Chapter 163

 

When Chen Jingzong was sparring with Qin Ji, he was wearing the official uniform of a third-rank commander. After Qin Yuantang came on the field, Chen Jingzong took off his official robe and only wore a white inner robe on.

Because the fight was intense, his chest and back were covered in sweat, and his clothes stuck to his body, outlining his strong muscles.

Qin Yuantang, who had just taken off his outer robe, saw this and said with a smile, “To make it fair, I will fight with others first, and you can take a rest for a while.”

Chen Jingzong had an indifferent attitude.

The military officers watching the battle nearby were excited, especially the commanders of the guard stations who had followed Emperor Yuanyou from the capital, all of whom wanted to have a fight with Qin Yuantang.

Qi Jin also wanted to fight.

Emperor Yuanyou asked Qin Yuantang to choose his own opponent.

Qin Yuantang looked at Jinyiwei Commander Liu Shou and said, “Qin Ji and Prince Consort are of the same age, so I will also pick someone of the same generation.”

Liu Shou was also among those who requested to fight. He smiled when he heard this, took off his outer robe and threw it to his colleagues beside him, then went on the field.

Qin Yuantang: “I heard that Sir Liu is good at using sword, and I am good at using spear. How about we just fight with fists and feet?”

These words were meant to flatter Liu Shou, which meant that the reputation of the commander of the Jinyiwei had reached the ears of the soldiers at the border.

Liu Shou smiled, cupped his hands and said, “Then I accept!”

A fistfight between two military officers in their fifties may not be as exciting as a spear fight, but hand-to-hand combat could better reflect the masculinity and strength of the military officers.

For some unknown reason, Hua Yang recalled the scene she saw in her aunt’s house in her previous life.

The difference was that her aunt was a little bit frivolous, and deliberately asked the two guards to take off their shirts to arouse the interest of her widowed niece, hoping that she would learn to enjoy the pleasure of women and avoid being lonely all night. At that time, Hua Yang was indeed aroused by her body instinct, but when she looked at the strange guards, she thought of Chen Jingzong, who had been dead for three years.

Thinking of this, Hua Yang turned her gaze to Chen Jingzong, who was also watching the competition between the two on the west side of the martial arts field.

He stood straight, his arms folded across his chest, the barrel of his precious spear casually tucked under his armpit.

The bright autumn sun illuminated his handsome face, and a thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead.

Suddenly, his sharp eyes looked over here.

Hua Yang’s heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously stepped back slightly, using Chao Yun beside her to cover her.

After that, Hua Yang never looked at him again.

In the arena, Qin Yuantang and Liu Shou held each other’s arms. Qin Yuantang tried to trip Liu Shou, but Liu Shou’s strong legs seemed to be fixed on the ground. Liu Shou tried to flip Qin Yuantang to the ground, but Qin Yuantang stood firm like a mountain.

After a moment’s stalemate, the two smiled at each other, let go of their hands at the same time, and praised each other.

After all, one was the emperor’s most trusted confidant, and the other was a general sent by the emperor to guard the border. It would be ugly for either of them to lose.

Emperor Yuanyou was quite satisfied with their performance, but he was more looking forward to watching Qin Yuantang and prince consort have a match in spear fighting.

Chen Jingzong took his spear and stepped into the field, Qin Yuantang also caught the weapon thrown by his subordinate, the mighty “Divine Might Fierce Water Spear” that had accompanied him in battle for over twenty years. The spear body forged from meteorite was as black as ink, and the spear blade made of fine steel and gold shone coldly.

As soon as Divine Might Fierce Water Spear came out, it attracted cheers from the surrounding area.

Hua Yang looked at the long and sharp spear blade, and her whole body began to feel cold.

The two have already started fighting.

Qin Ji learned the spear skills from his father, but when Qin Yuantang used the same spear skills, the speed and power were far superior to Qin Ji’s.

Chen Jingzong looked solemn but not timid. He was swift in attack and meticulous in defense. Although he was gradually losing the upper hand, he remained calm and was still able to seize opportunities to counterattack.

Chen Tingjian stood on the side of Emperor Yuanyou, and He Qingxian stood next to him.

