In the tenth year of Yuansui, on the third day of the second lunar month, the plum blossoms were in full bloom and the snow was beginning to clear.
It was just after the beginning of spring, and the snow on the branches among the grass had not yet melted away. There were only a few paths cleared by the palace people for walking through the palace of King Ye. However, before it was time to eat, someone knocked on the door of Guihongyuan.
Already.
Wan Shi, who was still sleeping, rubbed his sleepy eyes, wondering which uninterested guy had disturbed his dream. He opened the vermilion door a crack, and saw a man wearing a crown, Xuan Yi
Chi Dai, standing outside the door surrounded by his entourage, suddenly lost all sleep and became panicked and at a loss:
"Why are you here so suddenly, Lord?"
"I want to come and see my beloved son. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Duke Ye laughed and said, not blaming the guards for their impoliteness. Jinghai Marquis Qi Shouyu also followed the team, but he gave Wan Shi, who was standing there blankly, a sharp look: "The king has arrived, why don't you hurry up and report to Master Yin?"
The Lord knows!”
"Young Master, he is a little inconvenient at the moment..." Wan Shi responded fearfully, but still had no intention of attracting visitors into the garden.
"What's the matter? Yin'er hasn't gotten up yet? We all walked here without knowing it. It's still early now, so let him sleep a little longer. It doesn't hurt that we go into the garden and wait for a while."
Qi and Yin didn't take this seriously, so they stepped across the threshold and walked straight towards the inner garden. Wan Shi had no choice but to lower his head and follow behind. However, when the group meandered into the main hall, they saw a small red sandalwood case with
There were four sets of bowls and chopsticks, several plates of delicacies, and a glass of cold wine.
Looking at the mess on the table, the king finally frowned:
"Guard Wan, isn't Yin'er awake already? He has already had breakfast, why did you say it was inconvenient just now? Could it be that he sneaked out of the palace with the black-eyed guard again?"
Marquis Jinghai also made a show of staring and asked:
"Wan Shi! Do you know that it is a serious sin to deceive the emperor? Besides, my nephew is not old enough to drink yet. Who sent this pot of strong wine?"
Wan Shi was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed to explain: "I don't dare! Young Master, he has not left the palace, but at this time——"
But before he could finish speaking, he heard a burst of cheers coming from deep in the garden, causing the king's bright eyes to fall back on Wan Shi's face:
"It seems that Yin'er is not as lonely in Guihong Garden as I imagined. Please ask Wan Guards to lead the way and let's go and see what's going on?"
The young guard did not dare to shirk anymore, so he nodded and led the group towards the clear water behind Guihongyuan.
At the same time, Qi Ziyin, who was dressed in white and tied his robe around his waist, was following Xiang Baili's instructions and was fighting against General Yan in black armor in the open space beside the pool. The only people watching on the sidelines were those in green robes and green robes.
Besides the general, there was also a girl with red hair. The girl kept cheering for Qi Ziyin, which made the generals on the field feel a little annoyed.
"Yueer, you are so partial, you only know how to cheer for Ziyin!"
Three years later, the sixteen-year-old black-eyed boy has grown taller. At first glance, he is already on par with the general in green on the sidelines. And the seven-foot Mo Dao, who was originally much taller than him, no longer looks taller.
So clumsy.
"Not only are your weapons longer than Ziyin's, but your attacks are also unambiguous! How long has Ziyin been practicing swordsmanship? How could he be your opponent? He won't die if he loses some water!"
Ning Yue puffed up her cheeks and responded loudly, complaining for the boy in white. As she spoke, her blue eyes were always staring at the battle situation on the field, and she rubbed the hem of her skirt nervously. , for fear that the reckless and strong companions would hurt Young Master Ye, who had already retreated to a corner of the open space and was now only able to resist.
"Of course I know it in my heart!"
When Jiang Yan saw the girl questioning him, he immediately stiffened his neck and raised the black-gold long sword in his hand again. However, he did not continue to attack, but took half a step back.
Qi Ziyin, who was half a head shorter than him, finally got a chance to breathe and praised breathlessly: "Jiang Yan, you are so powerful. How can you play such a long Mo Dao so fast?" ?”
At this moment, the boy in white is holding Xiang Baili's sword Yinya. He has mastered this set of five sword techniques that can be used to shoot left and right, but in terms of strength and speed, he still can't compete with the dark-eyed child opposite. .
"Because when I taught him swordsmanship, I once said that when we meet in battle, we can only be invincible if we are extremely fast! There will be plenty of time to talk nonsense. Unless I tell you to stop, the two of you will be invincible. Weapons are not allowed to stop!"
