Chapter 5 Cultivating the Body Qin Lei's Self-Strengthening Abandoned as a Discarded Son Anger Ignites

  Half an hour later...

  Sweat-drenched Qin Lei glared ferociously at Iron Eagle, seeing him breathe steadily as if nothing was wrong. Qin Lei gritted his teeth and said: "From now on, we'll fight every night." After that, he turned around and went back into the house.

  Not long after he disappeared, Iron Eagle slowly sat down, starting to rub the places on his body that had been hit. The moonlight was like water, sprinkling on him, and it seemed to have a somewhat melancholic flavor.

  Just now, the sparring, or rather punching sandbags is more suitable, Qin Lei's fists and feet can't break through Tieying's defense, neither speed nor strength are enough. Of course, it still hurts a lot. If Tieying knew that Qin Lei was going to use him for long-term testing of his own power level, he might feel even more heartache.

  The brawl in front of the Procuratorate seems to have blown over, and the Prefect of the Capital has not come to demand compensation for the medical expenses of several injured soldiers, but instead sent a whole battalion of soldiers to surround the Procuratorate.

  Tie Ying only said that the Qi state was afraid of being beaten again because of its small population, but Qin Lei felt a different and unusual taste. Unfortunately, Li Guangyuan seemed to be avoiding him in recent days, and there was no way to ask around.

  Since he couldn't figure it out, Qin Lei simply didn't think about it and set up a training plan for himself to focus on recovering his physical strength.

  He gets up at 4 am every day, does some light exercise, and then runs laps around the small yard with a self-made backpack. The yard is very small, less than 30 meters in circumference, but running lap after lap is enough to make the iron eagles watching from the sidelines dizzy.

  Iron Eagle knew that the bundle contained five bricks. After Qin Lei ran for half an hour, he would adjust his position for a moment, then take off his small jacket soaked with sweat, revealing his skeletal upper body, pick up another bundle containing five bricks, hold twenty horizontally and twenty vertically, then hang the bundles on both ends of a carrying pole, put it on his shoulder, squat twenty times, and so on, with many variations. After finishing all this, the new cook sent by the Qi state had just gotten out of bed.

  After breakfast, Qin Lei would repeat the morning exercise several times and do a few sets of pull-ups on the flying eaves of the residence, or sit on the railing with his legs hanging down, lifting them up and down dozens of times. Although Tie Ying didn't know what effect this had, watching Qin Lei's intense rhythmic movements made him secretly admire him. He thought to himself that he couldn't sustain such a long period of exercise, it seemed that the young master had some secret method.

  After lunch, Qin Lei would take a short nap for half an hour, then hold the carrying pole horizontally under the sun with one end of the pole hanging that bundle, motionless for half an hour, then switch hands, and another half an hour...

  Sweat came out and dried up, only to come out again. The iron eagle watching from the side couldn't bear it and advised him several times, but was deterred by Qin Lei's murderous gaze each time, so just let him be.

  The whole afternoon, Qin Lei will continue to repeat like this, Tie Ying looks at it with a sour body, and doesn't know how the seemingly weak master can hold on.

  By nightfall, after running with a heavy load for half an hour, the day's training finally came to an end. Tiejing would instruct the cook to prepare hot water for bathing and toss the idle prince into the bathtub.

  After His Highness finishes his bath, Iron Eagle will scoop him out again, roughly wipe him with a large towel, throw him onto the bed, stretch his arms and press down...

  A shrill cry like the slaughter of a pig echoed through the small courtyard, reverberating in the night sky above Chang'an City, startling a flock of nocturnal birds and causing the Qi State soldiers outside to exchange bewildered glances.

  Qin Lei had to admit that although Iron Eagle's hands were too heavy, the authentic internal family pushing and pulling skills were top-notch. Every time he screamed and wailed, his whole body would feel comfortable and relaxed, with no dreams at night. The next day, he could continue to torture himself in perfect condition.

  ~~~~~

  That night, after a day of cultivation, Qin Lei comfortably lay on the edge of the bathtub, humming and making sounds, looking at Tie Ying sitting by the door with a hesitant expression, lazily saying: "Brother Tie, you're too unsatisfactory, we two are in a foreign land, relying on each other for survival, what can't be said?"

  Tie Ying looked at Qin Lei, and through the misty air, he couldn't see his expression clearly, but he knew that Qin Lei's words were sincere. After a month of getting along, he had already been able to distinguish between Qin Lei's jokes and serious remarks.

  Originally, as a guard, he shouldn't have pointed fingers at his master's affairs. But after some thought, he felt that Qin Lei had been treating him with sincerity and respect since his awakening, so it wasn't right to hide anything. He cleared his throat and said, "Your Highness, today's alliance signing ceremony didn't mention your situation at all, which is really too much of a deception!"

  Qin Lei's eyebrows furrowed slightly, then relaxed again. He straightened up slightly and said slowly, "Lord Li had already informed me a few days ago. I didn't have much hope to begin with, so I'm not feeling particularly disappointed."

  Tie Ying listened, somewhat anxious, and straightened up, saying in a loud voice: "These days I've seen Your Highness working day and night, thinking you'd changed your ways, knowing how to make progress. Who would have thought that after just a few days, you'd revert back to being the same old lazybones?" His voice grew louder, his tone also rising.

  Qin Lei liked his straightforward personality, which was just like the soldiers under his command. He smiled and stopped teasing Tie Ying, saying in a low voice: "There has never been a savior, nor can one rely on gods to survive; only oneself can save oneself."

  Tie Ying was delighted with this sentence and his passion was ignited. He stood up, clasped his fists and said: "Everything depends on your orders..."

  Qin Lei smiled and pointed to the towel on one side, saying: "Suddenly, Li Guangyuan was ordered to end the negotiations domestically, hastily concluding an alliance treaty. He must be preparing for a war to clear his shame." However, his fist in the water remained tightly clenched.

  Taking the towel handed over by Iron Eagle, Qin Lei got up and jumped out of the wooden bucket, wiping his body dry and casually wrapping himself in a long gown. He said, "Now our situation has become very dangerous, but only change will bring us opportunities. If we remain the same as before, I'm afraid I'll end up growing old in the capital. The greater the crisis, the greater the opportunity. Iron brother, believe me, we won't just muddle along and wait for death."

  Tieying saw Qin Lei's confident appearance and guessed that he must have a plan, so she didn't say much.

  The sound of pigs being slaughtered followed as usual, and the guards outside were already deaf to it.

  After finishing the massage, Iron Eagle blew out the candle and stood up to leave.

  Darkness shrouded the bedroom, this time Qin Lei did not fall into a deep sleep, but instead stared blankly at the beam, lost in thought. Although he had comforted Tieying, he was also furious in his heart.

  He didn't expect such an ending, originally thinking that his humble self as a hostage wouldn't be worth the concern of the great men of two countries. If the Emperor of Qin had any familial affection at all, he would have taken him back, not to mention that he had been a hostage for sixteen years and had no achievements but only hardships.

  Once the two countries go to war, they will completely lose their value and may become a tool for Qi Guo to vent their anger. Therefore, they must take action quickly and make a desperate move.

  "You guys who are playing chess want to give up on this piece, but you also have to see if I agree or not." In the darkness, Qin Lei clenched his fists tightly and said in a voice that only he could hear.

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