Murong Xue's hesitant and troubled expression fell into Xie Guang's eyes, making the Grand Tutor feel proud.
Before that, he and his men had repeatedly discussed how to deal with Murong Xue, the prince from the imperial capital.
According to the wishes of Ye Rongcheng and other generals of the Xuanjia Army, they would either be too lazy to pay attention to it, or they would send troops to rob and kill them on the way, and it would be over in one fell swoop.
However, Lao Jianhua did not agree with this approach.
Lao Jianhua had two reasons for this: First, the relationship between Murong Xue and the prince was very delicate. According to Di Xian's recollection, when they were at Mingdemen in the imperial capital, a few simple conversations between Li Bing and Murong Xue actually involved the late Nian Jinsong, who rashly killed Murong Xue before he fully understood the ins and outs of the matter. The reaction from Prince Li Bing is really unpredictable.
Maybe, this will once again intensify the conflict between Donggong and Taifu.
Secondly, you can't just ignore Murong Xue and let him go. Although this person's rank and position are not high, his status is very special. As an imperial envoy sent by the imperial court, Murong Xue was obviously here to divide the prince's camp. Especially for Grand Tutor Xie Guang, just a little provocation can have huge counter-effects and directly interfere with Xie Guang's plans.
Therefore, never act hastily.
According to Lao Jianhua's analysis, the imperial capital appointed Prince Zhan Shi to important positions in the Eastern Palace at this time. Another purpose was to react to his appointment as Prince Xima, in order to reconcile with Xie Guang's Xuan Jia The military system competes for the prince's trust and reliance.
In this case, it would be better to focus on attacking the heart.
When Murong Xue came to take office, the Taifu Mansion and the Xuanjia Army did not move. Only Lao Jianhua sent men to secretly follow and monitor him all the way. When Murong Xue arrived in Luoyi, Di Xian led the crowd to welcome the guests at the city gate. Xie Guang generously presented a mansion and held a banquet to welcome Lord Zhan Shi.
The purpose of all these arrangements is to leave two impressions on Prince Li Bing.
First, Xie Guang is not a narrow-minded person. Instead, he is upright and tolerant of people. Even if Li Bing doesn't think Xie Guang is sincere, it at least shows that Xie Guang understands the overall situation and is unwilling to completely stalemate with the imperial capital and embarrass the prince;
Secondly, Lao Jianhua hoped that through these arrangements, Li Bing would feel that Murong Xue was greedy for vanity and wealth and was not someone he deliberately trusted, thus planting the seeds of wariness and fear in his heart.
At this time, the martial arts challenge at the banquet was to create another impression.
Shan Tingxian, the minister of Huangmen, was the illegitimate son of Lingnan general Shan Cong. Because he was not allowed to belong to the family, he visited famous martial arts masters from an early age and practiced hard. After completing his studies, he became proud of the world and became the deputy gang leader of the largest gang in the world - the Yellow River Gang.
Lao Jianhua secretly recruited Shan Tingxian to his subordinates through the foundation of the previous Nilin Division, and personally placed him next to the prince.
Shan Tingxian mastered both internal and external martial arts, and his skills were superior to Murong Xue's. If he, who is also an official of the East Palace, can defeat Murong Xue in the banquet competition, he can also make the prince think that Murong Xue is mediocre and cannot handle important tasks.
After all, Li Bing is a young man, and the most common mistake young people make is to easily evaluate a person based on simple superficial phenomena.
Under this hasty evaluation, as long as Lao Jianhua uses some tricks to fan the flames and gradually deepen Li Bing's stereotype of Murong Xue, it will be difficult for the Lord Zhan sent by the imperial capital to play any role. .
Therefore, the "courtesy first, then attack" plan planned by Lao Jianhua was gradually staged. In his words: He focused on Murong Xue, but it was Li Bing's heart that was attacked.
At this moment, Murong Xue did not fully guess Lao Jianhua's plan. He was more concerned about the problem at hand.
Judging from the current situation, this martial arts contest is really unavoidable: if you don't dare to challenge, let alone saying that you can't get off the stage, spreading it will damage the face of the emperor and the tiger and leopard knight. But accepting the challenge, the opponent in front of me is anything but easy.
Shan Tingxian casually stopped in the hall, feeling like he was standing still, like a master.
Murong Xue's thoughts changed rapidly, and after thinking about it secretly, she stood up and said, "Since all of you are so elegant, I will show my shame and ask Brother Shan for advice. But..."
He looked at Xie Guang, who was smiling and saying nothing, and continued: "However, as Master Taifu said, I was born in the military, and most of the skills I learned were techniques for killing enemies in battle. Therefore, I hope that Taifu will approve and let me Fight with Brother Shan using weapons."
Xie Guang was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he agreed happily: "Xie is also a soldier, and Murong's temperament is very suitable to my liking. Come here, bring me the wooden sword!"
The attendant standing next to him quickly agreed and quickly took out two heavy wooden swords and handed them to the two of them. This kind of equipment is used in the daily training of the Shengtang army, and it is not uncommon in the Taifu Mansion.
Shan Tingxian took the wooden sword, weighed it in his hand, and secretly rejoiced: This kind of weapon is made of hard material and is quite heavy. If it were swept on Murong Xue's legs, he would be unable to get out of bed for a month!
