Chapter 42: Third Madam's Foundations

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Twin Osmanthus Lane lay utterly silent. A luxurious carriage stood at the mouth of the lane, while the coachman dozed outside the cabin.

Within the courtyard, Xiulian bustled about the kitchen, diligently washing dishes and tidying the utensils. From time to time, she asked in a furtive voice:

“Master, what do we do now?”

Shao Xiangjun sat elegantly at the table in the main room, smoothing Birdie’s feathers while gazing thoughtfully at the double bed nearby.

“What do we do about what?”

“About what Madam said… You know, arranging a beauty to serve Young Master Ye…”

“Didn’t you see that Jingtang already has someone he loves?”

“Young Master Ye is so kindhearted. He surely wouldn’t bear to make the woman he loves wash clothes, cook, and do hard labor. I think we could arrange for a pretty, fresh-faced maid to serve tea, pour water, and feed Birdie…”

“Chirp!”

Birdie enthusiastically approved the suggestion, nodding like a woodpecker.

Shao Xiangjun rubbed Birdie’s head. “Would you like to take on that important responsibility?”

“Er…”

Xiulian blinked. Since even the dishes untouched by her mistress were not hers to sample first—doing so might get her expelled from the Red Flower Tower—she shook her head.

“I was only making a suggestion. You’re older than Young Master Ye, and so am I. I intend to marry after following you, and then serve my future husband.”

Shao Xiangjun gave a faint snort and glanced toward the bed again. “Look at Jingtang’s temperament. Does he seem like the sort of man who loses his way the moment he sees a beauty?”

“That’s hard to say. Your looks are one in ten thousand, yet when you saw Young Master Ye, your heart didn’t stop fluttering either…”

As they chatted, sounds arose from the lane.

Shao Xiangjun signaled for Xiulian to be quiet, then sat upright with the gentle, graceful bearing of an ordinary female elder.

Creak—

The courtyard gate opened, and Ye Jingtang walked in. He seemed somewhat distracted, but a smile appeared on his face as soon as he entered.

“Third Madam, sorry to have kept you waiting. Xiulian, stop fussing over things. I’ll tidy up later.”

“No need to be so polite, Young Master. It’s only proper.”

Only after Ye Jingtang entered the room and sat down did Shao Xiangjun ask softly:

“Jingtang, who was that young woman just now?”

Ye Jingtang noticed that Third Madam’s bearing was exceptionally dignified and gentle, utterly unlike her former habit of acting like a spoiled little wife at the slightest opportunity. He more or less understood the reason and was not surprised.

“She’s a heroine I got acquainted with some time ago. Well… heh…”

Shao Xiangjun assumed that Ye Jingtang was embarrassed to explain and did not press him. She rose and said:

“I had nothing else to do, so I thought I’d come teach you some spear techniques. We’ll be going to West King Town at the end of the month. After that, we still have to visit Watercloud Sword Lake for Grand Duke Zhou’s birthday banquet. The round trip will take more than half a month, and we’ll be traveling by boat the whole way. You can practice aboard ship.”

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“All right.”

Ye Jingtang rose and went into the courtyard, intending to pull two bamboo poles from the trellis.

But Shao Xiangjun had already made arrangements. She told Xiulian to continue tidying the house, then led Ye Jingtang outside to a workshop near Dyers’ Street.

The workshop had once produced woven rattan mats. Like most of the businesses in the area, it had been abandoned years ago. The green bamboo originally planted along the courtyard wall as decoration had taken root and broken through the earth, growing into a small bamboo grove within the yard. A thick layer of dead leaves carpeted the ground.

Shao Xiangjun swept her gaze around the grove, drew the saber from Ye Jingtang’s waist, and chopped down two green bamboo poles of suitable length. After stripping away the branches and joints, she tossed one to Ye Jingtang and stood upright.

“Jingtang, from this day onward, I am your master.”

Ye Jingtang had only just caught the bamboo pole. At those words, he lifted his eyes.

“Your master?”

Shao Xiangjun held her head high and her chest out, gripping the green bamboo as she pointed it diagonally toward the ground.

“I am a disciple of the Shao family, while you are an adopted son from another family. There is no blood relation between us. You are learning my family’s ancestral spear art, so how could I teach you if you do not acknowledge me as your master?”

Ye Jingtang gave her a helpless look.

“Once a master, always a mother. That is no idle saying. Why don’t you teach me a few basic moves first and let me try them? We can discuss the rest later.”

Shao Xiangjun did not truly want to take Ye Jingtang as her disciple. But after meeting the woman he loved today and realizing that the possibility of a marriage between them had been severed, she felt that if she wanted to keep Ye Jingtang’s heart, she could only become a considerate and devoted master…

Or perhaps his adoptive mother…

Bah, what was she thinking?

