The improved female villains regained their memories.

"elder sister."

She suddenly pulled the blanket over her head and called out softly.

"What?" An impatient voice rang in her mind.

Are you angry?

"I'm not angry."

"You're lying, you're clearly angry."

"I'm not angry. Come on, you go to sleep now. Let's have a good talk in the consciousness space."

"No way! You'll hit me!"

"I won't hit you, come in first and we'll talk."

"You said the same thing last time, and as soon as I went in, you spanked me!"

A "hehe" sound echoed in my mind, then fell silent.

Xu Anlu tried hard to keep her eyes open and not fall asleep. At first, she could hold on for a while, but gradually she couldn't hold on any longer.

In complete darkness, she arrived in the space of consciousness.

"Waaaaah, sister, don't hit me!"

She closed her eyes, held her head, and cried out incoherently.

Half a day later, the pain she had imagined did not come. She opened her eyes and found her older sister sitting to the side, deep in thought.

Xu Anlu's ahoge (cowlick) twitched, and she crawled over to Xu Anyin's side: "Sister, what are you thinking about?"

"Thinking about Yang... is none of your business."

"So you were thinking about the Grand Tutor." Xu Anlu slapped Xu Anyin's shoulder. "You scared me to death. I thought my sister would be angry if I broke the vase."

After all, Xu Anyin had told her to keep a low profile and not to do anything outrageous when she arrived, but she didn't expect that she would break someone's vase so soon after she arrived.

"The Grand Tutor is such a kind person. He wasn't angry with me at all, and he's even... like a sister?"

She looked over and realized that her older sister was completely ignoring her, muttering to herself, saying things like, "Where did this person come from?" and "Where did this tutor come from?"

"Sister, what are you talking to yourself about?"

She glanced at Xu Anlu sideways and said, "It's nothing. I'm just curious how a Grand Tutor suddenly appeared in our Great Yan Dynasty."

Is that strange?

"strangeness?"

Xu Anyin sneered. This wasn't strange; this was downright ghostly.

"Since that woman placed us in the Grand Tutor's house, let's just stay there for now. It's probably in complete chaos over there."

"Sister, do you think Mother will be alright?"

Xu Anyin thought to himself, why do you care whether she lives or dies? But after looking at his younger sister, he still said, "No, after all, our uncle is a pillar of the country, in charge of the Tiger Roar Camp and the military commander of the southeast. With military power in hand, those fools are too busy trying to curry favor with him."

"Those idiots" was Xu An'yin's general term for the princes. Although Xu Anlu didn't understand why her sister always called her brothers idiots, she didn't ask too many questions, since asking too many questions would likely get her beaten.

"Then, sister, shall we stay here for now?"

"Staying here isn't a bad idea, since we'll have to wait a while anyway."

As she spoke, she glanced at Xu Anlu and patted her head.

"Don't worry, with me here, no one can hurt you. If that lousy tutor isn't a good person..."

A fierce glint appeared in her eyes.

“I killed him.”

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Art of War

The next morning was another sunny day.

A sparrow landed on the edge of the water vat, tilted its head, and looked at the lotus leaves floating in the vat.

As dawn broke and fog enveloped the area, Yang Pingsheng got up and washed.

Xiao Hua arrived carrying a basin of water and a towel. She had two small braids, was about fifteen years old, and had a smile in her eyes.

"Sir, did you sleep well last night?"

"pretty good."

As he went outside, Xiao Zhu was doing her morning exercises in the yard, while Xu Anlu watched her longingly from the side.

Xiao Zhu glanced at her sideways and said, "Could you please stop looking at me?"

Xu Anlu said "oh" and continued watching.

"you!"

Xiao Zhu wanted to say something more, but when she saw Yang Pingsheng arrive, she stood up respectfully and bowed, saying, "Good morning, sir."

Xu Anlu imitated him very well: "Good morning, sir."

"You haven't even formally become my apprentice, so why are you calling me 'Master'?"

Xiaozhu frowned as she spoke, seemingly still angry from last night.

"Oh... good morning, Grand Tutor."

Yang Pingsheng nodded to them and said, "Let's have breakfast later."

Xiao Zhu and Xiao Hua went to prepare breakfast, leaving Xu Anlu behind. She ran up to Yang Pingsheng, tugged at his sleeve, and asked, "Grand Tutor, do you know martial arts?"

