Chapter 184 The adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager of Yan
Since Mei Liangyu and Saint Changgen had their argument, he hadn't been to the Ghost Path Holy Hall. Yu Sui, on the other hand, went there every day to talk to his master and subtly probe his master's current attitude and thoughts.
Saint Changgen didn't seem angry with his disciple; he still asked Yu Sui how her senior brother was doing.
Mei Liangyu has been keeping Yan Xiaochuan busy practicing swordsmanship for the past few days.
After Yan Xiaochuan finished his classes at the Ming family during the day, he had just lain down in bed when Mei Liangyu summoned him to the military training ground. Mei Liangyu said the same thing again: "How come you're sleeping so early with your cultivation level?"
Compared to Mei Liangyu's cultivation level, Yan Xiaochuan really couldn't sleep, so he went to the military training ground full of energy, exchanged a few moves with Mei Liangyu, and then wanted to run away.
He and Mei Liangyu practiced swordsmanship all night at the military training ground, and now he's in pain all over. Yan Xiaochuan was beaten down countless times, only to be mercilessly pulled up by Mei Liangyu and beaten again.
"Senior Brother Liangyu, what's going on?" Yan Xiaochuan muttered to himself as he rolled over and got up from the ground, then bent down to pick up his longsword. "If you expect me to beat you in one night, isn't that asking too much?"
Mei Liangyu said, "Then you have to be able to withstand three moves."
Yan Xiaochuan asked hesitantly, "Wouldn't two moves be enough?"
Mei Liangyu: "No."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the other man drew his sword and slashed at Yan Xiaochuan. The sword's aura was chilling and uncompromising, showing no intention of holding back.
If you don't pay attention, getting slashed could really draw blood.
This is why Yan Xiaochuan wanted to run away after fighting for a while; Mei Liangyu wasn't just sparring with him, but was serious.
Yan Xiaochuan was covered in sweat, and only managed to dodge the attack with the help of his Wind Control Technique.
Mei Liangyu forbade him to keep dodging without attacking. As Yan Xiaochuan bent over to dodge, Mei Liangyu nimbly reversed the hilt of the sword, making the seemingly heavy sword spin easily in his hand, and the blade was once again aimed at Yan Xiaochuan who was bending over to dodge.
In an instant, Yan Xiaochuan's expression changed. He hurriedly gripped his sword with both hands and held it horizontally in front of his chest to block the attack. The clash of sword energies made his hands go numb and he was knocked to the ground, but the attack from behind did not stop.
Mei Liangyu swung his knife down, and Yan Xiaochuan's heart pounded. Having learned from his previous experience, he didn't linger after falling to the ground, but immediately rolled away to create distance, thus avoiding being hit by the knife.
When people come to the military arena to fight with knives, swords, and fists, it is generally agreed that they are not allowed to use any other martial arts techniques besides those of the military school. Yan Xiaochuan may use a few moves of Bagua Shengshu at most, but he cannot use any famous martial arts techniques.
Mei Liangyu also wanted Yan Xiaochuan to practice physical skills. Although his body looked strong, if his five elements were sealed, he would have no other ability to protect himself except to run and jump.
Yan Xiaochuan's swordsmanship was clumsy and heavy, clearly indicating that he hadn't practiced much. Although he had practiced with Mei Liangyu for a few days and had developed some ideas for his moves, he still lost his long sword in less than three moves.
The person also fell to the ground.
Mei Liangyu frowned, stopped what he was doing, and asked, "You've never practiced before?"
Yan Xiaochuan had just escaped death and was covered in a cold sweat. He lay on the ground panting, his voice weak and feeble: "I don't even have time to practice the famous martial arts, how could I have time to play with military strategy?"
“This is no joke,” Mei Liangyu said. “Don’t think it’s like when you were a child. Didn’t she teach you that before?”
These words stunned Yan Xiaochuan, his eyes involuntarily turning towards Mei Liangyu. The young man's cold, handsome face was reflected in his eyes, and those phoenix eyes, concealing dark pupils, suddenly reminded him of the past:
Xihe Jun, one of the Five Lords of Yin and Yang, was the adopted daughter of the Queen Dowager of Yan and was later granted the title of Princess of Yan.
At that time, the Empress Dowager of Yan still held some power and could suppress the licentious and tyrannical King of Yan. When the eldest princess gave birth to twins, she bestowed titles upon the two children: the daughter was named Princess Wangshu and the son was named Prince Yuheng.
However, after only two or three years, the Empress Dowager's influence waned, and as a result, the eldest princess's youngest son did not receive any title.
