The imperial physician arrived.
After examining Fourth Prince Dantai Yi, the imperial physician said, “The Fourth Prince is still young. Running like this may harm his health.”
The Empress frowned. “Why can the Fifth Prince do it? He’s even younger than my son.”
The imperial physician glanced toward the track. “People have different constitutions.”
Over there, the Fifth Prince had also dropped out. He was so exhausted that he had to lean on General Guo, and from the way he looked, he could barely walk.
When Consort Liu heard that the imperial physician had gone to the training grounds, she hurried over. The moment she arrived, she saw her son with a flushed, dazed face and immediately called for the physician in alarm.
The imperial physician gave her the same explanation: the Fifth Prince was too young and should not be practicing martial arts.
Before long, the Fourth Prince, Zhang Xianyu, Li Xiangyu, Feng Qinzhi, the Heir of Prince Guang, and several others could run no farther and stopped where they were.
They had all managed only two laps.
One lap remained.
Princess Fuxi, Princess Shengping, Wu Wanning, and Gu Shen'an were still running.
Wu Wanning was in the lead and looked perfectly at ease. Every so often, she would glance back at Rongyao. Once she saw that Rongyao was fine, she continued running at her own pace.
Princess Shengping had fallen behind Princess Fuxi. She seemed determined to overtake her, but this was clearly her limit.
Gu Shen'an was the tallest and oldest of them all. He jogged along at an unhurried pace behind the two princesses, following closely. His eyes remained fixed ahead, though no one could tell whether he was watching Princess Shengping or Princess Fuxi.
Still, everyone assumed Gu Shen'an had deliberately fallen behind to protect the two princesses. Earlier, when several princes had been unable to continue and nearly collapsed, it was Gu Shen'an who had helped them to the imperial physician.
Tantai Yu felt as though her lungs were about to burst. She could not draw a breath. Her head was spinning as she ran, and stars were practically flashing before her eyes.
Yet Princess Fuxi was still running!
Wasn’t she tired? Was she insane?
Tantai Yu could endure no more. She stopped, and her unsteady body crumpled to the ground.
She had assumed that Gu Shen'an, who was behind her, would help her up and take her to the imperial physician.
Unexpectedly, Gu Shen'an simply walked right past her and continued running after Princess Fuxi, as though he had not even noticed that she had run out of strength!
How dare Gu Shen'an ignore her!
Gu Shen'an! In the novel, Gu Shen'an was Princess Fuxi’s loyal lackey. He recognized neither the Emperor nor the princes, and constantly shielded the willful and reckless Princess Fuxi. She had never imagined that he would learn to take her side and show his allegiance to her at such a young age.
He was exactly the same as he was in the novel. In the story, Princess Fuxi had rescued the fallen Marquis of Pacifying the West’s household, doing everything in her power to protect the entire family. Although she had been unable to save Gu Fuzhou, Marquis of Pacifying the West, she had ensured that the rest of his family survived unscathed. To make amends, the Emperor posthumously granted Gu Fuzhou the title of Duke of Zhen and made his eldest son the heir to the duke’s estate. From then on, every member of the Gu family regarded Princess Fuxi as their savior.
No matter how outrageously Princess Fuxi behaved, they supported her without question.
It was utterly absurd!
Tantai Yu stared at Gu Shen'an, her hands clenching tightly as a chill flashed through her eyes.
Rongyao continued running. She focused on Wu Wanning ahead of her and tried her best to adjust her pace.
Her legs felt heavy, as though a huge stone had been tied to each one. Her breathing was ragged.
But she felt that it was nothing unbearable. Her legs hurt, and breathing was difficult—that was all.
It was nowhere near as painful as being beaten with a cane.
At last, Wu Wanning stopped. Rongyao forced herself to take the final two steps before stopping as well. The ground before her swayed dizzily.
A hand soon steadied her by the shoulder, and a gentle voice said, “Don’t stop. Walk slowly for a while.”
Rongyao struggled to steady herself and looked up.
It was Gu Shen'an!
She gave him a smile. Following his instructions, she held on to his arm and walked for a little while.
Wu Wanning had completed three full laps and felt wonderfully refreshed. She had not sweated like that in ages.
After finishing, she turned around and discovered that Princess Fuxi could barely stand. Gu Shen'an was supporting her.
Wu Wanning’s eyes widened. She smacked her forehead hard.
She should never have let herself get so far from the princess! What if the princess had fallen and gotten hurt?
Gu Shen'an clearly had ulterior motives. He must have been trying to show off in front of the princess so she would think more highly of him and replace her with him as her study companion!
