The setting sun slanted to the west.
The pleasure boats on the river gradually dispersed, and a touch of red glow dyed the horizon.
Yejing Hall stood in the Wangjiang Pavilion, using his fingers as a saber, unhurriedly pondering over the saber techniques taught by his adoptive father.
Niaoniao, with its claws facing the sky, regarded the bush as a rocking chair. It lay on the branches and leaves, swaying and leisurely humming a little tune:
"Gujiji~ Gujiji~..."
He had come at noon to wait for Prince Jing's summons. He originally thought that, like before, he only needed to wait for a short while. Unexpectedly, he had been waiting from noon until the afternoon.
Although the time was a bit long, it wasn't boring. Prince Jing was quite considerate. He provided a meal in the afternoon and arranged for a beautiful palace maid to be a tour guide, showing him the scenery around Yutan Villa.
Yutan Villa was a famous scenic spot in Yunzhou. It was said that the Xilong Pool inside had the miraculous effect of preserving one's appearance and maintaining beauty. But people who were not of the royal family couldn't come here at all.
Yejing Hall was fortunate to visit. He originally wanted to take a look at the Xilong Pool, but unfortunately, the female tour guide politely refused him. He didn't know the reason.
When it was almost dark, Yejing Hall felt sorry for the palace maid who had accompanied him for a long time. So he came to the Wangjiang Pavilion to rest and pondered over the saber techniques by himself.
He had just been practicing for a short while when the sound of footsteps came from the villa behind him.
He turned around and looked. Palace maids in colorful clothes filed out, and in the front was Prince Jing, wearing a silver python-patterned robe.
Prince Jing had a supermodel figure, one head taller than the gentle palace maids behind her. Her legs were long, so her stride was naturally large. The accompanying palace maids had to run to keep up. As she walked, her extremely eye-catching chest, like a plump dragon head, glistened in the setting sun, trembling with every step. Coupled with her dignified and imposing face, she looked very imposing, just like a noble and aloof young queen... Well, it wasn't just like, she was indeed a real queen, just without a fiefdom.
Yejing Hall didn't look at her figure. He looked straight ahead and walked out of the stone pavilion, bowing from a distance:
"I pay my respects... Come back!"
Before he finished his salute, he saw Niaoniao, which had originally been lying in the flower bed, suddenly turn over. It flapped its wings and landed in front of Dongfang Liren. It raised its head, its bright black eyes looking at Sister Fat Head Dragon, and opened its beak to beg for food. When it heard Yejing Hall's voice, it even performed a 110-degree head turn:
"Jiji~"
Dongfang Liren walked onto the lawn. Seeing Niaoniao blocking the way, she raised her hand and beckoned, making Niaoniao land on her arm. As she walked, she tilted her head and looked at it:
"This snow eagle is really beautiful. It's just that its bloodline is not pure, and it's a bit fat. What's its name?"
Yejing Hall came closer, took Niaoniao over, and replied:
"It's called Bai... Bai Piao Wang (King of Freeloading). It likes to mooch food and drinks, so I casually gave it this name."
Bai Piao...
Dongfang Liren heard this word for the first time. Judging from the words, she thought it meant "not giving money to a girl after having sex with her", and it wasn't a good word.
Dongfang Liren didn't scold Yejing Hall either. She slightly raised her hand and took a precious saber with a green jade inlaid scabbard from the palace maid:
"The name is too vulgar. It does a disservice to such a beautiful bird. From now on, change its name to Snow Imperial Concubine. What do you think?"
"Jiji!"
Niaoniao boldly expressed that as long as it was fed, it could be called the Kitchen God.
Yejing Hall never called it by its name. He followed and walked towards the riverbank:
"As long as Your Highness is happy. Your Highness, this saber looks..."
"This saber is called 'Qingyi'. It was forged for me by the old master of Shuiyun Sword Pool. Although it's not one of the ten famous sabers listed in the martial arts world, its craftsmanship is even better."
Dongfang Liren handed the saber to Yejing Hall:
"You can take a look at it."
"..."
To be honest, Yejing Hall didn't know what to say. He originally wanted to say, "This saber looks flashy but not practical."
A saber is the king of short weapons. Its characteristics are durability, ease of carrying, and its practicality far exceeds that of other short weapons.
This saber of Dongfang Liren's, in terms of ornamental value, might not have a second one as beautiful in the world. But in terms of practicality, it was probably only suitable for committing suicide in a noble way.
However, Dongfang Liren was born a princess of noble birth. Whether in the past or in the future, she would never have the opportunity to personally go into battle and fight for her life. Using this saber was indeed appropriate.
Yejing Hall took the precious saber. After a little hesitation, he still praised:
"It's really beautiful. If I held it in my hand, I would be reluctant to use it to cut people."
