Chapter 133: The Princess's Practical Training

Huadian is a special kind of ornament in this era, worn on the forehead. According to different shapes, they can be freely pieced together into favorite patterns.

There are many kinds of materials used to make them, including gold foil, silver foil, bamboo bark, wood, and even dragonfly wings.

The color is predominantly bright red, but sometimes other colors appear as well, such as blue, gold, silver, or orange.

Generally speaking, it is one of the commonly used ornaments for women from relatively well-to-do families.

Li Yuchen nodded: "Then let us try it."

Coincidentally, the only thing about her right now that annoyed her mother was that she lacked the demeanor a young girl should have. Dressing up a little pretty for once might just make her mother a little happier.

Although her appearance was already exceptionally pretty, after all, parents still suffered from aesthetic fatigue after looking at it too much.

Shangguan Wan'er went to fetch a few Huadian pieces. After examining them carefully, she asked: "Shall I apply a floral pattern for Your Highness?"

"Let's try it, there's still time anyway." Li Yuchen nodded.

Shangguan Wan'er seemed quite interested in this. She picked a few red Huadian pieces directly from the dressing box, held them in front of her mouth to exhale a puff of warm breath, and then pressed them onto Li Yuchen's forehead.

This stuff was called hejiao, seemingly made from fish swim bladders. A puff of warm breath could activate its adhesiveness, allowing it to be stuck onto the forehead.

The crucial point was that this thing adhered quite securely; not to mention sweating, it would not fall off even if one kept it on while taking a bath.

Taking it off was also quite simple; applying a warm towel for a while would cause it to drop off.

Shangguan Wan'er carefully applied three small long strips to form a flower for her.

Li Yuchen turned her head to look in the mirror, and could see that the middle was a straight small strip, with the two sides curving outward at the top. The three Huadian pieces together formed the shape of a flower.

Not to mention, it really looked quite pretty.

Li Yuchen was naturally fair-skinned, and pasting these bright red Huadian pieces did not make her look abrupt at all.

At least in terms of having fair skin, Li Yuchen could still leave her mother streets behind.

...

In the evening was the imperial family's annual banquet for worshiping the moon goddess.

The banquet on this day would not be held inside the palace halls; as long as it wasn't raining, it was always held in the open air.

It was no different from before: the emperor would recite parallel prose first, followed by the commencement of the banquet.

Halfway through the banquet, the dancing girls were dismissed, and the emperor led the ministers down to dance.

As for Li Yuchen, the moment they started disco-dancing, she ran over to her mother's side, eating and chatting with her simultaneously.

Seeing this considerate daughter, Empress Wu also wore a satisfied smile, occasionally adding food to her daughter's plate and telling her to eat more.

Since her mother had said so, Li Yuchen did not stand on ceremony. Although her table manners were graceful, her mouth simply did not stop moving.

Empress Wu suddenly grinned and said: "Chen'er, with such a generous appetite, I've never seen you get fat!"

"It won't look good if I get fat," Li Yuchen replied, "and getting excessively fat is bad for health."

"Who says so?" Empress Wu retorted, "Your mother has never had any illnesses to this day."

"Mother, this isn't being fat, it's being plump," Li Yuchen corrected, "and Mother is an exception, which cannot be generalized."

Come to think of it, Li Yuchen also realized that her mother indeed had a very good constitution; at least for all these years, she had never fallen seriously ill.

Whenever she caught a cold or something similar, a single night's sleep would make everything fine again.

Thinking of her maternal grandmother, Lady Rongguo, who married after turning forty and gave birth to three daughters, yet retained all her hair and teeth in her nineties, one had to sigh that this was truly powerful genetics!

While eating, she looked down at her father and eldest brother dancing below, and Li Yuchen could not help feeling somewhat sorrowful.

Her father was old and also had illnesses. Logically speaking, he should lay down supreme power and rest well.

Unfortunately, she dared not utter such words—telling the emperor to relinquish power, what was she trying to do?

The eldest brother, the Crown Prince, was the same. Although his coughing was not as severe after his marriage, there was still no sign of improvement.

If something were to happen in the future, she would surely be heartbroken...

Seeing her daughter suddenly fall silent, Empress Wu lowered her gaze to look at her briefly, then followed her line of sight to look ahead.

She opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing, quietly raising her wine cup to take a sip.

...

The Mid-Autumn Festival passed just like that, without any special events occurring.

The next day arrived, time once again to visit her master to test her results. Li Yuchen set off after eating breakfast.

Taking a carriage, she traversed the Eastern Capital waking up along with the rising sun, and arrived at Liu Rengui's residence.

