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As expected, hard work pays off. He found out more information about Xi Cheng. After learning that he was already with An Haohao and had a child, Cheng Xiaobei was even happier. He felt that this was a godsend opportunity, giving him the chance to take advantage of it.
The most important thing now is how to have more contact with Wen Wan? How to make Wen Wan like him? Cheng Xiaobei and his good friend Tang Xiaoxiao come up with a plan.
The two of them unanimously decided that they couldn't just sit there and wait for death, they had to take the initiative, only then could they win the beauty.
However, before they could start the plan, they lacked an opportunity, an introduction for everyone to get to know each other and get together. Cheng Xiaodong put a lot of effort into this.
But it is easier said than done. Cheng Xiaobei and Tang Xiaoxiao have been investigating for several days without any results. They sit on the sofa in frustration and at a loss as to what to do.
"What should I do? There is still no progress?" Cheng Xiaobei asked Xiaoxiao. He felt like all the strength in his body was hitting cotton, soft and useless.
"Don't be discouraged, let's try harder and we will find a way." Xiao Xiao cheered him up.
Chapter 35: Shikakuro and Kimimaro's First Battle (Please Read)
"Of course." Su Xuan Ge gestured confidently again. After all, there are female soldiers in modern times, and there were female generals of the Yang family in ancient times. What's wrong with this?
"Miss, we servants don't know anything, and we are all..." Mei'er said with a dejected look on her face.
"Didn't I say it? You have to learn everything. No one knows how to do it right after birth. You don't know how to eat right after birth, and you have to walk step by step on the road." Su Xuan Ge was very angry that Mei'er said this about them, and gestured even more angrily.
"Then how do you prove that girls can do it?" Su Yichen asked.
Su Xuan Ge was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled and gestured, "Dad, do you want to compete with your daughter?"
Su Yichen was stunned. He had never thought that his daughter would propose such a condition. He immediately asked, "What are you competing for?"
"In terms of seniority, you are my adoptive father and also my father, but in terms of my stepmother's education, we can be considered senior and junior brothers and sisters, right?" When Su Xuan Ge gestured to this point, he couldn't help but narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"What nonsense. How disrespectful." Su Yichen glared at Su Xuan Ge.
"I'm not talking nonsense. Dad, don't forget that you learned martial arts from your stepmother. Think about it, if your stepmother didn't know martial arts, how could you have learned martial arts? Of course, I also know that you and your stepmother are cousins, and General Su is both your father-in-law and your uncle."
Seeing this, Su Yichen looked at Su Geyi in surprise. He thought she was the one who told Su Xuan Ge. Seeing his adoptive father's expression, Su Xuan Ge shook his head, "It wasn't my mother who told me. I accidentally saw your...things myself. It was when I was nine years old. At that time, I accidentally hurt..."
Seeing Su Xuan Ge's gesture, they all remembered two years ago, when Su Hong was just two years old. Su Xuan Ge was in a hurry to go to the bathroom, but her husband and wife had to go out for something, leaving her alone to take care of the two-year-old brother. Although he was sleeping, Su Xuan Ge was still worried, so she called a maid to replace her.
Unexpectedly, when she came back again, she found that Su Hongcai had gone out to drink water without his maid, and he himself could not reach the kettle, so the kettle tilted and water flowed out, and he was scalded.
When Su Yichen and Su Geyi came back and saw this scene, they got angry and locked Su Xuan Ge in a small room. Later, after finding out the situation, they also released Su Xuan Ge.
"However," Su Xuan Ge gestured at this point, without any sadness on his face, "I also thank you. It was you who gave me a second life, so I want you to witness that girls can do it too."
"Foster father, think about it, if it weren't for your stepmother teaching you, would you have martial arts skills and be able to lead soldiers to fight? Don't forget, your stepmother, your aunt, and even your mother are all women."
Su Yichen fell silent again. In fact, he knew that most of his martial arts were taught by Su Geyi. He could be considered as Su Geyi's apprentice. However, because they were siblings, he always looked down on Su Geyi and always thought that women were incompetent. But after hearing what Su Xuan Ge said, he was also temporarily trapped.
