Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 116. Training Under the Cliff

116. Training Below the Mountain Cliff

Since Yelv Ye had accepted Ye Li’s suggestion to covertly observe the prospective maidens, Ye Li put the matter aside and paid it no further mind. As expected, just two days after the Beirong marriage envoy arrived in the Capital City, Yelv Ye’s selection results were announced. The one who ultimately became the Princess Friendship was indeed Commandery Princess Ronghua. Whether in terms of status, age, or character, Commandery Princess Ronghua was clearly the most suitable candidate. Although Princess Zhaoren had entered the palace to plead with the emperor that very day, it was unclear what Mo Jing had said to her. Princess Zhaoren eventually left the palace looking disheartened and said little more. By then, Commandery Princess Ronghua had nearly turned the Capital City upside down, and in her eyes, Ye Li, the culprit she blamed for her marriage into a foreign tribe, naturally could not be spared. Regrettably, the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion was heavily guarded and not a place one could enter at will. By this time, Ye Li was already far from the commotion, leisurely relaxing in the suburban residence of Eldest Princess Xifu.

Although Eldest Princess Xifu was now in her seventies, perhaps due to her diligent self-care and excellent mental fortitude, she was still full of vitality. She looked no different from when Ye Li had seen her a year ago and greeted the arrival of Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao with beaming smiles. The Eldest Princess’s enthusiasm made both Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao feel somewhat guilty. Over the past year, particularly since Mo Xiuyao’s health had been poor and Ye Li herself had been away for an extended period, neither of them had managed to leave the city to visit the Eldest Princess. On the contrary, the elderly woman never forgot to send them gifts during festivals and holidays. Although these were not valuable items, they represented her affection and concern for them.

Eldest Princess Xifu pulled Ye Li to sit beside her. After glancing at Mo Xiuyao, who was standing to the side, she shooed him away, saying she wanted to have a private chat with Ye Li. Mo Xiuyao could only turn and leave with a wry smile.

As Mo Xiuyao left, the Eldest Princess took Ye Li’s hand and smiled at her. Ye Li immediately felt somewhat embarrassed; she found the princess’s gaze a bit unsettling. "Imperial Aunt..."

The Eldest Princess looked at her kindly and laughed. "My dear child, you seem to have lost a lot of weight since last year. That boy Xiuyao really doesn’t know how to dote on his wife. How could he let a young lady like you travel thousands of miles to the Southern Border?"

Ye Li lowered her head, feeling rather ashamed, as she had been the one to insist on going to the Southern Border. Oh well, let Mo Xiuyao take the blame. The Eldest Princess looked at her and nodded in satisfaction. "I’ve heard about what you did in the Southern Border and Yongzhou. You’re a good child, well taught by Lord Xu. You were also a great help in Yonglin this time. That child Jing Li is truly too reckless. I’m old and can’t manage them anymore. With you helping Xiuyao, he’ll have a much easier time. The men of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion are born with heavy burdens on their shoulders, and it’s even harder for Xiuyao. Fortunately, he has you."

Ye Li said softly, "These are all things I should have done."

The Eldest Princess shook her head. "Never mind the many young ladies in the Capital City; even among all the past Princess Consorts of Ding, none have performed better than you. But..."

Ye Li looked at the Eldest Princess with uncertainty. The Eldest Princess looked at her with a smile and said, "Xiuyao isn’t getting any younger. Shouldn’t you two start thinking about the matter of heirs for the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion? Currently, among all the princely mansions in the Capital City, only the King of Ding’s Mansion is without an heir."

At these words, Ye Li’s face instantly flushed crimson. Staring speechlessly at the Eldest Princess’s expectant face, she couldn’t utter a word for a long moment. The Eldest Princess teased her with a smile, "You silly child, bearing children is a perfectly normal thing. You’ve been married for over a year, what’s there to be embarrassed about?"

Ye Li felt incredibly ashamed. Had she become too conservative from living in this era for so long? However, she hadn’t really thought about having children. Firstly, the body she currently inhabited wasn’t even sixteen years old. Secondly, the current situation was truly unsuitable for having children. But she couldn’t bluntly tell the Eldest Princess that she didn’t want to have children, so she could only prevaricate, hoping to muddle through. The Eldest Princess merely took her vagueness for shyness, offered a few gentle reminders, and then let the matter drop, though she mentally planned to remind Mo Xiuyao later. Seeing that the Eldest Princess wasn’t pressing further, Ye Li quietly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject, starting to chat about some amusing incidents in the Capital City.

Mo Xiuyao only stayed with Ye Li for two days before returning to the Capital City. The Beirong marriage delegation had all arrived in the capital, and as the prince responsible for overseeing this marriage alliance, he naturally couldn’t avoid them. Apart from spending time with the Eldest Princess each day, Ye Li spent most of her time in the deep valley beneath Black Wind Mountain. Although the Eldest Princess knew Ye Li went out every day, she didn’t inquire about her whereabouts. With the Eldest Princess providing this cover, Ye Li’s movements became much freer.