After practicing her routines with the spear-staff and double hammers, Li Yuchen hopped into the pavilion: "Master, is this passable?"

...

"Very good!" Liu Rengui nodded, a look of gratification on his face, "Your Highness has a fine physical constitution and extremely high talent. You are naturally fine material for martial arts!"

"Hehe, this disciple thinks so too!" Li Yuchen unhesitatingly praised herself, then suddenly turned her head to see Liu Huang nearby also holding a spear-staff and practicing alone.

Li Yuchen looked somewhat puzzled: "This is..."

One must know that Liu Huang in the past truly lived up to his name, wandering the streets all day long, going wherever it was fun, and never returning home before mealtime.

As for the day monthly stipends were distributed, basically nobody could find him that very night.

Either he was listening to tunes and drinking in a brothel, or gambling away money in a gambling house.

That was only because he was still too young and hadn't reached that stage yet; otherwise, various scandal news would probably be indispensable.

"Who knows what madness has gotten into him recently. Ever since the Crown Prince's grand wedding, he has rarely gone out to play, practicing martial arts at home all day long." Liu Rengui smiled and shook his head.

Li Yuchen nodded without thinking much of it: "Perhaps he has suddenly seen the light? For Master, this is also a good thing, isn't it?"

On the other side, although Liu Huang was practicing martial arts, most of his attention remained focused over here.

The slap the Princess gave him on the shoulder last time left a truly profound memory. After returning that night and taking off his clothes, a large bruise could be seen.

The crucial part was that the slap felt completely effortless, just a gentle tap!

That night, Liu Huang felt he could not continue like this; otherwise, if he discovered one day that he couldn't even surpass the Princess, a mere female, it would be too embarrassing!

Thus, starting from that day, he worked vigorously and diligently, practicing martial arts at home every day.

At least, if the Princess were to pat me again next time, I must make her feel the pain herself! Liu Huang thought to himself.

Clinging to this thought, he persisted all the way until now.

...

In the courtyard, Li Yuchen picked up the yogurt on the table to moisten her throat: "Master, shall we still use the sand table for tactical deduction?"

"No!" Liu Rengui shook his head, "Your Highness's foundation is already about ready. From now on, we should enter actual combat training."

"Actual combat training?" Li Yuchen looked up.

Liu Rengui smiled: "Although Your Highness is already familiar with all kinds of moves, practicing and a real fight are still different. Next is to perform training similar to actual combat, turning the learned moves into instinct. That way, when a real fight happens, there is no need to think; the body will naturally execute the learned moves."

Li Yuchen nodded: "Alright, then I'll have Father find a sparring partner for me when I get back."

"No!" Liu Rengui raised a hand to stop her, "Your Highness is this old man's disciple, so naturally the master will personally accompany you in sparring."

After all, how could one entrust their own disciple to someone else's hands?

"Uh..." Li Yuchen's expression was somewhat awkward: "Can Master handle it?"

Liu Rengui grinned: "Your Highness, rest assured. This old man knows Your Highness possesses innate divine strength, but with great strength, one must also strike accurately."

Li Yuchen thought about it and agreed, so she nodded: "How should we do it?"

Liu Rengui smiled and gestured to the servant waiting nearby: "Go get that rattan armor from the room."

The servant acknowledged the command and turned to leave.

Before long, he brought back a set of rattan armor. Judging from the size, it should have been made according to Li Yuchen's figure.

Liu Rengui took it and smiled: "Your Highness, please put on this rattan armor first."

"Alright!" Li Yuchen agreed, turning around to let Liu Rengui help her put it on.

Armor in this era was rather complex and could not be put on by oneself. The main reason was that the buckles were all on the back, requiring someone else to assist in wearing it.

Such a design was intended to keep the front as a unified whole, capable of withstanding attacks from the front to the maximum extent.

Having put on the rattan armor, Li Yuchen lowered her head to look and felt it was somewhat rigid.

She moved her limbs; it was relatively convenient and considered quite good armor for this era.

Over on his side, Liu Rengui had already wrapped the tips of two spear-staffs with large cloth heads, so that poking someone with this stuff wouldn't cause injury.

Seeing this, Li Yuchen felt somewhat puzzled: "Master is not wearing armor?"

"Hahahahaha..." Liu Rengui suddenly laughed, "Rest assured, at present Your Highness cannot hurt me yet!"

Thinking about it, he was indeed a veteran of the battlefield, while she was just a rookie who had only begun touching actual combat training—it was unlikely she could hurt him.

Thus, the two stood facing each other. Li Yuchen waved the spear-staff in her hand and asked: "Master, then I'm coming?"

