After the meal, Zhao Shu led Green Luo, Xiao Guozi, Xiao Zhuzi, Sun Yun, and Ban Shu and Ma An, who had been following her, to the training ground.
The new training ground was much more spacious than the previous one, and there was also a huge horse stable. Mo Qin had already received a notification from Xiao Zhu Zi and had gathered all the guards to wait for Zhao Shu at the training ground.
The ten squads of soldiers, neither too many nor too few, totaled a hundred men excluding the squad leaders. Among these hundred men were newly recruited soldiers and the first batch of conscripts.
Zhao Shu's military system was a five-year system. When he returned to the capital from Guanzhou, it was time for the change of leadership. However, many of them were volunteers. After completing their service, they did not want to leave and stayed to become volunteers in the Prince Yong's mansion.
Some exceptionally outstanding individuals have been recommended by the Prince Yong's Mansion to join the regular army; some followed Peng Rui, while others followed Wei Tingsi.
Looking at the hundred spirited men, each one of them seemed like a god of war, standing at attention as Zhao Shu had mentioned, standing as straight as a pine tree, their tall and imposing figures fully displaying the steely temperament of soldiers.
Their battle robes were also modified to be the most convenient version after several revisions. They were not long, but they would not be considered strange clothes. They did not use traditional long spears or broadswords. All of them were short weapons, the longest of which was no more than a three-section staff or a few sections. This matter was discussed by Mo Qin and the other captains, and then Fei Peng was asked to raise funds to hire skilled craftsmen to forge them.
Upon seeing Zhao Shu approach, all one hundred people knelt on one knee and shouted, "Greetings, Princess!" Their voices were loud and powerful; though only one hundred people, they exuded the aura of ten thousand.
Sun Yun and the other two exchanged glances, all stunned by the scene before them. The soldiers in front of them were all confident, sunny, and full of energy, exuding a power that those sinister assassins could not match.
"My warriors, rise up!" Zhao Shu felt smug and pretentious at this moment, but unfortunately, she didn't feel much sense of accomplishment in front of Sun Yun.
"Thank you, Princess!" The deep, orderly voices sounded like triumphant cheers. They stood up nimbly and in unison, their hands behind their backs as they listened to Zhao Shu's instructions.
"As everyone knows, there are people in this world called assassins. You may have fought against these assassins before, or you may not have. Today, I will show you how assassins carry out their master's orders." She succinctly explained her purpose for coming today, and then turned to look at Sun Yun.
Sun Yun nodded and instructed Ma An to step forward. Ma An was a bodyguard trained by the Ma family in Taizhou. The fact that he was able to come to the capital to protect Sun Yun showed that he was one of the best among the Ma family's bodyguards.
Instantly, everyone's eyes fell on Ma An. Her speed was incredibly fast. Firstly, her speed was fast, and secondly, every move was deadly and devoid of any fancy moves. Most deadly of all was that every move was extremely vicious, often resulting in suicidal attacks.
Since Zhao Shu couldn't train any assassins, she had to find another way, and tonight will witness the result of her years of hard work.
"Half-bu?" Zhao Shu looked at Half-bu and felt a chill run down her spine. She kept thinking about how Sun Yun wiped the blood off the dagger like a demon, and how Half-bu lay dead on the ground.
"Princess, it was me. The one who died was my twin sister. I only found out recently." Banshu took the initiative to admit it, afraid that Zhao Shu would misunderstand her young lady.
Zhao Shu had already guessed that they must be twin sisters, and only when she received confirmation did she feel relieved.
Sun Yun looked at the guards who were sparring with Ma An and said with emotion, "The money you spent was all worth it." He then glanced at Ban Shu and said, "My maternal family, the Ma family of Taizhou, has a pair of twin guards for every master, one in the open and one in the dark. Ban Shu and the deceased Ban Shu are my twin guards."
Taizhou is located in the south, bordering Yunnan and Guizhou. Apart from knowing that this family was extremely mysterious, Zhao Shu knew nothing about them. Like the Huo family before them, the Ma family never entered officialdom and rarely married into powerful families in the capital. Sun Yun's mother was an exception.
“Ah Yun, you don’t need to tell me all this. I believe you,” Zhao Shu said. Her mother had no support in the Ma family, and she had no status in the Sun family. Why should she let her reopen her wounds?
Sun Yun shook his head. "It's nothing. My mother was the second legitimate daughter of the Ma family. The eldest legitimate daughter died young. Actually, she was the eldest legitimate daughter. My eldest uncle has intellectual disabilities. Now, the person in charge of the family is my second uncle, who was personally chosen by my maternal grandfather. My second uncle was better in his early years, but after my maternal grandfather passed away a few days ago, he changed and insisted on killing my mother. My grandmother didn't like my mother, and by extension, she didn't like me either. She once wanted to marry me off to her mentally challenged nephew, but my mother didn't agree. My father still loved me back then. Later, my second uncle gave my grandmother some benefits, and she became determined to marry me off to her mentally challenged nephew and take my mother's life."
She recounted to Zhao Shu everything that had happened at the Sun family recently, her tone calm and gentle, without any agitation or indignation, as if she were talking about someone else's affairs.
Zhao Shu patted her on the shoulder to comfort her, "Everything will be alright."
"Ah Jun, have you read Lord Yan's 'Viewing the Southern State'?" Sun Yun suddenly changed the subject.
Zhao Shu was taken aback. "Guan Nan Zhou" was Yan Shiren's most famous work, but it was not tolerated by the aristocratic families. The book contained many ideas of reform and called the aristocratic families and princes who ceded territory a cancer on the country. If he hadn't been the second master of the Yan family in Jiangnan, he probably would have died countless times.
"What's wrong?" she asked, somewhat curiously.
“I’ve read his book. Families that have been passed down through generations are destined to perish.” She sighed deeply, looked at the fiery clouds on the horizon, and said nothing more.
"You don't need to blame yourself for what happened to the Sun family. They brought it on themselves. It has nothing to do with you. You did nothing wrong." Zhao Shu knew that she must be feeling guilty at this moment. If the Yongwang Mansion would not have peace tonight, the other mansions would not have peace either. No one could expect to be able to escape unscathed.
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