Chapter 2 Birth and Death
Willows are in bloom in early spring, and peach blossoms are bright red.

After the cold winter, Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei followed Zhao Yuan to Lin'an, and they also returned with a dozen children that Zhao Yuan had found in other places.

Most of these children were of similar childhood to Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei, and they also had miserable life experiences, being lonely and helpless, with no way out, and facing the dilemma of life and death.

Although Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei didn't understand why Zhao Yuan adopted so many orphans, after all, only by staying with him could they have food to eat and clothes to wear, and would not starve or freeze to death, so they were very content.

Half a month later, Zhao Yuan brought them into Tianji Pavilion. It was not until then that Liu Xunyi and others realized that Zhao Yuan, who had been with them day and night during this period, was actually a respected royal relative. He was conferred the title of "Marquis of Tianji" by the emperor when he was still a young man, and he had been working in the East Palace for more than ten years.

The East Palace is the "Zhongshu Menxia", which is responsible for the secrets of the Song Dynasty court and is a national treasure. Although the Emperor of the Song Dynasty placed Zhao Yuan in the East Palace, in order to prevent the Zhao clan from seeking power and disrupting the government, he specially ordered Zhao Yuan to set up the Tianji Pavilion to assist the East Palace, but he himself had no right to participate in military and national affairs.

As soon as they entered the Tianji Pavilion, Zhao Yuan entrusted Liu Xunyi and others to a young man named Qiu Han. This man looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, but he was appointed as the Golden Sword Captain of the Tianji Pavilion. He had a cold and aloof temperament, and there seemed to always be a hint of sharp murderous intent between his eyebrows. His words and deeds were much calmer and steady than those of his peers, and his style of doing things was even more decisive and experienced than many adults.

As soon as they saw Qiu Han, Liu Xunyi and others were shocked by the majestic aura he exuded, and they were even more reserved in front of him than they were in front of Zhao Yuan.

"From now on, you must remember every word I say, because every word that follows will be related to your life and death!"

Before dawn, Liu Xunyi and the others were whipped by Qiu Han with a cold willow whip. They cried and wailed and reluctantly got out of their warm beds. Under Qiu Han's whipping, they stood in a row in the training ground. Although they stood unevenly and crookedly, they were much more orderly and quicker than when they first came to Tianji Pavilion a few days ago.

Liu Xunyi and the others had been in Tianji Pavilion for half a month, and Zhao Yuan had never shown up since he handed them over to Qiu Han. Qiu Han had only done one thing during this period, which was to train them to obey orders, calling them together and dismissing them, and even having extremely strict rules and times for eating and sleeping, repeating this over and over again, and tossing them at least seventy or eighty times a day.

At the beginning, some people didn't take these young and ignorant orphans seriously, and laughed and played in front of Qiu Han, and even deliberately pointed east and east, refusing to obey discipline. It was not until the afternoon of the third day that Qiu Han broke the leg of a stubborn boy with a stick in front of everyone, which suddenly awakened Liu Xunyi and others. Everything Qiu Han did now was not a joke, but a matter of words and deeds.

For half a month, Qiu Han had nothing else to say except training them to obey orders. As time went by, more and more people were severely punished, and the effect of the discipline became better and better.

To this day, almost all of the seventeen orphans who came to Tianji Pavilion with Liu Xunyi have bruises and wounds all over their bodies. Liu Xunyi was whipped several times for not getting up in time, and Qin Wei was beaten repeatedly for being slow to react and procrastinating. Five of them even still need to stay in bed to recuperate, and their bones have not healed yet.

Before they came to Tianji Pavilion, no one had expected to face such cruel "torture", so many people secretly regretted it. Qin Wei even complained to Liu Xunyi several times: "It's better to beg for food outside than to be beaten and tortured here all day long."

However, even though they regretted it, the gate of Tianji Pavilion was easy to enter but difficult to exit. Once, a man tried to escape and was hung on a tree by Qiu Han for three days and three nights. Fortunately, the child was lucky enough to survive. Since then, none of these children dared to retreat.

At this moment, the sky was chilly, Qiu Han stood in the middle of the training ground, his figure as straight and upright as a steel gun, his cold eyes looked back and forth at the dozen or so frightened children, especially when he saw Liu Xunyi, his eyes were full of amusement. Because Zhao Yuan had specifically explained that Liu Xunyi was different from others, he was gifted and had great potential.

What was different from the past was that the usually empty parade ground was now filled with rows of weapon racks, on which neatly placed were sparkling, shocking weapons.

"You have entered the Tianji Pavilion for half a month, and you have learned almost all the rules, big and small. You know that the Tianji Pavilion is not a place for playing and frolicking. Once you enter the pavilion, you must put your own life and death aside and swear allegiance to the East Mansion and the Marquis until death." Qiu Han said in a speech. His voice was as cold and piercing as his gaze, piercing people's hearts.

After that, Qiu Han suddenly pointed at Qin Wei and asked, "Qin Wei, what were you before you entered the cabinet?"

