Chapter 211: Greatly Disappointed (1)

Su Yu walked to the door of the study. The main door was open, and the room was also covered in ice. Su Ling stood with his back to him, standing in front of the case table. Su Yu hesitated for a while, but finally walked into the room. Su Ling didn't speak, and Su Yu didn't open his mouth either. The two were silent for a long time. The study was exceptionally quiet, and the sound of water droplets hitting the ground was as clear as a heartbeat.

"Are you sober?" Su Ling stood with his back to him. Su Yu couldn't see his expression, but just from the voice, he knew Big Brother was angry, just suppressing it without erupting.

"I'm sober." Su Yu took a deep breath and said, "Big Brother, I'm sorry." Actually, he understood very well that even without Big Brother, Qing Mo could never belong to him. He was just feeling miserable in his heart. He had originally wanted to drown his sorrows in alcohol so he wouldn't be in so much pain, but he hadn't expected that drunken words would cause so many things.

Su Yu kept his head slightly lowered, waiting for Big Brother's roar. Even if it were a punch to his head, he would have nothing to say—who told him to fall in love with his sister-in-law.

Only Su Ling didn't move for a long time. Su Yu slowly raised his head, only to see him still standing with his back to him. Could it be that Big Brother was so angry that he didn't even want to roar at him? The silence made Su Yu feel at a loss. Su Ling finally spoke again, calmly, "This matter is already in the past."

Su Yu looked at Big Brother's stiff, cold back, and a sense of heartache surged in his heart. "Big Brother. I want to go to the eastern coast to garrison for a year. Pirates are rampant, and the Emperor will definitely send troops to garrison. I want to go and gain some experience."

Su Ling turned around, his deep black eyes staring at Su Yu's face, which was covered in stubble and extremely decadent. He asked coldly, "Have you thought it through?"

"Yes." Su Yu nodded firmly. Perhaps if he didn't see her, he could forget. Staying in the General's Mansion, he really didn't know how to face her or Big Brother, so it was better to leave.

Su Ling's expression remained dark, neither showing joy nor anger, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Su Yu's clenched fists tightened unconsciously, and his eyes insisted on meeting Su Ling's sharp, cold gaze. Just when Su Yu was almost defeated by that pressure, Su Ling suddenly said in a low voice, "Alright, at the morning court, I will propose to the Emperor that you lead twenty thousand troops to garrison the East Sea."

Su Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Thank you, Big Brother."

Turning his back and no longer looking at him, Su Ling waved his hand and said, "Go prepare."

"Yes." Su Yu took one last look at Su Ling's cold back and turned to walk quickly out of the study.

Not until the sound of footsteps faded away did Su Ling turn around again. Apart from letting him go, he didn't know how to treat him best. If it were other matters, he could help him bear them, but he couldn't even control his own feelings. He only hoped that when he returned, he would be the high-spirited Third Brother he once was.

When Gu Yun walked to the barracks, the sky was already beginning to brighten. The guard was stunned when he saw her, but recovered and saluted, not stopping her. The General had said that Miss Qing was responsible for the special training of the elite troops and could enter and leave the barracks at any time. Although they didn't understand the General's intention, it wasn't their place to manage it. Since the young lady herself didn't feel it was inconvenient, what did they, these grown men, have to worry about?

Walking to the few tents specially partitioned for this elite training, Gu Yun sat on a slightly clean brick and carefully observed the now-calm Bing Lian in her hand. At this moment, it was no different from usual, and the sword body was only slightly cool. It was hard to imagine that it possessed such divine power and could even talk! Gu Yun always felt there must be a reason why such a divine weapon would choose her, and what was even more suspicious was that the pattern of the Su family crest was the same as the Golden Bagua Pan. Was there any connection between them?

Did she still have a chance to go back? If she could, then Su Ling...

Gu Yun raised her hand and rubbed her head, which was beginning to ache. She had always been like the wind, coming and going, but just a moment ago, Su Ling's figure suddenly appeared in her mind. Thinking of his confession last night, her face still felt involuntarily hot.

This feeling of just thinking of someone and feeling dazed and palpitating—it was her first time. If this was liking, the feeling wasn't bad. But to stay for him, she couldn't make up her mind yet. Everything would wait until she got back the Golden Bagua Pan.

"Head?"

The morning light had pierced the curtain of night, and although the sun hadn't risen, the morning glow was already staining the horizon. Leng Xiao and several soldiers walked out of the tent and saw Gu Yun sitting on the ground, holding a sword in her hand, staring straight at it, not knowing what she was thinking.

Gu Yun snapped out of it, coughed lightly to cover up her distraction, stood up, and said to Leng Xiao, "Today's weapon test venue is changed to the forest behind the mountain. Tell Yu Shijun to bring the team to the forest to assemble after morning exercises." She had agreed with Han Shu a few days ago to borrow the drill ground for the test today, but who knew Bing Lian would turn the General's Mansion into such a mess. The drill ground was behind the General's Mansion, so it was probably a mess too.

