Stunningly beautiful young lady

"Have you heard? Yesterday, Miss Qiu did something indecent with a man in the palace and was caught in public. She was punished with a hundred strokes of the cane each."

An older woman buying vegetables gossiped as she picked through the rotten vegetable leaves in her basket.

"Yes, yes, I heard it's Wan Jia and Wan Xiang. They're both probably still lying in bed, half-dead."

"I heard that the Emperor even ordered the two of them to enter the Wan family's gate in ten days. It was only after Lord Qiu cried and begged for their lives that they were granted the position of a concubine."

Another elderly woman buying meat also gossiped as she picked out the meat.

"Xiao Li, get me this pig's trotter, and while you're at it, chop it into smaller pieces for me."

"Serves them right. One is lecherous and vicious, the other is arrogant and haughty. They should be a good match to prevent them from harming others."

"Click."

The butcher chopped hard at the pig's foot with his knife, and the leg bone broke instantly.

......

Xiaozhi heard this shocking news after she finished shopping for groceries.

"Miss, I heard some shocking news while I was buying vegetables at the market."

After Xiaozhi put the vegetables away, she immediately told Su Qing about it.

"Yes, you reap what you sow; you tried to harm others but ended up harming yourself."

"She's really despicable. It's one thing to have a bad mouth, but she also tries to frame others. Bad people should get what they deserve."

As Xiaozhi picked vegetables, she said, "I was so angry that I almost put the bad leaves in the wrong place."

However, she didn't know that the person who was framed and slandered was her young mistress, otherwise she would definitely have been cursing Qiu Shuyun while picking vegetables, and might even have cursed her more harshly.

"Xiaozhi, do you want to cultivate now?"

Su Qing sipped her tea, thinking about how to start training to improve her physical fitness and put Xiao Zhi's training plan on the agenda. After all, only with ability can one protect oneself.

Xiaozhi was stunned by Su Qing's words. One second she was talking about earth-shattering events, and the next second her mistress was asking about her cultivation.

For a moment, he was stunned and stood there dumbfounded, forgetting to answer.

"Twig?"

Su Qing looked up and saw Xiao Zhi standing there dumbfounded, so she asked again.

"Oh? Miss... I want to!"

After hesitating for half a second, she answered loudly.

"Okay, starting today, run around the yard with weights for half an hour every day, do 100 squats with weights, and hold a horse stance for half an hour."

"Add ten minutes to the daily weight-bearing time until it reaches two hours, and then stick to this time for a month."

"Increase the number of weighted squats by twenty per day, until you reach two hundred."

Su Qing explained the training plan to Xiao Zhi, first focusing on improving her physical fitness to lay a solid foundation for her cultivation.

"Carrying weight?"

Xiaozhi was puzzled when she first heard the word. How could she not understand the words that the young lady was saying?

"Weighted running involves strapping five pounds of weight to each foot, while weighted squats involve squatting down with twenty pounds of weight on your back and then standing up."

"oh oh."

Xiaozhi tried to imagine the scene she described, and she probably understood.

The first training session starts tonight. I'll tidy up the yard in a bit, and you can go cook dinner first.

"Okay, miss, take your time. I'll come over and help you with it later."

After saying that, Xiaozhi picked up the ingredients and ran off to cook. She was really looking forward to the training that her mistress had mentioned.

Sure enough, people are very efficient at doing things when they are happy. Just as Su Qing finished marking out the space in the yard that needed to be used for training, Xiao Zhi brought over breakfast.

"Miss, stop cleaning up and come wash your hands and eat."

Xiaozhi set out the bowls and chopsticks and served the rice, and Bailing darted onto the table in a flash.

"You little rascal, you have such a keen sense of smell and hearing! You came out as soon as you heard it was time to eat."

Although Xiaozhi was talking, her hands kept piling food into Bailing's bowl, and soon the bowl was full.

"Little branch, be careful not to burst its little belly."

Su Qing saw this scene as she washed her hands and teased Xiao Zhi.

"No, no, Miss, don't let her small belly fool you, she eats a lot."

Bai Ling patted her belly to show Xiao Zhi, making Xiao Zhi laugh heartily.

This little guy knows how to please people, but it's a good thing Xiaozhi doesn't know it can eat more, otherwise doubling its food intake every day would turn it into a little fox-pig.

"I'm going to the Azure Forest tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be back. For now, just train the way I told you, and I'll check on your progress when I get back."

"Don't worry, Miss, I promise I won't slack off and I'll practice diligently."

Xiaozhi held a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, with a mouthful of food still in her mouth. Before she could even swallow, she made a promise to Su Qing.

Judging from her expression, it's best to wait until she finishes her meal before saying anything, otherwise she might choke.

The practical training officially began in the afternoon.

"Miss, how come you're not tired at all?"

Xiaozhi's feet were tied with five-pound weights on each foot. She had only been at it for five minutes and was far behind the young lady, already drenched in sweat.

Xiaozhi couldn't understand it. When she was running, she clearly didn't feel this heavy and could even keep up with the young lady's pace, but now she had to drag her feet to walk.

"It's like this at the beginning. You'll get used to it gradually. It will also be beneficial for your later cultivation."

Su Qing maintained a steady pace and spoke to her calmly.

Upon hearing that it would benefit her future cultivation, Xiaozhi worked even harder, and her legs involuntarily took larger strides.

Half an hour has finally passed, and the first stage can be considered over.

"call."

Xiaozhi was panting heavily, her clothes were soaked, and her face was flushed.

Looking at Su Qing, she was also sweating, but compared to Xiao Zhi, it was only a light sweat, and her breathing was normal.

"Miss, you're amazing!"

Xiaozhi braced herself on her thighs with both hands and looked up at Su Qing.

"No, I need to keep practicing harder."

Su Qing didn't think she was that great; she only said she needed to continue improving because cultivation wasn't something that could be done in a day or two.

Since one must cultivate, one must have a healthy body; one cannot simply improve one's spiritual power while neglecting one's own physical qualities.

"Well, I'll do my best."

Seeing that her young mistress was working so hard, she wanted to learn from her.

"Next, weighted squats."

Su Qing carried a 20-pound stone on her back, and Xiao Zhi carried a 10-pound stone on her back to begin lower body strength training.

At first, I didn't think there would be any problem with the small branches, especially since mine was half the weight.

But after doing more than twenty, I realized that things weren't so simple. Gradually, my legs started to lose control, and once I went down, it was difficult to get back up.

Su Qing had completed two hundred twigs, but only fifty were finished. Her legs were trembling, and it took her a long time to complete one.

However, Xiaozhi didn't utter a sound and persevered until she had completed one hundred.

Adding to that half an hour of horse stance training, Xiaozhi was exhausted that day, but she didn't complain at all, because everything was for better cultivation, otherwise she would only drift further and further away from her mistress.

The high-intensity training was too much for Xiaozhi, and she had to rest early.