Chapter 12 Wei Niangzi at the Training Ground…
After leaving the reading pavilion, Tao Hong patted her chest in relief repeatedly: “Young Miss, fortunately you were quick-witted today, otherwise Liu Xiansheng would have surely reported to the master.”
Tao Lu, however, still looked troubled: “Young Miss, should we listen to Liu Xiansheng? Going to the training ground at this time might mean enduring more hardships. Young Miss has just fully recovered from illness…”
“I’m not sick, don’t listen to Hua Ting’s nonsense.” Wen Ru adjusted her sleeves, “Training ground? Of course we’re going. It’s bound to be more interesting than reading and reciting books, isn’t it?”
Tao Hong and Tao Lu thought so too. Those complicated classical texts were so boring to listen to, it would be better to go to the training ground and ride horses for a few laps to stay awake. It’s just that the Young Miss had always been afraid of hardship and fatigue, why wasn’t she resisting today? It must be that the master and Hua Ting’s pressure to study behind her back was effective.
Unaware of her attendants’ thoughts, Wen Ru walked towards the training ground with full anticipation. The three passed through a covered corridor and crossed a green stone arch. A small hill, only about 30 feet high, appeared before them. After circling this hill, they could see a spacious courtyard.
There was only one red two-story main building in the courtyard, facing south. To the south, where the sunlight was best, was a wide open space specifically for practicing martial arts.
When Wen Ru arrived, there were already more than ten women in brown short clothes practicing in the training ground. The Great Mi Dynasty allowed private training of a certain number of private soldiers, and these people were part of the Wen family’s private army, though they were officially called guards.
Seeing Wen Ru enter, everyone paused briefly, respectfully called out “Young Miss” and then continued their training.
Among them, some were walking on plum blossom piles with their hands raised sideways, palms facing outward, moving at an extremely fast pace; some were in horse stance, pushing punches left and right; some were wielding weapons and sparring with others, showing no mercy in their moves. On the left side of the training ground’s open space was a weapons rack.
What shocked Wen Ru was that the weapons on the rack and in the guards’ hands were not the light weapons she had imagined, such as short swords, daggers, and hidden weapons, but rather spears, halberds, heavy swords, broad axes, and meteor hammers. In summary, they were either long or heavy.
After a brief consideration, Wen Ru thought this might be because there was always a limit to how much a woman’s physical strength could improve. To maximize their combat effectiveness, they had to focus on weapons. After all, sometimes “brute force overcomes skill” and “an inch longer, an inch stronger” were the truth.
Wen Ru walked towards the weapons rack with bright eyes, picked up the large axe, and as soon as she held it, she sighed inwardly, goodness, it must be at least twenty catties. She quickly put it down and went to pick up the spear, which was much more suitable in weight. She picked it up and made a thrust into the air. Wen Ru remembered reading somewhere that the famous general Yue Yun’s weapon was a spear, and now holding it in her hand, she felt as if she had touched a bit of the hero’s glory.
“Why are you here so early?” Just as Wen Ru was playing by herself, a crisp female voice suddenly came. Looking towards the sound, she could see a person walking out from the side of the main building.
A woman not yet thirty, much younger than Liu Xiansheng who taught the literature class, her hair tied up neatly on top of her head with a red hairband. As for what clothes and pants she was wearing, Wen Ru couldn’t see clearly at all, because her lowered gaze was completely drawn to the exposed slender waist, which was evenly distributed with light brown abs.
Perhaps she had just come from exercising elsewhere, sweat had soaked through her top, glistening as it slid down onto her abs, carving out a groove in the thin sweat on her abs.
These abs were not large, but their curves were distinct, looking very powerful. If she could touch them…
Slurp—
Wen Ru unconsciously swallowed, then bashfully put the spear back on the weapons rack and stood up straight, waiting for her to come over.
Wei Niangzi looked from afar and thought the Young Miss seemed a bit dazed today. She walked over slowly, and as she passed the weapons rack, she pulled down a white sweat towel from it, casually wiping the sweat from her forehead and neck.
“You weren’t punished by Sister Liu, were you?” Wei Niangzi carelessly tossed the sweat-soaked towel onto the weapons rack and teased with raised heroic eyebrows.
Tao Hong and Tao Lu raised their hands, bowed, and said in unison: “Wei Niangzi is insightful.”