Dongfang Liren took back the saber and hung it on her waist. She stood firmly by the riverbank, with a calm posture, and asked:
"How have you been learning the saber techniques these past few days?"
"I've learned a bit of the basics. I came here today to teach Your Highness."
Yejing Hall got straight to the point. To avoid suspicion, he stood a bit farther away. He unsheathed the single saber and held it in his hand, and began to fluidly replicate the moves taught by Qiu Tianhe.
Dongfang Liren stood gracefully by the riverbank, carefully observing Yejing Hall's movements. Just as she was about to say, "You're doing it quite well. You've practiced hard," she saw Yejing Hall put away the saber and ask:
"Has Your Highness learned the 'Tianhe Saber'?"
?
Dongfang Liren was puzzled: "You just taught me. I haven't even memorized the moves yet. How could I have learned it?"
Yejing Hall nodded slightly and taught her again carefully. Then he said:
"How about now?"
??
Dongfang Liren thought Yejing Hall was asking if she had remembered the moves. She was a bit speechless. At the moment, she didn't say much. She unsheathed her precious saber and began to repeat Yejing Hall's movements, showing her "outstanding" memory.
Unfortunately, Yejing Hall didn't, like other old masters, exclaim in admiration and praise her good memory.
Yejing Hall put away the saber and stood with his hands behind his back, seriously watching Her Highness the Queen practice the saber. He had originally wanted to praise her, but he soon found that Her Highness the Queen was just "copying the moves" in a superficial way.
It could be said that she had indeed remembered the movements, but there were basically no details. It just looked similar.
Uh...
Yejing Hall found that Her Highness the Queen was so clumsy yet so confident, and his heart sank.
Since the other party was Her Highness the Queen, Yejing Hall didn't know what to say. He just nodded and said:
"Your Highness has an extraordinary memory. Hmm... I'll practice it again, and Your Highness can take another look."
With that, he demonstrated the moves again.
Dongfang Liren could also be called "diligent in learning and not ashamed to ask questions". She carefully observed Yejing Hall's movements.
After going back and forth four or five times, Dongfang Liren finally remembered the physical details.
In fact, this speed was already very fast, and it could be said that she had good talent.
But in Yejing Hall's eyes, he could only secretly sigh—she finally remembered...
Yejing Hall heaved a sigh of relief and stood aside with his hands behind his back again, waiting for Dongfang Liren to figure out the hidden methods of channeling inner strength within the moves.
But the result was...
The sun set into the river, the clouds rose and fell, and the moon climbed onto the branches...
In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed.
Dongfang Liren was very serious. Holding the precious saber, she methodically practiced on the grass. Her movements were exactly the same, over and over again, without showing any signs of impatience.
Yejing Hall's initial patient waiting gradually turned into bewilderment, and then into incredulity!
The way he looked at Prince Jing also changed from seeing a proud and beautiful imperial sister with a supermodel figure and a fairy-like face to seeing a clumsy sister who had a large chest and was very hardworking...
Goodness, she has practiced it more than a hundred times. Haven't you achieved anything yet?
Could it be that all the nutrients have gone to her chest...
Seeing that the palace maids in the distance were dozing off, Yejing Hall couldn't help it and spoke to remind her:
"Your Highness, for this 'Tianhe Saber', you can't just stick to the moves and practice them rigidly. Hmm... You have to find the feeling..."
Dongfang Liren thought she had studied very seriously. Hearing the guidance, she was puzzled and asked:
"What feeling?"
"That is, don't stick to the moves. Find the feeling, the kind where you think you should draw the saber in a certain way, then draw it that way. Hmm... the feeling of using the saber!"
Yejing Hall tried very hard to explain, but these words sounded like explaining "absolute pitch" to a tone-deaf man.
Dongfang Liren was proficient in playing the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she did have a sense of pitch. But the feeling of using a saber, without more than ten or twenty years of hard practice with the saber, how could one develop it?
Seeing that Yejing Hall had difficulty explaining the saber techniques, Dongfang Liren was a bit dissatisfied. She put away the saber and shook her head:
"Forget it. You go and consult Qiu Tianhe again and ask him to make the tricks clear. If you don't even know how to practice, how can you teach me?"
This is how I practiced...
But it was indeed useless that Yejing Hall himself had learned it. In his way, he simply couldn't teach Dongfang Benben.
Yejing Hall estimated in his heart that he had to break down the moves and explain them in detail to Her Highness the Queen. So he stopped wasting his efforts for now:
"Okay, I'll go to the dungeon tomorrow and ask Qiu Tianhe to make the practice methods clear. In a few days, I have to discuss some business matters for my family. These days, I'll carefully think about how to practice the Tianhe Saber and come to teach Your Highness again after a while."