Strength

The sky was still pitch-black, and the distant crackle of firecrackers went on without end.

Meng Yuan and Tie Niu practiced for a while longer before Hu Qian arrived as well.

She was strikingly pretty and tall, dressed lightly. Her chest was likely bound with several wraps of cloth, yet its generous contours still showed through.

Hu Qian's mother was the Princess Consort's wet nurse. One look at her build told anyone she had eaten well since childhood.

"Today's New Year's Day. Why aren't you two sleeping a little longer?" Hu Qian casually asked as she walked over.

Meng Yuan was not familiar with Hu Qian. Moreover, Hu Qian held a high position and had never liked talking to people. It was rare for her to strike up a conversation today.

But in Meng Yuan's eyes, if the Princess Consort truly intended to observe the character of this batch of trainees, then someone of Hu Qian's status was probably an inside informant.

No matter what, he had to set up the memorial archway first!

"Master Nie didn't tell me to stop, so I won't stop." Meng Yuan continued practicing Horse Stance Punch as he answered in an ordinary tone.

Hu Qian held the highest status at the Training Field, and she was rather beautiful besides. Everyone rushed to curry favor with her.

To deal with a little girl who had never experienced romance and was surrounded by stars like the moon, he could not lick boots and flatter her like everyone else. He had to first create some distance, then make his move.

It was like gelding a piglet. If you approached carrying the gelding knife, you would definitely scare the piglet away. But if you hid the knife and acted careless, the piglet would instead come over and nudge at your feet.

Of course, such methods required one to possess both talent and looks, someone like Meng Yuan. If it were some crooked melon or cracked date instead, then even if he stayed a hundred thousand miles away, she still would not spare him a glance.

Sure enough, seeing that Meng Yuan showed not the slightest enthusiasm and continued performing Horse Stance Punch with meticulous precision, Hu Qian said, "You're quite obedient and honest. Then why did you fight Liu He on your first day here?"

"If others do not offend me, I do not offend them. I came here to learn martial arts and never thought of anything else. I only want to become the Princess Consort's guard and repay her kindness." Meng Yuan did not explain further and continued holding his horse stance.

Hu Qian nodded slightly and smiled. "You're wearing yourself out building strength, but Master Nie isn't teaching any real skills. At most, you'll have some brute force. If the Princess Consort truly encounters danger someday, you might not be able to protect her."

"Sister Qian, that's not right. Could it be that if one cannot learn real skills, one cannot protect the Princess Consort?"

Meng Yuan stopped, solemnly and earnestly setting up his memorial archway. "I was born a refugee. If the Princess Consort had not given me food and drink, I would have frozen or starved to death long ago. If anyone truly dares harm the Princess Consort, then even if my skills are meager, they'll have to step over my corpse first!"

Meng Yuan could spin out more than a dozen versions of such nonsense without repeating himself. Its core came down to two words: loyalty!

Hu Qian was stunned for a moment. Meng Yuan's words rang like stones striking the ground, and his handsome face was filled with righteousness and loyalty. He looked ready to die for the Princess Consort, nothing like the ruthless man who had grabbed Liu He and beaten him not long ago.

"I never expected that, despite being born a refugee, you would possess such a loyal and righteous heart," Hu Qian sighed.

"If one lacks a heart that knows gratitude and repays kindness, how is one any different from a beast?" Meng Yuan radiated righteous energy, his voice sonorous and forceful as he said seriously, "Sister Qian, if the Princess Consort truly encounters danger, I believe you would be like me, willing to die for her!"

This sort of rhetoric was meant to draw the two of them closer.

Sure enough, Hu Qian nodded heavily. "I'm the same as you! The Princess Consort treats me like her own daughter. Of course I'm willing!"

Her own daughter? Then it seemed the Princess Consort truly had not given up on this place! Having fished out the information he wanted, Meng Yuan nodded solemnly as well, then earnestly said, "Sister Qian, whenever I practice punches lately, I always feel that my waist and arms aren't exerting strength smoothly. Could you take a look and see where I'm practicing wrong?"

