(Many thanks to 'Apharmy', 'Shuhuangji' and other old readers for their generous support and monthly passes.) ）

Although Wang Junlin knew that this old Taoist accepted himself as a disciple and taught him exercises with such enthusiasm, he must have ill intentions, but he still couldn't help but say with some excitement: "Thank you, Master." ”

Lao Dao nodded and said, "This is a Dao scroll, and the exercises recorded on it are difficult for you to understand just by looking at the words, but if it corresponds to this exercise diagram, you will know how to practice this exercise." ”

As he spoke, Lao Dao took out a roll of animal skins from his arms and handed it to Wang Junlin, then suddenly stood up, and didn't see him move, his body suddenly floated up and flew out of the window: "Don't worry, I won't kill you." Good apprentice, it won't be long before we see each other again. ”

Wang Junlin looked at the window where Lao Dao had disappeared, his face was extremely ugly, if it weren't for the fact that there was a scroll of exercises drawn in animal skins in his hand, he almost suspected that everything he had just experienced was a dream.

Opening the animal skin the size of an adult's face in his hand, a humanoid figure sitting cross-legged was outlined with simple lines, and some acupuncture points were marked on various parts of the body, some of which Wang Junlin knew and some of which he had never heard of. And there is a line connecting these acupuncture points, and Wang Junlin vaguely understands that this may be the so-called kung fu route.

He studied it for a while, heard the movement next to him, turned his head to look, Cui Ruxue woke up with sleepy eyes, looked at Wang Junlin and said, "Langjun, why are you up." ”

Wang Junlin sighed, put away the animal skin casually, pressed it under the head of the bed, and lay down.

……

……

On the second day, at dawn, Wang Junlin went to the post house to have breakfast with the eldest grandson and his son, and then came to the backyard of his mansion, where there was a stove used to make weapons. It was here that his steel knife and plate armor were crafted by his own hands.

Now that he is going to the Western Turks, although there is an explanation from Changsun Sheng, Wang Junlin is still not at ease, so he is ready to build another steel for himself. Crossbow.

He has been preparing and planning for two months, the drawings and methods have been studied thoroughly, the steel is left over when Wang Junlin built the steel knife and steel plate armor, and other materials have also been collected, and the construction will start in the near future. There are still seven days left before the Western Turks are empowered, just enough for him to build a steel handle. Crossbow.

And Changsun Sheng and Changsun Wuji, father and son, locked themselves in the room, looking at a pamphlet with a map of the locations of the various tribes of the Western Turks, as well as a record of the population and army of each tribe, mysteriously not knowing what they were studying.

As for Princess Xinyi, after taking the medicine prescribed by Wang Junlin, she also strictly followed the three requirements mentioned by Wang Junlin, and the water and soil discomfort was gradually relieved, and her body has basically recovered.

On the third day, Princess Xinyi called Wang Junlin over again on the pretext of letting Wang Junlin return to the doctor.

"Thanks to the general's kindness, I am much better." When the two met, Princess Yicheng thanked Wang Junlin in person, and the girl's expression was a little shy.

"Your Highness is polite, it is a humble honor to be able to cure His Highness's illness." Wang Junlin lowered his head slightly, and his eyes did not dare to make eye contact with Princess Xinyi, because he felt something else from Princess Xinyi's eyes, such as puberty sprout......

"General Wang, I need your help." After a long silence, Princess Xinyi suddenly said.

Wang Junlin sighed secretly and said, "I'm afraid that my humble position won't help the princess." ”

Princess Xinyi showed a trace of disappointment on her face, but this disappointment was soon replaced by perseverance, she stared into Wang Junlin's eyes, and said, "I know that my marriage to the Western Turks is a foregone conclusion, and no one can change it. All I think about now is that when I get to the Western Turks, I can live a better life, or at least not die. ”

Wang Junlin was silent for a while, and said, "Unless Her Royal Highness the Princess can hold some real power in the Western Turks and have some Turkic warriors who are absolutely loyal to Her Royal Highness." ”

Princess Xinyi's eyes lit up and said, "What do I need to do, and ask General Wang to teach me." ”

Wang Junlin pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Now there is a national teacher in the Western Turks, named King Bodofa, who is resourceful and cunning, and with this person by the side of the Western Turkic Emperor Yehu Khan, His Highness's chances are too slim. ”

Princess Xinyi sighed slightly and said, "I heard in the past few days that General Wang has been training five thousand elite soldiers under his command since he became the defender of Gaotai City, and even the people of Gaotai City know that the five thousand generals are now like tigers. It can be seen that General Wang's ambition is not small, and every moment is preparing for the future conquest of the Turks. ”

Wang Junlin sighed secretly in his heart, how could Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui, pick out the princess who was friendly with the Western Turks, how could she be incompetent, her heart, will, and mind must be the best choice, otherwise how could she survive in the wolf's den, and then find an opportunity to do things for the Great Sui.

It's just that Princess Xinyi didn't know that Wang Junlin trained hard to train elite soldiers, not just to conquer the Western Turks.

