It wasn't until a servant came to report that the second young master from Marquis Wuning's Mansion had arrived that Chu Tianjiao had a chance to slip away.
Zheng Chuang had come to find Chu Tianjiao about last night's events.
Chu Tianjiao went to the front hall reception room, where Third Master Chu Sheng was entertaining Zheng Chuang.
The maid had already served tea, and Chu Sheng was making small talk with Zheng Chuang.
Seeing Chu Tianjiao enter, Chu Sheng inquired about the Old Madam's breakfast that morning, then left the space to the pair of cousins, taking the opportunity to leave.
Zheng Chuang was not wearing armor today, and a sky-blue casual outfit made him look very refreshing.
As soon as Chu Sheng left, Zheng Chuang put on a stern face and began lecturing Chu Tianjiao:
"Elder cousin, you just got over the incident of attempting to assassinate the Fourth Prince, and last night you went off to catch spies. Are you trying to reach the heavens?"
Chu Tianjiao clasped her hands together in a pleasing gesture, her face blooming into a flower-like smile, "Second cousin, thank you for covering for me. That last time wasn't really an assassination attempt, I just went to teach a scumbag a lesson. This time was truly for a righteous cause."
Zheng Chuang furrowed his brow and asked seriously, "Was that person last night really a spy from Dongyi?"
Chu Tianjiao told Zheng Chuang an abridged version of how she bought a jade thumb ring, intending to gift it to Marquis Liyang, but the ring was poisoned.
"Has Second Uncle Chu gotten any results from the interrogation?"
Chu Tianjiao shook her head, remembering that Chu Ye hadn't sent her any message yet.
Hearing there were no results yet, Zheng Chuang wasn't in a hurry. He trusted in Second Master Chu's abilities.
"Cousin, do you really not intend to marry the Fourth Prince anymore? Now that you're up and about, the Fourth Prince might immediately request an imperial decree for the wedding."
Chu Tianjiao smiled mysteriously, "I estimate he doesn't have the face to do so now."
When Zheng Chuang tried to inquire further, Chu Tianjiao just smiled without speaking.
After catching up for a while, Zheng Chuang rose to take his leave: "In a few days, it will be the Old Madam's birthday, and there will be a banquet at home. Since you don't need to pretend to be ill anymore, you should come home for a visit!"
Chu Tianjiao nodded in agreement.
Chu Tianjiao had complex feelings towards her maternal grandfather's family.
Her birth maternal grandmother had already passed away, and the Old Madam who was about to celebrate her birthday was the second wife.
Her maternal grandfather was fine in other aspects, except that he had many wives and concubines. After his first wife passed away, he even married a second wife who was more than a decade younger than him.
So this step-grandmother was not much older than Chu Tianjiao's mother.
Zheng Chuang's father was the eldest son, and both he and Chu Tianjiao's mother were born of the first wife. They weren't very close to their younger half-siblings.
Naturally, Chu Tianjiao was only close to her eldest uncle's family.
However, thinking about it, this step-grandmother loved socializing the most.
For her birthday celebration, probably more than half of the noble families in the capital would be invited.
Chu Tianjiao, having just been reborn, also wanted to go see these old acquaintances.
After seeing off Zheng Chuang, Chu Tianjiao, fearing that the Old Madam would force her to recite books again, didn't return to the upper courtyard, but went directly to the training grounds.
Seeing Lu Dingfeng practicing with Feng Jia and others, Chu Tianjiao stepped forward and asked, "Feng Jia, how is Sang Shen's training going?"
Feng Jia evaluated objectively, "She learns moves quickly, but unfortunately her physical fitness is poor."
The female warriors of the Phoenix Squad were all personally selected by Marquis Liyang and had been training with Chu Tianjiao since childhood.
The original Sang Shen was also born in the household, but her physique wasn't suitable for martial arts, so she wasn't chosen.
Feng Jia didn't understand why Chu Tianjiao suddenly valued Sang Shen so much and had her join the Phoenix Squad.
"Feng Jia, don't underestimate her. Sang Shen may not be good at fighting, but she's full of clever ideas and quick-witted."
"Your original twelve members are all too straightforward. In the future, when you encounter tricky situations, you can ask Sang Shen for her opinion more often."
Although Feng Jia was full of doubts, Chu Tianjiao's words were like military orders, and Feng Jia naturally obeyed.
"Come, Feng Jia, let's spar for a few rounds?"
Chu Tianjiao proposed a challenge, and Feng Jia naturally agreed.
Seeing there was excitement to watch, the other members of the Phoenix Squad all gathered around.
Lu Dingfeng especially loved to watch the fun and called out, "Come on, let's place bets on who will win, the young miss or the captain?"
The members of the Phoenix Squad all knew that Feng Jia was naturally strong, with excellent physique, and her martial skills had always been a notch above the young miss for many years.
The young miss never allowed anyone to go easy on her during practice matches, so the outcome of this bout seemed obvious.
Seeing no one responding, Lu Dingfeng found it quite boring and complained, "We're not betting money, just betting on who gets the chicken leg at lunch. What are you afraid of?"
Feng Yi, seeing his impropriety, wanted to teach him a lesson and pretended to be bold, saying, "Alright, I'll bet with you. I bet the captain wins."
Lu Dingfeng smiled slyly, "Fine, then I'll take a loss and bet on the young miss winning."
Chu Tianjiao and Feng Jia stepped onto the fighting platform. Knowing that people below were placing bets, Chu Tianjiao smiled and said, "Feng Jia, you'd better be serious. I've improved recently."