Seeing this, He Qingxian stroked his beard and commented with approval: “Prince Consort’s spear skill is not bad, but what is even more rare is his mentality. Victory and defeat are common in the military, but how many people can truly treat defeat with a normal mind? Prince Consort is so young and has little experience, but he can achieve this.”

Just as Chen Tingjian was about to say something modest on behalf of his son, He Qingxian suddenly changed the subject and praised Chen Tingjian again: “This is all your credit. Prince Consort has a strict father like you, and has been scolded since he was a child. He has either become more and more inferior and cowardly, or more and more open-minded and fearless. Prince Consort was chosen by the late emperor to be Prince Consort, which shows that he is a blessed person by nature, so he chose the latter path.”

Chen Tingjian: …

Emperor Yuanyou, who was eavesdropping at the side, secretly curled up the corners of his lips.

He understands too well the suffering prince consort went through in his childhood!

While they were talking in low voices, Chen Jingzong suddenly jumped over in the middle of the martial arts field, avoiding Qin Yuantang’s spear. But just as he landed, Qin Yuantang’s Divine Might Fierce Water Spear turned at a speed that ordinary people could hardly tell, and went straight to Chen Jingzong.

In a martial arts competition, of course, one cannot hurt anyone’s life. Qin Yuantang’s spear was intended to knock Chen Jingzong’s spear away.

Based on Qin Yuantang’s understanding of Chen Jingzong’s skills, he knew that Chen Jingzong could feel his attack, and he also expected that Chen Jingzong would have nowhere to hide and would inevitably surrender.

What made Qin Yuantang’s eyes widen in shock was that this kid suddenly turned around and, with reckless audacity, aimed to sacrifice his own side to inflict damage on the opponent, presenting half of his shoulder to Qin Yuantang’s spear while simultaneously thrusting his own spear forward!

In that split second, Qin Yuantang gritted his teeth, thinking he would rather take a hit from this kid and end up with both of them injured than to injure the Prince Consort and incur Chen Tingjian’s wrath while remaining unscathed.

Qin Yuantang truly didn’t dodge, but just as Chen Jingzong’s spear blade pierced his robe, it stopped.

The scene in everyone’s eyes was Prince Consort half-kneeling on one knee, his white robe gradually stained red with blood from the shoulder. However, he smiled proudly, pointed the spear in his hand at Qin Yuantang’s chest, and said, “If I really thrust this spear in, what would you have done, General?”

Qin Yuantang: …

You dare to say it, why don’t you dare to stab! Isn’t this causing trouble for me?

“You, you, it’s just a sparring match, why do you have to be so serious!”

It was too late to deliberately get injured, so Qin Yuantang threw away the spear in his hand and hurriedly helped Chen Jingzong up, feeling more regretful than if he had injured his son himself.

He wanted to take care of Chen Jingzong, but Chen Jingzong pushed him away, covered his wound with one hand, and looked straight at the grand princess in the crowd. His arrogant expression seemed to say, ‘Look, I can even seriously injure General Qin, so how can you compare me to Qin Ji?’

However, his domineering attitude did not last long as his figure suddenly sook.

“Prince Consort!” Qin Yuantang held this hot potato in horror!

Hua Yang clenched her fists. When everyone looked at her, they found that grand princess’s face showed worry for prince consort, but more of it was anger.

Chen Jingzong was her husband, so how could grand princess not be angry when he was hurt like this in public?

Cabinet Elder Chen, who could remain calm even when the Mount Tai collapse, turned pale the moment Qin Yuantang’s spear pierced his son. He even staggered and had to be supported by He Qingxian.

Emperor Yuanyou was frightened by the blood on his brother-in-law’s shoulder and shouted, “Quickly call the imperial doctor!”

After a period of chaos, Chen Jingzong was quickly carried to the nearby courtyard where the Chief Minister was staying, and everyone followed like a tide.

However, only Emperor Yuanyou, Hua Yang, Chen Tingjian, Qin Yuantang and his sons, and several cabinet elders were able to follow and went into the inner chamber to see the imperial doctor diagnose and treat prince consort.

The imperial physician first checked the wound on prince consort’s shoulder.

It looked very bloody. Hua Yang felt distressed and simply turned her back.

