Skilled in Both Literary and Military Arts

Before dawn, at the first crow of the rooster, Meng Yuan opened his eyes.

He hadn't slept all night, having opened another acupoint located in the flesh and bone of his spine below the back of his neck.

Now, True Qi surged within the three acupoints. Although he hadn't slept all night, he was still full of energy, not showing the slightest sign of fatigue, and even felt a surge of power.

After going out to draw well water and washing himself to dispel the heat, Meng Yuan began his training again.

As expected, there were three extra eggs for breakfast. Meng Yuan gave one to Tie Niu, but he refused it.

"This is your special treatment after entering the ranks. I can't take it," Tie Niu was very sensible.

"Who taught you to say that?" Meng Yuan knew Tie Niu wouldn't think of this on his own, so someone must have taught him. He asked with a smile.

"Nobody taught me," Tie Niu answered honestly, but he wasn't good at lying, and his eyes unconsciously glanced at Wu Changsheng.

"Senior Brother, I just said it casually to Tie Niu last night," Wu Changsheng smiled awkwardly.

"It's fine," Meng Yuan nodded at Wu Changsheng and then said to Tie Niu, "I asked your father to look after Old Man Jiang, so I should take care of you. I'll give you one of the three eggs. When you enter the ranks later, you can give me one back."

"Brother, you're so kind!" Tie Niu was simple and didn't have many complicated thoughts.

Meng Yuan needed to nourish his Essence Flame now, but he didn't lack this one egg. Moreover, Tie Niu wasn't an outsider, and his father, Zhao Datou, didn't treat him as one either; the incident of wiping his hands with donkey dung was still vivid in his memory.

"But I won't share the meat at noon with you," Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"I understand," Tie Niu said while peeling the eggshell, "Brother eats a lot to build strength and open more acupoints so you can bring the little girl from the Jiang family back."

Meng Yuan patted Tie Niu's shoulder and didn't say anything more.

After breakfast, it was another session of diligent training. Nie Yannian arrived late when the sun was high in the sky.

"Come with me," Nie Yannian beckoned to Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan quickly followed, not mentioning to Nie Yannian that he had opened another acupoint.

Nie Yannian walked with his hands behind his back to the training field's storeroom, unlocked it, went inside to pick and choose, and finally pulled out a longbow and two old quivers.

Arriving at the training field's archery range, Nie Yannian taught him the method of archery.

Meng Yuan shot five arrows as a test, then listened to Nie Yannian correct his breathing and posture while shooting, and that was it.

This bow was a Two-Stone Bow, which weighed about sixty catties, very easy for Meng Yuan. However, practicing archery was mainly for practicing technique and body coordination.

"In prominent families or those aristocratic clans, besides learning breathing exercises from a young age, they also walk on single logs, carry water, shoot arrows, and learn swordsmanship. Firstly, it's to learn self-defense methods early, and secondly, it helps with opening acupoints. When the body is coordinated, acupoints are easier to open; this is based on experience."

Nie Yannian briefly explained a few sentences, then became impatient. "I have things to do, I have to go. Are these brats okay?"

"Yes," Meng Yuan saw Nie Yannian about to leave and quickly stopped him, asking, "Master Nie, can I leave the training field?"

"What for?" Nie Yannian looked at Meng Yuan and said with a strange smile, "You have too much energy, want to go out and find someone soft to play with?"

Why did this person always speak in such a vulgar manner?

"I want to go find Mei-jie," Meng Yuan said.

"Oh, you're already calling her sister. Then go!" Nie Yannian smiled and patted Meng Yuan's shoulder, "Xun Mei is our Princess Consort's confidante, you must butter her up properly! Don't go empty-handed!"

What buttering up? This is called building rapport!

"Yes," Meng Yuan replied.

As soon as Nie Yannian left, Meng Yuan began practicing archery.

Stand with feet flat, shoulder-width apart. Hold the bow with the left hand, the bow facing downwards, hanging towards the instep, draw an arrow and nock it.

Hook the bowstring with the index, middle, and ring fingers of the right hand.

Raise the bow, pull the bowstring to the corner of the mouth, breathe steadily, and anchor on the target.

With a calm mind, release the arrow.