"I..." Qin Wei was so frightened that his legs went weak, but he didn't dare not answer, and hurriedly responded hesitantly, "I... I am an orphan begging on the street..." His voice was as thin as a mosquito's silk, and it was obvious that he didn't want to mention this matter.

"That's right!" Qiu Han said coldly, "I am also an orphan. Almost everyone in Tianji Pavilion is an orphan adopted by the Marquis. Since we are orphans, we should know that our lives should have been gone long ago. If it weren't for the Marquis's rescue, we would have frozen to death, starved to death, or been beaten to death. Our lives would be worse than dogs, extremely humble. It was the Marquis who gave us a new life, so we should regard the Marquis as our reborn parents, and we should be grateful for his life-saving and raising us in this life. You must always remember that this life no longer belongs to you, but to the Marquis, to Tianji Pavilion, and to the East Mansion! If the Marquis lets us live, we will live, and if the Marquis lets us die, I will die. This is our destiny! Do you understand?"

"Understood!" A dozen children shouted in unison, their little faces filled with solemn expressions. They didn't look like innocent and bright children, but more like mindless puppets.

Compared to the excitement of Qin Wei and other children, Liu Xunyi's reaction was a little more hesitant than theirs, and he even showed contemplation and speculation that was not appropriate for his age.

"Okay!" Qiu Han nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Today I will no longer teach you the rules, but will teach you martial arts, so that you can be qualified to enter the Tianji Pavilion as soon as possible, become a Golden Sword Captain, or even a Junior Guard of the Tianji Pavilion."

"Then..." Liu Xunyi asked with all her courage, "The East Palace is the government office of the imperial court, and the Tianji Pavilion is under the jurisdiction of the East Palace. I only know that the East Palace is full of imperial ministers, but I don't know what the Tianji Pavilion does?" Qiu Han looked at Liu Xunyi coldly, and after a moment, he said coldly without looking away, "Yes, most of the people in the East Palace are civil officials and scholars. There are neither soldiers nor guards in the palace. Therefore, when the lives of the people in the East Palace are threatened, and the East Palace often has to do some secret things that are not convenient for outsiders to do, they often find themselves stretched to the limit because there is no one to use, and the work is twice as hard for half the result. Therefore, under the secret order of the emperor, the Marquis established the Tianji Pavilion. The pavilion does not raise literati and scholars, but only trains warriors with high martial arts skills. We obey the orders of the Tianji Marquis and specialize in doing difficult things for the East Palace. Therefore, the Tianji Pavilion is also called the 'East Palace Martial Pavilion'. Do you understand now?"

Hearing this, Qin Wei's eyes turned and he asked, "What about the Golden Sword Captain and the Shaobao you mentioned just now? What are those?"

Qiu Han's eyes turned and he said calmly, "There are ten junior guards in the Tianji Pavilion. They are the ten people with the best martial arts in the Tianji Pavilion, and they are called the 'Ten Junior Guards of the Tianji Pavilion'. In addition, the rest are called 'Golden Sword Lieutenants'. The Tianji Pavilion holds a martial arts competition every year, and the Golden Sword Lieutenants can challenge the ten junior guards at will. Those with outstanding martial arts can replace them and become the new junior guards. Junior guards are of the fifth rank, but Golden Sword Lieutenants are not of the rank. The status and salary of the two are very different. Therefore, the Tianji Pavilion martial arts competition is the only chance for the lieutenants to make a leap forward. Therefore, if the Golden Sword Lieutenants want to rise to the top, they must continue to practice hard and strive to be among the ten junior guards."

"What about us?" Qin Wei asked excitedly, "Are we considered the Golden Sword Captains?"

"You guys?" Qiu Han sneered disdainfully, his eyes full of contempt. "Only after ten years in the cabinet can you be qualified to take the test, and only after passing the test can you be considered a Golden Sword Lieutenant. As for you... you are nothing now, you can't lift anything, you can't lift anything, you are like a waste. There were thirty people in the same batch as me, and only nine of them were qualified to become Golden Sword Lieutenants. You can imagine how difficult the test was."

"What will the test be about?" another child asked with interest.

"These are the ones behind us." Qiu Han smiled coldly and waved his hand to point at the weapon rack. "The test is also called the 'civil and military examinations'. The civil examination is relatively simple. You only need to have the knowledge of a candidate, be able to read and write, understand the principles of things, and know the great principles. You must also be familiar with various military strategies. The most important thing is the martial arts examination, which is divided into the 'sixteen major martial arts', namely, mind skills, boxing skills, palm skills, hand skills, finger skills, claw skills, leg skills, footwork, sword skills, knife skills, spear skills, stick skills, axe skills, hidden weapons, as well as archery and light skills. These sixteen items must all reach the level of a martial arts candidate to be considered qualified."

Qiu Han's words made Liu Xunyi and the others all smack their lips in astonishment. Qin Wei said to himself with a bitter face, "I have to learn so many martial arts at once, and I have to reach the level of a juren. Isn't this... as difficult as ascending to heaven?"