Wu Wanning would never let him get his way!
She hurried over and pulled Princess Fuxi into her arms. “I’ll do it! I’ll support the princess! Go help the Fourth Prince!”
When she looked up, she found Gu Shen'an glaring coldly at her, as though she had snatched something that belonged to him.
“W-What are you glaring at? Don’t frighten the princess!”
Wu Wanning tilted her head back and shouted at Gu Shen'an. Then she helped her princess forward, imparting her own experience as they walked.
“When I ran for the first time, I was just like this. I was so exhausted I collapsed on the ground, and my legs hurt for several days. But I know what to do. When we get back to the Palace of Lasting Joy, I’ll massage you, Princess. Tomorrow, you’ll definitely be better than all of them.”
General Guo looked at this group of princes and princesses, none of whom could stand steadily, and cleared his throat.
“Train the breath within and the sinews without. Today, we’ve only completed half of the external training. We still have leg stretches, splits, and chest expansions to do. There’s also stance training…”
He paused.
“Forget it. We’ll skip the stance training today and do the leg stretches, splits, and chest expansions first. Otherwise, I’m afraid none of you will be able to walk tomorrow.”
Consort Liu said, “General Guo, the Fifth Prince is still so young. I think he should be exempt from training.”
General Guo replied, “Leg stretches, splits, and chest expansions will ease the princes’ pain. Once they finish these exercises, they’ll be able to return.”
Consort Liu reluctantly pushed her son forward. The Empress was clearly reluctant as well, but after gritting her teeth, she handed the Fourth Prince over to General Guo.
General Guo then demonstrated several movements.
Rongyao and the others followed along.
The exercises were much simpler than running. In fact, the younger children did them better.
Seeing that they were not nearly as exhausting as the running, the Empress and Consort Liu both breathed a sigh of relief. Even so, neither dared to leave.
After half an hour, the external training was considered complete. General Guo was clearly afraid of overexerting the princes and princesses and did not dare continue for too long.
“Training in martial arts cannot be accomplished in a single day. From today onward, it will only become more difficult. You are all still young, so you may choose not to come tomorrow. Naturally, if you believe you can persevere, I will do my utmost to teach you.”
After saying this, General Guo dismissed them.
With Wu Wanning supporting her, Rongyao returned to the Palace of Lasting Joy.
When Cui Huaiyin learned what had happened at the training grounds, she was filled with regret. She should have gone to watch her daughter, but for some reason, she had felt exhausted today and had slept through much of the afternoon, only waking a short while ago.
Fortunately, Wanning had been there. Otherwise, how would Yaoyao have made it back?
Cui Huaiyin held her daughter close, gently removed the dirt-stained clothes from her body, and placed her in a warm bath. Then she began massaging her legs and arms.
“I asked the imperial physician just now. A massage will make you feel much better tomorrow.”
Rongyao was utterly exhausted. Her eyelids kept drooping, and she obediently let her mother massage her.
Cui Huaiyin’s heart ached for her.
“You’re still so young. Why don’t you stop learning martial arts? Why exhaust yourself like this?”
Rongyao tugged at her mother’s arm and rubbed against it. With her eyes closed, she said in a soft, babyish voice, “Yaoyao wants to become someone powerful—someone who can protect Mother, and protect…”
…
The next day.
The training grounds.
Not a single one of the children was absent.
Even several of the palace consorts had come. It was obvious they were worried about the princes and princesses.
General Guo already felt sweat prickling his brow before they had even begun. He glanced at the exhausted princes and princesses.
Just look at the three princes. The Fifth Prince had recovered the best, while the Fourth and Third Princes looked far worse. Princess Fuxi and Princess Shengping, however, were in better shape than he had expected.
Feng Qinzhi’s legs were trembling even as he stood.
The young master of the Duke of Zhongguo’s residence, Zhang Xianyu, also looked as though he was barely holding on.
Li Xiangyu was in much the same condition as Zhang Xianyu.
The most energetic of them all were Wu Wanning, the Eldest Princess’s companion, and Fourth Young Master Gu Shen'an of the Duke of Zhen’s residence, the Fourth Prince’s companion.
General Guo cleared his throat. Planning to tailor his instruction to each student, he said, “Today, we will focus on cultivating qi! Internal arts are the foundation of every martial art. Their essence lies in cultivating the qi within the body. The goal is to ‘nourish qi’ and ‘refine qi,’ allowing a martial artist to calm the mind, lengthen the breath, and fill the body with inner strength! Do you know how to cultivate qi?”
“I do!” Wu Wanning raised her hand and eagerly answered. “By standing in a stance!”