Shao Xiangjun felt a strange discomfort and pondered for a moment before changing her wording.

“Very well. We’ll discuss it later. Whether you formally acknowledge me as your master or not, once you learn the spear art, I’ll treat you as my disciple. I’ll be strict where strictness is needed, and I’ll punish you when punishment is deserved. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

Holding the bamboo pole, Ye Jingtang cupped his hands in salute.

“If there is anything lacking in my skill, it will be my good fortune to have Third Madam correct me.”

Seeing this, Shao Xiangjun said no more. She intended to begin with the Collapsing Spear stance, but her skirt made wide movements inconvenient. She planted the bamboo pole in the ground, removed her shawl, and loosened her belt…

Rustle, rustle…

She began undoing her clothes.

?!

Ye Jingtang straightened slightly. He considered turning his eyes away, but felt that doing so would be disrespectful to the lesson, and so he did not.

Fortunately, Third Madam had no intention of testing him by standing naked. Beneath her skirt, she wore a light, close-fitting suit of Watercloud brocade.

The garments hugged her figure without hindering her movements, but they could no longer conceal her bold, imposing physique as her loose robes had.

The tightened collar naturally lifted her chest, full and imposing enough to exert a palpable pressure. Her waist was perfectly proportioned, while below it, the powerful curves of her hips and legs formed an overall hourglass silhouette.

To be honest, such a figure was not particularly suited to wielding a great spear. But it was undeniably eye-catching. Calling her merely a fine carriage would have been an understatement—she was a fully loaded luxury coach, the sort of woman who could topple any man of ordinary self-control with the slightest curl of her finger.

Ye Jingtang was impressive as well. Out of respect for his teacher, he remained utterly expressionless and kept his gaze fixed on the bamboo pole in Third Madam’s hand.

Crack!

Shao Xiangjun slid her feet apart and thrust her hand forward in a Collapsing Spear. An explosive report rang out, and her entire bearing changed in an instant.

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Ye Jingtang retreated three steps. Every distracting thought vanished from his mind, leaving only complete concentration.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Holding the green bamboo pole, Shao Xiangjun moved in harmony with her footwork, circling around herself in a fluid motion. Then she spun into the air, raised the pole high, and brought it down in a savage overhead strike.

With an ordinary overhead spear strike, the weapon was raised no higher than the crown of the head, lest the centerline be left exposed.

Shao Xiangjun’s technique, however, was entirely different from the versions practiced in common martial arts. She nearly swung the pole behind her head, then brought it down with both hands, her posture resembling a giant cleaving Mount Hua in two.

“Hah!”

A delicate shout rang out.

In Shao Xiangjun’s hands, the light bamboo pole was like a steel whip wound to its utmost limit.

Boom!

When it struck the soft bed of fallen leaves, the layer of dead foliage—several inches thick—was blasted apart in an instant, scattering in every direction and clearing an open space more than ten feet across.

The light bamboo pole landed with a deep, muffled impact, as though some thousand-pound object had crashed to earth. The sound itself was not loud, yet Ye Jingtang felt the soles of his feet tremble.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

After that single strike, countless bamboo leaves drifted down from the surrounding grove.

Ye Jingtang gave a slight nod, his expression solemn.

“Excellent spear technique.”

After completing the strike, Shao Xiangjun smoothly withdrew the green bamboo pole and stood upright. With one hand behind her back, she assumed the bearing of a seasoned martial master.

“The ‘Red Flower’ in the name Red Flower Tower refers to the red tassel on a spearhead. This move is called ‘Yellow Dragon Reclining Across the Road,’ one of the techniques from the Shao family’s Overlord Spear. It resembles an overhead strike, but the principles behind it are entirely different. Practice it first.”

Ye Jingtang gripped the bamboo pole and was just about to take up a stance when he remembered something.

“Third Madam, I learn rather quickly. Later, you’ll probably…”

“Practice first.”

Shao Xiangjun frowned, displeased that Ye Jingtang had begun boasting before even getting started.

“This spear art once ranked seventh beneath heaven. It is not so easy to master.”

Ye Jingtang’s eye for martial arts was not poor. The technique was powerful, certainly, but like his own saber art, it was an external style that emphasized physical moves and demanded considerable strength and conditioning. As for the difficulty of learning it, it was truly no match for Qiu Tianhe’s arcane Reverse-Hand Saber.

“Third Madam, I can predict what you’re going to say. You’ll ask, ‘How do you know the Overlord Spear?’ Then I’ll tell you that you just taught it to me…”

“Start practicing!”

Shao Xiangjun knitted her brows and stood with her hands behind her back, staring at Ye Jingtang like a stern instructor. Her fierce expression made it clear that he was expected to take the lesson seriously.