Chapter 49: Third Lady’s Foundation
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Double Osmanthus Alley was silent. A luxurious carriage was parked at the entrance of the alley, and the coachman was napping outside the carriage.
In the courtyard, Xiuhe wandered around the kitchen, diligently washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen utensils. In between, she asked sneakily, “Pavilion Lord, what should we do now?”
Pei Xiangjun was sitting gracefully at the table in the main room and stroking the bird’s feathers. She kept looking at the double bed not far away thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”
“It’s about what Madam said. Mm… Arrange a beauty to serve Young Master Ye…”
“Didn’t you see that Jingtang already has someone in mind?”
“Young Master Ye has such a good personality. He definitely can’t bear to let his lover wash clothes, cook, and do rough work. 1 think we can arrange for a beautiful maid to serve tea and feed the bird…”
“Chirp!” The bird very much agreed with this proposal and nodded vigorously.
Pei Xiangjun rubbed the bird. “Do you want to take on this heavy responsibility?”
“Uh…” Xiuhe blinked and felt that she might be expelled from the Red Flower Pavilion if she touched the dish that the pavilion lord hadn’t touched. She shook her head and said, “I’m just giving an idea. Pavilion Lord, you are older than Young Master Ye, and I’m also older than him. I’m going to marry with you in the future and serve my future master.”
Pei Xiangjun harrumphed lightly and looked at the bed. “Look at Jingtang’s personality. Does he look like a man who can’t walk after seeing a beauty?”
“That’s hard to say. Pavilion Lord, your appearance is one in a million. Don’t you see Young Master Ye’s heart race when he sees you…”
As they chatted, sounds came from the alley.
Pei Xiangjun gestured for Xiuhe to be quiet. Then, like a normal female elder, she sat up straight elegantly.
Squeak!
The courtyard door opened, and Ye Jingtang walked in. He was slightly distracted and smiled when he entered. “Third Lady, sorry to have kept you waiting. Xiuhe, don’t be busy. 1 will clean up later.”
“Young Master, you’re welcome- It’s my duty.”
Pei Xiangjun waited for Ye Jingtang to sit down in the room before asking gently, “Jingtang, who was that girl just now?”
Ye Jingtang noticed that Third Lady’s demeanor was very dignified and graceful. It was very different from her usual coquettish manner. He roughly knew the reason and didn’t find it strange. He replied, “A heroine I got to know in the past. Hmm… Hehe…”
Pei Xiangjun thought that Ye Jingtang was too embarrassed to answer, so she didn’t ask further. She stood up and said, “1 had nothing to do, so I wanted to come over and teach you spearmanship. We have to go to West King Town at the end of the month. Afterward, we have to go to the Water Cloud Sword Pool to attend Old Master Zhou’s birthday banquet. We will have to take a boat back and forth for more than half a month. You can spend the time on the boat to ponder over spearmanship.”
“Okay.” Ye Jingtang immediately got up and went to the courtyard, wanting to pull out two bamboo poles from the vegetable trellis.
But Pei Xiangjun had already made arrangements before she came over. She asked Xiuhe to continue cleaning up the house and brought Ye Jingtang out to a workshop near Dye Workshop Street.
The workshop used to make rattan mats. Like most of the industries on the street, it had been abandoned a few years ago. The green bamboo trees planted by the courtyard wall as decoration had taken root and broken the soil. They had grown into a small bamboo forest in the courtyard, and a thick layer of dead leaves covered the ground.
Pei Xiangjun scanned the bamboo forest. She pulled out the saber from Ye Jingtang’s waist and cut two bamboo poles of suitable size. After shaving off the branches, she threw one to Ye Jingtang and stood upright. “Jingtang, from now on, I’m your master.”
Ye Jingtang had just caught the bamboo pole when he heard this. He looked up. “Master?”
Pei Xiangjun raised her head, puffed out her chest, and pointed the bamboo pole in her hand at the ground. “I’m a disciple of the Pei family, and you’re a foster son with a different surname. We have nothing to do with each other. You’re going to learn spearmanship from me. How can 1 teach you if you don’t acknowledge me as your master?”
Ye Jingtang’s eyes were full of helplessness. “A master for a day, a mother for life. This is definitely not a joke. Third Lady, why don’t you teach me a few basic moves first? I’ll learn and try them first. We will talk about these things later?”
