The First Jasmine - Chapter 116
Chapter 116 - Training Beneath the Cliff
Because Yelu Ye had accepted Ye Li's suggestion and gone in secret to observe the marriage candidates, Ye Li promptly cast the matter aside and paid it no further heed. True to expectations, two days after the Northern Rong betrothal envoys arrived in the capital, news of Yelu Ye's selection results spread, confirming that the princess chosen for the marriage alliance was indeed Princess Ronghua. Whether in terms of status, age, or temperament, Princess Ronghua was clearly the most suitable choice. Although Princess Zhaoren hurried into the palace that very day to plead with the Emperor, nobody knew what Mo Jingqi said to her; Princess Zhaoren ultimately emerged from the palace looking utterly hollow and soul-drained, uttering not another word. Meanwhile, Princess Ronghua nearly turned the entire capital upside down in uproar. In Princess Ronghua's eyes, Ye Li—the primary culprit who had forced her into a marriage alliance with a foreign tribe—could naturally not be let off the hook either. Unfortunately, the Prince of Ding's Manor was heavily guarded and not a place one could breach simply by wishing to do so, whereas Ye Li herself was already taking a leisurely retreat at Grand Princess Xifu's suburban villa outside the city walls.
Though Grand Princess Xifu was already over seventy years of age, perhaps due to lifelong attention to self-care and, even more so, her exceptional mental fortitude and cultivation, she remained full of vigor and vitality, looking virtually unchanged from when they had last met over a year ago. Seeing Ye Li and Mo Xiunyao arrive in each other's company, her face instantly broke into a radiant smile. The Grand Princess's warmth actually left both Ye Li and Mo Xiunyao feeling somewhat ashamed; over the past year or more, following Mo Xiunyao's recovery, Ye Li had embarked on lengthy travels away from home, and the two of them had never once ventured outside the city to visit the Grand Princess. On the contrary, the old lady never forgot to send people to deliver gifts to them during every major festival and holiday. Though the items were never exorbitant, they bore the genuine warmth and protective affection of an elder.
The Grand Princess pulled Ye Li to sit right beside her, cast a glance at Mo Xiunyao standing to one side, and promptly shooed him away under the pretext of wanting to chat with Ye Li about private matters between women, leaving Mo Xiunyao with no choice but to turn and depart, looking both amused and exasperated.
Watching Mo Xiunyao leave, the Grand Princess held Ye Li's hand and beamed at her with a smiling expression. Ye Li instantly felt a wave of awkwardness wash over her, a nagging sense that the Grand Princess's gaze was somehow hair-raising. "Imperial Aunt..."
The Grand Princess looked at her with benevolent affection and smiled, "This old lady notices that you've grown quite a bit thinner than you were last year, child. That fellow Xiunyao is simply terrible at cherishing his wife; how could he let a young woman like you run all the way down to the southern frontiers?"
Ye Li lowered her head in quiet shame, recalling that it had been her own insistence to rush off to the southern frontiers in the first place. Still, she was more than happy to let Mo Xiunyao take the blame for this. The Grand Princess studied her, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "I've heard all about what you did in the southern frontiers and Yongzhou. Lord Xu truly raised a fine, capable child. We owe you a massive debt of gratitude for what happened in Yonglin this time around; that boy Jingli is simply far too unruly. I am getting on in years and no longer have the energy to keep them in check, so having you around to help Xiunyao makes things much easier for him. The men of the Prince of Ding's Manor bear heavy burdens upon their shoulders from birth, and for Xiunyao, that burden is even heavier. Thank goodness he has you." Ye Li replied softly, "These are all things I ought to do."
The Grand Princess shook her head and said, "Forget about all those capital maidens; even among all the past Consorts of Ding down through the generations, no one has ever done better than you. However..."
Ye Li looked at the Grand Princess in bewilderment. The Grand Princess smiled as she looked at her and said, "Xiunyao is no longer young. Shouldn't the two of you start paying attention to the matter of heirs for the Prince of Ding's Manor? As things stand now, among all the princely estates in the capital, only the Prince of Ding's Manor remains without an heir."
At these words, Ye Li's fair face instantly flushed crimson. Stuttering and struck completely speechless for a good long moment as she stared at the expectantly smiling Grand Princess, she could only sit in silence. The Grand Princess chuckled playfully and teased, "You child, bearing children and raising a family is completely natural. You've been married for over a year now; what on earth is there to still feel shy about?"
