Chapter 186 Actually, it's not just about this

In fact, the Blind Man's arrangement was more than just this; the honor guard was merely an appearance.

A military meritorious marquis of Great Yan placed in Chu would be equivalent to a Pillar of State. Although in terms of rules and regulations, it wasn't possible to match the Pillars of State over there, the inherent foundation was there.

So, there also had to be a traveling opera troupe as decoration.

The Blind Man and Si Niang couldn't get away, and the other Demon Kings were all busy, so Gou Moli was recalled for the trip. After all, Gou Moli's performance in Yingdu last time was very good, and his own ability was more than enough to be a strategist.

He Chunlai would also accompany them. He Chunlai was the Blind Man's preferred assistant, and this time he was accompanying not purely to cook, but to really start doing some secretarial work.

Of course, if conditions permitted, he could cook on the side.

At the same time, a group of younger students would become "servants" on this trip, doing some odd jobs. Though they were called "servants," it was actually to let them see the world.

The development of a group must pay attention to the cultivation of the next generation.

Sometimes, it's not about having the next generation take over, but if you don't start doing this and let others see this process and this posture, you can't give people a sense of security and stability that you will continue to operate and continue to exist.

Therefore, the crown prince is the foundation of the country, because with the crown prince, the future development of the country can be guaranteed, and people's hearts will not be so turbulent.

As for the accompanying force,

The other Demon Kings were all busy, Fan Li had to be the foreman, and Mo Wan would definitely be there. What was lacking was a force that could be presentable, so Chen Daxia, who had been doing odd jobs in the red tent these days, was naturally chosen.

Although Chen Daxia sometimes goes back to Qian and suddenly reappears, as long as he's there, he's reliable. That's the power of character.

As for the Sword Saint, there were no plans to invite him. Good steel should be used on the edge of the blade. It's impossible to ask him to do everything.

But,

The Sword Saint still came.

…

"It really wasn't me who arranged for Liu Dahu's name to be put in," Zheng Fan said firmly. "I didn't even plan for you to come along. I already called Chen Daxia, why would I do that again?"

The Sword Saint stood in front of Zheng Fan, his brow slightly furrowed.

Yes,

His stepson, Liu Dahu, had successfully been selected into the student soldiers accompanying Lord Zheng on this trip to Yingdu.

Zheng Fan shrugged,

"You know, when I do things, even if I want to trick you into helping me, I'll do it smoothly, making you feel like you're in a spring breeze. How could it be so awkward?"

To this,

The Sword Saint didn't dwell on "you're tricking me,"

Because some tacit understanding, both sides are actually very clear.

The Sword Saint is pretending to be confused, as long as he's comfortable and satisfied, and Lord Zheng can always make him feel that way.

At this time,

Xiao Yibo walked over with a stack of booklets and placed them on the coffee table in front of Zheng Fan.

"Lord, I've already marked them."

"Okay, you can go down."

"Yes, Lord."

Zheng Fan picked up the booklet in front of him and flipped through it a few times. It had already been marked with a red pen. Then, Zheng Fan put the booklet down and tapped it with his finger.

He said:

"In cultural classes, Liu Dahu is okay, above average.

But,

Archery, first is Zheng Man, who is also half my godson, that wolf cub, Liu Dahu is third.

Horsemanship, first is Zheng Man, Liu Dahu is fifth.

Wrestling, first is… Liu Dahu, second is Zheng Man.

Weight-bearing, endurance, long-distance running, Liu Dahu is all first."

Zheng Fan looked at the Sword Saint,

And continued:

"So, there really wasn't any back door this time. It's just that you've trained your son too well. He was selected into this team based on his overall grades."

"........" The Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint believed that this wasn't fabricated by Zheng Fan, because some things he hadn't realized before, but now, he thought of them.

Because the Sword Saint himself is a martial arts practitioner, he knows better how to nourish his body. At his request, Liu Dahu's diet has always been very good, with meat basically never lacking.

And he takes Liu Dahu to sit in meditation every day, commonly known as... refining qi.

The refining qi here is different from that of a Qi Refiner, but it has the effect of adjusting qi and blood, that is, "relaxing the muscles and promoting blood circulation" for oneself every day.

And Liu Dahu is in school during the day, half a day in class, and the other half of the day, the martial arts instructor is actually teaching them the skills of archery and horsemanship, which is equivalent to exercising the body every day.