Nearly half a month later, when Ye Li reappeared at the base of the cliff, she watched the troop of elites sweating profusely on the training field and nodded with satisfaction. To achieve such results in less than a month was already quite impressive. It was only because time was so tight; otherwise, they should have undergone at least two months of physical training before advancing to other things. The soldiers, covered in dust and drenched in sweat, all felt a knot of apprehension at the sight of the ever-smiling Young Master Chu. They didn’t know his identity, but they all knew Qin Feng’s. For Qin Feng to be his personal bodyguard, this Young Master Chu’s status must be extraordinary. But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that they had only met Young Master Chu twice, yet each encounter had left an indelible impression. At their first meeting, this Young Master had ruthlessly shattered everyone’s confidence, then, with a smile, watched them all collapse and crawl on the ground. At their second meeting, Young Master Chu had awed them all with his skills and then left them with a task that had exhausted them for the past half-month. So, what would Young Master Chu bring this time?

"Gentlemen, although we haven’t seen each other for half a month, Qin Feng has reported your training progress to me. I am very satisfied. Especially since... all of you, the first batch to undergo this training, have kept up without a single person dropping out. However, the previous phase was merely the most basic physical conditioning. That no one fell behind only indicates that your physical fitness and potential are commendable. Starting today, you will begin more detailed training. Of course, the original physical conditioning will continue daily."

The soldiers couldn’t help but groan inwardly. This meant they would have to find time for additional learning on top of their already grueling daily training.

Apparently, the training over the past half-month had been effective; at least the soldiers, drawn from several different units, now possessed a strong sense of discipline. Despite their inner grumbling, they still stood ramrod straight. Ye Li nodded inwardly with satisfaction and said, "Those whose names I call, step forward." Lowering her head to consult the scroll in her hand, Ye Li read out seven or eight names. Those called stepped out and formed a separate line. Without exception, these were men who possessed specific skills and were relatively well-educated. Looking at the men Qin Feng had selected, Ye Li said, "Go to the training ground ten miles to the southeast and wait for me there."

The few specially selected soldiers hesitated. One of them stepped forward and asked, "Young Master Chu, may we ask what we are to do? Why are we not training with everyone else?"

Ye Li smiled. "Because I believe you require a different kind of training. Of course... I probably should have sought your opinions first. Are you afraid of death?"

The soldiers instantly felt somewhat insulted and glared angrily at Ye Li. "We wouldn’t be Mo Family Army soldiers if we feared death!"

"Only cowards fear death!" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"We are not afraid of death, but we want to know what we are going to do! At the very least, we don’t want to die without understanding why."

Ye Li didn’t get angry. She nodded and smiled, "Very good. I like people who have their own thoughts. But right now... the first thing you must do is obey. The second is to obey completely. And the third is... to obey absolutely! Understand?"

Ye Li’s calm and solemn voice stunned everyone, and the training field instantly fell silent. Whether they were among those called or those remaining, the soldiers stopped their discussions and declared in unison, "Understood!"

"Very well. Now, run there. You have a quarter of an hour."

Those who had been called out turned without hesitation, ran out of the training field, and disappeared into the dense forest.

Ye Li turned back to look at those who remained, smiling. "Don’t worry about them; I won’t actually send them to their deaths. What you should be concerned about now is yourselves. Next, you will learn weight-bearing training, fully-armed swimming training, wilderness survival training, breakout and counter-breakout training, stealth and counter-stealth training, infiltration, and intelligence reconnaissance training. Your instructors will arrive early tomorrow morning, and the final assessment is scheduled for two months from now. I can tell you the assessment items now so you can be mentally prepared; it doesn’t matter. Carry forty pounds of weight and one day’s rations to survive in the wilderness for seven days. The mission target: ambush a combined force of six hundred Black Cloud Cavalry and secret guards stationed 1,200 miles away. The requirements are: two teams will be searching for you and may ambush you en route. You are forbidden from stealing food or livestock from farmers along the way. You must not reveal your identities. Anyone captured by local garrisons or patrol officers, caught in an ambush, or sustaining heavy injuries is out. Failing to reach the target by the deadline also means you are out. Understood?"

The faces of all the soldiers on the training ground turned ashen. They had all thought their training was arduous, but Young Master Chu always knew how to make things even tougher. Compared to what lay ahead, their current training seemed like a vacation.

Ye Li raised an eyebrow at them. "You should be grateful it’s not winter; otherwise, your days would be even harder. But don’t worry, I will ensure you get that experience this winter. Also... do you want to add sun exposure resistance training?"

No... all the soldiers thought in unison.

Ye Li didn’t press them. "It’s not very practical in this northern weather. There probably won’t be an opportunity this year. After you qualify, next year you’ll have the opportunity to bring more comrades to train in the south. For now, that’s all. Qin Feng."

"Yes, Young Master!" Qin Feng stepped forward. He wasn’t too shocked by what Ye Li said, as he had already suffered immensely at Darky Three’s hands recently. It was precisely because of this that his admiration for Ye Li had grown even stronger. His loyalty to Ye Li was already subtly on par with his loyalty to Prince Ding. In Qin Feng’s eyes, the Princess Consort Ding he followed was a genius like no other. One could never fathom what wondrous and ingenious ideas resided in Princess Consort Ding’s mind. Seeing how Princess Consort Ding had trained the few secret guards by her side to their current level in less than a year was enough to understand her incredible capabilities. Remembering the mischievous Darky Three, Qin Feng followed Ye Li into the forest, silently praying for the soldiers.

