Training = Torture II

Tae Yong was staring at the group of noble born in front of him. "So what you are saying is that You and your 'brothers' don't want to be trained by Nam Mu because he is a slave and to be trained by a slave is beneath you guys?" Hou Bing and the others nodded. They smiled at each other because they thought that Tae Yong understood where they were coming from. Tae Yong glanced at Nam Mu but didn't say anything to him. "Who told you that Nam Mu was a slave?" Hou Bing turned red. "I overheard two soldiers talk about it." Tae Yong's eyes turned cold but Hou Bing didn't notice. He was just happy that the prince was listening to him. "Who were they?" Hou Bing hesitated but pointed at the two soldiers.

The soldiers turned pale. They knew that they were about to be punished. Tae Yong gave Chongho a look before looking back at Hou Bing and the other nobles. Chongho walked away. "Alright, starting from today I'll be personally training you." He had a smile on his face but Jeong Ho, Zheng, Dae Seong and the other soldiers knew that the smile was full of evil. “What do you think he’ll do? Should we stop him now or wait?” Zheng whispered at Jeong Ho and Dae Seong. They looked at him like he had gone crazy. Jeong Ho scoffed. “Stop him?! Be my guest. Have you forgotten what happened in Pingyao? I’m not going to stop him when he shows that smile. I'm sure he'll leave them alive... this time.” Zheng felt a cold shiver down his spine. The incident Jeong Ho was talking about happened a year ago but it was still vivid in all their minds.

The king had sent them to investigate recurring killings in the villages near Pingyao. When they arrived they discovered that the son of the governor was responsible for the killings. The governor, a ratty looking man called Gai and his even more ratty looking son, Bai had claimed that Bai had killed 20 plus men because they were planning to revolt against the kingdom. Tae Yong didn’t trust their words and ordered his soldiers to investigate further. Gai and Bai refused to cooperate with the soldiers, stating that they had helped the kingdom. While the villagers were too scared to talk. After a lot of persuasion and promises of protection, the villagers finally revealed the real cause of the killings.

They learned that Gai had been raising the taxes of the surrounding villages. The money was used to pay for his lavish lifestyle. When the villages couldn't pay, Gai would sell the women and girl to brothels and the men and boys were either sold into slavery or used to please Bai twisted games. They were shocked and disgusted when they heard that Bai used the men and boys as human prey. He would organise hunting parties whereby his friends and him would chase and kill the poor villages. When Gai and Bai found out that their secrets were uncovered, they feared for their lives. But when Tae Yong didn’t request their presents, they assumed that Tae Yong would not punish them, so they went back to their old ways.

After four days, Bai being the narcissist psychopath that he was, planned to go ‘hunting’ again. But he was shocked when Tae Yong invited himself to the ‘hunt’ and brought his soldier along. A few hours later, Tae Yong ordered via messenger that Gai and the other nobles had to come to the edge of the woods. When Bai and the nobles arrived they discovered Bai and six of his friends tied to trees and surrounded by soldiers. Bai and his friends were roughed up but were still alive. "What is this! Why are they beaten and tied up! Your Highness, this is uncalled for?!" Tae Yong had turned to the Gai with a smile. "But Master Gai, your son was about to kill two men for no apparent reason.

But I'll give you a chance... I'll let them go if you and the rest tell me about your misdeed." Gai and the nobles were shocked. They looked at each other but refused to talk. They were sure that Tae Yong would just beat Bai and the others for a bit but to his horror, Tae Yong ordered his soldier to start severing limbs. "They don't lift a finger anyways. They don't need it anymore." Tae Yong looked at Gai with an evil smirk. After chopping off their hands, Gai and the parents of the other boys started to confess all their crimes. Tae Yong was enraged when he learned what the nobles had been doing to the villagers. Tae Yong suspected that the whole city was corrupt and dehumanised. Tae Yong wanted to change that as soon as possible.

He ordered all the nobles to go to the magistrate office to record their misdeeds and crimes. The nobles who were cleared of any wrongdoing were left alone but the ones who had committed crimes against the villagers or were found to be corrupted were given two weeks to think of which punishment they should receive. If they didn't come back to the magistrate within the two weeks, they would lose their lives. The nobles secretly came together and sent a message to the king asking for him to stop his son.

But to their dismay, the king replied that he would not stop the prince and that they should accept their punishment with grace. Some families still tried to flee bit were caught and the men were jailed and sold into slavery, while the women were sold to brothels and the children to temples. Just like Gai had been doing the whole time. Within two weeks Tae Yong had wiped out nearly all noble families in Pingyao. The commoners and the villagers who had been suffering were compensated, with some being elevated to nobles. By doing this Tae Yong became loved by the commoners and the villagers but hated by the nobles. His deeds nearly caused a revolt in the capital but before it could become a big issue, the protestors were silenced with stealth and in secret. Hou Bing and the other nobles had no idea what Tae Yong had done in Pingyao. By complaining to him about Nam Mu they had summoned a demon worse than a real one.