Perhaps, some things that the Sword Saint originally didn't think were important, but in fact... how many people in this world can get the Sword Saint's personal instruction from an early age?

Even the breathing technique he taught Liu Dahu was tailored to Liu Dahu's own physique and meridians. Most masters in this world simply can't do this.

So,

Eating well, practicing well,

In addition, Liu Dahu himself is very hardworking, very dedicated, and very attentive,

So,

Good grades are nothing, bad grades would be strange.

Why are children from aristocratic families more likely to succeed in both literature and martial arts?

Why is it that among the Four Great Swordsmen, only the Sword Saint started from the grassroots, and the other three have family backgrounds?

That's the reason.

"How about this, I'll erase Liu Dahu's name," Zheng Fan said. "Originally, I really didn't plan to have you go to Yingdu with me. Actually, there's nothing big going on there,

Just an peripheral prince almost died."

Saying that,

Lord Zheng stretched,

And said:

"You know, in Great Yan, princes don't seem to be worth much."

Lord Zheng had a record of abolishing the fifth limb of a prince in his early years.

The Sword Saint hesitated for a moment,

Finally,

He sighed,

And said:

"This is the result of his own ability, and it's also an opportunity he obtained through his own ability. He admires you very much."

"Mhm."

"I also know that almost all the children in the school admire you. They all take you as an example."

"Mhm."

First of all, although the school has a director, the textbooks and courses are all compiled and arranged by the Blind Man.

With the Blind Man's ability, it's naturally impossible to allow yin and yang people to appear below;

Secondly,

Lord Zheng's own achievements and rise are truly impeccable;

Most importantly,

This group of children in the school are the earliest immigrants in Xuehai Pass. They have felt the love from the Earl's Mansion, so their cohesion and centripetal force are stronger.

What the Marquis's Mansion has to do next is to continue to spread that love, with Fengxin City as the center, under the premise that the cost is controllable.

"He earned this qualification through his own efforts, and as his father, I can't take it away, because the road is ultimately his own to walk.

He's a good kid."

If there's a layer between a stepfather and a stepdaughter, then there must be at least three layers between a stepfather and a stepson.

There's also a saying among the people that if a widow raises a daughter, you can treat her as an extra jacket, but if a widow raises a son, then wait for him to kick you out of your nest when you get old.

But Liu Dahu has been sensible since he was a child.

In Xuehai Pass, every time he went to and from school, when the Sword Saint, who was still injured at the time, supported himself with crutches to pick him up, he would always step forward and help the Sword Saint in front of his classmates, calling "Dad."

The Sword Saint really treats him as his own son.

"Okay."

Lord Zheng agreed.

Then,

Silently waiting.

Before long,

The Sword Saint got up,

And said:

"I'll go with you."

"Okay."

Perfect.

The Sword Saint planned to go back, but Zheng Fan stopped him and said:

"Last time I told you to let Tiantian take you as his teacher..."

The Sword Saint didn't stop,

Walked out,

And waved his hand;

"I won't raise a son for Tian Wujing."

Zheng Fan smiled,

"Pretentious."

He didn't know,

The Sword Saint had stood in front of that child,

And asked him,

Want to learn swordsmanship?

The child said:

He wants to be like his godfather and practice the saber.

…

He was interrupted during his usual saber practice in the afternoon.

The Sword Saint's matter had also delayed him for a while, so Lord Zheng simply changed his approach.

He had Xu Chuang brought up,

Xu Chuang was locked in shackles, and his sea of qi was partially sealed by the Sword Saint's sword qi, so he was harmless in front of the sixth-rank Lord Zheng.

Lord Zheng sat in a chair, looking at Xu Chuang kneeling below. This person had tried to fish in troubled waters when he wasn't in Xuehai Pass.

Then,

The Blind Man planned to let him go,

Then,

He was caught back by Chen Daxia.

Maybe,

He really has a fate with his side.

"How's the taste of the water prison?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Reporting to the Lord, the corpse poison has been解开 (jie kai, undone), and the other tastes are just fun."

Liang Cheng helped him解开 (jie kai, undo) the corpse poison, otherwise, this guy might have already died.

