Master of The Azure Palace Chapter 1: Prologue

Read chapter 1 of Master of The Azure Palace by AzulConVerde on NovelPedia.

Lusé Li stood on the balcony of his family estate, he watched carefully as his sons fought a practice duel in the training grounds below. “Carefull” said Chief Guard Baek. As captain of the guard for the Lusé family, he was in charge of the boys' safety and training. “Hóng! I said be careful, there is no need to be so aggressive!” Li watched as his eldest son launched a flurry of strikes at his younger brother. Hóng was only eighteen yet he was already taller than most grown men, he had inherited his mothers clan's size and strength. Hóng was growing more and more frustrated with each strike, even though his younger brother was three years younger than him, Lán had managed to evade or parry most of his strikes. Lán was much more similar to his father, he had a short stature and was a bit frail for a boy his age, yet he was perfectly managing his brother sword strikes. “Finally an opening” Hóng thought, as one of his strikes managed to push his brother's sword away from the centerline. Hóng swung his sword with all his might, only to find air, Lán took a small hop back, barely avoiding his brother's sword, he quickly lunged forward, wrapping his blade around his brother's guard, and striking his lead hand. Hóng grunted in pain as his sword hit the ground. “Stop!” said Chief Guard Baek “Good job both of you” Hóng huffed in frustration and stormed away from the training grounds. Li was about to stand up to say something until a hand on his shoulder stopped him. His wife Elena stood behind him, she was truly stunning, her gold hair and deep blue eyes cemented her claim as one of the most beautiful women in China. Her family had come from beyond the northern plains looking for trade. And by some miracle, during a royal ball she had decided to fall in love with him. “Let him go” Elena said softly “He’ll be alright” Li sighed as he sat back down, he had never found out how to say no to his wife. “I worry for him Elena” Li furred his brow "Maybe I need to adapt our family's techniques so they better suit his temperament” The Lusé Style Sword Arts were defined by the use of a thin whiplike sword that allowed a smaller fighter to maneuver around their opponents guard and strike their vital points during a counter attack. His big frame and aggressive personality made Hóng ill suited for this kind of style. Yet Li had hesitated to teach him anything else, as through intense training, his family's style had allowed him to reach the level of an Advanced Martial Artist. “Maybe he could learn my family's fighting style, I'm sure one of my brothers would be delighted to teach him” Elena suggested. Li grimaced at the thought of his brothers-in-law, and as he looked at his wife's face he realized that she had already decided that her idea was a good one. Li sighed, he was now even more worried for his son. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ As day became night Li returned to his chambers after a long day of work. He was struggling, as a youth he had thrown himself into his martial arts training, and even though he was ashamed to admit it, he just now realized that running a city was much harder than swinging his sword. The Lusé family was part of the Imperial Faction, they were tasked with the administration of the city of Húchéng that sat in the Great Lake of Jianghu and the region surrounding it. As the lake was connected to the various riverways and smaller lakes of Jianghu it was a vital trade center of the region and of greater China. Even as he was getting ready to rest Li couldn't shake his problems of his mind, there was currently great turmoil in the empire as the Righteous, Imperial and Royal factions were all fighting for a shot at the throne. The Emperor had declared that he would be choosing a successor soon and all of the factions of China had rallied behind one of the potential heirs. The Lusé family had not yet declared their allegiance to any of the heirs, they h