"meeting."

"Can you teach me?"

Just as Yang Pingsheng was about to nod, the system's voice rang out: "Reject her."

His initial nod changed abruptly. Yang Pingsheng shook his head and said, "No."

Her expectant gaze visibly dimmed, her ahoge drooped, and Xu Anlu asked pitifully, "Why?"

"Because you are not my disciple."

“I can become an apprentice.”

"I'm not taking on any more apprentices."

Yang Pingsheng patted her head: "Go have fun."

Xu Anlu gave an "oh" and walked away dejectedly.

When breakfast was ready, Yang Pingsheng came to call her and found her staring blankly at the sparrows on the edge of the water tank.

Yang Pingsheng is an old man, and there's not much to do where he lives.

The sparrows weren't afraid of her either; they went from looking at the lotus leaves to looking at her, and the two of them just stared at each other like that.

"Xiao Lu," Yang Pingsheng called to her, "Dinner's ready."

"The Grand Tutor has arrived."

After breakfast, Yang Pingsheng was about to teach Xiaozhu and Xiaohua. There was a building on the east side of the courtyard, which was specifically used as a school. The system prompted him to teach Xiaozhu and Xiaohua Sun Tzu's Art of War, so Yang Pingsheng told the two of them to go ahead while he went to the inner room to get the book.

When he came out with the book, he saw Xu Anlu leading sparrows up a tree.

Yang Pingsheng: "..."

It was a big tree, about the height of a three-story building.

Be careful.

"Understood, Grand Tutor!"

Yang Pingsheng shouted, and received a loud response from the latter.

Her voice pierced through the leaves and echoed across the sky.

The female villain certainly won't die from the fall, so Yang Pingsheng doesn't need to worry too much. He's just worried about her clothes getting dirty.

The middle-aged woman brought her here last night, and the package she received contained only a few pieces of clothing and some loose change.

Never mind, I'll buy it for her when I have time.

He arrived at the school, where there were only two students, Xiaozhu and Xiaohua. He looked at them and cleared his throat lightly: "Class is starting."

A feeling I haven't had in a long time.

"Today we're learning military strategy."

Xiaohua raised her hand: "Sir, aren't we going to learn manners?"

They came here specifically to learn the etiquette and customs of the Great Yan Dynasty.

"I'm not going to study that anymore. Today I'll study military strategy first."

"Ok sir."

Although she had doubts, out of respect for her husband, Xiaohua did not ask any further questions.

"Soldiers, the important affairs of the country, the place of life and death, the way of survival, must be observed."

The sound of lecturing flowed out slowly. Yang Pingsheng used to teach exam-oriented education, and this was the first time he had taught military strategy.

This wasn't about teaching them how to use classical Chinese, but rather about using the language of the Great Yan Dynasty to convey the ancient Chinese wisdom of military strategy. At first, Yang Pingsheng followed the translation, but later he let his imagination run wild and began to expound on the principles of warfare.

"As the saying goes, 'An army marches on its stomach.' Those who are not in charge of a household do not know how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt are. Once war begins, various expenses will flow out like water. Fighting a war requires fighting strength, but it also requires logistics. Therefore, the general principle of warfare is that if you have a thousand chariots, a thousand war wagons, and a hundred thousand armored soldiers, and you need to supply provisions from a thousand miles away, then the expenses for internal and external affairs, the entertainment of guests, the materials for glue and lacquer, and the maintenance of chariots and armor will amount to a thousand gold pieces a day. Only then can an army of a hundred thousand be mobilized."

Outside the window, a single ahoge (cowlick) slowly stood upright, with a faint red soul floating behind it.

Yang Pingsheng saw it, but the system didn't stop him, so he continued talking.

The morning passed quickly, and Yang Pingsheng said, "That's all for today," signifying the end of the morning's study session.

While packing, Xiaozhu secretly asked Xiaohua, "Why did the teacher suddenly start teaching us military strategy?"

Xiaohua shook her head: "I don't know."

"What's the use of learning this?" Xiaozhu said unhappily. "Father sent us here to learn etiquette so that we could get involved in the affairs of the Great Yan Dynasty's court later. Now the Grand Tutor is teaching us military strategy instead of etiquette. What use is military strategy in this world?"