So,

Xu Chuang himself was also confused,

He was arrested,

And then released,

He was arrested again, he was imprisoned again, and then he was解开 (jie kai, undone) his poison;

Jianghu people naturally have their own rules, but after being tossed back and forth with such alternations of big sticks and sweet dates, he was actually a little dumbfounded.

He wanted to do something to return the favor, really return the favor, but as the Blind Man guessed, the person who sent him over was actually not that person at all, and there was no way to follow the vine to find the melon.

"I heard..." Lord Zheng took an ear pick and picked his ear, "Your Wenmingshan's sabers and swords are very爛 (lan, rotten)?"

As a jianghu sect that practiced sabers and swords,

They had actually ended up becoming a well-known medical holy land inside and outside Liang,

Which was enough to show how拉胯 (la kua, terrible) their martial arts were.

"Reporting to the Lord, it's because my Wenmingshan's swordsmanship is too superb, and my saber technique is even more superb, so my Wenmingshan's disciples become even more hopeless in dual-wielding swords and sabers."

"Oh?" Lord Zheng smiled, "Oh, that's quite a skillful way of putting it. Tsk, can you wield a saber now?"

"Reporting to the Lord, I can still wield a saber."

Although he was wearing shackles and his sea of qi was sealed, wielding a saber was still no problem.

"Bestow a saber."

A guard stepped forward and handed a saber to Xu Chuang.

Xu Chuang took the saber, saluted Zheng Fan with the saber, and then began to wield it.

After finishing a section,

He sheathed his saber;

Xu Chuang's steps were a little unsteady. Under such weight and such restrictions, any activity would consume more energy than usual.

Zheng Fan said with some doubt:

"How does this Lord feel that this saber technique is just so-so?"

Zheng Fan's saber practice didn't pursue any special saber techniques. In the jianghu, saber and sword manuals were actually divided into different levels, similar to "heaven, earth, black, and yellow grades";

But Zheng Fan first asked Ding Hao, and Ding Hao said that practicality was enough.

Later,

He asked the Sword Saint again, and the Sword Saint said that he knew there were good sword manuals in this world, but he had never seen any sword manuals that could make one invincible as soon as one left seclusion;

Later,

With the most cautious mindset,

Zheng Fan asked the King of Jingnan,

The King of Jingnan's reply was:

"Do sabers need to be practiced?"

So,

What Lord Zheng had always practiced was actually the most orthodox saber technique in the Yan army, because it was suitable for battle formations.

Too many fancy things were useless. Surviving on the battlefield was the most important thing.

Zheng Fan drew his Wuyazhi (乌雅之, name of the saber),

Although his back ached, his legs were a little cramped,

He still practiced a set,

After sheathing his saber,

Lord Zheng threw Wuyazhi (乌雅之, name of the saber) to the guards beside him,

Supported his waist with his left hand, walked to the coffee table, picked up tea, took two sips,

And said:

"What do you think?"

"The Lord's saber technique is simple and honest. At first glance, it's from the military's saber technique."

"What's the difference between that and the set you just did?"

"Reporting to the Lord, they're on par."

"Isn't that a contradiction?"

"Lord, I practice both sabers and swords, so I can see more clearly and make some comparisons;

Martial artists practicing sabers are different from swordsmen using swords. A martial artist's saber is actually an accessory. The strongest thing about a martial artist is still his physique.

Saber techniques that are presentable actually have no essential difference. The key is still the physique.

Swordsmen using swords emphasize the unity of man and sword;

In my opinion, martial artists using sabers are actually the true unity of man and saber. The saber is a supplement to the martial artist's physique.

The most important thing

Is still the tempering of one's own physique and the improvement of qi and blood,

Then, control the saber with your body.

The merit of the saber technique lies not in the saber manual,

But in the strength of one's own physique and qi and blood, and the契合 (qi he, fit) between the saber and oneself to complement each other."

Lord Zheng heard this,

Nodded thoughtfully,

And said:

"I understand what you mean. The first thing is to temper the body and improve qi and blood. On this basis, you can practice this saber as freely and comfortably as possible?"

………

Litian City,

Former Jingnan Marquis Mansion.

There's no warm room in the backyard, no scene of spring all year round with flowers blooming.

But in fact,

Many flowers used to be planted here, many, many… azaleas.

There were also partitions made below, originally intending to make warm rooms.

