Shiao Yi gave a wide, cheerful smile. Truly, he was charming. Lambard couldn’t bla Lord Dominic for being so captivated by him.
After bowing his head the two of them stepped into the center and grappled with each other. Lambard was nearly forty centiters taller than Shiao Yi, and his weight was probably more than double. Still, this delicate-looking man was able to throw him with ease. He didn’t rely on brute force—instead, he used Lambard’s own montum and body movent to his advantage.
The first ti they grappled, Lambard found himself suddenly flipped through the air, landing hard on his back. He had no idea what had just happened.
"This is judo. If you master the techniques, you won’t lose even against soone with a bigger body," Shiao Yi explained with a serious expression, offering a hand to help Lambard up as he sat there blinking in shock. From that mont, Lambard was completely drawn in by the brilliance of this martial art.
Today, they were practicing ground techniques. In this part of judo, size and weight could really matter. Even so, if Shiao Yi managed to twist Lambard’s arm just right or shift his legs under Lambard’s center of balance, he could still flip the much larger man with surprising force. The grass in the garden was still green and soft, so even when they rolled around on the ground grappling, neither of them got dirty or injured.
At one point, Lambard thought he had Shiao Yi pinned down with his weight.
Confident in his position, he tried to hold him there.
But Shiao Yi twisted out by using the strength of his hips, then wrapped his legs around Lambard’s neck and started choking him.
It was tight. Lambard couldn’t breathe.
He was about to tap out the grass—when suddenly, "What do you think you’re doing?!"
A voice roared with fury.
It was Lord Dominic. His voice thundered with rage, and Lambard’s face imdiately turned went pale, he was trying to sit up in a hurry. But Shiao Yi’s legs were still locked in place, and Lambard couldn’t move.
He urgently slapped the ground and shouted, "I surrender!"
Finally, Shiao Yi released him. Lambard coughed violently, trying to catch his breath.
Then, suddenly he could feel a cold steel touched his neck—it was a drawn sword.
Lambard froze.
"What were you doing to my Shiao Yi?! I don’t care even if you’re already following for long tis—I won’t forgive this!"
Looking back on it now, Lambard realized the position could definitely have been misunderstood. In truth, he was the one being overpowered—but from the outside, it probably looked the other way around.
Shiao Yi, completely unfazed, stood up and declared with a triumphant tone, "I win. Lambard, you can try to pin down with your weight all you want, but it won’t work on ."
Then, smiling brightly, he looked at Lord Dominic—who still looked furious—and said without a trace of fear, "Dominic, we are just training judo. Put that scary thing away, will you?"
"It doesn’t matter if it’s judo or anything else—getting that close to Shiao Yi, pressing up your body against him like that, and pinning him down so he couldn’t move...!"
"Dominic, I was the one doing the technique," Shiao Yi said, firmly. "Lambard couldn’t move because I had him. I was this close to choking him out."
"Lambard is twice your size. That’s impossible. Why are you protecting him? Don’t tell ... Shiao, you and Lambard..."
SMACK!
A loud slap echoed through the air.
Lambard’s eyes went wide in shock.
Shiao Yi had marched right up to Lord Dominic and slapped him across the face—hard and without hesitation.
"You idiot, Dominic! You don’t trust ? That’s the worst kind of insult to soone under your command!"
Without waiting for a reply, Shiao Yi turned around and stord into the house.
Lord Dominic stood there stunned, his sword still lowered in one hand, the other pressed to his stinging cheek. He didn’t say a word, frozen in place.
Lambard slowly sat up, awkwardly eting his lord’s eyes.
"My Lord, Madam was telling the truth," Lambard said. "We’ve been training together during these morning hours regularly. Today, he was teaching judo. There’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about."
"Shiao said he had you pinned. Is that true?"
"Yes. I couldn’t breathe. It’s a frightening technique."
"You an to tell he managed to subdue you despite the difference in size? That’s hard to believe."
"He’s even thrown before. The first ti, I was completely caught off guard."
Lord Dominic finally slid his sword back into its sheath. His expression was still tight, full of inner conflict. Even now, Lambard could tell that so part of him was still angry. That was no surprise. Dominic had trained by his side since they were children. He was the closest person to him in every way. So when Lambard touching Shiao Yi even though it’s only as part of training, it’s enough to provoke this reaction.
And yet—
"...I apologize for the misunderstanding," Dominic said stiffly.
"No, not at all," Lambard replied. "From the outside, the position did look a bit questionable."
Lambard was honestly shocked. Lord Dominic had just apologized to him. His lips were still pressed tightly together, clearly still holding back his feelings, but the fact that he’d said it at all was astonishing. The old Dominic would’ve just glared and walked off without a word. Or worse—he might have drawn his sword and cut him down on the spot.
"Madam is very strong," Lambard added. "Even if I fought seriously with a sword, I’m not sure I could beat him."
A faint, proud smile appeared on Dominic’s tense face. Lambard was surprised again.
"Of course he is," Dominic said quietly. "My Shiao Yi is one of a kind. He’s my only equal. Maybe I should have him teach this judo, too."
With that, the anger seed to lt away, and Lord Dominic smiled at last.
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