"Oh? Throw a couple more punches and let me see." Hu Qian folded her arms, looking extremely serious, every inch the big sister.

This girl had lived deep within inner courtyards all her life. She did not know the evils of the human heart, much less that Meng Yuan had employed the military stratagems of luring the enemy by feigned retreat and pretending to be foolish without truly being mad.

Tie Niu watched from the side, dumbfounded. Didn't you correct my movements just two days ago? So you hadn't even mastered them yourself?

Before long, more people gradually arrived for morning practice, and Hu Qian stopped speaking much with Meng Yuan.

The days afterward continued as usual, except no outsiders ever came to the Training Field again. With no one to restrain them, those who ought to slack off became even lazier.

People all had a herd mentality, and young people's thoughts changed easily. Seeing others loaf around and shirk work, they followed suit.

Meng Yuan continued training with meticulous care. Every day, he practiced Horse Stance Punch, lifted stone locks, held stances, and ran. There was not the slightest actual combat, nor could he learn any moves. He simply followed the process Master Nie had set down to temper his sinews and bones.

Meng Yuan did not deliberately try to befriend Hu Qian. He merely sought her advice now and then, asking her to correct the essentials of his movements and satisfying the little girl's desire to teach others.

In the blink of an eye, the first month of the year was already half over.

Eating fiercely, drinking fiercely, and training fiercely each day, the essence fire within him grew at a tremendous pace. It had already enveloped his entire body, making him increasingly unafraid of the bitter cold, while the strength throughout his body seemed inexhaustible.

Meng Yuan estimated that in a few more days, his essence fire would reach the realm of perfection. He did not know what changes would occur then, and he could not help feeling expectant.

He had now increased the training volume beyond the process Master Nie had established. For instance, Master Nie required lifting a twenty-pound stone lock three hundred times each day, divided into six sets. Meng Yuan instead used a thirty-pound stone lock and lifted it five hundred times.

There was also running with sandbags on his back, carrying stone rollers, and pushing stone rollers. Others rested early, but Meng Yuan insisted on running through the training again at night, only stopping once he was so exhausted that he forgot himself.

Yet even so, when he rose the next day, he was still full of spirit. His entire body was pleasantly warm, and all his strength had returned.

It was the fifteenth day of the first month. Before dawn, Meng Yuan got out of bed, went outside bare-chested, and used well water to wash himself.

"I came here to learn martial arts. Why am I thinking about women all day?" Meng Yuan planned to increase his training volume again today.

By late morning, there were only a dozen or so people on the training ground. Everyone else was still curled up in the dormitories, not yet awake.

Usually, these people feared that Master Nie would launch a surprise inspection, so they did not dare slack off for too long. But today was the Lantern Festival, a day for celebration, so they grew bolder.

Only around lunchtime did these people arrive at the training ground, Liu He among them. After all, he was the one leading them.

Liu He's injuries had healed. He gave Meng Yuan a contemptuous glance, then put on a show of lifting stone locks.

"Master Nie doesn't care about us anymore. If you want to learn martial arts in the future, you'll have to take a new master! Those without connections, hurry up and find some!" Liu He called out with a grin.

Nie Yannian had not shown his face since the New Year, and the youths had already lost confidence in learning martial arts. Hearing Liu He's words now, they found them even more reasonable.

For a time, some were dejected and disappointed, while others hurried to fawn over Liu He.

"Say, Little Gelder." Seeing everyone looking at him ingratiatingly, Liu He could not help feeling pleased with himself. He smiled at Meng Yuan and said, "You rise early and sleep late every day, but it was all for nothing, wasn't it? No matter how hard you work, you're still a refugee, still a gelding hand! In a few days, you'll be rolling up your bedding and getting the hell out!"

"The bedding belongs to the Prince's Manor. He can't take it with him!" someone joked to play along.

Meng Yuan merely lifted his stone lock. He paid no attention to such provocation and instead found it boring.

