Chapter 11
April's blossoms have faded in the human world, but the peach blossoms in the mountains are just beginning to bloom. The spring sun is warm and gentle, so Lin Qiang moved a chair with a soft cushion to the doorway and carried Yuan Qiong out to bask in the sun.
"Men and women shouldn't touch each other. I only broke my ribs, not my leg. I can walk on my own, so I don't need you to carry me around every day!"
Lin Qiang didn't take Yuan Qiong's routine protest to heart. He grinned, his big beard making him look fierce, but she was no longer afraid.
"Don't touch each other when giving or receiving things? What does 'giving and receiving things' mean? How do you define kinship and how do you define non-kinship? We don't have those messy rules of your officials on the mountain."
“Rude, barbaric.” She rolled her eyes.
Habits are a terrible thing. In the few days since moving to the village, she has gradually gotten used to the unconventional thoughtfulness and domineering nature of the bearded man, and her attitude towards him has been subtly changing, though she herself has not yet realized it.
Lin Qiang put her in a chair, then went to his room next door and brought out several stacks of bamboo slips.
"When I went down the mountain to buy grain yesterday, I brought you a few books."
Knowledge is a luxury in this era. This stack of books looks like a lot, but actually contains very little information, yet it is still incredibly expensive.
So when Yuan Qiong saw Lin Qiang bring out a stack of books, she was very surprised: "This, this is for me?!"
Aren't gifts for women usually cosmetics, clothes, and jewelry? Why would this bearded man give her a letter?
"You can read, right?"
Lin Qiang was worried that she wouldn't be able to reach the books if he put them on the ground, so he moved a table next to her and put the books on it.
Yuan Qiong nodded hesitantly, unable to figure out what he meant.
"Paper is too expensive here. The town down the mountain doesn't sell paper books, only scrolls. You'll have to make do with these for now. I'll buy you books from the county when I earn more money."
Hemp paper already existed in this era, though it was very rough, it was still ridiculously expensive, and only a few noble families could afford it. The black-bearded father had once snatched some writing brushes and ink from passersby, but Lin Qiang had almost squandered them all a couple of days ago.
"Why?"
Why buy books?
Yuan Qiong stared at him with her glassy eyes, completely unable to understand why.
Lin Qiang sensed her question and smiled as he handed her a scroll of bamboo slips. "At your age, it's the time when you need to study. I can't send you to a private school, so you'll have to rely on yourself to learn."
Self-taught?
Looking at the book handed to her, Yuan Qiong hesitated for a moment before taking it, pursing her lips and staring at him.
What exactly does this person want? Is he letting her read? Or does he want to use her for something nefarious? Does he even know her identity?
She lowered her head, and with a "whoosh," unfolded the book. As she read through it line by line, she discovered it was a history book!
Ordinary families do not teach their daughters to read. Even for daughters of noble families, literacy is only enough to understand "Rules for Women" and "Precepts for Women." If they can learn some basic poetry and songs, they can be called talented women.
As the future Crown Princess, she received a royal education, and her grandfather had high hopes for her, which is why she read some classics and historical texts. But this book is clearly different from other historical works!
She put down the bamboo slips in her hand, picked out a few more from the table, unfolded them one by one and looked at them roughly. These books contained not only history books, but also outlines of military treatises and travelogues about mountains and rivers!
Why did you buy these books for me?!
Despite the warm sunlight shining on her, Yuan Qiong felt a bone-chilling cold.
So, it was all a conspiracy after all?
She is now certain that there is someone behind the big bearded man, and that he is being directed or manipulated by him.
So what exactly is this person's purpose? Or rather, what message does the person behind the big black beard want to convey to her through these books?
Having grown up amidst all sorts of conspiracies and intrigues, Yuan Qiong habitually tends to think of everything in the most complicated way.
"Of course I'm buying books so you can study," Lin Qiang said, puzzled by her question.
The bandits in the village had all gone to the back mountain to plow the fields and sow seeds; apart from the chirping of birds, there was no other sound around.
He moved a stool and sat down next to her, took out two pieces of white cloth and two homemade charcoal pencils, and wrote the four characters "Classroom Notes" in the upper right corner of the white cloth using the extremely ugly Yan script of his original body.
"Our course schedule is as follows: one hour of history in the morning, one hour of military strategy in the afternoon, and half an hour of arithmetic in the evening. Once you are better, the time for studying military strategy will be moved to the morning, and the afternoon will be used for martial arts practice."
"???"
Yuan Qiong, who had just been conjuring up conspiracy theories, was instantly dumbfounded.
What did that bandit just say?
"Don't even think about slacking off. I'll assign you classwork, and there will be a day for a test at the end of each month. If you fail, you'll get a slap on the head!" Lin Qiang said with a serious face.
Do you understand compulsory education? Learning is a child's obligation! Exams are necessary, and homework is necessary! A life without homework and exams is incomplete!
"......" (Still dumbfounded.jpg)
"The rest days are the first and fifteenth of each month. You are free to do whatever you want on these two days...blablabla..."
Yuan Qiong, who had been listening to something completely foreign to her, finally understood the meaning behind the big bearded man's words. So this bandit wanted to be her tutor?!
Stop joking, okay?!
Her grandfather was the prime minister, her father was a senior official, and she studied under the same high-ranking official as the crown prince from a young age.