"Come!" Liu Rengui nodded, also striking a pose and pointing his spear-staff toward her.

Li Yuchen gradually closed the distance. Their spear-staffs crossed, and then, seizing the right timing, she slightly lifted her spear-staff and thrust it directly toward Liu Rengui's chest.

With a smile on his face, Liu Rengui flicked his hands gently. The spear-staff in his hand turned slightly in a circular motion like a rolling crocodile, striking toward the spear-staff in Li Yuchen's hand.

Thrusting with such long-handled weapons essentially meant first deflecting the opponent's trajectory and then seizing the opportunity to thrust forward.

Liu Rengui did just that, but unexpectedly, the moment his staff struck up, Li Yuchen's staff was not deflected at all.

Instead, Li Yuchen abruptly pressed down with the spear-staff in her hand, instantly knocking away the incoming spear-staff.

Following that, she stepped forward, held the spear-staff with her right hand, and thrust it forward. The cloth head solidly struck Liu Rengui in the solar plexus.

"Ugh!" Liu Rengui let out a muffled grunt, retreating several steps underfoot with a thud-thud-thud.

"Cough, cough, cough..." The repelled Liu Rengui clutched his chest and coughed violently.

Li Yuchen was stunned, and hurriedly dropped her spear-staff and ran over: "Oh, is Master alright? I didn't expect..."

While coughing, Liu Rengui raised a hand and waved it repeatedly to indicate he was fine.

At the same time, he was inwardly astonished. Actually, he was mentally prepared for Li Yuchen's strength.

Although not many people knew about the Princess's innate divine strength, it couldn't be called a secret either.

Yet he truly hadn't expected her strength to be this immense; under vertical force application, she hadn't been deflected by his horizontal force at all.

The nearby servant and Liu Huang also hurriedly ran over, asking what had happened.

Coughing for quite a while, Liu Rengui waved his hand: "Nothing to do with you all, it was my own miscalculation... Cough, cough..."

"Are you really alright?" Liu Huang asked with some concern.

Liu Rengui waved his hand: "Go back to your own business!"

"Alright then..." Liu Huang nodded, running back to practice his own.

The servant was also about to leave when Liu Rengui called out to stop him: "Go get my rattan armor as well..."

"Yes!" The servant acknowledged and hurriedly turned to fetch Liu Rengui's own rattan armor.

Looking at Li Yuchen, who still looked somewhat worried, Liu Rengui grinned: "Your Highness need not worry... But truly, I never expected Your Highness's strength to reach such a degree."

"This... I didn't either..."

Li Yuchen didn't know how to explain it well; mainly, she hadn't expected Liu Rengui fail to block it.

However, he didn't seem to care much, and instead looked rather expectant.

Before long, the servant brought over a set of rattan armor and helped Liu Rengui put it on.

Liu Rengui patted his armor: "Come, continue!"

"Master, should I..."

"No!" Liu Rengui seemed to know what she wanted to say and directly interrupted: "Proceed as before. If you hold back, you won't be able to achieve training results."

Li Yuchen nodded: "Alright, then Master, I'm coming!"

"Come ahead!" Liu Rengui nodded.

Thus, the two of them resumed their sparring practice in the courtyard.

This time, having mental preparation, Liu Rengui's movements became much more agile, no longer clashing power head-on with Li Yuchen, and instead adopting more evasive methods.

Finding an opportunity, he thrust his spear-staff forward, and the cloth-wrapped shaft struck solidly on Li Yuchen's shoulder.

The force of this blow felt minor, not even making her step back.

Liu Rengui wore a look of astonishment; the power of his strike was not small, yet it hadn't even pushed her back!

He couldn't help shaking his head with an expression of deep emotion: "Your Highness's physique is truly that of a natural martial artist!"

Li Yuchen lowered her head to look at her shoulder; the force of that strike indeed felt small enough not to make her lose balance.

"Is that so..." Li Yuchen smiled slightly, "Then Master had better be a bit careful."

"Come!" Liu Rengui could no longer suppress his anticipation; perhaps he really could train a genius!

The master and disciple practiced simulated combat right there in the courtyard. Li Yuchen not only possessed great strength, but her stamina also far exceeded ordinary people's.

Before long, Liu Rengui's movements had already become sluggish, while Li Yuchen was still just like when she started, without the slightest deviation.

Just as things were getting somewhat heated, Liu Rengui suddenly waved his hand: "Alright, Your Highness should rest for a bit as well."

"But Master, I still..."

"Right." Ignoring her as if he hadn't heard, Liu Rengui walked over to the pavilion on his own and sat down, "Normally when Your Highness has free time, you can also find those gate-guard guards to practice sparring..."