Murong Xue took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, picked up a small object from the table, and secretly put it into her waist. Then he turned and left the desk, walked to the center of the hall, and faced Shan Tingxian from afar with his sword.
"Okay -" Xie Guang laughed loudly, then gently tapped the copper wine bottle with a jade chopstick: "The competition begins!"
As Xie Guang started, Shan Tingxian immediately stepped forward, moved nearly two feet away, and slashed Murong Xue with his sword. Seeing this, Murong Xue retreated, quickly dodged the opponent's powerful and heavy sword, and was about to counterattack with her backhand. Unexpectedly, Shan Tingxian just made a feint. After successfully forcing Murong Xue back, he immediately approached and swept forward with his sword in two steps.
Hearing a clang sound, Murong Xue held the sword in both hands and tried her best to block the attack coming from the side. At the same time, her arms felt sore and numb.
He had fully estimated his opponent's strength beforehand, but he still underestimated Shan Tingxian. Not only did the opponent have fast movements and flexible swordsmanship, but his internal strength was also extremely domineering.
Seeing that the opportunity was lost, Murong Xue couldn't help but take a few steps back, planning to use the distance to reorganize her defense. However, Shan Tingxian was unyielding when he had the upper hand. As soon as Murong Xue retreated, he rushed forward and struck with more than a dozen swords in a row.
Murong Xue was visibly passive, struggling to resist with left and right hands, and unable to stop herself from retreating. Fortunately, his body skills were quite agile, and he was almost hit by his opponent's wooden sword several times. The scene was extremely thrilling.
However, if he continues to be so passive, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for long.
More than twenty rounds passed in the blink of an eye, and Murong Xue already showed his defeat. With no choice but to take a risk, he decided to take a risk. After struggling to deflect Shan Tingxian's killing sword, he lowered his head and knocked into the opponent's arms.
When Shan Tingxian saw that Murong Xue was planning to fight at close quarters, he guessed that the opponent was suffering from a sudden illness and sought medical treatment indiscriminately, hoping that under the disadvantaged situation, a draw would result in a lose-lose situation for both sides. But now that he had firmly gained the upper hand, how could he give Murong Xue such a chance? Shan Tingxian shouted, "Well done!" At the same time, he retracted the wooden sword that he had already swung out like lightning, and changed from a forward thrust to a downward slash, slashing straight towards Murong Xue's head and neck.
Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, who were watching the battle, couldn't help but let out a soft cry when they saw this.
Although both sides in the competition are using wooden swords, for a master of Shan Tingxian's level, even a branch can still kill someone. If the heavy wooden sword used for military training had hit the key point on the back of Murong Xue's head, it would have been enough to kill him on the spot.
It would be no big deal if he accidentally hurt Murong Zhanshi of the East Palace, but if he directly killed the representative of the imperial capital, the trouble would be incalculable.
However, just when Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua were shocked and surprised, Murong Xue, who was worried about his life, suddenly changed his tactics. His forward body suddenly stopped, followed by a neat somersault, barely avoiding Shan Ting. Xian's sword tip jumped over the opponent's head and back.
This strange move was far beyond Shan Tingxian's expectation. He never expected that Murong Xue was so good at Qinggong that she not only successfully avoided his attack, but also took the opportunity to sneak into the empty space behind him.
However, after all, Shan Tingxian is also a top-notch master in the world. Facing the changes on the field, he was not confused at all. He immediately used his internal strength and turned around lightly and skillfully. At the same time, he raised his sword to prepare for Murong Xue's counterattack.
Who would have expected that after Murong Xue landed, she did not immediately attack Shan Tingxian from behind. Instead, she thumped towards Shan Tingxian as if she had used too much force when jumping over. He stumbled forward, and in a blink of an eye the distance between him and Shan Tingxian was widened.
Shan Tingxianfu turned around and happened to see Murong Xue turning her back to him, unsteady on her feet and stumbling. How could he let go of this embarrassment? He quickly regained his strength and chased after Murong Xue like a shadow, preparing to hit Murong Xue with a sword from behind and end the competition perfectly.
It can be said that just as Shan Tingxian was getting closer and closer, Murong Xue suddenly dropped the wooden sword in his hand, then took a lunge to steady his legs and feet, and turned around quickly.
At this time, an exquisite slingshot suddenly appeared in his hand.
Whoosh—pop!
Shan Tingxian, who was accelerating forward, suddenly felt a blur in his eyes, and immediately felt a slight pain in his forehead.
Then, a stream of cold liquid slowly flowed from his forehead down the bridge of his nose.
Shan Tingxian was completely confused about what was going on, so he subconsciously stopped and stood there blankly.
Murong Xue stood up slowly, raised her hands and said loudly: "Brother Shan is very skilled in martial arts, so I accept the offer."
The confused Shan Tingxian came to his senses, looked at the slingshot in Murong Xue's hand, and then reached out to touch his forehead. He suddenly discovered that the cold liquid was not blood, but was in a transparent state.
"I'm sorry, Master Shan," Murong Xue smiled slightly, glanced at Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, who were also confused, and continued to say calmly: "The one that hit you just now was just a grape."
