"Your Highness is a beginner now, so you should practice thrusting the spear one hundred times a day, fifty times in the morning and fifty times in the evening."
"Chang'an, you will practice with His Highness and supervise his movements. If they are not up to standard, make him practice twice as much."
After personally supervising Ye Jingchen's ten attempts at stabbing, Xie Shaoling finally stopped staring at him and instead spoke to Xie Chang'an, who was also stabbing someone nearby.
"As for you—" He looked at everyone except Xu Jingjing, narrowed his eyes, and questioned with an imposing aura, "What are you still doing here? Have you completed today's task?"
Among the Xie family members watching were many who were older than Xie Shaoling, but Xie Shaoling was now the commander of the Divine Might Army and the head of the Xie family, so they all had to give him face and dispersed in a swarm.
Xie Shaoling and Xu Jingjing also left, leaving only Ye Jingchen and Xie Chang'an on the training ground.
The spear thrusting motion seemed simple, but after practicing it twenty times, Ye Jingchen felt his arms were very sore, and the horse stance itself was also very hard on his legs and back.
He managed to persist for another ten times, but by the thirtieth time, his thrusting motion was no longer as crisp and clean as before.
“This movement is not standard, do it twice more.” Xie Chang’an spoke abruptly, his tone as serious as Xie Shaoling’s.
Ye Jingchen felt quite uncomfortable hearing him use that tone.
However, he also understood the principle that "strict teachers produce outstanding students." The battlefield is dangerous, and if one's basic skills are not solid, going to the battlefield would be like sending food to be eaten, and might even drag others down.
So he didn't say much, adjusted his mindset, and continued practicing.
After practicing five more times, Ye Jingchen suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back during his sixth practice session, and he also got a stitch, causing him to lose his strength and form.
"Not up to standard, start over!" Xie Chang'an said again.
He was clearly stabbing himself, and his gaze wasn't on Ye Jingchen, but he could detect every mistake Ye Jingchen made immediately, as if he had some kind of sensor radar installed on him.
I have to practice one more time!
Ye Jingchen felt like his entire body was protesting.
At this rate, when will I ever finish practicing fifty times?
He dared not be careless. From then on, he would spend a long time preparing before each thrust of the spear.
Even so, there were still three times when the movements were not standard, and Xie Chang'an noticed each time, so they practiced six more times.
In this way, by the time he finished his final practice, the soldiers' morning exercises had already begun quite some time ago.
After completing the mission, Ye Jingchen could no longer hold back. Holding his gun, he collapsed to the ground like two limp noodles.
Xie Chang'an flashed to his side and helped him up.
"My legs are too weak, help me to rest for a bit," Ye Jingchen said, panting.
"Don't rest immediately, do stretching first," Xie Chang'an said.
"Are you a devil?" Ye Jingchen asked incredulously.
He can't even stand steadily now, how can he do stretching?
"Didn't you say this yourself before? You can't rest right after exercising, you have to stretch first. Are you lying to us?" Xie Chang'an asked deliberately.
Ye Jingchen bent over, clutching the spear, on the verge of tears.
After a brief standoff with Xie Chang'an, he resignedly handed the gun to Xie Chang'an, and then, like a rusty spring, slowly moved his arms, legs, and waist.
After stretching for quite a while, the soreness in my body finally subsided a bit.
"The morning run has already started, shall we go for a run now?" he asked Xie Chang'an.
Xie Chang'an estimated the time and then looked at Ye Jingchen. "Let's stop running. Let's go back to the room first and run again in the morning."
Ye Jingchen subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. His legs were still trembling. Let alone running with weights, he couldn't run even if he was lightly equipped.
He slowly moved towards their room, and Xie Chang'an slowed down to follow beside him.
After finally getting back to the room, Xie Chang'an immediately closed the door, locked the hinges, and then helped Ye Jingchen sit on the wooden couch.
The wooden couch was covered with bedding, which was more comfortable than sitting in a chair, and it also made it easier for him to massage Ye Jingchen's sore spots.
Xie Chang'an's hands seemed to have a kind of magic; wherever he kneaded, the soreness would be relieved.
Ye Jingchen hummed comfortably. After relaxing, he felt sleepy and his eyelids were drooping.
He was having trouble adjusting to getting up so early in the morning.
"I'm strict with you on the training field because it's for your own good. The gun is the king of weapons, and basic training is very important," Xie Chang'an explained.
"I know," Ye Jingchen said with his eyes closed.
Why is Xie Chang'an bringing this up? Is he the kind of person who can't distinguish right from wrong?
“Learning to shoot is tiring. If you don’t want to learn, I can go to my father.” Xie Chang’an said with some heartache, seeing Ye Jingchen fall asleep even while sitting.
Marksmanship is not easy to master. Ye Jingchen may not lack perseverance and willpower, but he doesn't even want to endure the hardship of studying, so he probably doesn't want to endure the hardship of practicing shooting even more.
If he hadn't gone to the battlefield, Ye Jingchen wouldn't have needed to learn how to use a gun, nor would he have had to endure all this hardship.
"Reason?" Ye Jingchen asked, his eyes still closed.
As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. Learning to shoot is not difficult at the beginning, it's arduous!
Practicing the horse stance is arduous.
Practicing spear thrusting was also very tough.
But the hardest part is getting up early!
In such a cold winter, when you get up at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), it's still dark outside, and lanterns are still hanging in the drill ground for illumination!
“I have my own way of persuading him,” Xie Chang’an said.
Ye Jingchen didn't ask about the solution, but changed the subject, "Was it like this when you first started learning to shoot?"
“I only needed to stab the gun twenty times at first,” Xie Chang’an said.
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