Princess Xinyi saw that Wang Junlin did not answer, so she said, "I want to make an agreement with General Wang. ”

Wang Junlin was a little surprised and said, "What agreement? ”

Princess Xinyi said: "The general helped me gain a foothold in the Western Turks, and gain as much power as possible, as the general just said, to obtain the allegiance of a group of Turkic warriors. And I helped the general to rise to the Western Regions and establish immortal achievements. ”

Wang Junlin shook his head secretly in his heart, the possibility of success of the plan and agreement that Princess Xinyi said was too small, to put it bluntly, Princess Xinyi wanted to persuade Wang Junlin to help him with all her might.

Although he thought so in his heart, Wang Junlin did not expose it. Of course, he would not reject or go along with this plan.

Wang Junlin suddenly remembered that the noble-born women of the Sui and Tang dynasties seemed to have an unusual desire for power.

close, such as Queen Dugu, who is still alive now, and Empress Yuwenyun, Emperor Xuan of the former Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Princess Yang Lihua, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian. These two women had extremely strong power and authority in the Sui Dynasty.

According to the original history, in the future, Princess Gaoyang and the famous Wu Zetian who once rebelled during the Tang Dynasty.

The girl in front of her, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, was naturally far from being compared with these famous women in history, but Wang Junlin felt a kind of ambition and desire for power from her words.

I remembered the weak and pitiful appearance of the sick Princess Xinyi who had just seen her the day before yesterday, and then the resolute girl who had begun to plan the Western Turks with great interest after she had recovered from her illness. Wang Junlin couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart. Could it be that this young girl has overcome some of the fears after marrying the Turks, such as the poverty of the Turks, the barbarism of the Turks, the Turkic tradition of making a Han woman feel endless shame, the death of a father to a son, and the death of a brother to a sister-in-law.

This era is not only an era of heroes, but also an era of women who do not let their eyebrows go.

After being silent for a while, Wang Junlin suddenly said: "The Turks mostly eat meat, but the cooking level of the Turks is too poor, after Her Royal Highness the princess goes down, she will definitely not get used to it, and the princess has just been seriously ill and her body is still weak, so it is the time to make up for it." There are several ways to cook mutton, but it is better to let the princess taste it today. ”

"People often say that the gentleman is far away from the kitchen, but I didn't expect General Wang to be able to cook." Princess Xinyi looked puzzled, and didn't understand for a while why Wang Junlin wanted to make mutton for her.

Wang Junlin does have superb cooking skills, this is when he was a mercenary in his later life, he was forced out in a foreign country, he is used to eating Chinese food, and then eats the food of some other countries and nationalities, it is okay to taste fresh, if he eats it every day, it is simply a great pain. For this reason, Wang Junlin deliberately spent some energy and time to learn to cook, and he did it quite well.

Wang Junlin called Rongyue and Xiaoxue to help, cooked it himself, and made a table of delicacies for Princess Xinyi, all of which were mutton-based meals.

"Mutton, in fact, is a great tonic, the meat quality is delicious in the animal meat, and the mutton is warm and sweet, nourishing qi and nourishing yin, warm and replenishing deficiency, appetizing and fitness; It can be used to dispel evil spirits, cure cold and heat, and is a nourishing product that replenishes Yuan Yang and is suitable for blood and qi, especially for the invasion of cold and heat, uneven cold and heat, weakness of limbs, and weakness after childbirth. It's just that these alien savages such as Tuyuhun, Turkic, Khitan and so on don't know how to cook, and the mutton they make often has a fishy taste that is difficult to swallow. ”

"The princess came to taste, this dish is called hand grasping mutton, is to select fat and tender sheep, slaughter on the spot, peel the skin into the pot, and cook it, because when eating meat after cleaning hands, hold the meat in one hand, hold a knife in the other hand, cut, dig, pick, slice, and eat the meat on the mutton bones cleanly, so it is named "hand grasping mutton".

"The process of making this dish is simple and bright, with only a small handful of salt and the right amount of heat, and the blood disappears quickly, and the meat is cooked but not hard. But with a faint fragrance of plants and trees, eating it will make people want to stop. ”

Listening to Wang Junlin's explanation in such detail, Princess Xinyi, who was originally smiling, faintly understood Wang Junlin's deep meaning, listened attentively, and asked He Shanggong and his maids to also carefully write down the method of doing it.

And while she listened carefully to Wang Junlin's explanation, she also tasted it herself.

"It's just lamb boiled in boiling water, but how can it taste so delicious? Could it be that the general also put a secret recipe in the water? ”

Wang Junlin took a half-foot-long agarwood from Xiao Xue's hand and put it on the table, and said, "Mutton and agarwood sticks can be cooked together!" ”

Princess Xinyi took the finger-thick agarwood stick and looked at it, and then bowed slightly to Wang Junlin: "I wrote it down." ”

Wang Junlin did not hesitate to praise this beautiful sixteen-year-old girl, and Princess Xinyi was very pleased that she had so quickly understood the deep meaning of the mutton delicacies she had personally cooked for her.

After eating the finger mutton, Wang Junlin pointed to another fragrant dish on the table and continued to explain.