Lost in thought.
"Ge'er," Su Geyi couldn't help but shout.
"Mom, don't worry. I believe Dad will be able to make a decision." Su Xuan Ge gestured. She could see that Su Yichen was struggling with himself. After all, this was tantamount to a provocation to male power.
In Prince Nangong's mansion, Qingfeng found Nangong Li as soon as he returned and reported everything to his master.
"What did you say?" Nangong Li couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He really didn't expect that Su Yichen's martial arts skills came from Su Geyi, a person they had never taken seriously, but they didn't expect that Su Geyi was also a martial arts master. If there was such a person, why didn't Su Yichen let her out but instead...
Then he shook his head again. Not to mention himself, he even found it unbelievable that Su Xuan Ge was going to train maids, let alone Su Ge Yi. It was probably impossible. After all, this was a man's society, where women would not be allowed to show their faces in public.
"So, this maid training may really be successful!" Qingyun said in surprise, which also surprised him.
In the palace, Gao Xujun and the others did not believe it. Naturally, they only heard that Su Xuan Ge wanted to train people and make bets, and they did not know that Su Ge Yi was also a martial arts expert, so they did not inquire into what happened later.
Just hearing someone say "Su Xuan Ge might be able to train maids" made them even more complacent. A group of unwanted maids, who were just people without status, how could they be soldiers? This was completely a fantasy and was simply impossible. Therefore, the soldiers would definitely win this bet, and then Su Xuan Ge would become a hostage!
"Let her go as she pleases. All I want is a victorious ending."
It was also because of Gao Xujun's overconfidence and his attitude of looking down on Su Xuan Ge that he fell into a very passive situation later. If it weren't for Gao Xuda and Nangong Li's persuasion, he would really be harmed by Ge Shaohai and his son! Of course, this is a later story.
In the general's mansion, Su Yichen was silent for a while, and suddenly said, "Okay, then I'll give it a try. It'll be fine if you can beat me. However, I want to see if you are better than me..."
"Better than blue." Su Xuan Ge didn't wait for Su Yichen to finish speaking, and immediately gestured out these three words, and then the father and daughter burst into laughter. Although Su Xuan Ge's laughter was silent, her laughter shocked Su Ge Yi.
She sighed deeply and told the housekeeper to prepare to go to the arena, but Su Yichen shook his head after laughing enough, "No need, we will compete in the yard. The plum garden over there is the best place. We fight with bare hands and won't hurt anyone. Ge'er, follow me."
After saying that, he was the first to jump up, and Su Xuan Ge also winked at her stepmother, then followed. Although she had no internal strength, her steps were much faster than before.
"Madam, the general and the young lady?" Fu'er was a little worried.
"It's okay, they are just sparring." Su Geyi shook her head. These two father and daughter who are obsessed with martial arts are really the same. They are both very good at martial arts. However, there will be no danger for the father and daughter to compete with bare hands.
Thinking of this, she had no choice but to ask the maids and housekeepers to cook.
Anyway, they will come to eat after the competition, and by then, they will probably eat a lot.
When the father and daughter arrived at the Plum Garden one after another, Su Yichen took action immediately when Su Xuan Ge was still unknown, and even shouted, "Watch my fist." As he said that, he immediately turned around and clenched his fists to attack Su Xuan Ge.
Su Xuan Ge suddenly stopped and leaned back. Then the fist brushed past her ear. Perhaps due to inertia, Su Yichen lost his balance and leaned forward. Su Xuan Ge immediately turned around and kicked Su Yichen in the waist.
Just as Su Yichen was about to stretch out his legs to greet him, he didn't expect Su Xuan Ge to take advantage of his unpreparedness and stretch out her palm again to hit him. Her movements were so fast that he didn't have time to react at all.
After all, Su Yichen was not a young man, but a very experienced man, and he had also been in battles before, so no matter how fast Su Xuan Ge moved, he could react. So, he stretched out his hands to block, and jumped up.