What right does a mere mountain bandit with that big black beard have to be her teacher?!
"You want to teach me historical strategy and military tactics? That's ridiculous!"
Yuan Qiong couldn't suppress the disdain in her eyes.
Lin Qiang stroked his long beard, mimicking the old master from TV, and replied with a shake of his head, "Indeed."
“Alright, let me test you first.” Yuan Qiong sat up straight and said, “The Book of Documents says: ‘The fragrance of a well-governed world moves the gods. Millet and sorghum are not fragrant; it is virtue that is fragrant.’ What does that mean?”
Lin Qiang spread his hands and said very bluntly, "I don't understand, I have no idea what it means."
"...Then why are you teaching me?" How shameless!
“I’m not going to teach you this nonsense.” Lin Qiang placed the white cloth and charcoal pencil in front of her. “I’m going to teach you real historical strategy.”
"..." This bandit really dares to brag!
"I won't learn!" Yuan Qiong turned her head to the side. She was a student of traditional Confucian education and had her pride. She was not going to learn anything from these mountain bandits!
"Not going to study?" Lin Qiang had a way of dealing with a spoiled child who hated school. He reached out and turned her face back from the side: "If you don't study, I won't release your servant."
"Let go of me!" Yuan Qiong, caught off guard and both angry and embarrassed, slapped down the large hand that was holding her cheek: "Don't touch me!"
"So, are you going to learn or not?"
"I won't learn!"
Hey, you think I can't threaten a little brat like you?
"If you don't study, you can sleep in my room today."
"..." Shameless! Rogue! Yuan Qiong glared at him fiercely.
Even if this bandit has a powerful backer, it doesn't change the fact that he is a shameless scoundrel!
*
Ever since Lin Qiang said he would teach Yuan Liu Niang martial arts, she had been filled with anticipation, wishing she could get better immediately and move to the village.
Ah, martial arts! The legendary martial arts that allow one to fly over rooftops and scale walls! Just thinking about it is exciting!
However, she hit too hard that day, and it took four days for the wound to start healing. She still couldn't get out of bed and walk, which made her very depressed.
One day, while she was idly sitting in the courtyard helping Granny Tian pound medicine, a group of masked men in black silently ambushed the area around the medicine hut.
The leader glanced around the courtyard and only spotted Tan Xiaoque and Yuan Liuniang. He then focused his attention on Yuan Liuniang.
This must be the eldest daughter of the Yuan family, who was abducted to the mountain by bandits.
The prince ordered that she must be killed this time, and she absolutely must not be allowed to return to the capital alive!
Immediately, he whistled, and the men in black who had been lying in ambush around the medicine hut leaped up and fiercely attacked the girls in the courtyard with their swords and knives.
"Ah!!!" Yuan Liuniang screamed and retreated repeatedly. Tan Xiaoque glared at her, thinking, "What a coward!" She raised her hand and sprinkled a handful of powder at the men in black. While they covered their noses and dodged, she grabbed Yuan Liuniang and ran outside.
But Yuan Liu Niang still had an injury on her leg, how could she run? "Ouch!" she cried and fell down. Tan Xiao Que ignored her and ran away on her own.
The men in black weren't targeting Tan Xiaoque to begin with, and they didn't care that she had run away. A group of people surrounded Yuan Liuniang.
"Who, who are you people?! Why are you trying to kill me?!" Yuan Liuniang asked in a trembling voice.
"Because your surname is Yuan!" The man in black stopped talking and raised his sword to strike. At that critical moment, seemingly out of nowhere, a swarm of venomous snakes lunged at the man in black!
"ah!!!"
"Aaaaaah!!!"
"ah!"
The screams were incessant.
"Walk!"
The leader killed several poisonous snakes and, seeing the situation was turning bad, immediately retreated.
One of the martial arts-skilled men in black, unwilling to accept defeat, hesitated for a moment before leaving. He was so close; if he had just taken one more step forward, he could have killed the woman and completed his mission!
In the instant he hesitated, a venomous ringed snake pounced on him and bit him hard, and he would never be able to leave.
After the leader retreated with his two remaining subordinates, Yuan Liuniang fainted from fright when she saw the corpses lying haphazardly in the courtyard and the hissing venomous snakes.
The jingling of bells rang out, and Tan Xiaoque entered the courtyard with a giggle, saying to the venomous snakes in the garden, "My darlings, you've worked hard."
She sat on the stone table, her two cute little legs swinging happily, and the bells on her ankles rang out in a rhythmic, clear and melodious sound.
The snakes on the ground seemed to have thoughts as they rustled and climbed up the roof beams, hiding in the thatch.
Fortunately, Yuan Liuniang fainted at this moment; otherwise, after seeing this scene and knowing that there were poisonous snakes on the thatched roof, she would never have dared to enter the house again!
Tan Xiaoque jumped off the stone table and glanced disdainfully at Yuan Liuniang, who had fainted on the ground. What a coward!
Author's Note: I'm so sorry, everyone. I was going to update earlier today, but I've been working overtime until the early hours every day lately and I'm too tired, so I slept all day and updated late again. I'll definitely make up for it when I have some free time. Thank you!
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the [nutrient solution]:
Even the guy in the bunk above who's terrible at naming things has named 20 bottles;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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