madnovel Chapter 34 Training Partner
Chapter 34 Training Partner
Butler Yan quickly finished reading the letter.
"The magistrate's letter urging surrender."
The patriarch, Yan Lie, with his tiger-like eyes wide open and his beard and hair slightly bristling, was still angry, but upon hearing this, he immediately became curious:
"Uncle Shou, how did you see it so quickly?"
The letter was very long, a full five pages long. In Yan Lie's opinion, no matter how experienced the housekeeper was, he couldn't possibly read it that quickly.
"Oh, I started reading from the last page, from the word 'but'."
Yan Lie was already furious because of this letter urging him to surrender.
Now, after hearing what the butler said, I realized that I always ask the butler to look first, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted so much of my time just now.
When they realized what was happening, they were even more furious!
"What nonsense about 'a wise man submits to circumstances'! Bah! My Yan family has been loyal and valiant for generations. How could we forget such a deep-seated blood feud!"
Butler Yan didn't know why the head of the family was suddenly so angry, even though he was just asking him questions a moment ago.
Moreover, the head of the family has been unwell recently and shouldn't be so angry.
He could only offer a weak suggestion:
"Master, please calm your anger. The situation is beyond our control now. I've heard that the Yin family has allied themselves with the Shang clan, and the Kang family has been flirting with the magistrate. Our Yan family is weak and outnumbered. In my opinion, if we can't align ourselves with the Lun and Shang families, we should at least try to reach out to Lord Zhang..."
"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, we'll fight to the death!"
Yan Lie's beard and hair stood on end: "Zhang Tianxing is a coward too. He has a first-grade cultivation level, but all he knows is to act like a coward to the imperial court. If he had stood up earlier, which of us humans wouldn't have supported him?"
Hearing this, Butler Yan simply listened.
He knew this patriarch all too well; he was definitely venting his anger by saying this.
Well, it's good to be able to vent, otherwise holding it in will only hurt your health more.
Only after Yan Lie had vented his anger and his rage subsided did he sit down weakly and say softly, "Our Yan family will handle our own affairs. Lord Zhang has already caused enough trouble..."
"Yes, I'll send a six-page letter to the magistrate, with the middle half stating that if the Yin family submits, then we will follow them," Steward Yan suggested.
Upon hearing "6 pages," Yan Lie seemed to feel a little better, and nodded in agreement to his suggestion.
Then he continued with further instructions:
"Uncle Shou, let my brothers keep a closer eye on the clan's businesses and the goods coming and going."
He sighed and continued, "My nephews, or guests of the household, who are willing, can also join the caravan for training, and they will be paid according to the market rate."
"That's exactly why I came," Butler Yan replied.
Then, he began to tell Yan Lie about the sparring session that Liu Sheng had just had with the other two sparring partners.
In particular, just one day later, he showed signs of mastering the Golden Bell Shield technique, resembling someone with superior physical constitution!
Furthermore, he defeated both sparring partners without resorting to excessive force or making things difficult for them; his character seemed much better than what I had seen yesterday.
During the final sparring session.
He patiently guided the young master, without being perfunctory.
"Furthermore, according to the Kang family's informants, it was this Liu Sheng who delivered the message to the rebels a few days ago and saved Yejia'ao. It is said that he was seriously injured as a result, and he came to our Yan family as soon as he recovered."
"Oh? Well done! These are the kind of fine young men our human race should have!"
Hearing this unexpected joy, Yan Lie realized what was happening: "Uncle Shou, you mean...?"
"Yes, I think Liu Sheng came to be a sparring partner because he's short of money for martial arts training. It's a good opportunity to invite him to guard the Yan family's caravan and then observe what happens next."
Hearing this, Yan Lie nodded: "If they perform well, then which of my brothers is willing will send a girl from the family to marry them, making them a true member of the Yan family!"
We've talked enough.
The steward realized that it was about time for Doctor Mi from Qianjin Medical Clinic to arrive, so he bowed and took his leave before heading to the gate to greet him.
On the other side, in the training ground, young master Yan Fufeng was already panting heavily from exhaustion.
At this moment, he was sitting on a small stool brought by Liu Sheng, drinking warm water brought by the maid Cui'er, while panting.
Liu Sheng looked on with a smile:
"Young master, why don't we put that rocking chair back tomorrow? Even if I don't sit in it, you'll have a place to rest, won't you?"
To his surprise, Yan Fufeng did not reply to his question, but instead asked a question out of curiosity:
"Master Liu, learning martial arts is so boring... I'm just practicing blindly, and I don't even know how far I've gotten or who I can beat."