In Yan Xiaochuan's memory, although Wangshu is the name of a moon, she is not as cold and aloof as the bright moon in the sky. Her personality is more in line with the name "Xihe", as fiery and dazzling as the blazing sun.
Yan Xiaochuan was not very familiar with the three children of the Princess.
Princess Wangshu was a military strategist, while Prince Yuheng was a practitioner of both Yin-Yang and esoteric arts. Although they were twins, their temperaments were completely opposite: the princess was outgoing and extroverted, while the prince was gentle and reserved.
When he was a child, Yan Xiaochuan thought that Princess Wangshu was a fierce tiger. If anyone dared to provoke her, she would slap them without hesitation.
Prince Yuheng was a good-tempered tiger, responsible for speaking kindly to his sister when she slapped someone.
As for their younger brother, Yan Xiaochuan believed that when he wasn't provoked, his brother was like a cat that just wanted to bask in the sun, and nothing in the world mattered to him. But when he was provoked, he would turn into a bad-tempered tiger and would wave his claws and slap people together with his older sister. Even Prince Yuheng couldn't stop him.
They were all young then, and there were many other children around them, both good and bad, making noise all day long.
Yan Xiaochuan was very thin and small back then, and he would only secretly shed tears when he was bullied. Just then, Princess Wangshu, the big tiger, saw this and, after disciplining the children who had bullied him, took Yan Xiaochuan home. She said to her younger brother, who was playing with mechanisms at the stone table, "This crybaby is yours to watch over! I have other things to do, so don't bully him!"
After saying that, he used his wind-riding technique to escape.
Yan Xiaochuan and the third big tiger of the Princess's family were left to stare at each other in silence.
The lazy tiger sat by the stone table. After a moment of silence, it taught him how to play with the puzzle box. He had to untangle the chains that were twisted and convoluted together, and also put the tangled wooden Rubik's Cube back into a complete shape.
Yan Xiaochuan felt it was too difficult and he couldn't solve it at all, which made him so anxious that he wanted to cry.
Yan Xiaochuan still remembers the look in the eyes of the third tiger. Those clear black and white eyes seemed to be saying, "My God, how can there be such a stupid person as you in this world?"
When Princess Wangshu returned, she found the poor little boy she had brought home crying loudly while hugging a Rubik's Cube that he couldn't solve no matter what he did, while her younger brother sat opposite him with a sour face, arms crossed, watching him cry.
After this incident, Princess Wangshu taught Yan Xiaochuan swordsmanship for a period of time.
When his mother found out about this, she stopped him, as she didn't want him to get too close to the children of the princess's family.
He was too weak and always hid in a corner, keeping his head down and not daring to look at anyone. Protected by his mother, he was unaware of the changing world and the scheming among the adults.
Until the Empress Dowager passed away, the Yan Kingdom underwent a dramatic change, and the air was thick with the scent of blood and fire.
Yan Xiaochuan saw the girl, as radiant as the sun, standing in the darkness. The armored formation she deployed blocked the barrage of poisoned rockets. The mother knelt down, weeping, begging the girl to let her go.
The first time Yan Xiaochuan saw the girl with such a cold expression, like the cold moon in the sky, it seemed to freeze the entire Yan Kingdom.
From then on, it was no longer his mother who protected him, but his master, Mu Yong'an.
Memories surged, and Yan Xiaochuan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. He quickly suppressed his emotions, as was his habit. Both he and Mei Liangyu knew that some things and some people should not be mentioned in Taiyi.
"I'm not coming anymore!" Yan Xiaochuan rolled over and sat up cross-legged, his playful expression vanishing. He panted, "I still have to deliver breakfast to Senior Sister Xiao!"
Mei Liangyu didn't know who this Senior Sister Xiao was, so she casually asked, "You like her?"
Yan Xiaochuan was taken aback at first, then shook his head: "Of course not, it's just that Senior Sister Xiao said so, so I agreed."
Mei Liangyu: "Then I won't see you off."
Yan Xiaochuan didn't want to practice his sword anymore, so he pretended not to hear and started talking to himself, even gesturing with his fingers: "I like girls like the little princess, who are obedient and gentle, speak sweetly, and are cute. In short, I like very cute girls like her."
Mei Liangyu listened patiently to him finish speaking before asking, "Is the little princess you mentioned my junior sister?"
"Yes, yes!" Yan Xiaochuan snapped his fingers, his eyes brightening and his expression radiant.
Mei Liangyu stared at him with a forced smile and said, "You have good taste."
