and he’s lived up to his word in that promise.”

“The winner of the succession trial and your next emperor will be Gao Yu!”