Tian Wujing came from the Tian family, and he had lived good days before.

But,

Now these are not needed.

The desolation of the entire garden is the most appropriate scene at this time.

On the threshold,

A white-haired man sat there,

He wasn't sitting there with dull eyes,

Nor was he depressed there,

He was watching there very seriously,

But the things he was watching,

In the eyes of ordinary people,

Simply can't be seen.

This is not an imaginary escape, but a kind of self-immersion.

Perhaps,

Making oneself disheveled, making oneself miserable,

Making oneself look so sad that anyone who looks at you feels sad,

Seems to be a kind of release;

On the contrary,

Like now,

That's real strength.

No,

It can't be called strength either,

Because he, Tian Wujing, has not always liked to stand,

But he,

Has long forgotten what posture it is to kneel.

A guest came to the Marquis Mansion.

This was a very surprising thing, because when the King of Jingnan returned to the Marquis Mansion, even the eunuch who was sent to announce the imperial decree couldn't move this gate.

The fifth prince of Yingdu was assassinated, such a big thing happened, it was impossible for the Prince of Cheng's Mansion not to send someone to inform Litian City.

But they themselves didn't think that the people they sent to inform would be able to enter that Marquis Mansion.

So, they also sent an official letter to the Pingxi Marquis Mansion at the same time.

Of course, the official letter to Yanjing was also essential.

In the courtyard of the Marquis Mansion, there was an extra pair of cloth shoes. A middle-aged man who looked no different from a porter on the street walked in and knelt down to the one sitting on the threshold:

"Your Highness."

Tian Wujing withdrew his gaze, as if saying goodbye to someone.

Then,

His gaze,

Fell on this man.

Even the Pingxi Marquis, who had called him "Brother" more than once,

Had to abide by some rules when facing the King of Jingnan. This meant how terrifying the pressure the King of Jingnan gave people.

He had defeated the Sword Saint,

And he was better than the Sword Saint,

He had hundreds of thousands more iron cavalry behind him!

"Have you found it?"

"I have, Your Highness."

The man took out a letter from his arms, placed it in front of him, and then kowtowed three times. Without waiting for instructions, he withdrew on his own.

Tian Wujing got up,

Walked over,

And picked up the letter.

The envelope was black.

He didn't open it, but held it in his hand.

He took the letter and walked to the northwest corner of the courtyard. After passing through the arch, he saw the Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast) lying prostrate against the wall.

He stood in front of the Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast),

The Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast) understood and opened its mouth.

Tian Wujing threw the letter in.

He reached out,

And gently patted the Pixiu's (貔貅, mythical wild beast) head. The Pixiu's (貔貅, mythical wild beast) eyes began to turn red and it began to pant.

In the dark, there is a kind of spiritual感应 (gan ying, connection) between a mount and its master.

The Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast) felt the anger on its master's body, which seemed ordinary but was actually gradually erupting.

A gloomy volcano, a terrifying repression;

Tian Wujing showed a smile on his lips,

Consider it a smile;

The next moment,

The Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast) prostrated again, not daring to show the slightest emotion.

The Pixiu (貔貅, mythical wild beast) of Great Yan actually live quite憋屈 (bie qu, repressed);

Looking at the "同类 (tong lei, counterparts)" in Chu, they are enshrined very, very high;

But in Great Yan, divine beasts can only be reduced to mounts.

But,

It's because there are so many猛人 (meng ren, fierce people) in Great Yan.

Tian Wujing walked back to his courtyard again,

He sat back on the threshold,

He looked in that direction again,

Before the first expedition to the snowy plains,

She sat there, amidst falling flowers, with a big belly, holding needle and thread, embroidering a bib.

She mocked herself,

Saying that she would never be able to catch up with Zheng Fan's wife's needlework skills in her lifetime, even if she had never held a saber.

She also said that as a mother, if she had never embroidered a piece of clothing for her child, she would be too embarrassed to say it.

She also said,

When the child grows up, if it's a boy, she'll let him practice the saber with her.

Suddenly,

Tian Wujing said to the empty and desolate courtyard;

"Our child will learn the saber, but not with me, he will learn with Zheng Fan.

His saber..."

Tian Wujing looked up,

Looking at the gray sky,

He continued:

"Is truly自在 (zi zai, free)."