Chapter 162

 

The night was like splashed ink. The military camp at the foot of the Great Wall was silent except for the rustling of the wind.

At the second watch, except for the soldiers on duty, most people had fallen asleep.

In the grand princess’s tent, Hua Yang tightly grasped the silk cloak underneath.

Between this luxurious cloak and the rough ground of the border, there was a thick felt carpet.

Therefore, Hua Yang did not feel uncomfortable sleeping on the floor, nor did she feel that the autumn night was cold. She just thought the night was too quiet and the wind outside was too light.

If anyone came close to the tent, they would definitely hear it.

“That’s enough.” Hua Yang whispered.

Chen Jingzong seemed to have heard a joke, and leaned over to whisper in her ear: “Are you sending away the beggars?”

Hua Yang hits him on the shoulder.

Chen Jingzong grabbed her wrist and clasped it to one side. Knowing what she was worried about, he tried not to make any noise.

The surroundings became quiet and the princess breathed a sigh of relief. But before long, she found that this was not feasible at all and it seemed more like he was just making fun of her in a different way.

Hua Yang had no choice but to use her status as the grand princess and demanded, “I’ll only give you a quarter of an hour. If you don’t listen, when we’re back to the capital, don’t even think about it.”

It was pitch dark in the tent and Chen Jingzong couldn’t see her face clearly, but he could imagine what she looked like now. She must have a tense face and frowned, just like when she first got married.

But it was still different. At that time, she was really resisting, but now she was just too nervous. She was afraid of being found out and ruining her grand princess’ reputation.

After all, they were in the military camp. The more Chen Jingzong liked it, the more he could understand her difficulties.

So Chen Jingzong helped the grand princess turn over and covered her mouth.

.

Before dawn, Chen Jingzong begged grand princess for another quarter of an hour.

Because he was ordered to come to grand princess to apologize, he generously stayed overnight in grand princess’s tent without having to sneak away in the dark.

But he couldn’t get up too late. When a ray of light came in from outside the tent, Chen Jingzong woke up. He turned over, and the wooden planks that were spliced ​​together during the march creaked.

Hua Yang was awakened by the sound.

Chen Jingzong hugged her from behind and kissed her shoulder: “Try to see if your legs still sore. If they are, I will help you massage them again.”

Hua Yang didn’t want to bring it up, and said calmly, “Tidy up the floor first.”

Chen Jingzong smiled, lifted the quilt and sat up.

Hua Yang watched him tidy up.

The ground remained in the same state as when the battle at dawn ended. The red satin cloak was a tangled mess. Chen Jingzong grabbed the collar and shook it, but failed to smooth out the wrinkles.

Even though grand princess had countless precious things, the things she used must be her favorites. She would definitely be unhappy if her beloved things were ruined.

Chen Jingzong looked up and met her furrowed brows.

He tried to make amends: “I’ll wash it later and dry it in the sun and it will be smooth again.”

After folding the cloak with a guilty conscience, Chen Jingzong looked at the long felt blanket underneath.

Seeing this, Chen Jingzong almost laughed to death, because the long fur in the middle of the felt carpet was flattened, especially where his knees had been, forming two circles.

“Wash this too.”

Regardless of whether grand princess saw it clearly or not, Chen Jingzong quickly rolled up the felt carpet.

Hua Yang just turned her back. If she sees less, she got angry less!

.

After daybreak, Emperor Yuanyou first came to visit his sister whose legs were sore from climbing the Great Wall.

After resting for a night, Hua Yang’s legs became even stiffer. This was a common symptom for people who had been inactive for a long time and suddenly travel long distances. Fortunately, she only needed help when standing up and sitting down, and there was no problem with walking slowly.

What relieved Emperor Yuanyou the most was that prince consort’s apology was indeed effective. His sister seemed to have forgotten the quarrel last night and treated him as kindly as always.

“Sister, do you want to come with us for today’s military exercise?”

Emperor Yuanyou asked during breakfast.

Hua Yang: “You guys go ahead, I’ll just walk around.”

Today’s exercise was taking place halfway up the mountain. Hua Yang couldn’t climb anymore, but she couldn’t stay stuck in the tent either. After all, Chen Jingzong stayed here last night. If she didn’t go out, people who knew the situation would understand that she had suffered from climbing the Great Wall, but people who didn’t would not know what to think.

Emperor Yuanyou wanted prince consort to continue taking care of his sister.

