Chapter 18: Tempering
“The rain outside is so heavy, who knows how long it will last.” Captain Sun looked at Pei Qinghe: “Traveling in the rain, everyone will get drenched. With just one doctor, even boiling medicine wouldn’t keep up—people would die. Doesn’t Sixth Sister fear that?”
His tone had already softened.
Pei Qinghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart and said softly: “We’ve traveled several hundred li, and in a few more days we’ll reach Jizhou. The Imperial Court is far away. If we stop here for one or two days to rest, no one will notice.”
Far from no one noticing.
No one cared about the life or death of the family of a convicted official being exiled.
What’s more, they had been traveling over thirty li each day before, and the speed was twice as fast as expected.
Captain Sun himself was unwilling to travel in the rain, and with dozens of men under him! Even the warhorses couldn’t stand it.
Captain Sun didn’t immediately agree because he wanted some real benefits. Pei Qinghe knew this well, and after getting Captain Sun’s agreement, she turned and quietly sent twenty taels of silver.
Having taken the benefits, Captain Sun immediately gave orders: the rain was heavy and the road slippery, unsuitable for travel, so everyone stay in the posthouse, and set out again when the rain stops.
The big soldiers grinned from ear to ear, gathering together to throw dice for amusement.
After days of nonstop travel, the Pei family old and young were all exhausted. Finally they could unload their fatigue and lie down for a day.
Pei Qinghe showed no sign of weariness. She first patrolled once around, then gathered captains like Pei Yan and Pei Yun together to arrange the training content for the next period.
After hearing this, Pei Yun and the others were all dumbfounded.
Practicing formations, stamina, endurance, and obeying military orders was already excessive. Now, Pei Qinghe actually wanted to practice weapons too?
Even Pei Yan, who admired Pei Qinghe the most, was stunned and blurted out: “Where would we get weapons?”
“You have a dagger in hand, there’s an old bow and arrow on the wooden cart, and two notched broken knives. With so many of us, how are we supposed to practice?”
Those two broken knives had also been exchanged from the big soldiers with silver.
They could be used for self-defense in emergencies. But using them to train troops was indeed unrealistic.
Pei Qinghe had planned ahead and said confidently: “This heavy rain will last at least one or two days. I plan to take advantage of this time to find sturdy wooden sticks for everyone.”
Mao Hongling, skilled with spears, perked up and immediately chimed in: “That’s good. When walking, they can serve as crutches to borrow some strength. They can also be used as spears.”
Pei Yun immediately said: “There’s a grove near the official road, we can gather materials on the spot. I’ll go call some people.”
But Pei Qinghe said: “No need to go out in the rain. The posthouse has wood. Aunt, take out some silver and buy it directly.”
As soon as Wu Xiuniang thought of the increasingly light silver box, her heart ached: “Qinghe, we really need to save the silver. At this rate, we won’t make it to Youzhou.”
Pei Qinghe casually smiled to reassure her: “Who knows, maybe someone will send silver to us halfway.”
After a few jokes, Wu Xiuniang took a silver ingot to find the posthouse cook. That’s right, this wood of varying thicknesses was all split for firewood. The posthouse had half a house full.
Seeing the shiny silver, the cook’s eyes lit up and he readily agreed: “Use as much wood as you want, and here are three axes—take them and use them too.”
The chopping sounds mixed with the sound of heavy rain hitting the ground, drifting into the ears of the Eastern Palace Guards.
Several Eastern Palace Guards, bored, went to the kitchen to watch the fun. The square-faced big soldiers came along to join in.
At this sight, all the guards were inwardly astonished.
The heavy wooden axe of over ten jin was like an embroidery needle in Sixth Sister Pei’s hands—raised and lowered, crisp and clean. Wood as thick as a bowl’s mouth split in two with one chop.
Laymen watch the fun, experts watch the skill. They had been selected as Eastern Palace Guards because they had real ability, and their eyesight was much sharper than those blustering big soldiers.
The force was controlled perfectly, not wasting a bit of stamina. Sixth Sister Pei was a true master.
The other two axes were used in rotation by Pei Yun, Pei Yan, and the others. Only Pei Qinghe never switched, chopping for half an hour without flushing or panting.
Powerful!
Too powerful!
The square-faced big soldier was eager to try: “Sixth Sister has been chopping for half a day, she must be tired. Let me give it a try.”
Pei Qinghe was very appreciative and smiled at the square-faced big soldier: “Then many thanks.”
The square-faced big soldier grinned foolishly, took the axe, and chopped vigorously.
The mole-faced big soldier and the round-faced big soldier exchanged sly winks and smirked.
They had all entered the barracks at around ten years old, and now they were over twenty. They barely filled their bellies, couldn’t afford wives. Occasionally they’d scrape some silver to enjoy a night of pleasure. The square-faced big soldier always called her “Sixth Sister,” and they often mocked him privately for it.
The roughly chopped wooden sticks were neither round nor smooth, covered in splinters everywhere.
For once, the square-faced big soldier was careful: “I’ll take a knife to smooth them, so Sixth Sister doesn’t get splinters in her hand.”
Pei Qinghe smiled faintly: “No need to smooth them, this is perfect.”
She casually took a scrap of cloth, wrapped one end of the wooden stick a few times—it fit perfectly in the hand. The splinter-covered, extremely rough wooden stick now had even more killing power.
Guard Gao, who had been watching coldly from the side, suddenly said: “Heavy rain today, can’t travel, nothing to do. How about Sixth Sister Pei teaches a few moves?”
The Eastern Palace Guards and big soldiers all excitedly clamored.
Pei Qinghe glanced at Guard Gao: “Hands-on would spoil the harmony, better not!”
Guard Gao: “…”
True masters only kill, they don’t parry.
Pei Qinghe didn’t threaten or show killing intent; with one light sentence, she left Guard Gao speechless.
Seeing their boss deflated, the guards turned away to steal laughs.
Two days later, the rain stopped.
The Pei family old and young, rested for two days, now had wooden sticks in hand—walking was much lighter. Moreover, with weapons in hand, they had confidence and assurance for self-defense. The Pei Clan women held their heads high, gazes clear, especially spirited.
During a rest for water, Pei Qinghe called Pei Feng and Pei Xuan over and patiently taught them how to use sticks to beat people.
Pei Feng swung his wooden stick with whooshing sounds, and after a few words of praise from Pei Qinghe, his little face flushed happily.
Pei Xuan’s talent for martial arts was even better; she mastered a few stick techniques right away. Pei Feng, unconvinced, wanted to spar with Pei Xuan. Pei Xuan showed no mercy and beat him down with a few sticks.
Madam Lu watched indignantly and grumbled to Madam Chen: “This Xuan girl has no sense of strength in her strikes—Feng Ge’er’s hand is all scraped red.”
Madam Chen didn’t mind: “So what? Injuries are routine in martial training. All the Pei Clan boys grew up that way.”
Madam Lu was in the wrong and after a while muttered: “It’s different now.”
All the Pei Clan men had been executed, leaving only these young children—shouldn’t they be treasured?
How dare this yellow-haired girl Pei Xuan bully Pei Feng, the legitimate son of the Pei Clan main branch?
Madam Chen rolled her eyes, not polite at all: “With Qinghe here, don’t worry about it. Hurry and lie down to rest!”
……