Although Su Xuan Ge had heard of the term "Golden Rooster Standing on One Leg", and in modern school, there were teachers who punished late students by making them stand on one leg on a three-legged table, but she never expected that she would be able to see this "Golden Rooster Standing on One Leg" with her own eyes in this era, and that he stood very steadily.
Just when Su Xuan Ge was stunned, Su Yichen attacked immediately. At this moment, she realized that this was a battle, and she would actually lose her mind during the battle. If this was in a war, this would be a complete mistake. She shook her head, and because of her shaking of her head, Su Yichen retracted his hand for a moment. He was actually worried about hurting Su Xuan Ge.
But because of this momentary weakness, Su Xuan Ge got an opportunity. She immediately remembered the Jinbo that the squad leader taught her during military training, which in layman's terms is wrestling or judo!
Just when Su Yichen was about to retract his hand, he didn't expect Su Xuan Ge to suddenly pull his arm forward. He was caught off guard, and his legs were still a little unstable. After all, his legs were a little lame.
Just as Su Xuan Ge was about to carry Su Yichen up, her eyes suddenly glanced at his lame leg and she suddenly came to her senses. How could she treat her benefactor like this?
But her hesitation gave Su Yichen an opportunity. He immediately exerted force, but before he could exert his force, he suddenly saw Su Xuan Ge stretching out her leg to trip him. As long as he moved, his leg would be tripped, and he would fall to the ground.
Su Yichen closed his eyes, carefully thinking back to what had just happened, and suddenly laughed, "Okay, okay, it really is a good plan, let's use the opponent's trick against us."
It turned out that although Su Xuan Ge was a little hesitant and her hand loosened, when she saw the sly smile on Su Yichen's face, she realized that he was just playing against her, so why not take advantage of it.
Therefore, the upper body was relaxed, but the legs were not relaxed. Instead, they were tightly tied in front of him, making it impossible for him to walk at all. If he moved, he would be tripped.
"Daddy is being modest." Su Xuan Ge smiled and gestured.
She understood that she and Su Yichen were just sparring. If they were on a real battlefield, it would not be so easy.
"You have learned well. It seems that our Su family has descendants. You will definitely succeed in the future." Su Yichen was not disappointed, but laughed loudly, and even stretched out his hand and patted his daughter's shoulder heavily.
Su Xuan Ge did not frown but chuckled, because she knew that her father valued her and was full of confidence in her.
"Let's go back now. I'll gather the maids with you and wait for you to successfully train them." When Su Yichen said this, Su Xuan Ge was stunned for a long time.
"Ge'er, what's wrong?" Seeing Su Xuan Ge stunned, Su Yichen couldn't help but ask.
"Dad, do you agree?" Su Xuan Ge came to his senses after hearing Su Yichen's question and asked with gestures.
"That's right. Why don't I agree with that? This is a good thing." Su Yichen said with a smile, "From your proficient skills, you can be trained successfully. Look, your mother can even teach me, and she even taught a child who is smarter than me. This is really a woman who is as good as a man. Maybe in the future our Su family will really have to rely on these maids."
Hearing this, Su Xuan Ge was almost so excited that he wanted to shout "Long live the emperor!" Fortunately, he was a mute. Otherwise, if someone heard him shouting "Long live the emperor!", their family would be really finished.
"Let's go home first. After we get home, I will gather the maids. By the way, how many maids do you want?" Su Yichen asked as he pulled his daughter out.
"Probably, apart from the maids who take care of my parents and my younger brother Hongcai, she should not be too old, no more than twenty years old, and it is best if she is... unmarried." Su Xuan Ge hesitated. She knew that girls usually had to get married at the age of fifteen, and it would be difficult to say what would happen to the family after they got married.
"Okay, let me think about it." Su Yichen nodded, and after a rough calculation, he said, "There are probably only about 10 to 20 of them. Is that enough?"
"It's already quite a few." Su Xuan Ge originally thought that seven or eight would be good enough, but she didn't expect Su Yichen to actually say that there were ten or twenty maids. This made her even more surprised, so she nodded and gestured, with a very affirmative look.
"What's going on?" When Su Geyi saw the father and daughter coming out of the Plum Garden with smiles on their faces, she hurried forward to welcome her husband and daughter back, and couldn't help asking.