“Fortunately, Prince Consort just lost too much blood and was not seriously injured.”

After confirming that prince consort’s life was not in danger, the imperial physician heaved a sigh of relief. After cleaning the wound, he quickly stopped the bleeding.

Qin Yuantang was even more anxious than Chen Tingjian: “Why did he faint?”

The imperial doctor: “Prince Consort has been exhausted after two consecutive competitions. This additional injury has caused him to collapse from exhaustion, but it’s nothing serious.”

Qin Yuantang was sweating profusely.

Chen Tingjian regained his composure and advised him, “It’s all because Prince Consort was young and impulsive, and had a strong desire to win. The injury has nothing to do with General, so General doesn’t need to blame yourself too much.”

Qin Yuantang was about to speak when a cold snort suddenly came from not far away.

The men, young and old, who were gathered around the bed, looked over and saw that grand princess had a frosty face. She glared at Chen Tingjian and said, “Cabinet Elder is quite open-minded. If it was Eldest Brother or Third Brother who was injured today, would you be so calm?”

After glaring at Chen Tingjian, she glanced at Qin Yuantang with even colder eyes.

Qin Yuantang broke out in a cold sweat again. He was so busy apologizing to prince consort’s father that he forgot that prince consort had grand princess as his backer!

Chen Tingjian had been reasoned quite a lot by his daughter-in-law princess, but grand princess had always treated him with courtesy. Today was the first time that grand princess lost her temper with him.

He thought to himself, even if the eldest son or third son were injured, he would do the same as long as Qin Yuantang did not do it on purpose. He would never favor the Old One or Old Three and neglect the Old Four.

But grand princess was obviously angry, and whatever he said at this time would be wrong.

Chen Tingjian had no choice but to bow and apologize.

Qin Yuantang even knelt down in front of grand princess and apologized again for injuring prince consort.

Hua Yang turned her face away and ignored him.

Emperor Yuanyou had no choice but to act as a peacemaker and speak for Chen Tingjian and Qin Yuantang. Saying that his incident was really an accident. Qin Yuantang was not wrong, and Chen Tingjian just said something unpleasant, comforting outsiders but ignored his sister’s feelings.

“All of you please step back. This person is mine. His life or death has nothing to do with you.”

Hua Yang walked to the bed and said with her back to everyone.

Emperor Yuanyou knew his sister’s temper best, so he signaled Chen Tingjian, Qin Yuantang and others to leave first.

As soon as they left, the only people left inside were the imperial doctor who was busy taking care of prince consort, and Hua Yang’s siblings.

Hua Yang didn’t want to disturb the imperial doctor, so she walked to the side of the screen.

Emperor Yuanyou came over and saw tears on her sister’s face.

Emperor Yuanyou was stunned. Except for the time when their father passed away, he rarely saw his sister cry.

Just when he thought his sister was too worried about prince consort, his sister took out a handkerchief and sobbed softly, “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t praised Qin Ji on the Great Wall that day, how could he have gotten so jealous? He’s always been reckless, and today, just to prove himself, he didn’t even care about his life. Fortunately, nothing happened to him. If something had gone wrong, what would others say about me? How would the historians write about me?”

Emperor Yuanyou then realized that his sister was truly frightened by this incident.

Indeed, if Chen Jingzong really died at the hands of Qin Yuantang, the cause would inevitably be blamed on his sister. Then the whole world and future generations would blame his sister for being a beauty that brought disaster to others.

Emperor Yuanyou hurriedly comforted his sister: “Fortunately it was just a false alarm, Sister, don’t be sad.”

Hua Yang felt wronged: “With his temper, can’t I praise other men in the future?”

Emperor Yuanyou: “… Prince Consort cares too much about you. You have also seen Cabinet Elder Chen’s attitude. Growing up, it’s not been easy for Prince Consort. Can you be a little nicer to him?”

Hua Yang wiped her tears, stood with her head down for a moment, and finally compromised: “Okay, I’ll be more careful next time.”

Emperor Yuanyou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s really not easy to be a peacemaker!

The author has something to say:

General Qin: Cabinet Elder, this….

Cabinet Elder Chen: Stop talking, I’ll listen to Grand Princess.

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