Feng Jia smiled reservedly and relaxed, saluting with clasped hands, "Then please enlighten me, young miss!"
After exchanging a few rounds with Feng Jia, Feng Jia began to take it seriously.
Chu Tianjiao's punches struck directly at vital points, her killing intent naturally flowing out. The small fighting platform was turned into a life-and-death battlefield by her.
Feng Jia was forced to retreat continuously under the attacks.
Finally, Feng Jia was kicked down, and Chu Tianjiao pounced on her, gripping her neck.
Feng Jia, lying on the ground, begged for mercy, "Young miss, your martial skills have improved greatly! Feng Jia is no match and willingly admits defeat."
The Phoenix Squad members below were so shocked their jaws dropped. Feng Yi asked, "The captain didn't go easy, did she?"
Lu Dingfeng applauded Chu Tianjiao while laughing heartily, "Feng Yi, remember to give me your chicken leg at lunch!"
Chu Tianjiao reached out her hand and pulled Feng Jia up.
Feng Jia had a dazed look on her face, wondering how, just half a month ago, she could still overpower the young miss, but in just a few days, not only could she not win, but she had lost so badly?
Chu Tianjiao didn't explain that it was because she had been reborn.
Many of those combat techniques were accumulated from her actual battlefield experiences in her past life.
Fighting for survival in mountains of corpses and seas of blood was truly different from routine training.
This was a good opportunity to motivate the Phoenix Squad to work harder, and Chu Tianjiao certainly wouldn't let it pass.
She criticized seriously, "Feng Jia, you've regressed!"
Feng Jia's face was full of shame, and she anxiously questioned herself: "Has the young miss improved, or have I regressed? Even if the young miss has improved, it shouldn't be this much in just half a month. It seems I really haven't been working hard enough and have regressed!"
Chu Tianjiao clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the others below the platform, admonishing:
"I see you all look quite leisurely. Your task is to protect me, but your captain can't even beat me! What about the rest of you? I'm afraid none of you can beat Feng Jia, right?"
"What qualifications do you have to protect me? Don't tell me when danger comes, I'll have to protect you instead?"
The entire Phoenix Squad was so ashamed by her words that they lowered their heads, each blushing red.
"Young miss, we're sorry, we haven't been working hard enough!"
Feng Jia apologized first, with the others quickly following suit.
Chu Tianjiao suppressed the look of satisfaction on her face and pretended to be angry as she questioned:
"Feng Jia, now that you know you haven't been working hard enough, what should be done next?"
Feng Jia turned to face the squad members below and announced loudly: "Starting from today, we will add one extra hour of practice daily. There will be combat tests every three days, and the one who ranks last will be punished!"
Chu Tianjiao nodded with satisfaction.
Lu Dingfeng, who had now been incorporated into the Phoenix Squad, heard Feng Jia's order and complained, "No way? Do I have to practice more too?"
Feng Jia looked towards Chu Tianjiao, who gazed at Lu Dingfeng, her eyes rolling as she ordered:
"You don't need to. During that extra hour they practice, you come to my courtyard to accompany me in reading military strategy books."
Lu Dingfeng rubbed his chest, breathing a long sigh of relief.
When Chu Tianjiao left the training grounds, she took Lu Dingfeng with her.
On the way back to Green Pine Courtyard, Lu Dingfeng quietly asked, "Little daughter-in-law, you tricked them, didn't you?"
Chu Tianjiao revealed her worries from the bottom of her heart: "Great-grandfather, we both know that in the near future, the Chu family faces the disaster of extermination, and Li Country faces the calamity of destruction. While we still have time, I hope the people around me can become stronger. Perhaps we can change the outcome."
Hearing this, Lu Dingfeng changed his playful demeanor and said solemnly, "Little daughter-in-law, I'll help you with this matter with all my might!"
"If we can protect Li Country from foreign invasion and allow the people to live in peace and prosperity, I don't mind even if the dynasty changes its surname!"
Chu Tianjiao stopped in her tracks, looking at Lu Dingfeng in astonishment.
"Great-grandfather, I always thought that for people like you who have been emperors, imperial power would be the top priority. I didn't expect that you actually cared about the common people..."
Lu Dingfeng pouted, "My little granddaughter-in-law, who do you think you're looking down on?"
"Back then, I didn't start the rebellion with the aim of becoming emperor. I just couldn't bear to see people around me dying from natural disasters and wars. It was also for my own survival that I took action!"
Hearing this, Chu Tianjiao felt genuine respect for this great-grandfather for the first time.
"Hmm, Great-grandfather, you've experienced many battles. When we get back to the room, can you tell me about those famous wars where you conquered nations?"
In his previous life, Lu Dingfeng had started as a rebel and experienced hundreds of battles, big and small.
This battle experience was something that Feng Jia and the others could only dream of.
This was also why Chu Tianjiao had arranged for Lu Dingfeng to join the Phoenix Squad.
Lu Dingfeng was also quite pleased. As long as she wasn't being married off to someone, she felt quite comfortable staying by Chu Tianjiao's side.
Just as the two returned to the courtyard, an attendant of the Second Master Chu Ye came to summon Chu Tianjiao to gather outside the main gate, saying that Chu Ye wanted to take her out.
From today on, barring any unforeseen circumstances, there should be two updates daily. In cases where there are more requests for updates, additional chapters may be added as appropriate.