Hua Yang said disgustedly: “No, let him follow you, I don’t like him now.”

Emperor Yuanyou then realized that his sister had only forgiven him and was still angry with her husband!

In this way, Chen Jingzong continued to follow the emperor to watch the border army exercises, and Hua Yang took a carriage to visit nearby villages to learn about the local customs and practices.

When the people saw the grand princess, they were respectful and enthusiastic. Hua Yang asked some women and children questions, and they told her everything they knew.

Some soldiers in the garrisons would bully the common people, extort money, or act tyrannically. But in Jizhen, because of the strict military discipline, neither the commanders, the Qianhu, the Baihu, nor the tall and strong soldiers under them had ever disturbed the people. Of course, there were some at the beginning, but since Qin Yuantang used military law to severely punish the few who stood out, such things never happened again.

Whenever people mentioned General Qin, they were full of praise for him. Some local people who had left their homes because of the suffering of the war even moved back home after learning that Qin Yuantang came to Jizhen to serve as the general.

As Hua Yang looked at those simple faces, her respect for Qin Yuantang grew deeper.

Of course, Qin Yuantang was able to train his troops in Jizhen with peace of mind thanks to her father-in-law’s trust and support.

After three days of rest, Hua Yang’s legs had basically recovered. She watched all the border military exercises in the last three days without missing a single one.

On the sixth day of Ninth Month, the emperor returned to Jizhou City, and Hua Yang’s sister and brother continued to stay in the city’s post house.

At the posthouse, Chen Jingzong would definitely live with Hua Yang, but he would not be back until dusk, and it was impossible for him to prepare that thing on the way, so he was destined to sleep honestly at night.

The emperor would return to the capital in three days, and Hua Yang’s plan could no longer be delayed.

When Chen Jingzong finished his bath and lay down on the bed, Hua Yang asked him, “If you compete with Qin Ji again, are you sure you can win?”

Chen Jingzong: “If we both go all out, it’s hard to say who will win, maybe 50-50. But according to General Qin’s temper, Qin Ji might let me win in the end.”

Hua Yang smiled.

Chen Jingzong was just like that, although he was unruly, he was not arrogant and would not praise himself just to please her.

“If you were asked to fight against General Qin, what are your chances of winning?” Hua Yang asked again.

Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, “It’s hard to say since we haven’t fought before, but the General has been through many battles, so I think I will lose.”

Although he believed that he had no chance of winning, Chen Jingzong showed no intention of retreating or being afraid of fighting. Instead, he was looking forward to fighting with Qin Yuantang.

Hua Yang said bluntly: “You should have noticed that General Qin is too respectful to Father, which is not good for him or the Chen family. Father must avoid suspicion and cannot meet him alone. So I want to talk to him.”

With just this one sentence, Chen Jingzong understood: “Okay, I’ll go fight him tomorrow. If I get hurt, he’ll naturally come over to visit me.”

That was what Hua Yang meant. She was pleased with Chen Jingzong’s intelligence and cooperation, but she was also a little worried.

A minor injury might not worth Qin Yuantang’s fuss. If it’s serious…

Chen Jingzong touched her brow and said, “I’m not even injured yet, why are you feeling sad already?”

Hua Yang lowered her eyes and said, “Anyway, you should be careful not to hurt yourself.”

Chen Jingzong touched her eyelashes with his fingertips: “You are working so hard, are you doing this for Father and our Chen family, or for General Qin, or for your brother?”

Hua Yang: “All of it, and also for myself.”

If the wise ministers and good generals were doing well, her brother’s court would naturally be clear and the country would be peaceful and the people would be safe, and she, the grand princess, could also rest assured.

Chen Jingzong touched the tip of her nose again, and the look in his eyes when he looked at her showed both regret and relief.

The next day, Chen Jingzong reported for duty before Emperor Yuanyou and confirmed that Emperor Yuanyou had no use for him. He then took his precious spear made of fine steel and gold given to him by the late emperor and went to find Qin Ji to have a match with him.

As soon as Qin Ji saw the spear in his hand, he knew that Chen Jingzong was serious. He was not afraid and sent someone to get the tiger-head spear he usually used.

As the eldest son of General Qin, Qin Ji’s tiger-head spear would certainly not bad. General Qin did not like gold, silver, and jewelry, but loved divine weapons. How could he be willing to treat his son badly?

The two went to the martial arts field side by side.

