Training under the cliff

  Training under the cliff

  Because Yelü Ye accepted Ye Li's suggestion to secretly observe the candidates for the thousand gold, Ye Li turned around and threw this matter aside, no longer paying attention to it. As expected, two days after the Northern Expedition's envoy arrived in the capital, news of Yelü Ye's selection results spread out, and the one who finally became the princess of Heqin was indeed Lady Ronghua. Whether it was her identity, age, or personality, Lady Ronghua was clearly the most suitable candidate. Although Princess Shaoren went to the palace that day to plead with the emperor, it is unknown what Mo Jingqi said to her, and Princess Shaoren only came out of the palace in a daze, not saying much more. At that time, Lady Ronghua almost turned the capital upside down, and in her eyes, Ye Li, who caused her to marry into a foreign tribe, was naturally also not spared. Unfortunately, the Dingguo King's mansion was heavily guarded and was not a place where one could enter at will, and at this time, Ye Li had already gone to the outskirts of the city to relax in the villa of the Great Empress Dowager Xifeng.

  Although the Grand Duchess Heefu is over 70 years old, perhaps due to her usual attention to health and good mental cultivation, she still looks spirited and energetic. Compared to when I saw her a year ago, there's no difference. Seeing Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao come together made her smile even more. The Grand Duchess's enthusiasm made Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao feel somewhat guilty. For over a year after Mo Xiuyao's body was revealed, Ye Li went out for a long time again, and the two never came to visit the Grand Duchess. On the contrary, every New Year's Eve or other festivals, the old lady would send someone to give them some gifts. Although they were not expensive things, they were still the old lady's kind intentions and love.

  The Empress Dowager pulled Ye Li to her side and sat down, looked at Mo Xiuyao standing aside, then chased him away saying she wanted to have a private conversation with Ye Li. Mo Xiuyao had no choice but to leave with a mixture of laughter and tears.

  Watching Mo Xiuyao leave, Da Zhang Gongzhu pulled Ye Lixi's hand and smiled at her with a sly smile. Ye Lixi suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and thought that Da Zhang Gongzhu's eyes were somewhat terrifying, "Imperial Aunt..."

  The Grand Princess looked at her with a warm smile and said, "I think you've lost a lot of weight compared to last year. That little scoundrel Shu Yao doesn't know how to take care of his wife either. How could he let you, a young woman, travel all the way to the southern border?"

  Ye Li lowered her head, somewhat embarrassed. After all, it was she who had insisted on going to Nanjiang in the first place. But this black pot would still be borne by Mo Xiu Yao. The Grand Princess looked at her and nodded in satisfaction: "I've heard about what happened between you and Yongzhou in Nanjiang. You're really a good child from the Xu family. This time, we owe it to you for what happened in Yonglin. That Jing Lei is indeed too reckless. I'm getting old and can't control them anymore, but with your help, Xiu Yao will have an easier time. The men of the Dingguo Wangfu are born with heavy responsibilities on their shoulders, and it's even harder for Xiu Yao. Fortunately, you're here." Ye Li said softly: "These are things I should do."

  The Grand Princess shook her head and said: "Don't mention the many talented women in the capital, even the queens of past dynasties couldn't have done better than you. However..."

  Ye Li looked at the Empress Dowager with a puzzled expression, and the Empress Dowager smiled and said: "Xiu Yao is not young anymore, shouldn't you be concerned about the issue of succession in the Dingguo Kingdom? Among all the royal families in the capital, only the Dingguo Kingdom does not have an heir."

  Upon hearing this, Ye Li's face suddenly turned crimson. Tongue-tied, she stared at the expectant Da Zhang Gong Zhu for a long time, unable to utter a word. Da Zhang Gong Zhu teased her with a smile: "You child, giving birth is just an ordinary thing, you've been married for over a year and still feel shy about it?"

  Ye Li felt extremely embarrassed in her heart, wondering if she had really become too conservative after staying in this era for too long. However, regarding the matter of children...she truly hadn't thought about it before. Firstly, her current body was actually not even sixteen years old yet, and secondly, the current situation wasn't suitable for having children. But she couldn't directly tell the Empress Dowager that she didn't want to have children, so she could only be vague and perfunctory in her response, hoping to muddle through. The Empress Dowager thought Ye Li was just being shy, so after mentioning a few words, she let it pass. Instead, she made a mental note to remind Mo Xiu Yao about it later. Seeing that the Empress Dowager wasn't asking any more questions, Ye Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart and quickly changed the subject, starting to talk about some interesting things happening in the capital city.

  Mo Xiu Yao only stayed with Ye Li for two days before returning to the capital, where the Northern Yan's welcoming envoy had already arrived. As the prince in charge of this diplomatic marriage, he naturally couldn't avoid meeting them. Ye Li spent most of her time in the deep valley below Hei Feng Mountain Cliff, except for visiting Empress Dowager every day. Although Empress Dowager knew Ye Li went out every day, she didn't ask about Ye Li's whereabouts. With Empress Dowager's cover, Ye Li's actions became even more unrestrained.