"Those who can stay in Tianji Pavilion are the best among men who are good at both civil and military affairs. Otherwise, how can you be qualified to serve the East Palace?" Qiu Han said indifferently, "The so-called three feet is a sword, seven feet is a spear, the height is a stick, and the spear is ten feet and eight inches long. Weapons have different lengths. An inch longer is an inch stronger, and an inch smaller is an inch more skillful. Swords can be divided into long swords and short swords, and knives can be divided into single swords, double swords, and ghost-head knives. There are dozens of large weapons, hundreds of small weapons, more than a thousand kinds of strange and skillful knives, and more than ten thousand kinds of unique hidden weapons and weapons. In the future, you will not only have to dabble in them one by one, but also be familiar with them by heart, and even use them freely."

Qiu Han's words were like thousands of arrows piercing the heart; every word pierced the hearts of Liu Xunyi and others, making them frightened.

"In addition to learning various kinds of fists, kicks and weapons, you must also be familiar with the martial arts of various schools in the world. Even if you can't do it at will, you must be able to imitate and perform them, such as Shaolin boxing, five elements boxing, Kasyapa palm, Bodhi palm, chasing cloud leg, Rakshasa leg, Wudang sword, Qingcheng sword, Kunlun sword, Kuangfeng knife, Shayang knife, Liuhe spear, Bahuang spear, Ganshan stick, Fumo stick, Mandarin duck step, climbing duck feet and crossing water, stepping on snow without leaving traces, etc...." Qiu Han said again, "The complexity of martial arts and the vastness of skills are too numerous to mention. The more you learn these things, the greater the chance of saving your life in the future. Thousands of martial arts books are all from the Marquis. The imperial court spent more than ten years gathering them from all over the martial arts world, and now they are all stored in the library of Tianji Pavilion. As long as you have the ability and are willing to endure hardships, after you have mastered the basic skills, you can go to the library to read and study them one by one. This is a heaven-sent opportunity. Even disciples of famous martial arts sects in the martial arts world may not have such an opportunity. As for how much you can learn, it depends on your own ability. If you want to stay in Tianji Pavilion and work, you must be proficient in archery, horsemanship, swordsmanship, and all martial arts. In the future, even if you can't fight ten thousand men, at least you can fight ten, or even a hundred."

"My future life will be miserable..." Qin Wei complained to Liu Xunyi in a low voice, "I can't remember all he said, how can I memorize it and use it freely? Alas!"

"The ice is not formed in a day. What I just said is just a drop in the ocean. You don't have to be intimidated. Just take steady steps. In the future, someone will come to teach you all kinds of martial arts. Remember, you need to practice step by step. There is no shortcut. Don't take shortcuts or aim too high! Every three months, your training results will be tested." Qiu Han ignored the expressions of the people who were living a life worse than death and said lightly, "If you fail once, you will be beaten with a heavy stick thirty times, and your skin and flesh will be torn! If you fail twice, you will be beaten with a heavy stick a hundred times, and your bones and tendons will be broken! If you fail three times, you will be beaten with a heavy stick three hundred times, and you will almost die! Since the establishment of Tianji Pavilion, no one who failed three times has been able to survive the three hundred heavy sticks, and most of them died under the heavy sticks."

"hiss!"

"So if you don't want to die tragically at a young age, you must not slack off for even a moment. In the future, no matter whether it is extremely cold or hot, or whether it is a stormy day, you must get up at 3 p.m. every day, learn to read and write first, start practicing two hours later, and go to bed at 11 p.m. Only by studying and practicing hard day after day can you become a great person. Today, start with two hours of horse-riding. Those who can't hold out will come to me and receive fifty lashes. In the days to come, I and other lieutenants of the Golden Sword will take turns teaching you." Qiu Han said expressionlessly, "Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best. From now on, you will not be able to regain your freedom until you pass the test in ten years. Before that, you will have to experience all kinds of torture and suffering, so you must abandon all your thoughts and have no time to look around. You only have one goal right now, and that is to do your best to survive!"

Qiu Han finished his words here. Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei couldn't help but look at each other, with an indescribable complex look in their eyes.

"We were able to escape starvation and freezing to death just by looking for clothes, but now we are in a state of near death again. I don't know whether to be happy or sad, alas!"

"Qin Wei, without going through the bitter cold, how can the fragrance of plum blossoms be so strong? Now I don't know where Yu'er is. So no matter what... I must survive. Only by surviving and becoming the Junior Guardian of Tianji Pavilion can I have a chance to find my sister..."

"Right! For the sake of fame and fortune, what does it matter if we suffer a little now? Anyway, we have nothing left, so we should either do nothing or do it to the best of our ability. Screw the Captain of the Golden Sword, our goal is to be the Junior Guardian of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion! Haha..."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei smiled at each other again.

Although the childish smile is bitter, it also contains infinite longing for the future.

……

(End of this chapter)