Imperial City: Wang Royal Manor
"Little Dumpling, you grew up in a military family. I am sure you've seen generals and commanders whose dignity and pride are their life. They bow only to the emperor and to and for no other person. Am I right?"
"Yeah, I've seen plenty of those kinds of people when they come to see Imperial Father." Little Dumpling confirmed with a nod.
"I bet you have. I bet their nose was so far in the air they couldn't see their feet." Liu Tián Qǔ said, causing Little Dumpling frustration with her to fly away as he burst into laughter.
"Yes, you're absolutely right," A grinning Little Dumpling said.
"In my opinion, those are the worst generals you can ever serve under. Generals like that will lead you to your death on the battlefield if you are not careful." Liu Tián Qǔ said recalling the many historical books on the arts of war she read in her past life.
Outside of the entrance door, a gleam lit the eavesdropping Grand Prince's eyes. The Grand Prince glanced at Wang Fèn Yǒng, who gave a small nod in understanding and acknowledgment.
"I don't understand," Little Dumpling said.
"My master once quoted words of wisdom to me that he heard from a Wiseman," Liu Tián Qǔ lied. "When I saw Jiang Tài Píng bending and bowing with blood running down his face and tears pouring from his eyes. Those words of wisdom popped into my head, and I hired him on the spot," Liu Tián Qǔ said, mixing truth with lies.
"What were the words of wisdom?" asked the young boy who loved to read and loved learning things.
A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death, he is hard and stiff.
All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life
And dry and brittle in death.
Stiffness is thus a companion of death
flexibility, a companion of life.
Thus an army without flexibility will be defeated.
A tree that cannot bend will break in the wind.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and supple will prevail."
Outside the entrance, the Grand Prince jerked and looked at his wife in shock. Never would he have imaged hearing such words of wisdom come from the mouth of a thirteen years old boy. The Grand Prince saw the shock that he felt, mirrored in the eyes of his wife. They never noticed the look in Wang Fèn Yǒng eyes nor the expression on his face.
"Excellent words of wisdom! Excellent words!"Little Dumpling exclaimed, "Who is the Wiseman? What was his name?" Little Dumpling asked as he ran over quickly to his desk to write down the Wiseman's words before he forgot them.
"My Master didn't say." Liu Tián Qǔ said, offering a deep mental kowtow and apology to Lao Tzu. 'Lao Tzu forgive me for not giving your name so you could get credit for your wisdom. But with my luck, I would probably run into another person who also reincarnated, and your word of wisdom would become my bane and cause me endless trouble. I didn't try to steal your words of wisdom, though. In this world, you would probably just become the unknown Wiseman. Sorry, Lao Tzu' Liu Tián Qǔ thought as she mentally kowtowed to Lao Tzu.
"However, that is why I said he is a willow tree. Jiang Tài Píng is flexible and knows how to bend. Now, if he were an oak tree, I wouldn't have hired him. An oak tree can't bend in the wind. It can only break." Liu Tián Qǔ continued to say.
Little Dumpling, who was writing down Lao Tzu's words of wisdom, paused in his writing and softly said, "Jiang Tài Píng," with a look of deep contemplation in his eyes and on his adorable little face.
Suddenly a weird look flashed across Little Dumpling's face. Slowly he carefully set down the brush he was writing with and asked, "Big Brother, do you think he's from the Jiang family?"
With a wry look on her face, Liu Tián Qu said, "Little Dumpling sometimes you do things that make me wonder if you have a brain. However, sometimes, your thoughts are extraordinarily deep. That's is when I catch a glimpse of the very intelligent, clever, and smart man that I am absolutely sure you will be in the future." Little Dumpling blushed deep red at Liu Tián Qǔ's backhand compliment.
Liu Tián Qu suddenly realized how she phrased her compliment and quickly said, "Aiya sorry Little Dumpling that didn't come outright. I meant no insult."
Little Dumpling broke into light laughter, and shyly hung his head, "I know Big Brother." Little Dumpling peeked up at Liu Tián Qǔ and asked shyly, "You think I am going to be very smart in the future?"
Smiling softly, a Little Dumpling Liu Tián Qu said, "Little Dumpling you are smart now. You are only eight years old, but you are brilliant for your age. However, your knowledge is imbalanced, but that will be fixed with time and a little experience."
"What do you mean, big brother?" A slightly confused Little Dumpling asked with a small frown on his face.
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"Little Dumpling there is some wisdom and knowledge that can not be found between the pages of a book. Personally, I think that you are a genius in theoretical knowledge. However, you are lacking in practical knowledge, but that is okay. You are only eight, and your road is long. This problem will fix itself as you live and learn."
"Then how do I quickly get more practical knowledge." A serious-faced Little Dumpling asked.
His cute little face was so adorably serious. However, the question he asked made Liu Tián Qǔ think of the events that cause Little Dumpling to be in confinement. Thinking of that whole situation made Liu Tián Qǔ let out a deep belly laugh as she said, "Little Dumpling, please don't rush out for any more practical knowledge just yet. Please digest the knowledge you gained from running away from home first."