  After nearly half a month, when Ye Li reappeared at the foot of the mountain, he saw a group of elite soldiers sweating profusely on the training ground and nodded in satisfaction. The results they had achieved in less than a month were already quite good. If it weren't for the fact that time was too tight, they should have received at least two months of physical training before discussing anything else. The dusty and sweaty soldiers saw Ye Li reappear with a smile on his face and couldn't help but wipe their sweat in their hearts. They didn't know what identity this Chu Gongzi held, but they all knew Qin Feng's identity. To be able to make Qin Feng serve as his personal bodyguard, this Chu Gongzi must have an extraordinary status. However, that wasn't the point; what was important was that they had only seen Chu Gongzi twice, but each time had left a deep impression on them. The first time they met, this young master ruthlessly crushed everyone's confidence and then smiled as he watched them all crawl on the ground. The second time they met, Chu Gongzi took action and shocked everyone, leaving behind a task that made them work to the point of exhaustion for half a month. And this time, what would Chu Gongzi bring?

  "Ladies and gentlemen, although it's been half a month since we last met, Qin Feng has reported your training progress to me. I'm very satisfied. Especially... you are all the first batch of people who received training, and not one of you dropped out. However, previously it was only basic physical training, and not dropping out only shows that your physical ability and potential are good. From today on, you will begin to receive more detailed training, of course, the original physical training will continue every day." The soldiers couldn't help but secretly lament in their hearts, which means they need to squeeze out time from their already very tiring daily training to learn other things.

  It's clear that the training for nearly half a month has been effective, at least these soldiers from different teams now have good discipline. Even if they're secretly complaining, on the surface they still stand upright and straight. Ye Li nodded in satisfaction to herself: "Those whose names I called out, come forward." Lowering her head to open the scroll in her hand, Ye Li read out seven or eight names, and the people who were called out walked out one by one to form another line. These people all had a special skill and relatively rich knowledge. Ye Li looked at the people Qin Feng had chosen and said: "You go wait for me at the training grounds ten miles southeast."

  A few specially selected soldiers hesitated for a moment, one of them stepped forward and asked: "Lord Chu, may I ask what we are going to do? Why can't we train with everyone else?"

  Ye Li smiled and said: "Because I think you need some different training. Of course... it seems that we should ask for your opinions first. Are you afraid of death?"

  The soldiers suddenly felt a bit insulted and glared at Ye Li furiously, "Afraid of death? Then you're not a Mo Family soldier!"

  "Cowards are afraid of death!"

  "We are not afraid of death, but we want to know what we are doing! At least we don't want to die in vain."

  Ye Li didn't get angry, nodded and smiled: "Very good, I like people who have their own thoughts. But now... the first thing you need to do is obey, the second is completely obey, and the third is... absolutely obey! Do you understand?" Ye Li's calm and solemn voice made everyone stunned, and the school field suddenly became quiet. Whether it was the soldiers who were pointed out or left behind, they all stopped discussing and said in unison: "Understood!"

  "Alright, now run forward for one minute."

  The person who was pointed at turned around and ran out of the school field, disappearing into the dense forest.

  Ye Li turned around and looked at the people who stayed behind, smiling: "Don't worry about them, I won't really let them go to their deaths. What you should be worried about is yourselves. Next, you will learn heavy load training, full-armed swimming training, wilderness survival training, breakthrough and anti-breakthrough training, ambush and anti-ambush training, as well as infiltration and intelligence reconnaissance training. Your instructor will arrive tomorrow morning, and the final assessment will be in two months. I can tell you about the assessment projects so that you have a mental preparation. Carrying 40 kilograms of heavy load with one day's worth of military rations for wilderness survival for seven days. Mission objective: sneak attack on a Black Cloud Rider and Dark Guard Allied Army stationed 1,200 miles away with 600 people. Requirements: there are two teams along the way that will search for and ambush you at any time; do not steal food and livestock from farmers along the way; do not expose your identity; if caught by local garrison or patrol, you're out; if captured by ambushes and seriously injured, you're out; if you fail to reach the target within the time limit, you're also out." The faces of all the soldiers in the training ground were pale. Originally, they thought their training was very hard, but Chu Gongzi always knew how to make them even more miserable. Compared to what's coming next, the current training is simply a vacation.

  Ye Li raised an eyebrow and said to them, "You should be grateful that it's not winter now, otherwise your days would be even harder. But don't worry, I'll make up for it this winter. Also... do you want to add another explosive resistance training?"

  Don't... This is the heart's desire of all soldiers. Ye Li didn't find it difficult, "The weather in the north isn't very useful either. There probably won't be any opportunities this year. Once you're qualified, next year there will be a chance to bring more companions to train in the south. For now, that's all. Qin Feng."

