A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 25

Chapter 25: Training Ground

The training ground was in the west of the city, the main base for the training of the capital’s armed forces.

Xie Jin knocked on the door of the General’s Manor early in the morning and dragged Shen Zhishu out of bed.

Shen Zhishu, with a head of messy hair, her eyes not even open, threw a pillow at Xie Jin.

“You were the one who sent someone to give me a message late last night to go to the training ground, and you’re the one who can’t get up today,” Xie Jin caught the pillow and looked at Shen Zhishu, who was sitting on the bed in a daze, not yet fully awake. “What sweet dream did you have that you’re so unwilling to wake up?”

…Not a sweet dream, but a nightmare, Shen Zhishu thought.

In her dream this morning, she was eating peacefully when the Eldest Princess suddenly burst into the room. She spoke to her in a soft and gentle voice, and halfway through, the corners of her mouth suddenly stretched to the sides, revealing a strange and mysterious smile.

The next moment, her head… fell off.

Shen Zhishu: …

Thinking of the scene of blood spraying all over the ground in her dream, Shen Zhishu took a deep breath and suddenly woke up.

She shot up from the bed in a few moves, grabbed the outer robe handed to her by an attendant, and politely asked Xie Jin to leave.

She washed up hastily, tied her hair in a topknot, and wearing only her casual clothes with a tea-white fox fur vest over it, she pushed open the door and walked out.

Xie Jin was squatting by the stone railing, wrapped in a bright red cloak, with a red-tasseled spear in her hand that had appeared from nowhere.

…This spear seemed a little familiar.

Thinking this, Shen Zhishu pointed at it and asked, “Where did this thing come from? I didn’t see you carrying it just now.”

Xie Jin: “I brought it myself.” / Xie Jin’s attendant: “I took it from your room.”

Xie Jin: …

She turned her head and said to her attendant in a low voice, “Do you have any tacit understanding?”

Shen Zhishu smiled, “Alright, take it if you like it.”

“I won’t take it for free, I’ll trade something with you,” Xie Jin gestured with her head towards her attendant. The attendant understood, untied the black iron scimitar from her back, held it in her hands, and presented it.

Xie Jin said, “Here,” “Take a look, do you like this scimitar?”

Scimitar…

Shen Zhishu couldn’t bear to look at scimitars right now.

In her dream, Jiang Yu had grabbed a scimitar from the air and then quickly slit her throat, and she couldn’t stop her in time.

And on closer inspection… this scimitar looked almost identical to the one in her dream!

…But if she said she didn’t like it, Xie Jin would surely argue with her again.

Shen Zhishu sighed, turned to leave, and left a sentence behind, “Put it on the table, let’s go to the training ground.”

**

Shen Zhishu ate two griddle cakes for breakfast and rushed to the training ground with Xie Jin. By the time they arrived, the soldiers had already completed one round of training.

She stood on the high platform with her hands behind her back, looking down at the people below practicing formation transitions. She casually asked the captain who was standing respectfully by her side, “Is this a circular formation to a horizontal formation? How many days have you been practicing?”

“Yes,” the captain replied. “We’ve been practicing for five days. Please give us your guidance, General.”

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes.

The formation was a bit messy, and the soldiers’ steps were not in sync, so the left side of the horizontal formation was already in place, while the right side was still in disarray.

Shen Zhishu didn’t answer directly, but instead asked, “Are these all new recruits? Which battalion?”

The captain: “Half of them are new recruits who joined this year. This is the Thirteenth Battalion of the Left Infantry.”

“No wonder,” Shen Zhishu nodded. “The quality of some of the people in there is really unsatisfactory.”

The captain smiled, “New recruits are inevitably a little rusty, but they are trying their best to train.”

Shen Zhishu frowned and asked, “Logically, all new recruits should go to the Seventeenth Battalion. The Thirteenth Battalion is all veterans who have been in the army for three years. Why are they still stuffing new recruits into the Thirteenth Battalion? With different levels of quality, how can they train together?”

