Training Below the Cliff

處專營算計的謀士。”“Agree,” came Mo Xiuyao’s voice from behind Xu Qingchen in support of Ye Li. The two turned around to see Mo Xiuyao strolling over, his white hair fluttering slightly as it brushed against h...116. Training Below the Cliffs

Since Ye Lye had accepted Ye Li's suggestion to secretly observe the candidate, Ye Li put the matter aside and no longer paid attention to it. Sure enough, just two days after the envoys from Northern Rong arrived in the capital for the marriage alliance, news of Ye Lye’s selection results came out. The one who ultimately became the princess for a political marriage was indeed Princess Yonghua. In terms of both identity, age, and personality, Princess Yonghua was clearly the most suitable candidate. Although Princess Zhaorun immediately went to the palace to plead with the emperor on her behalf, it seemed that Mo Jingqi had said something to her because she left the palace dejectedly without saying anything more. At the time, Princess Yonghua nearly caused a commotion in the capital. In her eyes, Ye Li was the culprit responsible for making her marry an outsider and thus could not be let off the hook. Unfortunately, the Dingtian王府 is heavily guarded and is no place one can just enter easily. Meanwhile, Ye Li had already gone to relax at Princess Xifu's private residence outside the city walls.

Although Princess Xifu was in her seventies, because she paid attention to health preservation and cultivated a good temperament, she remained energetic as ever and looked no different from when they first met. She was even more delighted seeing Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao come together. The warmth of the princess made both Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao feel somewhat guilty. Since Mo Xiuyao's health had improved after showing his condition to others, and Ye Li had been away for a long time, they hadn't visited Princess Xifu outside the city walls even once during that year. Instead, she would send them gifts during important festivals. Although these items weren’t valuable, they represented her sincere care.

Princess Xifu pulled Ye Li to sit next to her and then chased away Mo Xiuyao standing by, telling him he could not eavesdrop on their private conversation. Mo Xiuyao had no choice but to leave with a wry smile.

After watching Mo Xiuyao leave, Princess Xifu held Ye Li's hand, smiling at her. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Ye Li felt that the princess’s gaze was somewhat creepy. "Aunt Empress..."

The princess looked at her with a warm expression and smiled: "I see that you've become quite thin compared to last year. Xiuyao is also not very good at taking care of his wife, how could he let a girl like you travel such a long distance to the Southern Frontier"

Ye Li lowered her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed; she herself had insisted on going to the Southern Frontier. But maybe this blame should fall on Mo Xiuyao instead The princess looked at her and nodded approvingly: "I’ve heard about your affairs in the Southern Frontier and Yongzhou from others. You’re truly a well-behaved child of Xu’s household. This time, thanks to you, things went smoothly for us in Yonglin Forest; Jingli was really too reckless. I am old now and can’t control them as before, but with your help, Xiuyao will find it easier. Men from the Dingtian王府 are born with a heavy burden on their shoulders, and it’s even harder for Xiuyao. Fortunately, you’re here." Ye Li softly said: "I should have done these things."

The princess shook her head and said, "Don’t talk about all the noble ladies in the capital; no former Dingtian王府 wives could match your capabilities. But..."

Ye Li looked at Princess Xifu with a puzzled expression, to which she smiled and said: "Xiuyao is not young anymore. Shouldn't you two start worrying about the Dingtian王府’s succession issue Now among all the royal households in the capital, only the Dingtian王府 has no heir."

Hearing this, Ye Li blushed with a speechless look at Princess Xifu's expectant face. The princess looked teasingly at her and said smilingly: "You’re a grown woman now; bearing children is just an everyday matter. You’ve been married for over a year already, what’s there to be shy about"

Ye Li felt extremely ashamed. Had she really been in this era for too long, causing her thoughts to become conservative However, regarding the matter of children… she had never seriously considered it. Firstly, her current body was actually not yet sixteen years old, and secondly, the situation at present was unsuitable for having a child. But she couldn’t straightforwardly tell Princess Dowager Dachang that she didn’t want to have a child; she could only vaguely talk about it in hopes of getting through this first. The princess dowager merely thought Ye Li was shy and lightly prompted her before letting the matter go. She was, however, inwardly planning to remind Mo Xiuyao later on. Seeing that Princess Dowager Dachang no longer questioned her, Ye Li secretly heaved a sigh of relief in her heart and quickly changed the topic, starting to talk about some interesting incidents happening in the capital city.

Mo Xiuyao only accompanied Ye Li for two days before returning to the capital. The envoys from Northern Rong had all arrived in the capital, so as a prince responsible for this peace marriage, he couldn’t avoid them. Besides going daily to keep Princess Dowager Dachang company and talk with her, Ye Li spent most of her time at the deep valley at the foot of Black Gale Mountain. Although the princess dowager knew that Ye Li went out every day, she didn’t inquire about where she was going. With this layer of cover from Princess Dowager Dachang, Ye Li’s actions became even more carefree.