Ye Li felt an overwhelming sense of shame deep in her heart. Had she truly lingered in this era for so long that her mindset had turned conservative as well? Yet as for the matter of children... she genuinely hadn't given it any thought. For one thing, her current body was still actually under sixteen years of age; for another, the current political landscape was entirely unsuited for bringing children into the world. But since she couldn't bluntly tell the Grand Princess that she didn't want to bear children, she could only offer vague, evasive replies in hopes of skating past the topic first. Assuming she was simply feeling shy, the Grand Princess offered a few words of gentle guidance before letting the matter drop. Inwardly, however, the old lady was already plotting to remind Mo Xiunyao about it later. Seeing that the Grand Princess pressed no further, Ye Li quietly breathed a sigh of relief internally and hurriedly steered the conversation toward various amusing anecdotes from the capital.
Mo Xiunyao stayed alongside Ye Li for merely two days before heading back to the capital. With the Northern Rong betrothal envoys having all arrived in the capital, he, as the prince overseeing this marriage alliance, could naturally not avoid showing his face. Aside from spending time every day keeping the Grand Princess company with pleasant conversation, Ye Li devoted the rest of her time entirely to the deep valley beneath the Black Wind Cliff. Although the Grand Princess knew Ye Li went out every day, she never inquired into her whereabouts. With this protection from the Grand Princess providing cover, Ye Li's movements actually became far more unrestrained.
Nearly half a month later, when Ye Li once again appeared beneath the cliff and watched the troop of elites sweating profusely as they drilled in the training ground, she nodded in satisfaction. To achieve such results in under a month was already quite impressive. The only real issue was that time had been too rushed; otherwise, they ought to have undergone at least two full months of physical conditioning before moving on to anything else. Covered in dust and drenched in sweat, the soldiers caught sight of the smiling Young Master Chu reappearing before them and collectively broke into cold sweat inwardly. They had no idea what Young Master Chu's exact background was, but they all knew Qin Feng's identity. Someone capable of making Qin Feng serve as a personal bodyguard must undoubtedly possess an extraordinary status. However, that wasn't the main point; what mattered was that they had only encountered Young Master Chu twice before, yet each time left an indelible, unforgettable impression on their minds. During their first meeting, this young master had ruthlessly shattered everyone's self-confidence before smilingly watching all of them collapse and crawl on the ground. During their second meeting, Young Master Chu had easily subdued every single one of them with a display of raw power while leaving behind a training regime that had worked them to the bone for the past half-month. And now, what exactly would Young Master Chu bring this time?
"Lads, although half a month has passed, Qin Feng has reported your training progress to me regularly, and I am extremely satisfied. In particular... not a single one of you in this first batch undergoing training has fallen behind. However, what we completed previously was merely basic physical conditioning; failing to fall behind only proves that your stamina and potential are decent. Starting today, you will begin receiving far more detailed and rigorous training. Naturally, the original physical conditioning will still continue every single day." The soldiers could not help groaning inwardly; in other words, they would have to squeeze time out of an already grueling daily routine just to study entirely new subjects.
Clearly, the training effects over the past half-month had been quite effective, as the soldiers gathered from several different units now displayed remarkably strong discipline. Even though they were bitterly wailing in their hearts, they still stood straight and upright on the surface. Nodding in inward satisfaction, Ye Li said, "Those whose names I call, step forward." Lowering her head to unfold the dossier in her hand, Ye Li called out seven or eight names. The named individuals stepped out of ranks one by one and formed a separate line. Without exception, these men all possessed specialized individual skills coupled with relatively rich knowledge and education. Surveying the group selected by Qin Feng, Ye Li instructed, "Head to a training ground ten li away to the southeast and wait for me."
The few specially selected soldiers hesitated for a moment, and one of them stepped out of ranks to ask, "Young Master Chu, may we ask what we are to do? Why are we not training alongside the others?"
Ye Li smiled faintly and replied, "Because I believe you require a different type of training. Of course... it seems I ought to seek your consent beforehand. Are you afraid of death?"
The soldiers instantly felt somewhat insulted, glaring angrily at Ye Li as they protested, "If we were afraid of death, we wouldn't be part of the Mojia Army!"
"Only cowards are afraid of death!"
"We aren't afraid to die, but we want to know what on earth we are supposed to be doing! At the very least, we don't want to die cluelessly without knowing why."