  "Yes, young master!" Qin Feng stepped forward. What he said to Ye Li was not a big shock to him, as he had already died and come back many times in the hands of An San over the past few days. It was precisely because of this that he admired Ye Li even more. His loyalty to Ye Li had already reached the same level as his loyalty to Ding Wang Qi. In Qin Feng's eyes, the Empress he followed was a rare talent, and you could never guess what kind of strange ideas were hidden in her mind. Just looking at how the Empress had trained several dark guards around her to this point in less than a year, one could see just how exceptional she was. Thinking of An San's cruel nature, Qin Feng followed Ye Li into the forest, silently praying for the soldiers in his heart.

  "Follow me." Ye Li turned back to him and said. Qin Feng responded and followed, leaving behind the poor soldiers who were looking at him with pleading eyes. He was still struggling in someone else's hands, how could he save them?

  The forest, full of poisonous insects and weeds, traps and swamps, seemed to be a flat ground under Yelü's feet. Qin Feng carefully followed behind Yelü, but was somewhat disheartened to find that the princess's movements were always faster than his. Just as he wanted to take out the snake on the nearby tree branch, he only heard a faint sound, and the two-foot-long snake had already been pierced by a sharp flying dart and fell to the ground with a thud. Yelü walked forward, looked down at it for a moment, then turned back to Qin Feng with a smile: "The Hundred Flowers Brocade Snake is non-toxic, and has good practical and medicinal value. Take it back to show Mr. Shen, he might be able to teach you some methods of identifying poisonous substances. Aren't you learning about this recently?"

  Qin Feng nodded and walked over to carefully pick up the dead snake, asking with a hint of embarrassment: "Does the princess know all these snakes?"

  Ye Li replied without any guilt: "Most of the poisonous ones are recognizable, you just need to read a bit more and you'll know. Don't be afraid, I've carefully checked this forest and there are only two kinds of venomous snakes here, neither of which is particularly deadly. Even if something happens, when they come in for training, I'll find some skilled doctors to stay on site."

  Qin Feng really wanted to say he wasn't afraid, but thinking about the various snakes, insects, rats and ants in this forest, he still felt that the queen's choice of location was somewhat eerie.

  A distance of ten li was not considered long for two agile people, and before long, the two appeared on a training ground on the other side of the valley. What surprised Qin Feng was that this training ground, which he had thought would be even more rigorous, was not as harsh as he had imagined. The location was still close to the edge of the valley, and due to the terrain, it was even brighter and more comfortable than the cliff bottom where they were previously standing. A small courtyard stood by the stream at the edge of the forest, and several people who had been mentioned earlier were waiting for their arrival on the grass in front of the yard.

  Ye Li scanned the seven people, although there were some minor scratches on their faces and bodies, but they didn't seem serious. She nodded in satisfaction: "It seems that your training has also been quite good. I know you have doubts in your hearts about me separating you from them. But don't worry, the reason I did this is because your future learning direction will be different from theirs. Similarly, the tasks you will need to carry out in the future will also be different from theirs."

  One of them stood up and asked: "What's different?"

  Ye Li said calmly: "Their future mission direction is small-scale intense battles, such as raids, rescues, protection, sniping and so on. And you... may not need to fight, what I need more is your brain. What you will need to do in the future is to lurk and hide, explore and analyze and transmit intelligence, of course, it's also possible to be assassination, escort and so on." Several soldiers furrowed their brows, looked at each other and said: "Does Master Chu want us to be spies?"

  "Special agents?" Ye Li raised an eyebrow and said, "It can also be put that way. This is one of the tasks you may need to do in the future. However, I prefer to call them special operatives or spies. Unlike those who focus on martial arts training, what you need to learn more about are languages from various countries, even local dialects, psychological analysis, customs and practices of different countries, disguise techniques, tracking and counter-tracking, establishment and management of intelligence networks, as well as practical uses of various tools, hand-to-hand combat, close-range assassination techniques... You were all selected from the dozens of elite candidates who are most suitable in terms of family background, ability, knowledge, and intellect. Although you are different from them, you are also registered under the Mo Family Army just like they are. All the promises I made last time still apply to you. And if you die or get injured on duty, the compensation and settlement fees will be tripled. Of course, before that, you have the opportunity to choose to quit. Those who quit can go back to continue training."

  A few people were silent for a while, and these few people were the most promising ones in this batch. Soon they made a decision, although they didn't know what kind of person this Chu Gongzi was, but they felt that he was different from other generals. What he said was both novel and attractive to them. It seemed to bring a different journey to their future life. As men, who doesn't want to make a name for themselves? Who doesn't want to achieve success? Compared to those who only knew how to obey without knowing the characters, they thought more clearly. "We'll stay, sir."

  Ye Li raised an eyebrow, looking at them with a smile: "You really aren't afraid of death. I won't deceive you, you should know that whether it's espionage or assassination, both are extremely dangerous things. And even if there isn't any danger to your life, it's possible that you'll never be able to return home and see your family again."

  "Understood, I believe that the prince and princess will take good care of our families." This was true, at least compared to other armies, the Mo family army had always treated its soldiers very well.

  Ye Li nodded and said: "Very well, in any case I guarantee that your family will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. You can take a break today, training starts tomorrow."

  "Yes, young master!"