After nearly half a month, when Ye Li reappeared at the foot of the cliff, seeing all the elite soldiers sweating profusely on the training ground, she nodded in satisfaction. Within less than a month to achieve such results was already quite impressive. However, it was too rushed; otherwise, they should have undergone at least two months of physical training before moving onto anything else. The soldiers, covered in dust and sweat, all felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw the ever-smiling Mr Chu reappear again. They didn’t know exactly who this Mr Chu was, but they were all aware that Qin Feng served as his personal bodyguard, which meant he must be of extraordinary status. But more importantly, they had only met Mr Chu twice before, yet each time left a deep impression on them. The first meeting saw him mercilessly shattering everyone’s confidence and then watching with a smile as they all ran and crawled across the ground. The second time, his actions stunned every single one of them and left behind tasks that would make them work their butts off for half a month. So what could Mr Chu bring this time

"Everyone, even though we haven’t seen each other in half a month, Qin Feng has reported your training progress to me. I’m very satisfied. In particular… none of you fell behind despite being the first batch to receive training. However, so far it’s just basic physical training. Not falling behind only indicates that your physical abilities and potential are good. Starting today, you will begin more detailed training; naturally, the original physical training will continue every day."

The soldiers couldn’t help but groan in their hearts—it meant they needed to squeeze time out of their already very strenuous daily training for learning new things.

Obviously, these half a month’s worth of training had been quite effective. At least the discipline awareness among these soldiers from different squads was now pretty good. Even if they inwardly grumbled, on the surface they stood straight and tall. Ye Li nodded in satisfaction in her heart and said, "Those I call out, step forward." Lowering her head to unveil the documents she held, Ye Li called out about eight names; those whose names were mentioned walked out and lined up separately. Without exception, these people all had unique skills and relatively rich knowledge backgrounds. Ye Li looked at the people Qin Feng had picked and said, "Head towards a training ground ten li southeast of here."

A few soldiers who were specially selected hesitated for a moment before one stepped forward: "Mr Chu, may I ask what we are to do Why aren’t we training with everyone else"

Ye Li smiled and said, "Because I think you need different kinds of training. Of course… it would probably be best if I could first seek your opinions. Are you afraid to die"

The soldiers instantly felt insulted and glared angrily at Ye Li, saying, "If one is afraid to die, then they’re not a soldier from the Mo Family Army!"

"Only cowards are afraid of death!"

"We aren’t afraid to die, but we want to know what exactly it is that we have to do! We at least don’t want to die without knowing why."

Ye Li wasn’t angry; she nodded with a smile and said, "Good. I like people who think for themselves. But now… the first thing you need to do is obey, secondly completely obey, thirdly… absolutely obey! Understand" Ye Li’s solemn voice made everyone pause; all noise on the training ground immediately stopped. Whether they were singled out or left behind, the soldiers chorused in unison: "Understood!"

"Very well, then run now, for fifteen minutes."

The person who was called did not hesitate and turned to run out of the training ground, disappearing into the dense forest.

Ye Li looked back at the people left behind and said with a smile, "Don't worry about them; I won't really make them go to their deaths. Now you should worry about yourselves. Next up are weight-carrying training, full-armed swimming training, wilderness survival training, breaking out and countering breakout training, hiding and counter-hiding training, infiltration, intelligence gathering training, etc. Your instructors will arrive early tomorrow morning. Furthermore, the final assessment is scheduled for two months from now. I can tell you what the assessment entails so that you have an idea of what to expect. You'll carry forty catties worth of weight and a day's worth of military rations while surviving in the wilderness for seven days. Your task objective will be to ambush a garrison of six hundred Black Cloud Cavalry and Dark Guard soldiers located one thousand two hundred miles away. Along the way, you must avoid being discovered or stealing food from farmers' homes and livestock; if caught by local garrisons or patrol forces, you are out. If captured or seriously injured during ambushes along the route, or if you fail to meet your objective within the specified time limit, you will be eliminated as well. Understand" All the soldiers in the training ground had an ashen look on their faces. They originally thought that they were already being put through tough training, but Lord Chu always found ways to make it even tougher for them. Compared to what was coming next, the current training was like taking a leisurely walk.

Ye Li raised her eyebrows and looked at them, saying, "You should be thankful that this isn't winter; otherwise your lives would be even harder. But don't worry, I'll make up for it this winter. By the way... do you want to add a sun exposure resistance training"

No… This was what all the soldiers thought in their hearts. Ye Li did not push them: "It's no use here with this weather anyway; there probably won't be many chances this year. Once you're qualified, next year you might have more opportunities to train together with your fellow soldiers in the south. For now, that’s all. Qin Feng."

"Yes, Lord!" Qin Feng stepped forward. He was not greatly shocked by what Ye Li said because he had already gone through countless near-death experiences under Dark Three's orders over these days. It was precisely this experience that caused him to admire her even more. The loyalty he felt for Ye Li was gradually on par with the loyalty he felt towards King Ding. In Qin Feng’s eyes, his lordess, Lady of Prince Ding, was an extraordinary genius whose mind was full of bizarre and ingenious ideas. Just by looking at how she had trained several Dark Guards to this level in less than a year, one could see just how far beyond ordinary she really was. Thinking about the mischievous Dark Three, Qin Feng silently prayed for the soldiers as he followed Ye Li into the forest.