Wen Ru was exasperated, glancing sideways at Tao Hong and Tao Lu.
“Why did you provoke that iron nugget Sister Liu,” Wei Niangzi threw her head back and laughed heartily, pointing at Wen Ru’s riding outfit and asking perfunctorily, “Are you still riding horses today?”
When Wen Jinyi first came to the training ground at twelve years old, she was forcibly pulled by Wei Niangzi to try her skills. Wei Niangzi had just retired from the army then and was teaching students for the first time. She threw the person to the ground several times, traumatizing her. From then on, whenever the training ground’s Wei Niangzi was mentioned, Wen Jinyi felt pain all over her body. But she couldn’t avoid the training ground classes and could only always choose horseback riding.
Of course, Wen Ru was not Wen Jinyi. As a person from the 21st century, who didn’t have a martial arts dream? It was just a little hardship, she was willing to endure it.
“I’m not riding horses today,” Wen Ru looked at Wei Niangzi and said decisively, “I want to learn martial arts!”
“Oh?” Wei Niangzi stroked her chin, looking Wen Ru’s small frame up and down, “Young Miss should know that practicing martial arts is about training muscles and bones. When it’s time to be tired, you’ll be tired; when it’s time to hurt, you’ll hurt; when it’s time to bleed, you’ll bleed. There’s no room for holding back.”
“I know!” Wen Ru nodded, then thought she shouldn’t make big promises. If she couldn’t endure the hardship, it would look bad to force herself through it. So she compromised a bit, “I’ll try it first.”
Seeing the determination in her words retreat, Wei Niangzi smiled even more brightly. She liked this kind of honest child, who knew their limits and didn’t rush in. If she encountered someone who cared about face or was stubborn, who would grit their teeth and not make a sound even if beaten badly, she might end up losing everything in compensation.
“Come, throw a punch at me,” Wei Niangzi stood in place with a smile, taking a stance, “Let me see if your strength and mind are suitable for martial arts.”
Wen Ru saw her take her stance and felt a bit timid. The person in front of her was a trained fighter, and she was asking her to go straight in without even teaching her the basics? But looking at the weapons rack beside her, and the exposed section of Wei Niangzi’s slender waist with abs, she still wanted to take a risk.
Would she have this opportunity in the 21st century? Now that she had traveled here, with the right time, place, and people, and even a formidable teacher, it would be too cowardly if she didn’t grit her teeth and try.
Thinking of this, she raised her hand and made a fist, using all her strength to punch towards Wei Niangzi’s face. However, Wei Niangzi easily extended her hand, transforming the punch with her palm, and deflected her to the side. Wen Ru couldn’t stop her momentum and fell hard to the ground.
With a thud, Tao Hong and Tao Lu were startled. They were about to go help her up when they saw Wen Ru get up again, raise her fist once more, and continue to punch towards the person’s face.
Tao Hong and Tao Lu closed their eyes, not daring to look anymore. They thought, perhaps they should persuade the master to change to a different martial arts teacher. Wei Niangzi was too direct and rough; if their Young Miss was taught more gently, she could still learn a few self-defense moves.
It was this closing of eyes that made them miss seeing Wen Ru, who had sprung up from the ground again, suddenly change her punch midway to grab Wei Niangzi’s elbow, catching her off guard.
Wei Niangzi raised her eyebrows in surprise, flashed and moved her forearm, shaking off the grabbing hand and then countering with her elbow, hitting Wen Ru’s chin squarely.
Wen Ru fell to the ground in pain, grimacing and secretly glaring at Wei Niangzi.
She didn’t want to like cool big sisters anymore; it really hurt when they hit you.
“Not bad.” Wei Niangzi squatted down, looking down at Wen Ru, and nodded, “Today, let’s start with footwork.”
Wen Ru immediately forgot the pain, sat up quickly from the ground, her eyes shining: “What kind of footwork? Is it the ‘Lingbo Weibo’ (a legendary swift and agile footwork)?”
Of course, it wasn’t anything like ‘Lingbo Weibo’. Wei Niangzi called for someone to bring sandbags, tied them to Wen Ru’s legs, and pointed to the track at the side and back of the training ground: “I guess no one will be riding horses today, so you can run three laps along the track.”
Wen Ru looked in the direction she pointed and saw the track stretching into the distance.