Ye Li did not get angry; instead, she nodded with a smile and said, "Very well. I like people who have thoughts of their own. But right now... the first rule you must follow is obedience, the second rule is complete obedience, and the third rule is... absolute obedience! Do you understand?" Ye Li's calm, stern voice caught everyone off guard, instantly silencing the training ground. Whether they had been called out or left behind, the soldiers stopped whispering and shouted in unison, "Understood!"
"Very well, now run the distance there. Time limit: one quarter of an hour."
The named soldiers turned around without the slightest hesitation, sprinting out of the training ground and vanishing into the dense forest.
Turning back to look at the remaining soldiers, Ye Li smiled pleasantly and said, "Don't worry about them; I won't actually send them off to their deaths. What you lot ought to be worrying about is yourselves. What you will be learning next includes weighted load training, fully-armed swimming training, wilderness survival training, breakout and anti-breakout training, covert infiltration and anti-infiltration training, as well as reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering drills. Your instructors will arrive bright and early tomorrow morning, and your final assessment is scheduled for two months from now. I can give you a heads-up on the assessment criteria so you can mentally prepare yourselves—it's no secret. A forty-catty weighted load, carrying one day's worth of army rations, and surviving in the wild for seven days. Mission objective: launch a surprise raid on a joint coalition force of six hundred Black Cloud Cavalry and hidden guards stationed one thousand two hundred li away. Conditions: there will be two separate teams trailing you along the route that may launch ambush attacks at any time; you are strictly prohibited from stealing food or livestock from local farmers along the way; you must not expose your identities; if captured by local garrison forces or patrol guards, you are eliminated; if intercepted and captured or heavily wounded by the roving ambush teams, you are eliminated; failing to reach the objective within the deadline also results in elimination. Understood?" Every single soldier in the training ground wore an ashen, sickly complexion. Originally, they had all thought their daily training was punishing enough, but Young Master Chu always knew how to make things infinitely more agonizing. Compared to what was coming next, their current training was practically a relaxing stay at a health resort.
Ye Li raised an eyebrow and told them, "You should thank your lucky stars that it isn't winter right now, otherwise your days would be even more miserable. But don't worry, I'll make sure to make it up to you this coming winter. Also... shall we add some anti-sun-exposure training as well?"
No, thank you... that was the unified mental cry of every single soldier. Unwilling to push them too far, Ye Li added, "The weather up north doesn't offer much use for that anyway. We probably won't have much opportunity for it this year. Once you pass your qualifications next year, you'll have the chance to bring more comrades south for training. For now, that is all. Qin Feng."
"Present, Young Master!" Qin Feng stepped forward. He wasn't overly shocked by everything Ye Li had just outlined, simply because he had already been dragged through hell and back by Dark Three countless times over recent days. It was precisely because of this that his admiration for Ye Li had grown ever deeper, to the point where his level of loyalty to her was now vaguely on par with his loyalty to the Prince of Ding. In Qin Feng's eyes, the Prince Consort of Ding whom he served was an peerless genius; you could never quite guess what other wild, brilliant ideas might be packed inside the Princess Consort's head. Looking at how the Princess Consort had managed to train her personal hidden guards to their current formidable standard in less than a year alone was proof enough of just how terrifyingly capable she truly was. Recalling Dark Three's twisted sense of humor, Qin Feng followed Ye Li toward the forest while silently offering a mental prayer for the poor soldiers left behind.
"Follow me," Ye Li instructed, turning back to him. Qin Feng acknowledged the command and hurried to keep pace, leaving the pitiful soldiers staring after him with mournful gazes left far behind. He was still struggling for his own survival under someone else's thumb—how could he possibly spare any sympathy to save them?
The forest, teeming with venomous insects, poisonous plants, traps, and marshes, felt as flat and solid as level ground beneath Ye Li's feet. Qin Feng carefully tailed close behind Ye Li while nursing a somewhat depressed realization: the Princess Consort's movements were forever a step faster than his own. The moment he reached out to kill a snake poised on a nearby tree branch, he merely caught the sound of a soft whiz, and a sharp flying dart had already pinned the snake squarely through its seven-inch vital spot, causing it to drop limply to the ground with a dull thud. Ye Li walked forward, glanced down at it, and turned back with a smile to Qin Feng, "A hundred-flower brocade snake—non-venomous, with excellent culinary and medicinal value. Take it back and give it to Master Shen; he might just teach you a trick or two on how to identify venomous creatures. Weren't you studying that recently?"