"Follow me," said Ye Li as she turned around and looked at him. Qin Feng responded and fell in behind her, leaving behind a group of pitifully looking soldiers. He was still struggling to survive under someone else's control; how could he help them

The forest filled with venomous snakes, insects, traps, and swamps seemed like flat ground beneath Ye Li’s feet. Qin Feng followed closely but felt somewhat dejected as Lady of Prince Ding always moved slightly faster than him. As soon as his hand was about to reach out to kill the snake perched on a branch nearby, he heard a faint sound; there was already a sharp dagger stuck in the middle of its body two feet above the ground, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud. Ye Li walked forward and bent down to look at it before turning around and smiling at Qin Feng: "A hundred flowers snake, non-venomous, but very useful for both practical and medicinal purposes. Take it back and show it to Mr Shen; he might teach you some methods to identify venomous creatures. Haven't you been learning this recently"

Qin Feng nodded and went over carefully to collect the dead snake, somewhat embarrassed as he asked, "Does Lordess even recognize all snakes"

Ye Li answered without a hint of guilt: "Most venomous ones are recognizable. The more books you read, the better off you'll be. Don't worry; I've carefully examined this forest and there are actually only two kinds of poisonous snakes here, both with relatively weak poison. Even if they're not immediately fatal, once your fellow soldiers start training here, I’ll make sure to have some skilled doctors stationed here."

Qin Feng wanted to say he wasn't afraid, but after thinking about all the snakes and insects in this forest, he still felt that Lordess had chosen a place that was truly terrifying.

A distance of ten miles isn't long for two agile individuals. Soon, the duo appeared at a training ground on the other side of the valley. Qin Feng was surprised to find that this place wasn’t as harsh and rigorous as he had imagined it would be. It was still near the edge of the valley, but due to its topography, it was even more open and comfortable than where they had been staying at the bottom of a cliff. The area basked in plenty of sunlight. A small courtyard stood beside a stream by the forest, and the few people who had been called out earlier were standing on the grass in front of the yard waiting for them.

Ye Li glanced at the seven people. Although they had minor scratches on their faces and bodies, nothing too serious. She nodded with satisfaction and said, "It looks like you’ve also been doing well. I know that there are doubts in your minds about why I singled you out. But don’t worry, this is because your future direction of study will be different from them. And the tasks you’ll have to carry out in the future will differ as well."

One of them stood up and asked, "What’s the difference"

Ye Li said candidly, "Their future task direction is small-scale intense battles, such as ambushes, rescues, protection, sniping, etc. But you… may not need to fight at all. I need your brains more than anything else. What you’ll be doing in the future would involve infiltration and concealment, exploration and analysis of intelligence, and perhaps assassination or protection."

A few soldiers frowned, looked at each other and said, "Does Young Master Chu want us to work as spies"

"Spies" Ye Li raised her eyebrows. "You can put it that way too; this is one of the tasks you might need to carry out in the future. However, I prefer calling it special agents or intelligence officers. While they focus more on martial training, you will have to study languages and local dialects from all countries, psychological analysis, customs and practices across different regions, disguise techniques, tracking and counter-tracking skills, establishing and managing an intelligence network, as well as practical use of various tools, grappling skills, close-range assassination techniques, etc. You were chosen from among these dozens of elite soldiers because you are the most suitable in terms of family background, ability, knowledge, and brains. Although your training will be different from theirs, you’ll still be registered under the Black Family Army like them, and all my previous promises to them apply to you as well. Moreover, if anyone falls martyr or gets injured, the compensation money and resettlement fee would be tripled. Of course, before that, there’s a chance for you to choose to withdraw from this training. Those who withdraw can return over there and continue their current training."

The few people remained silent for a moment; they were among the most promising individuals in this group of trainees. They quickly made up their minds; although they didn’t know exactly who Young Master Chu was, they felt that he was different from other officers. What he said fascinated them and seemed to promise them an extraordinary future career. Who wouldn’t want to achieve fame and success Compared with the others who were illiterate and only knew how to obey orders, they thought more clearly about it. "My lord, we will stay."

Ye Li raised her eyebrows and smiled at them. She said, "Are you really not afraid of death I won't lie to you, you should know that whether as a spy or an agent, it’s a very dangerous job. Even if there’s no risk to your life, you might never be able to return home or see your family again."

"We understand; we believe that His Royal Highness and Her Royal Consort would take good care of our families." That was true at least compared with other armies, the Black Family Army treated its soldiers very well.

Ye Li nodded. "Very good, I promise to make sure your family members live a comfortable life for the rest of their lives. You may rest freely today and training will start tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord!rse and hopped on its back saying, "Let’s think about it later. If we don’t hurry now, the Duke and Duchess are going to cross Suixue Pass."Moxiurao's group didn't encounter any difficulties when they...