Yan Xiaochuan felt a chill run down his spine from those words, which gave him goosebumps. He thought that Mei Liangyu was going to make him practice swordsmanship again, so he said pitifully, "By the way, I also have to deliver breakfast to Senior Brother Sheng and the others today. How about we practice another day, Senior Brother Liangyu?"
He had a bitter face, and looked somewhat aggrieved, like a puppy trying to please someone, making it hard to refuse him.
"Sheng Fei?" Mei Liangyu frowned even more upon hearing this. "He wants you to deliver breakfast?"
Yan Xiaochuan nodded and said, "I'm giving it to Senior Brother Mu, so I'll just take it for Senior Brother Sheng as well."
Mei Liangyu then asked, "Did Mu Mengbai call him that?"
Yan Xiaochuan scratched his head and stammered, "I tried many methods and put in a lot of effort to become friends with Senior Brother Sheng."
His words were brief, but Mei Liangyu understood. She frowned and stared at Yan Xiaochuan for a moment before asking in a low voice, "What are you doing getting close to Sheng Fei?"
“At first, I was just… curious about what kind of person Nangong Ming’s son was.” Yan Xiaochuan lowered his head unconsciously under his gaze, looking at the ground like a child being scolded by an adult, and said in a muffled voice, “But apart from being a bit short-tempered, Senior Brother Sheng doesn’t have any other problems.”
Mei Liangyu said in a low voice, "Is the young master's temper not a problem?"
Yan Xiaochuan looked up at him with a melancholy expression, thinking to himself, "You used to be pretty much the same way."
Mei Liangyu seemed to understand what he meant from his eyes, and pointed his knife at him expressionlessly, saying, "Why do you care whether those people eat breakfast or not? They have hands and feet, let them go to the dining hall to eat."
"Get up, you must learn to withstand three moves from me."
Seeing that he couldn't dodge it no matter what, Yan Xiaochuan started to cheat and make demands, falling back to the ground and saying, "Senior Brother Liangyu, you're making things difficult for me! I'm not a disciple of the military school, so why would I need to practice these physical techniques and swordsmanship? My master's calligraphy is much more useful than these fancy moves!"
He glanced at Mei Liangyu with one eye open and the other closed, and tentatively asked, "If you really want me to practice, that's fine. I can't practice for nothing, can I? Then you can bring me breakfast."
Mei Liangyu sneered, sheathed his sword, and left.
Yan Xiaochuan waited for a while, but when he didn't see Mei Liangyu return, he assumed that Mei Liangyu had given in. He rolled on the ground and cheered for his victory. Then he stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked out of the military training ground with his head held high.
Mu Mengbai, who was still fast asleep in his dormitory, heard a knock on the door. He pretended not to hear it, turned over and continued to sleep.
Sheng Fei, who got up early, dressed and went to open the door.
Standing outside the door, Mei Liangyu threw the food box out with a look of disgust. Sheng Fei caught it off guard, looked up and saw it was Mei Liangyu, and said with the same look of disgust, "What are you doing?"
"This is for you." Mei Liangyu said and left without looking back; he still had another one to deliver.
Sheng Fei carried two large food boxes back to the room, placed them on the table, and frowned in confusion. He then went to Mu Mengbai's room and kicked the bedside to wake him up.
Mu Mengbai yawned and said, "What's wrong, young master? I don't have class this morning!"
Sheng Fei asked, "Did you have Mei Liangyu deliver something?"
"Who?" Mu Mengbai perked up. "No one."
Sheng Fei added, "Mei Liangyu sent over two boxes of breakfast."
Mu Mengbai sat blankly on the edge of the bed. After a moment, he punched his palm and instantly woke up. He stood up and said, "Oh, I knew it! My sister is so well-behaved, cute and pretty. She follows Senior Brother Mei Liangyu around every day. Sure enough, he couldn't resist and came to bring breakfast to please you, his third brother-in-law!"
Sheng Fei slammed the door shut on him with a dark expression. What's wrong with him?!
When Yan Xiaochuan arrived at the dining hall, he heard the wind chimes blaring. People who had received breakfast delivered by Mei Liangyu sent him their greetings.
After reading it, Yan Xiaochuan only had two words in his mind: It's over.
He collapsed onto the dining table, feeling both amused and exasperated.
Mei Liangyu wanted to take him away from Taiyi, but he didn't want to leave; he didn't care about the affairs of Yan.
Yan Xiaochuan only wants to be with his master, Mu Yong'an.
Wherever Master is, he will be there.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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