Rest for a few breaths after shooting ten arrows, and only stop after shooting a hundred arrows.

After training for another morning and having lunch, Meng Yuan explained the reason to Hu Qian. Following her guidance, he first took a cold shower before leaving the training field.

Following Hu Qian's instructions, he found a little maid and asked her to find Xun Mei, saving two qian of silver for the message fee.

Not long after, he saw Xun Mei come out.

"Mei-jie!" Meng Yuan's eyes were clear, and he had a smile on his face.

"Why did you come out to find me?" Xun Mei's appearance hadn't changed, and she also had a smile on her face. She looked at Meng Yuan and felt that after more than a month, the young man's spirit was completely different, and he was dressed neatly, his face was rosy and radiant, making him look even more handsome.

"I came to ask Mei-jie for a favor," Meng Yuan didn't waste words and stated his purpose directly.

"What is it? Did someone bully you?" Xun Mei smiled and said, "I heard that you got into a fight on your first day in the training field. Steward Liu came to me wanting to kick you out."

Meng Yuan bowed to Xun Mei and didn't explain further, only saying, "I've caused you trouble, Sister."

"It's nothing. You've entered the ranks now, which shows you are indeed a good candidate for martial arts. Be diligent in the future and earn back my face," Xun Mei clasped her hands and asked with a smile, "What do you want me to help you with?"

"Recently, I've been practicing martial arts, but I still have a lot of free time. I think time is most precious, and I've heard that reading history makes people wise, so I want to borrow some books from you to read." Meng Yuan had thought it through during his morning training. His progress in the martial Dao was so fast now, but he still had free time, so he should find something else to do.

He didn't know much about this world yet. And to explore the deeper things and more rules of this world, he should read history.

Besides, this could also strengthen his connection with Xun Mei. She was the Princess Consort's favored maid, not lacking in food, clothing, or wealth, and she wasn't a sentimental young girl, so giving her anything was useless, and he didn't have time to flirt with vulgar words, so he would just ask directly.

Asking her for some minor favors would deepen their relationship over time, and in the future, he could make more excessive requests.

Moreover, the first time Meng Yuan met Xun Mei, he felt that she had a different attitude towards scholars. The reason he was able to bring down Manor Head Li was also because he was literate and was looked upon favorably by her.

Now that he was asking for books, Meng Yuan was certain that Xun Mei would help.

As expected, there was a strange look in Xun Mei's eyes. She looked at Meng Yuan curiously again, then smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to actually want to take the path of being skilled in both literary and military arts."

"Sister, please don't tease me," Meng Yuan smiled.

"You go back and wait. I'll have someone send it over later," Xun Mei smiled gently.

After parting ways, Meng Yuan left the Royal Residence again and went outside to buy a bag of sesame candy.

Sesame candy is made from glutinous rice, sesame, and maltose, and is very fragrant, sweet, and crispy.

"Here." Returning to the Training Field, he gave the sesame candy to Hu Qian.

Hu Qian was the one who gave Meng Yuan the way to find Xun Mei, saving him the trouble of sending a message, so he naturally had to thank her.

"..." Hu Qian took it and asked, "How did you know I like sweets?"

Does he even need to ask? There are few sweets in this world, and eight out of ten people love sweets! If you don't know what to give, giving sweets is definitely not wrong!

"Sister Qian is the most helpful person, and she's optimistic and cheerful. I guess she probably likes sweets," Meng Yuan casually spouted a nonsensical sentence.

"You are diligent and meticulous, no wonder you were the first to enter the ranks," Hu Qian praised.

Does that even connect? Meng Yuan just smiled and thanked her.

Not long after, a little maid indeed came to deliver the books, and Meng Yuan happily accepted them.

In the following days, Meng Yuan trained diligently, shooting arrows two hundred times each in the morning and evening, and reading history books in his spare time.

At the same time, he did not stop trying to break through the acupoints.

By early February, all sixteen acupoints on Meng Yuan's torso were open. At this point, more than half of the lower thirty-three heavens had been opened.

And Meng Yuan also faced two problems: one was that the Essence Flame was growing slower and slower; the other was that it was time to bring up the matter of bringing Old Man Jiang and his grandson back.