While they were still on the road, someone hurried to report to Emperor Yuanyou: “Your Majesty, Prince Consort has made an appointment to have a match with Eldest Master, and the fight is about to begin!”

Chen Tingjian and Qin Yuantang were both with Emperor Yuanyou at the time. Upon hearing this, Chen Tingjian first scolded his own son, calling him a wicked son, stubborn, lawless, and other names

Emperor Yuanyou didn’t like what he was saying, so he interrupted him and said, “There are literary competitions and martial competitions. Only by competing can we learn from each other’s strengths and make progress. Sir, you are well-versed in history and the present, don’t you even understand this principle?”

He Qingxian: “That’s right. It’s a good thing for young people to make friends through sparring. Why did Cabinet Elder Chen bring it up as being rude? Fortunately, you are a scholar, otherwise if someone wanted to spar with you, you would scold them in your heart.”

Chen Tingjian: …

Qin Yuantang originally wanted to blame his son for not being more courteous, but when he saw that Cabinet Elder Chen getting chastised by Emperor Yuanyou and Cabinet Elder He to the point where his face turned red, Qin Yuantang, being an inarticulate military officer, quickly changed his tone. He smiled and reassured Cabinet Elder Chen not to take it to heart, saying that sparring is very common in the military.

How could Chen Tingjian not know that sparring was a tradition among martial artists?

But he felt that the Old Four was just unhappy because grand princess praised Qin Ji, so he went to provoke Qin Ji.

Emperor Yuanyou thought the same. He was worried that the matter would get out of hand, so he immediately took people to the martial arts field.

Hua Yang also got the news. When she arrived at the martial arts field, Chen Jingzong and Qin Ji had already fought for dozens of moves.

Ordinary soldiers who were not good at spear skill, they would rely entirely on brute force when fighting, which was not very impressive.

Chen Jingzong and Qin Ji were both outstanding young military attaches. When they sparred with each other, their figures were as fast as the wind and their spears were as sharp as dragons. In just a few blinks of an eye, they chased each other from one end of the martial arts field to the other. Sometimes one attacked and the other defended, and sometimes the situation took a big turn.

Hua Yang didn’t know whether to look at the two flying spears or at Chen Jingzong’s face.

Everyone was attracted by the wonderful sparring on the martial arts field. Almost no one noticed that the grand princess secretly clenched her hands, and that the grand princess’s eyes were always following prince consort.

Only Qi Jin glanced at Hua Yang a few times without leaving any trace.

With a “clang” sound, a long spear was lifted into the air, flew obliquely across the martial arts field, and stabbed into an empty space on the side.

At the same time, the tip of Chen Jingzong’s spear stopped right in front of Qin Ji’s chest.

Qin Ji smiled bitterly: “I lost.”

Chen Jingzong was enjoying the fight so much that he didn’t mind the clever restraint shown by his opponent earlier.

The spear turned in his hand, until the tail of the spear touched the ground and the tip of the spear pointed skywards.

Chen Jingzong stood with a spear in hand, his eyes fixed on Qin Yuantang, who was smiling and praising the prince consort: “I have long admired General’s renowned skills. May I request the honor of a lesson or two?”

Qin Yuantang, who was suddenly named: …

Chen Tingjian wanted to scold his son again, but he remembered that Emperor Yuanyou had just scolded him for this. Chen Tingjian pursed his lips and looked at the young emperor for instructions.

Emperor Yuanyou had limited martial arts skills, and coupled with the fact that when Chen and Qin fought so vigorously, he was so tense that he did not realize that Qin Ji had deliberately exposed his weakness to Chen Jingzong. Therefore, his brother-in-law’s tall and majestic figure and his arrogance that looked down on the world deeply aroused Emperor Yuanyou’s admiration and love for him!

Emperor Yuanyou loved his brother-in-law, so how could he think that his brother-in-law’s provocation of Qin Yuantang was wrong?

The young emperor turned to Qin Yuantang to watch the fun.

Qin Yuantang understood. He was a powerful general after all. He said in a bright voice, “Okay, I will accompany Prince Consort to practice!”

It was only right for his son to yield to princess consort. But considering his age and qualifications, if he really loses to a junior, how could he lead the three armies in the future?

Before taking stage, Qin Yuantang gave Chen Tingjian a subtle look.

Cabinet Elder Chen, please don’t blame me for not showing mercy to Prince Consort later!

The author has something to say:

Cabinet Elder Chen: No need to show mercy, beat him up!

General Qin: Okay!

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