Pei Xiangjun didn’t want to accept Ye Jingtang as a disciple either. But today, she had seen his confidante and had cut off the possibility of ‘marriage’ between them. If she wanted to keep his heart, she could only be a good master… or a foster mother…
Ptui~
Pei Xiangjun thought of something and felt strange. She deliberated for a moment and changed her words. “Alright, let’s talk about this later. Regardless of whether you acknowledge me as your master or not, as long as you learn spearmanship from me, 1 will treat you as my disciple. I’ll be strict when I should be strict, and I will punish you when I should punish you. Don’t worry too much.”
Ye Jingtang held the bamboo pole and cupped his hands. “I’m not good at learning. Third Lady, it’s a blessing that you can teach me.”
Hearing this, Pei Xiangjun didn’t say anything else. She wanted to start the demonstration with the Collapsing Spear style, but she was wearing a dress, so it was inconvenient for her to move too much. She first stabbed the bamboo pole into the ground, took off her shawl, and pulled open her sash…
Swish swish…
She took off her sash and clothes.
?!
Ye Jingtang stood up straighter. He wanted to look away, but he felt that it wasn’t too serious, so he didn’t.
Fortunately, Third Lady had no intention of testing him naked. Under her dress, she was wearing a thin and short suit made of water cloud brocade.
The clothes were very tight and wouldn’t affect her skills, but they also couldn’t hide her heroic figure like a loose dress.
Her chest was naturally tall when her clothes were tightened. And her bulging body looked very constricted. Her waist was just right, and along the waistline, there was a tight hip line and legs. Her entire body looked like a gourd.
To be honest, this appearance was not very suitable for using a spear, but it was definitely eye-catching.
Out of respect for his teacher, Ye Jingtang insisted on not changing his expression or shifting his gaze. He looked straight ahead and only looked at the bamboo pole in Third Lady’s hand.
Whoosh!
Pei Xiangjun slid her feet away and raised her spear. Instantly, there was an explosive sound, and her aura completely changed.
Ye Jingtang took three steps back. There were no distracting thoughts in his mind, only concentration.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Holding the green bamboo pole in her hand, Pei Xiangjun rotated it around her body in line with her footsteps. Her movements were like flowing water. Then she turned and jumped up. She raised the bamboo pole high and smashed it toward the ground.
A normal spear strike would at most be raised above the head and not let go of the middle of the shaft.
But Pei Xiangjun’s spear smash was completely different from the martial arts in the market. The spear almost went around to the back of her head. She held the spear with both hands and smashed it down, her posture like she was splitting a mountain.
“Haa—”
A delicate shout!
The light bamboo pole in Pei Xiangjun’s hand was like a steel whip that had been accumulated to the limit.
Bam!
When the spear hit the soft fallen leaves, the withered leaves that were more than an inch thick on the ground were instantly shaken away and scattered in all directions, directly making an empty space with a radius of more than ten feet on the ground.
The light bamboo pole landed on the ground. The sound was extremely dull, as if a massive object had fallen to the ground. It wasn’t loud, but Ye Jingtang felt his feet tremble.
Bustie, rustle, rustle!
After the strike, many bamboo leaves fell from the nearby bamboo forest.
Ye Jingtang nodded slightly, his eyes solemn. “Good spearmanship.”
After attacking, Pei Xiangjun retracted the green bamboo pole smoothly and stood up. With one hand behind her back, she looked like a Jianghu expert. “The word ‘Red Flower’ in the Red Flower Pavilion refers to the red tassel at the head of the spear. This move is the ‘Yellow Dragon Crouching’ in the Pei family’s Overlord Spear Technique. It’s similar to the Spear Cleaving Technique, but the technique is completely different. Try practicing it first.”
Ye Jingtang held the bamboo pole and was about to take a stance when he thought of something. “Third Lady, I learn fast. Later…”
“Learn it first.” Pei Xiangjun was a little displeased when she saw Ye Jingtang bragging before he even started. “It’s not that easy to reach basic mastery in the spear technique that once ranked seventh in the world.”
Ye Jingtang’s eyesight was not bad. This spear technique was powerful, but just like his saber technique, it was an external martial art that emphasized heavy moves and had a high requirement on one’s physical fitness. But in terms of difficulty, it was really inferior to Qiu Tianhe’s metaphysical saber technique.
“Third Lady, let me make a prediction. Later, you’ll definitely say, ‘How do you know the Overlord Spear?’ Then 1’11 say that you just taught—”
“Hurry up and practice!” Pei Xiangjun frowned.. Like a serious teacher, she stood with her hands behind her back and stared at Ye Jingtang fiercely, signaling him to be more serious…