"Follow me," Ye Li said, turning back to him.

Qin Feng acknowledged and kept pace, putting the soldiers who were gazing at him pitifully out of his mind. He himself was still struggling under someone else’s thumb; how could he possibly save them?

The forest, teeming with poisonous insects, venomous plants, traps, and swamps, seemed like level ground beneath Ye Li’s feet. Qin Feng followed carefully beside Ye Li, only to realize with some dismay that the Princess Consort was always a bit faster than him. He was just about to strike and kill a snake on a nearby tree branch when, with a soft WHIZ, a sharp dart struck the snake’s vital spot. It plopped to the ground. Ye Li walked over, glanced down, then turned back to Qin Feng with a smile. "Hundred Flowers Brocade Snake. Non-venomous. It has good practical and medicinal value. Take it back to Mr. Shen; he might teach you a few methods for identifying poisonous creatures. Aren’t you learning about that recently?"

Qin Feng nodded, walked over, and carefully collected the dead snake. He asked, somewhat abashed, "Does the Princess Consort recognize all types of snakes?"

Ye Li replied without any false modesty, "I recognize most of the poisonous ones. You’ll know too if you read more books. Don’t be afraid. I’ve carefully inspected this forest. There are actually only two types of venomous snakes here, and neither has a potent venom. Even if mishandled, a bite wouldn’t be fatal. When they come in for training, I’ll arrange for a few skilled doctors to be stationed here."

Qin Feng wanted to say he wasn’t afraid, but thinking of the various snakes, insects, rodents, and ants in this forest, he still found the location chosen by the Princess Consort rather horrifying.

Ten miles was not a long distance for two agile individuals. Before long, they arrived at a training ground on the other side of the valley. To Qin Feng’s surprise, this training ground, which he had assumed would be even harsher, was not as he had imagined. It was still near the edge of the valley, but due to the terrain, it was even brighter and more pleasant than the base of the cliff they had been at earlier, with ample sunlight bathing the area. A small, quaint courtyard stood by a stream near the forest. The few men whose names had been called earlier stood waiting on the grassy area before the courtyard.

Ye Li glanced at the seven men. Although there were minor scratches on their faces and bodies, the injuries were not serious. She nodded with satisfaction. "It seems your training has also gone well. I know you have questions about why I separated you. But don’t worry. The reason I did so is because your future training direction and the tasks you will need to execute are different from theirs."

One of them stood up and asked, "What’s the difference?"

Ye Li answered frankly, "Their future tasks will primarily involve small-scale, intense combat, such as ambushes, rescues, protection, sniping, and so on. As for you... you may not need to fight as much. I will have a greater need for your intellect. Your future tasks will involve infiltration and concealment, exploration, analysis, and relaying intelligence. Of course, assassination or protection duties might also be required."

Several soldiers frowned, exchanged glances, and one asked, "Young Master Chu, do you want us to be spies?"

"Spies?" Ye Li raised an eyebrow. "You could put it that way. That is indeed one of the types of missions you might undertake. However, I prefer the terms ’special agent’ or ’operative.’ Compared to their emphasis on martial training, you will need to learn more about foreign languages, even local dialects, psychological analysis, the customs and cultures of various nations, disguise, tracking and counter-tracking, and the establishment and management of intelligence networks. You will also learn the practical application of various tools, combat skills, close-quarters assassination techniques, and more. You were all selected from these dozens of elites because your backgrounds, abilities, knowledge, and intellect make you the most suitable candidates. Although you are different from them, you are, like them, officially part of the Mo Family Army. All the promises I made last time still apply to you. Furthermore, if you are killed or injured in the line of duty, your bereavement and resettlement allowances will be calculated at triple the standard rate. Of course, before we begin, you have the option to withdraw. Those who withdraw can return to the other group and continue training there."

The men were silent for a moment. These were among the most promising in this batch. They quickly reached a decision. Although they didn’t know Young Master Chu’s true identity, they sensed he was different from other commanders. What he described was novel and unfamiliar, yet it held a powerful allure for them. It seemed to promise a different path in life for them. As men, who wouldn’t want to achieve fame and merit? Compared to those who were illiterate and only knew how to obey orders, these men thought more clearly. "Reporting to Young Master, we will stay."

Ye Li raised an eyebrow, looking at them with a smile. "So, you truly don’t fear death. I won’t deceive you; you should understand that being an operative or a spy is an extremely dangerous profession. Moreover, even if your life isn’t in danger, you might never be able to return home or see your families again."

"Understood, Young Master! We believe the Prince and Princess Consort will take good care of our families." This was true; compared to other armies, the Mo Family Army had always treated its soldiers very generously.

Ye Li nodded. "Very good. In any case, I guarantee your families will be provided for, lacking neither food nor clothing, for their entire lives. You may rest today. Training begins tomorrow."

"Yes, Young Master!"