Chapter 33 Act Three ? A Fateful Encounter? Thirteen
Chapter 33 Act Three: Fateful Encounter Thirteen
In the seventh year of Yuan Sui, on June 23, in front of the Wende Hall, the sun rose from Dongshan Mountain, and hundreds of officials met in court.
"General Baili, what is so special about the young man named Jiang Yan? How could you make the decision to transfer him from Baisha Camp to the palace without my king's approval?!"
In the early morning, he sent a letter to Duke Ye to Baili, reporting that he transferred Jiang Yan to Mo Lingwei. Unexpectedly, Marquis Jinghai actually started to argue with him in court about this matter.
fly.
"Lord Governor, I am the commander of the fleet. I recognize talents and respect talents. It is my duty to deploy the manpower in the camp. The reason why I did not report to you is because the child does not hold an important position. You are busy with official business, so why bother to know
?”
"Hmph, what a man who recognizes talents and respects virtuous people! General Baili, are you accusing me of not knowing people? How do you know the details of General Yan who has only been in Baisha Camp for a few days? Furthermore, Mo Ling
Wei Nai is from the sixth rank, and he was just a stable boy before. He has been promoted like this without any merit. What will the officers and soldiers in the camp think? What's more, our dignified Ye Kingdom actually promotes a stable boy to the palace as a priority. It is said that
If you go out, you won’t make people laugh!”
"That child has a pure heart, is calm in his work, and has strong skills. Although his sword skills lack training, he has his own rules. I just want to give him a chance to prove his talent."
Faced with the prince's questioning, Xiang Baili clasped his fists and responded in a neither humble nor overbearing manner. But even if what he said was indeed reasonable, Jinghaihou clearly refused to give up:
"In this case, general, why don't you give Yu Li of Benhai camp a chance? You have repeatedly rejected him from entering the palace on the grounds that he may not be qualified. Could it be that you feel that as the youngest captain in the camp, his talent and ability are not as good as those of a
Horseherd?!"
"Okay, okay. You two are both humble ministers, but you are here arguing over a child, and you are not afraid of being laughed at."
There were not many rules in the Ye Kingdom's court. It was common for ministers to have disagreements and quarrels with open speech. At this time, although Duke Ye, who was sitting in the palace, spoke to mediate, there was no hint of partiality in his tone.
Which of the people:
"Could it be that the general Bailiqing mentioned just now is the young man who stood up for others at Baisha Camp a month ago?"
He nodded to Baili, turned around and cupped his hands towards the king: "Exactly."
"That's your fault, Brother Wang." Duke Ye then looked sideways at Marquis Jinghai, who was standing on the other side, "I heard that it was your intention to set up an arena for a martial arts competition at the school grounds that day, but why?
Such a heroic young man was later arranged to become a stable boy?"
Qi Shouyu also immediately reported seriously: "The Lord is aware that this son has no brute strength, too much violence, and it is said that he is ill and has lost his memory for a long time, making it difficult for him to take on the important task. I originally planned to let him practice in the camp.
I’ll make a decision after observing.”
"What does it mean to be too violent? I would like to ask, Lord Governor, the Yu Li whom you value so much is a high-ranking captain of the Bihai camp, but he formed a clique in the camp for personal gain. He often led his subordinates to provoke General Yan, a young stable boy, and he almost came to the end of it.
And it resulted in the loss of lives. Let me ask you, with such a narrow-minded mind, do you think that Lord Governor can be qualified to serve as a guard in the palace?"
Unexpectedly, Xiang Baili's face turned pale, and he exposed Yu Li's shortcomings in front of all the civil and military officials. The color of Marquis Jinghai's face suddenly changed, and he could not say a word anymore.
Upon seeing this, Duke Ye smiled and hurriedly pressed his hands to signal the two of them not to argue::
"In this case, it is better to comply with Bailiqing's wish and allow the stable boy to enter the palace. However, I also want to make an agreement with Bailiqing for three months. If within three months, the general named
As Brother Wang said, the young man from Yan is indeed mediocre in qualifications and unable to handle important tasks, so he will be driven out of the palace and not even allowed to work as a horseherd."
"I - receive the order."
Hearing what the king said, Xiang Baili and Qi Shouyu had no choice but to bow down and temporarily stop their argument. However, this was not the first tit-for-tat confrontation between the two in the palace for many years, and naturally it would not be the last.
An hour later, inside Zheliu Pavilion, the morning dew was beginning to set, and birds were chirping and insects were chirping.
Jiang Yan was dancing the heavy rhombus-toothed sword to a whirring sound. The Mo Dao in his hand looked like a long stick, with the handle already over two feet long, taking up the remaining five feet of the blade.
Then a black-golden cold light formed around the sword dancer, making the leaves unable to get close to him.
Today coincided with the rest of the shift at Mo Ling Guards. The young man was invited by Xiang Baili to come to Zheliuxuan early in the morning, but saw that there was no one in the other courtyard. Out of boredom, he practiced alone on a wooden mannequin in the yard.
Learned the skill of swordsmanship.
