Travel through troubled times and escape famine with the system

"Steady and reliable" means to speak and act prudently without making mistakes.

In martial arts, however, it represents holding a horse stance for the duration of eight cups of tea.

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea is roughly equivalent to 15 minutes, or about 15 minutes.

If you can rest for thirty breaths between each cup of tea, and remain still and upright for eight quarters of an hour, it means you have taken root in your feet and have achieved the minor success of the External Strength Tempering Realm.

This step is simply a process of strengthening the body and bones; there are no shortcuts or tricks involved.

No matter how exceptionally talented one is, it requires daily, unremitting practice, which can take three to five years.

The servants and maids in the Guan household were all ordinary people. Let alone a quarter of an hour, even just standing on a horse for a short while would make them complain endlessly.

Lu You, on the other hand, would hold a tree branch and "whip" each person who couldn't hold on, causing a surge in negative emotions.

Looking at the ever-increasing points on the system panel, Lu You was overjoyed.

They've even started considering renting a storefront in Wudu to open a martial arts school and recruit more disciples.

Will the points for negative emotions still be low by then?

"Miss, I really can't take it anymore..." Mingcui said aggrievedly, looking at her palms which were red from being slapped. "Can I stop practicing?"

"Of course not!"

Upon hearing this, Lu You spoke seriously.

“You chose to cultivate martial arts yourselves, so how can you give up halfway?”

"They said we have to stand for a full fifteen minutes, and no one can be left out."

Are you kidding me?

Is it easy to find a way to boost your score?

How could we possibly let you off so easily?

“In the path of martial arts training, strengthening the muscles and bones is an unavoidable hurdle. The reason you feel tired and exhausted is primarily because your body lacks strength.”

"Alright then, I will now teach you the secret formula for increasing strength."

"This is my unique method. I'll say a sentence, and you all repeat after me. Everyone needs to open their mouths, understand?"

Upon hearing the incantation to increase strength, everyone showed expressions of anticipation.

Even Duanmu Rong, who had been spacing out the whole time, was now listening intently without making a sound.

"Ahem! Everyone, sing along with me!"

Chanting?

Duanmu Rong turned her head in a daze, but the next moment she heard Lu You waving her hands and singing in a melodious voice.

"Tuan Street is Li Liang! Tuan Street is Li Yiliang!"

[Negative emotions from Duanmu Rong +90, +90...]

[Negative emotions from Meng Fan +80...]

[From Mingcui...]

【Come……】

As emotions surged within her, Lu You coldly surveyed the crowd.

Sing! Anyone who doesn't open their mouth will get a slap!

Upon hearing Lu You's words, everyone started singing along.

"Yes! Louder, let's continue!"

"This light is a sticker! This light is steel! It's more exciting than iron! It's more exciting than steel..."

There were forty-three people in total, including Duanmu Rong.

Despite the dual torment of physical and mental exhaustion, Lu You managed to earn nearly 80,000 points in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The price Lu You paid was merely to exchange two Indian strength pills, which she dissolved in the water to help the exhausted group recover their strength and spirit.

The return on investment is so high that it can only be described as extremely profitable.

However, Lu You was very dissatisfied with this income.

More than forty people, each experiencing dozens of negative emotions every few seconds.

Based on an average of fifty, that means that two thousand points should be credited every three to five seconds.

Taking a five-second interval as an example, one minute should yield more than 24,000 points, and fifteen minutes should yield at least 300,000 points. This is the most ideal point income.

However, in reality, these people only have negative feelings towards Lu You at the very beginning.

Even if Lu You used willow branches to hit them a few minutes later, these people would only generate a few points.

It gives people the feeling that...

These people seemed resigned to their fate!

The feudal dynasties' control over people's minds was indeed too severe.

Even when Lu You taught them to sing the line "Let all undemocratic systems die," some people actually asked what democracy meant.

After Lu You explained, the servants and maids in the garden knelt down and kowtowed once again.

