Everyone was taken aback. They were all elite soldiers selected from the military, and now they had to be trained by a young teenager?!
Even General Zheng couldn’t help but say, "Didn’t the princess say that she would personally train them······"
Ji Xinhe laughed, "Ah Nan has been taught by me since he was little; his abilities are no less than any of yours. Though he looks young, his talent is extraordinary. If anyone has objections, feel free to challenge him. If anyone can defeat him, I won’t let him teach anymore."
Xiao Chaihuo took a step forward, his face expressionless, but his eyes clearly showed that he was not afraid of anything.
Everyone else shrank back, remembering the fate of those who didn’t obey the princess in the past, and decided to drop it. If the princess said he was capable, then he must be.
In fact, Xiao Chaihuo was more than capable of training them. His martial arts skills might only be slightly better than theirs, because he was young and these men were indeed experts
But when it came to close combat, none of them could compare to Xiao Chaihuo. Ji Xinhe had taught him everything she knew, from hand-to-hand combat to the techniques of assassins. These moves were fast, accurate, and ruthless, and their only purpose was to kill.
Xiao Bei had initially trained with him, but he wasn’t as skilled in martial arts. He had a talent for studying, though, so Ji Xinhe didn’t force it and let him learn some basic self-defense skills before letting him off the hook.
Seeing that everyone consented, Xinhe nodded, "Fine, let’s start preparing now. General Zheng, stay behind. The rest of you may leave."
She then turned to Xiao Chaihuo, "By the end of the month, create a powerful assault team for me. Can you do it?"
"Yes," Xiao Chaihuo replied.
"Take them down," Xinhe said, satisfied.
Ji Xinhe had always trusted Xiao Chaihuo’s abilities, and he never failed at tasks she assigned him.
"Yes."
Xiao Chaihuo left with the twenty men, leaving only General Zheng behind. Sensing that Ji Xinhe had something to order him, he respectfully said, "Is there something the princess wishes to command?"
Ji Xinhe pursed her lips before speaking, "Do you know why I want them to complete their training by the end of the month?"
The man hesitated before replying, "This humble general is not sure. Please enlighten me, Your Highness."
Ji Xinhe said coldly, "Because the imperial army will be here by the end of the month."
The moment General Zheng heard this, his face changed, "Is this true?!"
"So now you should understand our situation better than I do, General. Our position is not good, especially since the imperial court has aligned with Rouyi this time. When the time comes, we will be caught in a pincer attack, and there won’t be many chances left for us. Do you understand, General?"
General Zheng’s face turned pale, and he broke into a cold sweat, "What should we do then? His Highness..."
"Now we only have me, you, and all the soldiers to protect Yu State. You should know what I mean, General. Under these circumstances, we have to be on high alert and work extra hard in the coming days," Xinhe said.
"This humble general will obey your command!" General Zheng bowed in response.
"Good, start preparing according to my instructions," Ji Xinhe said coldly.
——
Time flew by quickly, and ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Ji Xinhe spent this brief period of calm waiting.
"Will the princess not return to the Royal Mansion today?" Xiao Chaihuo asked.
Dressed in battle attire, Ji Xinhe sat at the antique table, looking at the map laid out before her, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. The stray strands of hair on her forehead went unnoticed, as she softly said, "No need."
During these ten days, Ji Xinhe had hardly returned to the Royal Mansion. Shulan and Xiaoyu were both worried that she would be neglected in the military camp, but Ji Xinhe had explicitly forbidden them from coming, so only Xiao Chaihuo accompanied her.
Having women in the camp, especially beautiful and lively ones, would inevitably cause unrest. Since Shulan and Xiaoyu did not know martial arts, they would only be there to serve Ji Xinhe. Others would see it as the soldiers relaxing, lacking vigilance, and even becoming more lax.
Ji Xinhe knew she couldn’t be careless, and neither could her soldiers, so she had to lead by example.
"How’s the progress of the assault team?" Xinhe suddenly asked.
"It’s acceptable so far. Your Highness can inspect their results." Xiao Chaihuo replied.
Ji Xinhe composed herself and stood up, "I’ll go take a look."
As she stood up, she saw a scout suddenly burst in and fall to his knees, saying, "Your Highness, we’ve lost contact with the prince!"
Ji Xinhe’s heart skipped a beat, and her face changed, "Lost contact?"
Ever since Mu Houchu left Yu State, he had left secret signs at various locations to inform Ji Xinhe of his whereabouts and situation. So far, everything had been fine, and Ji Xinhe was beginning to think that everything would be alright, but now...
"After the prince left a mark on the outskirts of Lian City three days ago, this humble one has not found any trace of him. I suspect that..."
Ji Xinhe bit her lip, "Search thoroughly! Don’t miss any clues."
"Yes."
The scout hurriedly left, and Xiao Chaihuo said, "Don’t worry, princess, it’s not normal for the prince to suddenly disappear. Even if he was in danger, he wouldn’t vanish without a trace. He would find ways to leave clues. His sudden disappearance now may actually be a ploy to confuse the Emperor."
Ji Xinhe squinted her eyes, listening to Xiao Chaihuo’s words, and seemed to become more awake, nodding, "Indeed."
She was too anxious, too restless, not calm enough.
Xiao Chaihuo said, "Your Highness, don’t worry. The most important thing at the moment is the attack from the imperial court. The prince is not an incompetent person, and he should know about the pursuit of the imperial court. It’s unlikely that he would fall for their traps easily."
Xinhe nodded and looked out the window, "It’s time to be on high alert."
The imperial army and the Rouyi army might have already arrived on the outskirts of the city without making a sound. Now, Ji Xinhe truly had no time to worry about anything else. All she could do was trust him and defend Yu State for him.
"Let’s go. Show me the assault team you’ve trained." Ji Xinhe walked straight out.
Xiao Chaihuo followed closely behind.
In just ten days of training, the twenty-plus men chosen by Xiao Chaihuo had already grasped the basics.
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