Supreme Martial Arts

“Heaven’s gaze is as my people’s gaze, heaven’s hearing as my people’s hearing…”

The sky was draped in misty rain like a painting. The capital of Wei had been washed by a night’s rainfall, which ceased in the early morning. Soon after, the Imperial Academy within the palace walls was filled with the clear voices of young scholars reciting their texts.

When the group of youths finished their reading, the instructor, a man with a goatee, casually turned a page on the desk and posed a question:

“In the second year of Yanning, on the first month of spring, Wu Prefecture of Wei suffered a rare famine. Not a drop of rain fell for months, and hunger spread. If you were in charge, how would you handle this disaster?”

Most of those present were sons and daughters of nobility, sent to study at the Royal Academy—a place once trodden by the current emperor and the crown prince themselves.

The curriculum focused on self-cultivation, managing the household, governing the state, and ruling the populace. Naturally, those who could teach here were no ordinary men, so all the young nobles sat upright, respectful and earnest.

The instructor called out a name: “Wang Chuan, your answer.”

A tall youth stood up, his stance a bit unsteady, eyes heavy with sleep, barely awake.

He was, at best, half a son of Wei, for he was actually the crown prince of Jin, living alone in the Wei capital.

Wei and Jin were bound by marriage, vowing a century of friendship. Wang Chuan’s mother was the sister of Wei’s king, the eldest princess, married far away