Ning Yue, who was clamoring to come with her, was sitting under the promenade nearby, holding her chin in her hand and looking at her companions, yawning boredly. I don’t know how long it had passed, but the corner of her eye suddenly shone.
Seeing a figure in green clothes and robes walking in from outside the courtyard door, he immediately greeted him with excitement:
"Oh, uncle, you've come back. We all thought we couldn't wait for you."
Xiang Baili smiled tiredly: "I went to court today to deal with some important matters, so I was delayed. However, I invited Jiang Yan alone, but I didn't expect that this girl like you would come uninvited."
"Jiang Yan finally left the palace, why shouldn't he be allowed to follow him?" Ning Yue smiled playfully, "But I was really bored just now, so I went to the kitchen to make some cherry cakes - hehe
Hee, I get it. You must have been greedy after smelling the fragrance, so you hurried back. Wait, I'll get it for you right away."
"Ghost girl, you are the greediest person in this courtyard. It doesn't matter if you eat the snacks later." The green-robed general waved his hand, but Ning Yue still turned around and ran towards the kitchen, with the little white fox behind her.
Then, the big snow-white tail bounced.
Xiang Baili didn't take it seriously either. He turned around and said sternly to the young man beside him:
"It's okay. We've been delayed for a long time, let's start right away. I just saw that you have mastered the moves you learned a few days ago. Do you want to challenge me today and try your skills?"
"But I -" Jiang Yan didn't expect that the other party would suddenly propose to compete with him, and he suddenly panicked.
"Nothing is wrong. The importance of swordsmanship lies in actual combat. Memorizing the essentials of movements is only the first step. If you don't know how to use it flexibly, you will not be able to understand the essence of it. What you learn is just some tricks and tricks, and it will be of no benefit to you!
"
Xiang Baili said, and directly pulled out two long swords, one mysterious and one red, from his side. The two blades were more than three feet long, the blade was slightly curved, and there was a blood groove on the left and right sides, which he always carried with him.
The male and female double blades he wore were called Yinya. With just a slight swing, a strong wind like a roaring tiger was already blowing from the tip of the blade.
"The wooden dummy is dead, and the enemies you will encounter are all alive. Don't say anything else, just take the move!"
The general in green clothes no longer gave Jiang Yan a chance to hesitate. He immediately stepped forward, raised his hand and slashed the young man's Tianling cover with his mysterious knife.
The sword strike was so fast and fierce that Jiang Yan had no choice but to raise his heart and raise the Mo Dao to strike. He heard a crisp "clang" sound, the blades intersected, and sparks flew everywhere. The young man's tiger's mouth was numb. The Mo Dao he was holding was almost shaken and fell out of his hand.
However, Xiang Baili had no intention of giving up, and swept the red sword from the side again. Although he secretly turned the blade, and only used the spine of the sword to hit Jiang Yan's ribs heavily, the strength of his hand was not reduced by half.
After only one round, the black-eyed boy was unable to resist. Due to the severe pain in his ribs, his face instantly turned pale, causing Xiao Tianmo to half kneel on the ground, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Hearing the clanging sound outside, Ning Yue hurriedly poked her head out of the kitchen, and immediately turned pale with fright:
"You two are so good, why did you two suddenly start fighting? Uncle, you are a great general, how can you bully your junior like this? Why don't you stop it quickly!"
"On the battlefield, there is no distinction between young and old. There is only victory or defeat. Ning Yue, please don't come over. General Baili strikes carefully!"
However, Jiang Yan was inspired to fight by Ning Yue's concern. After taking a few breaths, he stood up and used offense as defense, swiping his sword to launch a counterattack.
"Okay! The fighting spirit will never die, and the sword will never fall!"
There was a hint of approval in Xiang Baili's eyes. This time, the two of them fought back and forth for three to five rounds, but in the end, the young man was defeated.
The green-robed general finally stopped his offensive and asked loudly: "Do you still remember the first day I taught you the art of swordsmanship and explained why the sword is the best weapon in the world?"
Jiang Yan immediately nodded and responded:
"The sword can be used to attack or defend, and can be long or short. Therefore, no matter which country's naval or land divisions, they regard it as the most advantageous weapon in battle." At the moment, the clothes all over his body were soaked with sweat. , gasping for breath, "But the Mo Dao in my hand is too long. In close combat, I use the long sword to hit the short sword, which shows all the disadvantages and loses all the advantages..."
"Don't make excuses. Have you forgotten that I also taught you the first key to using the Mo Dao?"
"It's fast! Only by being extremely fast and overpowering your opponent in terms of speed can you unleash the power and dominance of this sword."
"So the reason why you were defeated just now is because you used the sword too slowly! Xiao Tianmo can attack from a distance and defend from a distance. In terms of weapons, it should be easier to gain an advantage than the Yin Ya in my hand. You must remember that in the world, There is no strongest martial skill, only the most trusted weapon of a samurai. Once you go to the battlefield, there are only two results waiting for you: either victory or death. And the sword in your hand is the only one that can bring you back alive. friend!"