After Su Yichen took the teacup handed over by Su Geyi, he took a sip of the tea, then looked at Su Xuan Ge again and smiled, "Of course, a good teacher produces a good disciple, which means... better than the master!"
Hearing this, Su Geyi looked at Su Xuan Ge with relief. She had finally made it. Now she could gain the general's recognition and would not be bullied anymore. This could be considered a kind of protection.
Just as she was thinking, she didn't expect Su Yichen to say, "Yier, go and call all the maids here, and then let Ge'er train them."
Su Yichen's words shocked everyone. How could such a competition turn into training these maids? Is this possible?
"General," Su Geyi couldn't help but call out.
"Believe in our daughter. Since she is the lucky star of our family, she can bring us even greater benefits. So, you are believing in her as well as me. I know that our Su family will not fail again."
In fact, after this failure, Su Yichen really regretted that he was timid and did not dare to disobey Ge Chengxin's words. If he had been bolder or more determined, he would not have failed. Therefore, he believed that his adopted daughter could do things that others could not do.
"Mother," Su Xuan Ge also gestured, "Just believe me, I will definitely train you well. Just gather the maids and I will select a few people. As for the others, I will let them take care of you."
Seeing the father and daughter say this, Su Geyi had nothing to say and could only ask Fu'er to gather all the maids in the mansion together and say that they were summoned by the general.
Chapter 36: The Power of the Curse
The noise and chatter in the front yard gradually faded into the bamboo forest behind the garden. The bamboo forest is evergreen all year round, and it is even darker green in autumn. However, the night is different from the day, and it was suddenly so quiet that it was a little scary.
Yang Tang followed behind and chattered, then looked around. The surrounding scenery made her shudder unexpectedly. She quickly quickened her pace and whispered tentatively, "Song, Zhixi?"
Song Zhixi suddenly turned around and raised the infuriating sheep-horn lantern in her hand. The sudden light made her face look greasy white, and frightened Yang Tang so much that he subconsciously took a step back.
Song Zhixi realized Yang Tang's fear belatedly. She was puzzled for a long time before she chuckled and shook her head. She turned around and looked away, and saw a servant walking towards her in a secluded path, brushing against the branches and leaves.
The servant nodded at her and then turned into the common path used in the mansion.
"What's wrong? Why do you look so hopeless?" Yang Tang asked. She had just calmed down. She had seen the conversation between the servant and Song Zhixi. She then wondered, "What are you asking them to watch?"
Although she was asking, her tone was calm and she did not have a strong desire to know something. There are always some private matters in wealthy families that are inconvenient to make public, so they have to leave room for everything so that they can meet again in the future.
"Didn't you just ask me about the illustrated guide of Chengji Bookstore?" Song Zhixi looked at Yang Tang seriously, and suddenly a bold idea popped up in her mind. She blinked and pouted, "It's not in the illustrated guide. I'll take you to see the real person."
"A real living person?" Yang Tang raised the last line of his voice and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Yes, alive."
Could it be that there were other guests in the Song Mansion? How could it be? Yang Tang suppressed his curiosity, took Song Zhixi's hand and was about to go in the direction where the servant was walking to find out what was going on, but unexpectedly, Song Zhixi lifted the lampshade, puffed up his cheeks and blew out the candle.
"Ah! What are you doing?!"
Song Zhixi said gently, "Blow out the lights."
"..."
The breeze rustled through the bamboo leaves, and the two women crouched down under the cover of bamboo and rocks. Song Zhixi knelt on one knee, put his hand on Yang Tang's shoulder, and looked into the bamboo forest.
He was wearing a black robe with locked sleeves, which made the lines of his figure look very smooth. He bent his legs and leaned against a few tufts of thick bamboo. The nightgown with Fu Ba pattern concealed all his features, but the sharpness of a soldier was not diminished at all.
She had originally intended to keep an eye on Du Nian'er, but she didn't expect him to arrive first? This person was so perceptive that the servant she sent to investigate was able to report back to her safely...
Song Zhixi frowned slightly.