He turned to Nam Mu and Li Jie. "Nam Mu and Li Jie, you can start to train the others." They both nodded before leaving, they looked at the nobles with pity in their eyes. "Poor idiots. They are going to die." Li Jie mumbled to Nam Mu. Hou Bing was looking proud of himself but his smile fell when he saw Mo Yun leaving with Nam Mu and Li Jie. "Brother Mo! Aren't you coming with us." Mo Yun stopped in his tracks before glaring at Hou Bing. He turned to Tae Yong, ignoring Hou Bing. "No offence but I'm fine where I am." He bowed to Tae Yong before following Nam Mu and Li Jie. Tae Yong didn't stop Mo Yong from leaving. 'At least one smart person.' He thought before addressing the noble born.

"Follow me." Tae Yong took the group to the other side of the field. "We'll be training by fighting one on one." He turned to see Chungho leading his special soldier. The nobles were shocked because they had been fighting each other or the normal soldiers. This was the first time they would be fighting the special branch. They didn't know that Nam Mu and Li Jie had been training and fighting with these soldiers for the last two days. "We'll first run laps around the field for an hour. After that two hours of sparring session followed by two hours of mounted archery before we break for lunch. After lunch we'll have two hours of mounted sword fighting, two hours of target archery before ending with two hours of sparring. Hou Bing and the others' mouths fell open. This was no training! This was just torture!

Tae Yong looked at the shocked faces with his 'sweet' smile. "Why are you shocked? You are all nobles. This will be child's play for you guys. Right?" "You'll be fighting with your own swords, so be careful not to lose a limb or your live." Hou Bing and the other nobles were regretting their rebellion. "Your Highness...I was wondering if I could still go back to being taught by young master Nam Mu?" One of the younger nobles said. Tae Yong shook his head sadly. "I couldn't do that. I neglected you and I need to fix my mistake. You will be training with only the best!"

The noble looked at Hou Bing with resentment in his eyes. Tae Yong scoffed. 'Just a minute ago, you were all looking at him like he was your leader and now you hate him.' Tae Yong really dislikes the nobles. "Alright. Run!" They followed the special soldiers but after 20 minutes they began to struggle. Tae Yong was shocked to see how easily they became tired. "The person who ends last has to do 10 extra laps!" The nobles moaned and tried to pick up speed. They looked at the commoners in envy, while silently cursing Hou Bing and themselves.

Tae Yong turned back to see that Chungho had brought the two soldiers that Hou Bing had pointed to. "I don't think I need to say anything. You both know the punishment." The two soldiers nodded before leaving the field. Tae Yong's army was one of the best. To get in was really hard but the benefits were amazing. They had more freedom than the King's army and less rules. When you break a rule, depending on the severity, you are punished and lose some of the benefits. One of the rules was to not talk about matters talked about during meetings. These two soldiers had clearly violated the rule and had to go get 500 whipping with a bamboo strip.

"How long will it take to transfer them? This is their nth offence! I'm sick and tired of them." Chungho looked at the two leaving. He hated to gossip but he agreed with Tae Yong. "Compared to the others, there hasn't been any improvement. We've all started at the same time but they haven't improved like the others." Tae Yong let out an angry sigh. "This is why I don't like the Zhuhou branch. If my father didn't force them on me, I would have never picked them." Chungho looked at the nobles staggering behind the special soldiers. "What about them... how are you going to refuse them?" Tae Yong gave his evil, sweet smile. "I'm going to do nothing. Some are going to quit on their own and the others will be unable to fight on the examination. I'll just have to train them." Chungho looked at Tae Yong with a look of fear and admiration.

The two hours were finally over, Tea Yong clapped his hand twice. "Well done everyone. You two, I want to see 10 more laps. You were both the last to finish." The two boys had tears in their eyes but went back to running again. "Two minute break before we start." The soldier stood at ease while the nobles flopped on the ground. What felt like two seconds later, they were told to stand up again. "You have to disarm at least five soldiers in the next two hours. I'm looking forward to your fights." Tae Yong and Chungho walked to a safe distance. "FIGHT!" The nobles had wide eyes. Training with Nam Mu was so much better. They were really fighting for their lives.

The two who had to run 10 extra laps were taking their time. Within 10 minutes of sparring, the majority had cuts over their bodies. They might have been trained in sword fighting but never in battles. The anger they felt toward their own stupidity was growing with each second. "I surrender! Agh!" Hou Bing had dropped his sword but still got stabbed in his shoulder. After Hou Bing, the others also surrendered. They were bleeding and some were even crying. This was not what they had expected when they thought about being trained by the prince. "Chungho, get them treated." He turned to nobles looking relieved. "I want you back on the field after getting treated!" Their mouths fell open. 'How can he be so cruel!'