Liu Sheng was standing in the Yin-Yang stance.
Hearing this, I thought to myself, I know how far I've progressed in my training, but I can't lend you my panel.
Perhaps because I've had this control panel for too long, and I often find it too slow, I try to find loopholes to make it faster, but I've forgotten what it's like for a normal person to practice martial arts.
Liu Sheng reflected on himself three times a day, secretly reminding himself to cherish what he had and not to slack off.
As for the young master Yan Fufeng, he could only feign profundity and say:
"There's no need to compare yourself to others. Just be a little better than you were yesterday. That's the true meaning of 'heaven rewards diligence.' I only have average aptitude, but by persisting like this every day, I've become quite good."
When Yan Fufeng heard that Liu Sheng only had inferior aptitude, his eyes were filled with disbelief.
Even though he knew it was probably true, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Sheng, are you really of inferior talent?"
"Yes, just like you."
Liu Sheng looked completely unconcerned.
Yan Fufeng clenched his small fists, and the images of Wang Zheng and Li Ying retreating in defeat flashed through his mind.
If Sheng Ge can do it, then I will definitely be able to do it in the future!
So he stood up and practiced for a while longer.
He only reluctantly stopped when Liu Sheng had stayed for a full hour and was about to leave.
Liu Sheng packed his things, carrying a folded small stool, and walked out of the moon cave, where he saw two young girls passing by.
One of them looked quite familiar.
"Mi Congrong?"
"Ah...ah? Liu Sheng?"
Today, Mi Congrong was not wearing her usual light green linen narrow-sleeved blouse and high-waisted long skirt, but instead was wearing the black training uniform of a formal disciple.
She was uncharacteristically simple.
This made Liu Sheng feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Little did he know.
A few days ago, Mi Congrong heard that Liu Sheng and Ye Qi had already become entry-level martial artists.
He immediately went to find his father and said he wanted to learn the skin-smoothing technique.
In fact, Qianjin Medical Clinic has always had good business, and it also handles the procurement of medicines for several martial arts schools. Although the unit prices are low, purchasing from several schools together reduces the cost of transporting goods to the caravan, so the total profit is still considerable.
Therefore, Dr. Mi can fully afford to have his youngest daughter undergo skin resurfacing treatments.
Mi Congrong has average physical constitution, so practicing this skill is not a problem for her. However, she had heard that after mastering the basics of skin resurfacing, the skin color would turn gray.
Humans, after all, consider white to be beautiful.
The young ladies applied thick layers of powder to make themselves look fairer.
When we're chatting and laughing together, we don't dare to make any big expressions, for fear that our powdered faces will crack and become the subject of ridicule. When we wash our faces at night after removing our makeup, we can stir up a layer of murky mud in the basin.
Mi Congrong felt that she could not accept it at all.
With the medicinal diet her father prescribed, her complexion looked fair, so she naturally couldn't bear to see herself getting darker.
But when she heard that Liu Sheng had reached the rank of dan, she struggled internally. She didn't want the gap to be too big. She thought that even if his skin was a little gray, his strength had improved, so it didn't seem like a loss.
Later, I went to Yejia'ao with my father and saw the devastation after the war, which saddened me for some time.
But one thing is one thing, and it was only when she saw that Ye Qi had also reached the rank of rank that her sense of crisis began to rise.
Unlike the carefree senior sister Yang Hongliu, she had already figured out that Ye Qi was a girl.
So she put away her previous casual clothes and changed into formal disciple clothes, which were more convenient for practicing martial arts and cultivation. She would practice the skin-smoothing technique whenever she had free time.
After finishing his daily practice, he would go out with his father to practice medicine.
Today I accompanied my father to the Yan family home.
At this moment, the father was diagnosing the head of the Yan family in the main hall.
He knew that Mi Congrong was never one to speak rudely, and he was afraid of offending Yan Lie.
So they decisively kicked her out first.
So Mi Congrong went to find Yan Sixian, whom she knew well in the Yan family. She was the daughter of Yan Lie's fifth brother, the head of the Yan family. Everyone called her the Fifth Miss.
I heard from the other party that a sparring master had recently come to the manor. He had peach blossom eyes, red lips and white teeth, and was extremely handsome.
When Mi Congrong heard the words "peach blossom eyes," she got excited and came over.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Liu Sheng again.
She chatted with Liu Sheng for a few minutes and heard him say that he came to the Yan family as a sparring partner because he was short of money for martial arts training.
Mi Congrong blurted out:
"Oh, you need to come out and earn such a small amount of money?"
She regretted it as soon as she said it.