Leng Xiao nodded and replied, "Yes."

After speaking, Gu Yun walked toward the forest by herself, leaving a group of people looking at each other. Such a thing could have been explained by any soldier; did she really have to come personally? There must be a conspiracy!

If Gu Yun knew that she would be seen as a conspiracy just for swinging by the barracks to avoid the nagging of a few Su family men, she wouldn't know whether to be happy or sad. After morning exercises and breakfast, the group trotted to the open space in the forest where they usually trained, and saw Deputy General Yu talking in a low voice with a dozen soldiers. Each of them had a large basket by their feet, which seemed to be filled with arrow targets. But why did they need so many targets?

The soldiers were confused, but didn't dare to ask. Gu Yun seemed to be in a good mood today. Walking up to them, she said loudly, "I'll say it again: the point deduction system for today. For each competition, the group with the lowest total score among the ten members will have ten points deducted per person. For each group, if one person fails to meet my passing requirement, that group will have ten points deducted per person. Is that clear?"

"Clear!"

Gu Yun said with satisfaction, "Archery is the weapon you use most often. To make it easier for you to adapt, the first item will be archery." She pointed to the ten bows and quivers filled with long arrows on the ground and continued, "Ten people per group, numbered one to ten according to the order they stand. There are ten arrows in the quiver, each with a corresponding number. Later, targets will pop out from behind the trees, and you must find the target with your corresponding number and shoot it. One point to remind you: the bullseye is divided into red and black. Only hitting the red bullseye counts as a score."

The elite soldiers, who had been full of confidence, had their expressions darken. They had long guessed that she wouldn't just let them shoot arrows simply, but they hadn't expected her to have so many tricks! No wonder she prepared so many targets.

Gu Yun smiled easily and said, "My requirement for your first time isn't high. Hitting the red bullseye with five arrows counts as passing." She used red and black bullseyes just to test and exercise their instantaneous reaction ability.

Hearing that hitting the target with five arrows was enough to pass, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In the distance, Yu Shijun held a small flag and waved it at Gu Yun.

"First group, prepare."

The first group trotted to the front row, picked up the bows on the ground, and took out the first arrow from the quiver. Gu Yun walked two or three zhang toward the forest and shouted, "Start on my command."

"One!"

Following the command, in the forest ahead, ten arrow targets popped out from behind ten large tree trunks. The order of the targets was not according to the order they stood, and the directions from which the targets appeared were varied. Just finding the target with their number wasn't easy, let alone hitting it. Just as they raised their bows to aim, Gu Yun had already shouted, "Two!"

As soon as the word "two" was spoken, the original targets quickly retracted, and new targets popped out from behind other trees. Wherever there were trees, targets seemed to pop out suddenly. These unpredictable, instantly changing targets made them flustered.

"Three!"

"Ten!"

The messy rain of arrows stopped after the word "ten." Some targets were completely empty, while others had been shot into hedgehogs. Long arrows could be seen everywhere on the ground and tree trunks. Not to mention that some people's quivers still had seven or eight arrows left, not even having been shot.

Gu Yun's expression, which had been relatively relaxed, was now covered in dark clouds. "Read the targets."

Yu Shijun tallied the results over there. After a while, he read loudly, "Target one, three; target two, four; target three, one; target four, one; target five, three; target six, two; target seven, two; target eight, one; target nine, three; target ten, five."

"Only one person out of ten passed! Good! Very—good!" Gu Yun said the words "very good" almost through gritted teeth. During practice, she emphasized that besides being steady and accurate, one must have absolute adaptability and extreme speed. "Is this the result you're showing me after five days of practice? Those who don't want to train or lack ability can just get out! Don't waste my time here! If you can't even master archery, what kind of soldiers are you!"

Gu Yun had observed them, and almost everyone's archery was outstanding, which was why she chose archery as the first assessment item, so they could understand that she was assessing more than just static, dead things, and change their concepts as soon as possible. But she never expected their adaptability and control to be so poor! This only proved that they hadn't practiced according to her requirements at all!

Gu Yun was annoyed, and the fierce generals who had failed the competition and been scolded were even more stifled. They joined this unit to prove their excellence, not to be scolded by a woman! When they were risking their lives and fighting on the battlefield, she probably hadn't even been born yet!

Finally, a robust man who looked to be in his thirties couldn't help but take a step forward. The discipline of a soldier didn't let him forget discipline even in a fit of rage. His hand was raised indifferently, and his tall, sturdy body stood in front of Gu Yun, almost completely shrouding Gu Yun in shadow.

Gu Yun neither advanced nor retreated. Facing the other's sharp aura, she looked back coldly and said, "Speak!"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 212 =====