Chapter 74: A Tough Start

Translator: DragonRider

Although Ling Zhang could take advantage of Yuwen Tong’s power, he never relaxed himself at all. After dinner, he went back to his study and studied how to arrange the twelve guards in the most appropriate position in the Trap and Kill Formation of Twelve; after looking at the several options he had previously considered, he was trying to make more plans.

The Trap and Kill Formation of Twelve had twelve different variations, each of which could turn into a new one; these formations looked completely different, but in fact, they were all connected with each other and they were also flexible. Now even Ling Zhang found it difficult to apply and grasp this formation completely, so it was impossible for those guards to do the same. They could only practice it one by one.

The problem was, in addition to the most basic formation, which formation should he choose for the guards to begin with?

Once Ling Zhang immersed himself in his thinking, he would forget the passage of time.

“Marshal, the light in the childe Ling’s room is still on.”

The guard of Green Bamboo Mansion squatted on the wall between the two courtyards, turning his head to shout toward the Green Bamboo Mansion.

Yuwen Tong didn’t sleep either. On his desk was a map of Tanyang and some detailed topographic maps of each county of Tanyang, which were collected in special ways by Yaoyi these days. One of them was a topographic map of Qi County, which was located in the southwest of the Tanyang city. This map was specially marked with a big red circle by Yuwen Tong.

Hearing the guard’s words, Yuwen Tong put the map aside, and glanced at the water clock. It was already in midnight.

He had wanted to get up but gave up the idea after some thought. Ling Zhang was no longer a child and had his own way of handling matters. So he couldn’t decide everything for Ling Zhang. He thought that it was hard for Ling Zhang to have a good sleep before getting rid of Zhang Chong. Why not let him do what he wanted? Maybe keeping busy would make him feel a little at ease.

In the early morning of the next day, Ling Zhang showed up at the residence of the guards on time. Wang Dashan had expanded the original training ground according to Ling Zhang’s orders, and he had removed all the sundries around the ground.

“Young master, are you still going to train our cooperation today?”

“Yes.”

In order to follow Ling Zhang’s instructions, the guards did nothing else but continue to practice the cooperation with each other. It was not until evening that their practice worked a little.

For the next two days, Ling Zhang continued training the guards’ ability to cooperate with each other.

Yuwen Tong was not in the Mansion these days, and Ling Zhang didn’t know and hadn’t asked where he had gone. Yunwen Tong would tell him if he wanted to. Since Ling Zhaowen was almost framed last time, now there were more than three attendants accompanying him to Yamen every day. He was quite safe under the protection of these attendants these two days.

On this day, Fu Caiwei came to tell him that Jiang’s Herbs had sent those two herbs here and all the herbs he needed had been collected.

Yuwen Tong was not here, so Ling Zhang was not in a hurry to start the medicine bath. “Aunt, I am really sorry to trouble you. In a few days, I will visit Jiang’s Herbs and express my gratitude to them in person.”

“That’s a good idea. Well, Lord Yuwen is away lately, do you know where he’s gone?”

Fu Caiwei looked at Ling Zhang with her probing eyes.

Ling Zhang knew what his aunt was thinking. He knew that she was wondering if the relationship between he and Yuwen Tong had developed in a good way and if Ling Zhang might change his mind to break the engagement. Instead of exposing her, he replied, “He doesn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask him, either. But the guard said he will be away for a few days.”

Ling Zhang’s answer almost perfectly avoided what Fu Caiwen wanted to know, which made her feel a little disappointed. She was quite satisfied with Yuwen Tong; she thought her nephew, Ling Zhang, was good enough, too, and only a man like Yuwen Tong could deserve Ling Zhang; however, she also understood that it was all Ling Zhang’s choice to make.

Fu Caiwei left with disappointment. Ling Zhang stood for a while before going to the residence of the guards.

Xia Feng had come back from Yanzhou the day before. He checked Liu Yi’s background and found nothing suspicious.

So they were officially going to start practicing the Trap and Kill Formation of Twelve.

However, things did not go as smoothly as Ling Zhang had expected. It took Ling Zhang half a day to explain the Trap and Kill Formation to the twelve guards. If he wanted them to keep every position in mind, he needed to impart some basic knowledge about formations to them.

Ling Zhang pulled a long face the whole morning. And the guards were silent with guilty.

“Young master, we are all uneducated boors who know nothing about formation. Please don’t be angry with us.  I will urge them to practice hard and grasp the knowledge you taught us as soon as possible.” For fear of provoking Ling Zhang, Wang Dashan said cautiously.

Ling Zhang knew that it was all because of his own thoughtlessness. After taking a deep breath, he said, “Suspend the afternoon training. I’m going to teach you the basics of orientation discrimination, location selection, terrain identification and distance measurement. I was too hasty today in this matter, so it’s not all your fault. Have a rest now. I will come again this afternoon.”