The concept of the people being the masters of their own destiny was, in the context of these feudal dynasties in another world, practically a blasphemous declaration of rebellion.

Left with no other option, Lu You had to change the lyrics to "Let all enemies who invade our territory die," and only then were the crowd willing to continue singing along.

During the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everyone lived in fear and trepidation, and Lu You was also exhausted both physically and mentally.

If anything goes wrong, thirty or forty people will kneel down and kowtow repeatedly, which really makes it hard to muster any enthusiasm.

Breakfast was very lavish. Knowing that Lu You was a martial artist, the head chef got up early to prepare a table full of meat dishes for them.

Zuo Yunfeng, who had taken a nap, had a great appetite and ate as if he were in a battle, constantly stuffing all kinds of food into his mouth.

Lu You, meanwhile, was racking her brains for ways to boost her score and suddenly lost her appetite.

The fact that the red envelope has already been sent out means that Lu Yi is still alive.

However, their location is currently uncertain, and rescuing Lu Yi from the Second Prince's guards will not be easy.

Before that, all she could do, besides waiting for news, was to accumulate points to prepare for saving people in the future.

But how exactly do you process these negative emotions?

As Lu You thought about it, she took a big bite out of the chicken leg in her hand.

Seeing Lu You's absent-minded look, Zuo Yunfeng on the other side finally couldn't help but ask.

"Lu You, you seem to have something on your mind?"

"I heard you reciting some poems, the melody is quite novel, what are you doing?"

Duanmu Rong slowly picked up some food from her plate.

"Lu You is teaching the maids and servants in the mansion martial arts, and she's also teaching them war songs. She's preparing to train troops for a rebellion!"

puff……

Zuo Yunfeng spat out a mouthful of food, but Duanmu Rong protected the bowl with one hand and lightly touched the ground with her foot, instantly disappearing more than three meters away.

"Cough cough..."

Zuo Yunfeng coughed violently and pounded his chest several times before he could catch his breath.

"Lu You, is what she said really true?"

"Do you think I look like someone who's going to rebel?" Lu You looked silently at Zuo Yunfeng and reached out to pluck a vegetable leaf from the bridge of her nose: "This whole table of food is yours. Don't waste food."

Zuo Yunfeng didn't say anything, but silently picked up his bowl and chopsticks and continued eating.

Just then, a servant came running up.

“Miss, Miss Zuo Xuan’er, who came with you yesterday, has come to pay her respects with Miss Su Muying, the eldest daughter of the Su family in Liangzhou Prefecture.”

cough……

Upon hearing this, Zuo Yunfeng, who had just picked up his rice bowl, coughed lightly again.

Seeing Zuo Yunfeng's embarrassed look, Lu You spoke softly.

Where is Miss Su now?

"We've already invited them to wait at the gatehouse," the servant replied respectfully.

"Tell Mingcui and Bingqin to invite Miss Su to the council hall and treat her well, making sure she doesn't break the rules."

Lu You pondered for a moment and gave the instructions, then turned to look at Zuo Yunfeng.

"Young Master Zuo, your fiancée has arrived. Why aren't you going to greet her?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Yunfeng stood up, wanting to say something to Lu You, but in the end he only awkwardly straightened his clothes and left with the servant.

Duanmu Rong leaned against the door and chuckled softly: "A friend in need has met his childhood sweetheart. This is going to be interesting!"

Lu You didn't reply, but simply reached into her sleeve, took out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Duanmu Rong.

"The characters written on this paper are the code that Lu Yi and I agreed on earlier, instructing him to send his men to search all the outhouses at the post stations that Lu Yi might pass through."

"Finding this character will pinpoint Lu Yi's location."

Duanmu Rong looked at the letter in her hand: "May I take a look?"

"Whatever!" Lu You said, then stepped out the door and headed towards the council hall.

Duanmu Rong put down her chopsticks and opened the letter, only to find four strange characters written on it.

HELP.

Duanmu Rong stared blankly at the four English letters in the center of the letter, then began to tentatively rotate the letter left and right.

"This character... which side is on top?"