Xiang Baili said, reaching out to pull Jiang Yan up from the ground: "The only thing you rely on to wield a knife is your heart, never use brute force. You always regard the knife in your hand as a foreign object, but fail to use it as a foreign object." If it is regarded as a part of the body, it will naturally not be able to exert the power it should have."
After he finished speaking, he took out a small towel from his pocket, but it was covered over Jiang Yan's eyes.
The boy's vision went dark and he immediately became nervous: "General, what are you doing?!"
"From now on, you are not allowed to take off the scarf on your face until I give my permission. Let's do it again!"
Before Xiang Baili finished speaking, Jiang Yan felt a hard blow on his back. The opponent didn't show mercy because he couldn't see, but actually used a lot of strength to hit him until stars shot out of his eyes.
, stood unsteadily on the spot.
The young man immediately understood that he had no choice but to accept the challenge. He could only rely on the vague position in his memory just now, and used his waist strength to drive Mo Dao to attack behind him, but he missed.
"No, I can't even see the road. How are we going to fight?" Jiang Yan immediately shook his head and said no, but General Qingyi showed no mercy and stabbed him on the left shoulder again with the long handle of Yin Ya:
"Don't try to see my moves clearly, and don't wait for me to take action before reacting. You must work hard to take the initiative on the battlefield. In addition to your eyes, you can also hear, smell, and feel! Your body
It should be integrated with the ground under your feet, the wind above your head, and the knife in your hand. You should let this courtyard become an extension of your body, and don't fight alone!"
After listening to the other party's instructions, Jiang Yan gritted his teeth again and swung his sword with all his strength to attack in the direction where the voice came from. This time, his speed with the sword was much faster than before, but unfortunately he still missed.
"It was good this time, but it wasn't fast enough!"
He gave Baili a thumbs-up, then concentrated on his posture and stopped reminding him.
Jiang Yan finally stopped panicking and held his breath to feel everything around him. Suddenly, his ears caught the slight sound of shoe soles hitting the ground from behind him, and he immediately opened his stance and attacked in the direction of the sound.
.
The young man's body moved his arms, spinning around the courtyard like a top. The originally heavy diamond-toothed Xiaotianmo in his hand suddenly became as light as nothing, like a willow tree torn from a tree.
Like this, before the sound of footsteps disappeared, he slashed past with lightning speed.
Jiangyan focused all his attention on the Mo Dao in his hand as never before. Although he couldn't see, what he was thinking about was no longer the moves and steps he had memorized long ago, but the unreserved attack.
.He just felt that his body and the Mo Dao in his hand had become one, just like a jet of black-gold lightning rising in the garden!
Even Xiang Baili couldn't imagine that the speed of the boy's sword swing could increase several times in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, Xiao Tianmo had already attacked him!
There was a loud "clang" sound, and a loud sound of gold and iron intersecting was heard in the garden again. However, this time, it forced Yan to the point where the general on the opposite side had no way to retreat, and had to wave his sword to block it!
"Okay, you can stop!"
While Xiang Baili was cheering loudly, Jiang Yan finally reached out and took off the kerchief covering his face. To his surprise, the mysterious sword in General Qingyi's hand was knocked out of his hand by one blow and flew straight away.
I went out and chopped a bowl-sized willow tree in the distance into two pieces!
"Little stutterer, are you okay?" Ning Yue finally dared to run from the kitchen to Jiang Yan's side and asked nervously.
"Little girl, Jiang Yan clearly knocked the weapon out of my hands with one move, how could anything happen to him?"
Xiang Baili picked up the weapon from the ground and put it back into its sheath. But the red-haired girl didn't listen. She shook her head and said to herself:
"Uncle, you really got the advantage and behaved well. I think you just felt sorry for your knife, so you deliberately let go and admitted defeat!"
General Tsing Yi was amused by her and laughed, but he hid his red and swollen right hand behind his back:
"You are the one who has sharp teeth and a sharp mouth. If I care about the knife, why would I need to compete with a real weapon today? Well, I still have some things to do, so let's stop practicing here."
Ning Yue opened her watery eyes and made a face at the other person: "Let's go, let's go. Today's cherry cake is not for you, just as compensation for your bullying of the little stutterer."
The green-robed general did not care about the girl in front of him, but turned to General Yan who still couldn't believe his victory, with a look of approval on his face:
"Although you won with one blow this time, you only reached this point after blindfolding your eyes. You are still not able to fully follow your heart and draw the sword at will. You will still have to practice hard in the future. After some time, Let’s try it again.”
"Yes!" The black-eyed boy quickly put down the knife, knelt on the ground and kowtowed solemnly, "Thank you teacher for your advice!"
However, upon hearing the word "teacher", Xiang Baili's eyes suddenly flashed with a trace of imperceptible sadness. He immediately stretched out his hand to help the young man up, and said sincerely:
"Everyone's path is made by themselves. I don't dare to claim that I am qualified to be your teacher. You just need to remember that the sword technique I teach you is called Huishan. Don't live up to this name. .”
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