The guards felt a sense of relief. Qiu Bing scratched the head, saying, “Young master, do we need to bring brush and ink?”

Other people were concerned about it, too. Compared with practicing martial arts, reading and writing were more difficult for them!

“No, I will tell you what to do.”

“Got it, young master, we’ll study hard this afternoon.”

Ling Zhong nodded, letting them to have a rest. Then he had a talk with Wang Dashan and Liu Yi. “You have to keep watch tonight, can you stand it?”

“That’s OK. We will take turns at night, so that we will both have good rest and keep energetic at day. Don’t worry about us.”

Both Wang Dashan and Liu Yi said that the training would not have an impact on their evening activities. If they were really tired, they would tell Ling Zhang on their own initiative.

Ling Zhang found that they didn’t seem to be in low spirits, so he didn’t say anything more. After leaving the guards’ residence, he passed on a message to the servants in the kitchen that they should provide more nutritious meat dishes to the guards every noon.

Although the person in charge of the expenditure of the kitchen was Fu Caiwei, she had said that as long as it was Ling Zhang’s request, they had to follow even if it would cost more money. So the servants in the kitchen promised him right away.

At noon, there were a few more meat dishes in the food for the guards, which deeply touched the group of men.

At the moment they were very happy, but Ling Zhang was not. After helping himself some lunch, he began to write down the knowledge points to be taught to the guards; then he sorted out and refined these points one by one. He had been sitting here since he started doing this. Not until the appointed time came did he take the things he prepared to the guards’ residence.

“That will keep Childe Ling busy for a while. These guys are a group of illiterates. It will take a lot of effort to let the knowledge sink in.”

Yao Yi, who was on guard on the roof of the Green Bamboo Mansion, looked at what was happening in the residence of the guards in the distance while complaining to the other guard.

“If I were him, I would rather have martial arts competition with them than to teach them the knowledge. It is too hard.”

“That’s why Marshal dislikes you.”

“Cough! Captain, what are you talking about? If he knows it, we will be in trouble.”

“Marshal is not here. What are you afraid of?”

Yao Yi folded his arm on his chest, eyes on what was going on in the guards’ residence. However, the other guard beside him was looking around warily, he was afraid that their Marshal would suddenly pop up like a ghost.

The guards had been waiting on the practice ground on time. When Ling Zhang arrived, no one was absent and they all looked more energetic than in the morning. It seemed that the extra meals at noon had worked wonders.

“Take it easy, and don’t worry about the learning. I will explain in detail and demonstrate them one by one. All you need to do is focus on what I’m talking, remember it and reflect on it.” Ling Zhang said.

These guards were also experienced. Although the formation drills confused them, they were not lazy in the afternoon study.

This time, Ling Zhang slowed down his pace and patiently explained the most basics to them first. Then he gave them a demonstration over and over again. He wouldn’t move on to the next step until each of them had a clear understanding of each knowledge point.

Things were going on like this, in a rather slow and hard way. He spent an afternoon explaining only four basic knowledge points.

When he left the guards’ residence, he couldn’t help but touch his forehead. He needed to tell himself to be patient over and over again to actually keep his cool. In fact, he was really anxious. If at the current pace, it would take years before he could reach his goal .

After taking a bath, Ling Zhang looked at the formations he had picked on his desk and sighed. He was too naïve, thinking that he could teach them all three formations in half a month. But now, he would be overjoyed if they could master one. Green Bamboo Mansion had been quiet these days, which meant that Yuwen Tong hadn’t come back. Ling Zhang guessed what Yuwen Tong was doing exactly. But he was so tired that he finally fell asleep. In the middle of the night, there was something going on in the Green Bamboo Mansion. Yao Yi immediately knew who it was. “Marshal, you are back.”

Yuwen Tong nodded. “Anything new about Ling Mansion these days?”

Yao Yi then told Yuwen Tong what had happened in the Ling Family in the past few days. He highlighted two points. The first was that Ling Zhang had collected all the herbs; the second was the process of their training.

Hearing that those guards spent an afternoon learning only four basic knowledge points, Yuwen Tong frowned. “They are too stupid.”

“Precisely. They are too stupid that I couldn’t even bear to watch. Fortunately, young master is still patiently teaching them. Can these rough fellows learn that?”

Yuwen Tong thought about it seriously then asked, “Did he stay up late?”

“No, maybe he is too tired, so he rested early today.”

“Such a group of waste.” Yuwen Tong scolded and his face had turned cold.

Seeing that he was really angry, Yao Yi didn’t dare to say anything more.

“Remind me when he goes out tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

Yuwen Tong changed the nocturnal clothing and washed up. Sitting behind the desk, he unfolded a piece of paper. Then he took out his pen and began to draw a diagram of the Trap and Kill Formation of Twelve. He drew eight pictures and picked out two of them.

Then he drew a big circle on a blank piece of paper and began to illustrate on it.