Hu Qian watched coldly from the side without saying a word.

"When you're out making your way in the world, you need to look at background and strength! My father is Steward Liu. What do you have?" Liu He burst into laughter. "What fucking use is all that training every day? Won't you still go back to shoveling cow dung and gelding cattle and sheep?"

Meng Yuan set down the stone lock in his hand. "I don't speak to catamites."

Liu He's defenses shattered at that one sentence. His face flushed crimson with rage, but he did not dare make a move. He could only point at Meng Yuan through gritted teeth. Provoking him was one thing, but he was not stupid. He knew he could not beat Meng Yuan, and even in a group brawl, Meng Yuan would single him out for a beating.

"Master Nie is here!" Hu Qian suddenly called out.

The youths looked toward the Training Field gate and saw Nie Yannian walking over with his hands behind his back, smiling pleasantly.

All the youths immediately stood properly. Liu He hurriedly stood straight as well, thinking himself fortunate that he had come out early. Otherwise, his slacking would have been discovered.

Nie Yannian walked forward, swept his gaze over everyone, then planted one foot on a stone lock.

Nie Yannian said nothing, and his shoulders did not move. With only a flick and a lift of one foot, the thirty-pound stone lock shot straight into the air, rising three or four fathoms high.

The youths' eyes followed the stone lock, but Meng Yuan saw clearly. Nie Yannian sank his waist and lowered into a horse stance, feet spread apart, eyes slightly closed. Then, in an instant, his right fist shot forth, striking the descending stone lock dead center.

With a bang, the stone lock exploded.

The shattered bits of stone scattered across an area roughly a fathom wide. This showed that not only was Nie Yannian's punch tremendously powerful, but his control over its force was exquisitely precise.

Meng Yuan stood frozen, filled with boundless yearning.

Having seen true skill, the youths were all dumbstruck as well.

"Strength issues from the six harmonies, rising from the earth; power is generated at the waist, and strikes emerge from the arms. Rising like a coiled dragon ascending to heaven, falling like thunderbolts striking the earth!"

Nie Yannian withdrew from his horse stance, smiling as he hooked an arm around Liu He's neck. "This is called background. This is called strength. Did you think it was women playing scheming household fights in some little courtyard?"

He pointed at Meng Yuan and made Liu He look, then continued, "He's a gelding hand. You come from servants. Who's nobler than whom? I set the requirement at lifting a twenty-pound stone lock three hundred times each day. He lifts a thirty-pound one five hundred times. He also practices twice as many Horse Stance Punches as all of you, rises earliest every day, trains the most, rain or shine, wind or snow. His fists are harder than yours, his heart is fiercer than yours, and he's more diligent than you. He'll definitely amount to more than you in the future. When the time comes, he could sleep with your mother right in front of you, and you'd still have to clap and cheer!"

"..." Meng Yuan glanced at Liu He's face. I'm not that depraved.

"Others train diligently, and it's one thing if you don't train. But what kind of behavior is spouting sarcastic nonsense? Child, people shouldn't be like that." Nie Yannian patted Liu He's head, then pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Wu Changsheng. "Take attendance!"

Wu Changsheng accepted it respectfully and began reading names. "Liu He! Zhang Jun! Zhang Jinhua!"

At this point, sweat appeared on Wu Changsheng's forehead. He leaned toward Hu Qian. "How do you read these three characters? There are way too many strokes!"

Hu Qian ignored him.

Seeing Master Nie's displeased expression, Wu Changsheng hurriedly went to ask Meng Yuan instead.

"Ji Jibao." Meng Yuan pointed it out.

"So it's him! Ji Jibao!" Wu Changsheng read the rest in a loose, dribbling stream, like diarrhea.

A total of sixteen people stepped forward, both male and female. Neither Meng Yuan nor Tie Niu was among them.

"Those whose names were called, go back and pack your things, then get the hell out!" Nie Yannian said without the slightest courtesy.