Liu Tián Qǔ chuckled softly in amusement at Little Dumpling. His cheeks looked as though they were dripping blood. So deeply did he blush in embrassement. Getting serious Liu Tián Qǔ said, "On a serious note, I have begun to suspect that Jiang Tài Píng may be one of the children that the four families had managed to send out in the hope that they would survive." Liu Tián Qǔ began to mix truth with lies carefully. She already knew Jiang Tài Píng's identity. However, it would cause more harm than good to run around telling everyone all that she knew.
"After the announcement clearing the names of the four families. He began to act very weird. Little Dumpling, I know I don't need to say this to you, but I will anyway. Please do not tell anyone of this. If he really is of the Jiang family. The Jiang family's name was cleared so that no longer make him a criminal. As long as he is not a criminal or breaking the law. Then he is entitled to his privacy." Liu Tián Qǔ said to Little Dumpling, who was listening attentively to her every word.
"I am waiting for him to come to me. I trust my judgment, and I am 100% sure I didn't judge Jiang Tài Píng's character wrong. I don't use people I don't trust. If he does come to me regarding his past, then I will have a talk with Wang Fèn Yǒng regarding the matter. After all, the Emperor decreed for Wang Fèn Yǒng to supervise my residence. However, If Jiang Tài Píng decides that he wish to bury that part of his history and never acknowledge his relations to the Jiang family. Then I will honor and respect his decision. Everyone has a reason for choosing the road they are traveling on."
Outside the entrance to Little Dumplings chambers, the Grand Prince, the First Lady of the Manor, and Wang Fèn Yong all exchange looks. Understanding the look on his parents' face, Wang Fèn Yong nodded in agreement. All three silently agreed that if Jiang Tài Píng was of the Jiang family, then the Emperor must be informed immediately.
"Okay, Big Brother, I will listen to you."
"Thank you, Little Dumpling."
"Big Brother, where are you studying?" Little Dumpling suddenly asked.
"Cough...um ... truthfully I have been neglecting my studies of late. I better hire a tutor from the Imperial Academy to come help me with my studies."
Outside the entrance, the disapproving frown on the face of the First Lady of Wang Royal Manor announced her thoughts clearly.
Little Dumpling said in disapproval. "Big Brother, you must take your studies seriously. I have a tutor that comes to assist me in studying. Why don't you come and study with me?"
The Grand prince, had enough of eavesdropping and was just about to step into the room, However, he paused at Little Dumpling's question and cocked his head to listen to Liu Tián Qǔ's response.
"What hour do you start studying every day?" Liu Tián Qǔ asked.
"My studies began during the hour of the dragon (7 AM- 9 AM)."
"That is too early for me." Liu Tián Qǔ shook her head declining Little Dumplings offer to study with him.
Little Dumpling stared at Liu Tián Qǔ with a weird expression on his face, "Too early? Big brother, what time do you actually wake up?"
"Waking up is not the issue I wake every morning during the hour of the tiger (3 AM-5 AM). However, I am currently training. Most days, I'm still training during the hour of the dragon."
Little Dumpling gawked at Liu Tián Qǔ with his mouth wide opened. He was so shocked he felt his brains scramble a bit. Finally, he managed to gather his wits about him and asked? "Big Brother, how many hours you train each morning?"
Liu Tián Qǔ smiled wryly at Little Dumpling and said, "Most Mornings I train a minimum of five hours a morning. I just started back training, so I am in one of the most important phases of my training."
"What kind of training is this that you are training five hours every morning? Isn't that going a bit overboard?" Little Dumpling asked, he was completely flabbergasted.
Liu Tián Qǔ burst into a deep belly laugh. Little Dumpling words brought back the similar words she said to the Monk, who was her Master in her previous life when she was a young girl. Man did she regret ever saying those words by the time the monk finished with her. The look on Little Dumpling's face only made her laugh harder. Finally, getting her laughter under control, Liu Tián Qǔ said, "I'm sorry Little Dumpling I was not laughing at you." Liu Tián Qǔ said, seeing the sour look Little Dumpling cast at her.
"Your words just brought back a memory of similar words I had said to my master when I was a bit younger. Let's just say things didn't work out so well for me after saying those words. Anyway, to answer your question. Right now, I am just restructuring and conditioning my body. I have neglected my training too much, so my body is very weak now. I wish to start training my body in martial arts, but I can't begin my training with my body in this conditions. So right now, I am just strengthening my body, building my stamina, agility, flexibility, and stuff like that." Liu Tián Qǔ said once more, mixing truth with lies.
Of course, Liu Tián Qǔ couldn't tell Little Dumpling she was strengthening her body to take the Black Blossoms Dual potions.
Liu Tián Qǔ was currently in the process of strengthening her body so she could safely take the first portion of the Black Blossoms Dual potion. After consuming the potion, she would become very sick while the potion teardown her body and restructure it.
However, the benefits she would receive after her body heal was just too plentiful. Liu Tián Qǔ couldn't resist chasing the benefits of the Black Blossoms Dual potion.
It was only after Liu Tián Qǔ body heal would her real training began. She was going to rebuild her body using extremely harsh training methods she learned in her previous life.
"It takes five hours a day, just to do that?" Little Dumpling asked dubiously.
"My methods of training are different. I am not just training my body. I am also training my mind and will power as well. Five hours a day is not enough time. As my body gets used to training once again, I will be training a few hours in the afternoons as well."
"What kind of training is this?" Little Dumpling asked in dismay and shock.