Qin Feng nodded, walked over to carefully stow away the thoroughly dead snake, and asked with a slightly embarrassed flush, "The Princess Consort recognizes every single kind of snake out there?"
Ye Li answered without the slightest bit of guilt, "I recognize most of the venomous ones. Read a few more books and you'll know them too. Don't be afraid; I've inspected this forest thoroughly, and there are actually only two species of venomous snakes here, neither of which carries particularly potent venom. Even if someone gets bitten, it's not fatal; once they move in here for training, I'll have a couple of skilled physicians stationed permanently to look after things."
Qin Feng desperately wanted to say he wasn't afraid, but when he imagined all the various snakes, insects, rats, and ants crawling around the woods, he still felt the location chosen by the Princess Consort was genuinely hair-raising.
A distance of ten li was hardly considered long for two nimble martial arts experts. Before long, the two of them arrived at a training ground situated on the opposite side of the mountain valley. To Qin Feng's surprise, this training ground, which he had assumed would be even more brutal and forbidding, wasn't nearly as harsh as he had imagined. It was still situated near the edge of the valley, but thanks to the terrain, it was actually far brighter, more open, and comfortable than the cliff bottom they had just left, with warm sunlight flooding the entire area. A quaint little courtyard stood peacefully beside a stream at the edge of the forest, and the few soldiers who had been singled out earlier were already waiting for them on the grassy clearing in front of the courtyard.
Ye Li swept her gaze over the seven men. Although their faces and bodies bore minor scratches, none of them were serious. Nodding in satisfaction, she said, "It seems your run over here went quite well. I know you all harbor doubts as to why I singled you out separately. But don't worry; the reason I did this is because your future training direction differs entirely from theirs. Likewise, the missions you will be required to execute in the future will also be different."
One of them stood up and asked, "What is the difference?"
Ye Li stated candidly, "Their future mission focus will be small-scale, intense combat—such as surprise raids, rescue operations, protection details, sniper operations, and the like. Whereas you... you may not need to fight at all. What I need from you far more is your brains. The work you will be expected to do in the future involves covert infiltration and concealment, reconnaissance, analysis, and intelligence transmission. Of course, it may also involve assassination, bodyguard details, and similar tasks." The soldiers frowned, exchanged glances with one another, and asked, "Does Young Master Chu want us to act as spies?"
"Spies?" Ye Li raised an eyebrow. "You could put it that way; intelligence gathering is indeed one of the tasks you may require in the future. However, I prefer to call it being an operative or an agent. Compared to focusing heavily on physical combat like the others, what you need to study far more includes the languages and even local dialects of various nations, psychological profiling, the local customs and cultural practices of different lands, disguise and makeup arts, tracking and counter-tracking, the establishment and management of intelligence networks, the practical application of various specialized tools, hand-to-hand combat, close-quarters assassination techniques, and so on... All of you were selected from dozens of elites as the individuals best suited in terms of family background, capability, scholarship, and intellect. Although you are different from them, you are still registered soldiers of the Mojia Army just like them; every single promise I mentioned earlier applies to you equally. Furthermore, in the event of death in the line of duty or injury, pensions and family settlement funds will be multiplied by three. Of course, before all of that, you are given the opportunity to choose to opt out. Those who withdraw may return to the other side to resume regular training."
The men remained silent for a short while. These individuals possessed the highest potential of their entire cohort. They quickly reached a decision; regardless of who this Young Master Chu truly was, they felt he was entirely different from any other commanding officer they had ever seen. Everything he spoke of sounded both novel and intensely captivating. It felt as though he was about to open the door to an entirely different journey for their futures. As men, who didn't want to make a name for themselves and achieve great success? Compared to those who were illiterate and knew only how to obey blindly, they thought things through much more clearly. "Reporting to the Young Master, we choose to stay."
Ye Li raised an eyebrow, looking at them with a slight smile as she asked, "Are you truly not afraid of death? I won't deceive you—you should know that whether one is an agent or a spy, it is an extremely dangerous trade. Moreover, even if you manage to escape mortal danger, there is a chance you may never be able to return home or see your families again."
"This subordinate understands, and we trust that the Prince and Princess will take good care of our families." It was a fair point; at the very least, compared to other armies, the Mojia Army had always treated its soldiers with exceptional generosity and benevolence.
Ye Li nodded and said, "Very well. In any case, I guarantee that your families will live free of worries regarding food and clothing for the rest of their days. You are free to rest as you please today; training officially begins tomorrow morning."
"Understood, Young Master!"