“This subordinate doesn’t know,” the captain said with a smile. “It’s all orders from above.”

“Above?”

“This…” The captain looked troubled, looked left and right, and was about to whisper something in Shen Zhishu’s ear when a loud voice came from not far away:

“I heard it was Commander Chen’s idea. The captain is also acting on orders, so please don’t blame him, General.”

Shen Zhishu suddenly turned her head and saw a group of people walking gracefully on the high platform. The one in the lead was quite tall, with two strands of bangs on both sides of her cheeks, wearing a gold-threaded black fox robe. Her features were somewhat similar to the Emperor’s.

It was she who had just spoken.

A flower bloomed on the captain’s face, “Your Highness has graced us with your presence, and you didn’t even have someone announce you. This subordinate has failed to welcome you.”

Xie Jin lowered her head slightly and whispered in Shen Zhishu’s ear, “The First Imperial Princess.”

The First Imperial Princess gestured for her attendants to stay where they were, and she took a few steps forward, waving her hand and saying, “It was I who didn’t want to disturb their training, so I didn’t have anyone announce me.”

The captain smiled, “Why is Your Highness in the mood to come here for a stroll today?”

“I heard that General Shen and General Xie are here, and I also heard that General Shen is very good at training troops, so I came to see.”

As the First Imperial Princess spoke, she shifted her gaze to Shen Zhishu, her tone somewhat meaningful, “So this is General Shen? This is the first time I’ve seen you today. You are indeed heroic and extraordinary. It’s true that seeing is better than hearing.”

…This First Highness’s words were watertight, but she always felt that she had ill intentions.

Shen Zhishu bowed and replied respectfully, “Your Highness overpraises me. This subordinate is mediocre and is only fortunate to have the Emperor’s favor. But this subordinate is not here to train troops today, but to learn, so I’m afraid I can’t meet Your Highness’s expectations.”

The First Imperial Princess shook her head, “No matter, no matter, the General is too modest. The soldiers in the capital are indeed no match for the ones under your command who have fought in all four directions. It would be their honor to receive some guidance from the General.”

“No, the capital soldiers have undergone systematic training, and their theoretical foundation is more solid than that of us rough people who have learned on our own outside.”

“How can they compare? Haven’t you heard the saying, General? Practical experience is the best teacher.”

The two of them went back and forth for a quarter of an hour before finally falling silent and standing side by side on the high platform to watch the soldiers train.

The Thirteenth Battalion had been diligently practicing the circular to horizontal formation transition, but the right side of the line was sparse and always lagged behind the left.

Shen Zhishu frowned and watched for a long time before she finally couldn’t help but ask tactfully, “These new recruits are quite outstanding, but they are still no match for the veterans who have been in the army for two or three years. Does Your Highness know why Commander Chen put them in the Thirteenth Battalion?”

The First Imperial Princess said, “Oh my,” and smiled, “I don’t know either. I guess he thinks this batch of new recruits is of good quality.”

…Did she really not know?

Shen Zhishu narrowed her eyes, leaned in to Xie Jin’s ear, and asked in a low voice, “Who is above Commander Chen?”

“General Huang Shizhong. General Huang is in charge of the Left Infantry in the capital, and Commander Chen is in charge of the Thirteenth to Seventeenth Battalions, so he does have the authority to make deployments.”

“When it comes to capital officials, you are more familiar. Do you know what the relationship is between General Huang and this First Imperial Princess?”

“I don’t know about that, after all, I haven’t been back to the capital for too long,” Xie Jin said. “I’ll have someone look into it. It is strange to stuff new recruits into the Thirteenth Battalion.”

Someone in the right side of the line fell because they were running too fast, tripping a large group of soldiers behind them, and a whole section of them fell down.

Shen Zhishu really couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She grabbed Xie Jin and was about to go to the other side to inspect, out of sight, out of mind, when she suddenly heard a court eunuch standing by her side shout with a strained neck:

“Her Highness the Eldest Princess and the Second Highness have arrived!”