Always ready at all times

  The cold current blowing from the distant North Sea chilled Zhou Tian to the bone, and the last yellow leaf clinging to the branch was also stripped off, drifting in the cold wind. The various training sessions in the military camp did not stop. Cheng Chumu's hands were wrapped with cloth strips, punching one after another on the wooden stake, the cloth strips had turned red with blood, his eyes were firm as if he hadn't seen anything, and his fists continued to heavily hit the wooden stake. Li Huairan and Changsun Chong stood beside him, also striking the wooden stake, their hands equally covered in blood. No one cared, more than 200 people didn't care if their hands were bleeding or not, only caring about when they could break the wooden stake. The bare backs dripped with sweat, hot air swirling around their heads, inhaling and punching out, exhaling and striking, like tireless iron men.

  Li Chengqian and Yun Ye stood outside the field, watching. Cheng Yaojin only allowed them to participate in morning exercises, which meant running twenty miles with heavy loads every day. At this moment, they were wearing thick fur coats, with their hands tucked into their sleeves, chatting and laughing. Since sending the potatoes away, Li Chengqian would often look for Yun Ye to talk to when he had nothing to do. Of course, the fine wine he brought from the capital all belonged to Yun Ye. Li Chengqian was a good kid, Yun Ye thought so. At a young age, he was well-educated and extremely polite. He wouldn't smile or speak unless necessary, and it was hard to tell that he was a member of the royal family. When he saw soldiers working hard, he would worry; when he saw common people struggling to make ends meet, he would get anxious. Such a kind and intelligent young man would become cruel and abnormal in a few years, with a twisted mind, playing real-life war games with Li Tai, really fighting for his life, with blood on every blow. He was infatuated with the beautiful boy, playing hide-and-seek with him. And at one point, he even wanted to get rid of his own father. What was the reason? Yun Ye was curious. Li Chengqian? Yun Ye looked at him, somewhat inexplicably, because Yun Ye's eyes were very strange, with a mix of pity and curiosity.

  "What are you looking at me for? Is there something wrong?" He touched his face, the traces of eating braised meat earlier had been wiped clean. After many days of getting along, Li Chengqian no longer had a noble aura in Yunyan's eyes. Since that day when he ate potato beef stew, he had lost all appetite for the meals made by the imperial chef. When he found out that Yunyan had his own small kitchen, he came over every day to scrounge for food and drink. Huang Zhi'en would occasionally come over to discuss mathematics with Yunyan, and he would listen in on their conversations, occasionally interjecting a sentence or two. Although his words weren't particularly brilliant, they showed that he had his own insights, which left Huang Zhi'en amazed and flattering him as a genius, saying that if he devoted himself to studying mathematics, he would definitely become a master one day. Of course, since the level of mathematics during the Tang dynasty was generally low, in Yunyan's eyes it was only at the level of a first-year middle school student. Most of the time, it was him explaining and Huang Zhi'en listening, while Li Chengqian took notes. Over these past few days, he had already recorded a thick stack of notes. It seemed that whether or not he understood them, he would record them down first and then study them slowly later on. This was the right attitude towards learning. As for Cheng Chumo, he would only sit to the side and doze off, unable to even memorize Arabic numerals after over a dozen days. When Yunyan scolded him, he actually had the nerve to say: "We're brothers, aren't we? What's the difference between your knowledge and mine? Knowledge is meant to be used, so when I need it, I can just ask you, why do I need to study so hard myself?" Yunyan completely lost interest in educating Cheng Chumo. Fortunately, there was Li Chengqian, this good student who understood things quickly and grasped them easily, which made Yunyan feel greatly comforted.

  "You are a royal son and also the future master of my great Tang Dynasty. Now how come I didn't notice that you have a bit of an air of foolishness about you?"

  "What is the spirit of a turtle?" Still asking questions from the root of the problem.

  "It's the aura of strong personal charm that commands respect and submission from all, like your father, the emperor, who gathered all the talents under his rule, with strategists as numerous as rain and brave generals as dense as clouds, annihilating all heroes with a mere snap of his fingers. This is the concrete manifestation of the 'King's aura'."

  "It's the majesty of the emperor, not the shamelessness of a turtle! How dare you speak ill of my father, the emperor, and frame me? If I weren't stuffed with delicious food today, when I return to the capital, if I accidentally mention this in front of my father... Hmph! Unexpectedly, it seems that there is indeed someone named Wang Ba now. You should know that turtles were auspicious creatures during the Tang Dynasty, and many people had 'turtle' in their names, such as Li Guinian. This kid is trying to deceive me."

  "What nonsense are you talking about? How did I speak ill of Your Majesty? You'd better clarify. He's not very old, but he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve. In my eyes, he's still a bit too tender. Li Chengqian hemmed and hawed, unable to get the words out."

  "Stop stalling, Xiao Mo, Xiao Chong, the bad guys have all retreated, let's not stand here freezing like turtles,"

  Still the same old routine, soaking in medicinal water, only without the wailing and howling sounds. Everyone was in their own bucket, eyes closed, relaxing their muscles, letting their bodies get the most rest. Half an hour later, the medicinal water started to cool down, and one by one, they climbed out of the wooden buckets and began to receive massages beside a huge bonfire. After five months of intense training, each of them had transformed into muscular men. Cheng Chumo wore only shorts, yet didn't feel cold in the chilly wind; his dark bronze skin was bulging with muscles, and his stomach formed two beautiful "田" characters. Nowadays, their daily training was already a piece of cake for him; hitting wooden stakes was purely a new stimulus they had found for themselves. Long Sunchong and Li Huairou were not much different from him either; the three of them took a step forward, and that was their most fitting title.

  "Xiao Mo, Xiao Chong, bad guys, I made hot pot today, don't know if you want to eat." As soon as Yun Ye's voice fell, the three of them immediately transformed into three cheap men, bowing their heads and drooling excessively. Quickly putting on their leather jackets, they opened their chests and grabbed Yun Ye, rushing towards the camp tent.

  Li Chengqian was putting an iron pot on the stove, which was specially made by Yun Yan. He used a large bamboo tube to connect the bamboo joints and installed it at the smoke outlet as a chimney, burning coal. At first, Old Cheng was worried that he would be poisoned by carbon monoxide, but after installing the bamboo tube, there wasn't even a hint of carbon smell in the tent, and it was very warm. After making one for himself, he didn't care about anything else.

  Five people sat around the stove, a pot of strong liquor was passed around, not much, only about two liang per person, just enough to warm up. The aroma of spicy and savory flavors came from the pot, Yun Ye lifted the lid, and a big pot of braised beef with dried vegetables appeared before everyone's eyes. The dried vegetables that had absorbed the beef oil opened the appetite of the five people, the slightly spicy flavor covered up the fishy smell of the beef, there were no chili peppers, so Yun Ye could only use Sichuan pepper to substitute, although it wasn't very authentic, it was better than nothing.

  While eating and chatting, they unknowingly talked about the Turks. The shame at the beginning of the year made the young soldiers remember it deeply. As soon as they thought of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's great achievements in defeating the Xiongnu, and Ban Chao's brilliant achievements in the Western Regions, they couldn't help but feel angry when they thought about how they were still waiting for their chance to avenge themselves in silence. Zhangsun Long stood up with his knife and hit the back of it with chopsticks: "The wind and snow are dark on Mount Xueshan, General, your iron horse crosses the cold river, death is just an ordinary thing, don't let the Xiongnu cross Helan."