General Tsing Yi, who had been silent on the sidelines, suddenly interrupted, causing General Yan, who had already gained the upper hand, to continue his fierce attack.
"Why are you fighting! Zi Yin's body is obviously not as strong as Jiang Yan. It is very difficult to defend the strong with the weak!"
Seeing this, Ning Yue became even more anxious. She stamped her feet and started to pull the sleeves of General Tsing Yi. She waved her hand to Baili Ke, signaling the girl next to her not to say more, so as not to distract the people on the scene:
"It is not easy to defend against the enemy on the battlefield. No matter how strong your martial arts skills are, you cannot pat your chest and guarantee that you will not encounter a stronger enemy in this life. What's more, it is better to fight against a strong enemy with one enemy and a weak one. The normal state of a warrior on his way forward. Since Young Master Ziyin asked me to teach him, he must go through such training."
The more the other party behaves like this, the more fiery girl can't stand it anymore:
"Uncle Baili, how can you be so unreasonable! What you taught little Stutter was all fierce and domineering attacks, but what you taught Zi Yin was only passive defensive moves. Even if he could try to block all the attacks, he would still always You can't change the situation on the field, you can only passively take the beating!"
"Who said that defense can only be passively beaten? There is a saying in the art of war that the strong will become weak, and the weak will make the strong. To defend instead of attack is to defend the weak and build up strength to wait for good opportunities. Just wait patiently and watch this game. It’s hard to say who will win and who loses in the competition.”
"Hey, you can fool people by saying things they don't understand. I'm not happy if either of them loses today. I originally planned to make some delicious dishes in the evening, but now I'm sure I won't be able to take part in it, uncle!"
Ning Yue still threatened without mercy, but when she saw that the general in green no longer paid attention to her, she had to return her attention to the field. Just as she turned around, she happened to see the young man in black armor raising his sword again and launching a fierce attack on Qi Ziyin. , which made him unable to help but shouted loudly:
"careful!"
Jiang Yan also knew that his physical strength was limited. If he could not break through the defense of his companions, he might be overwhelmed. He roared and rushed forward, focusing all his strength on Xiao Tianmo, intending to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop. .
However, this time, the young man in white did not blindly dodge and defend like the previous fight. He avoided Mo Dao's sharp edge with a slightly embarrassed look, but he stood still and did not retreat.
The sword technique called "Destroy the Mountain" emphasizes the importance of doing it in one go, and only if the moves are consistent can no flaws be revealed. The black-eyed boy happened to have reached the last move at this time, and when he saw this, he immediately wanted to start the attack again. The continuous high-intensity slashing can even be against
For an adult, it is also very physically demanding, let alone a child of fifteen or sixteen years old.
Jiang Yan's sword was obviously much slower than the previous times, and the fighter plane was lost in an imperceptible suddenness. Before he could attack again, Qi Ziyin used one of the five imperial swords to drag.
Heel, with a flash of his body, he accurately seized the extremely difficult gap and bullied the opponent's unsuspecting side!
There was just a muffled sound, and the boy in white used the red knife spine held in his right hand to hit Jiang Yan's right leg between the knees. The unsuspecting boy with black eyes immediately lost his balance and fell straight to the ground.
.
But being competitive, he did not admit defeat so easily. He immediately turned the blade and sent the blade in his hand against the direction in which his body fell. He used Xiao Tianmo's strong resilience to stabilize his body. But in this way, he also
His back was completely exposed in front of Qi Ziyin, and the door was wide open.
In the blink of an eye, the offensive and defensive sides had exchanged roles. Qi Ziyin, who had never expected that he would finally get the chance, did not use the black long blade that had always been guarding the vital points to continue attacking the opponent. After a moment's hesitation, Qi Ziyin forcefully
The weak situation changed again, and Jiang Yan also turned around.
"Okay, stop-"
Xiang Baili finally clapped his hands and announced loudly that the competition was over. As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Ziyin immediately put the weapon in his hand to his feet, lay down on the spot with relief, and refused to move again:
"No more fighting, no more fighting, I don't have any energy left."
"No, I was careless. I have to try again! I promise that if I can't defeat you within five moves, I will admit defeat. How about that?" Jiang Yan held Xiao Tianmo upside down and walked to the side of the boy in white.
He stretched out his hand to pull the opponent up to fight again.
Xiang Baili stepped forward and held the black-eyed boy's shoulders:
"That's it for today. You two, one is good at offense and the other is good at defense. This confrontation is to let you see your weaknesses clearly so that you can make up for them in the future. Always remember that a strong crossbow will be defeated and a weak defender will be defeated.
Only then can we be undefeated.”
"But I can obviously win!"
Jiang Yan still scratched his neck and said. Seeing his unwilling look, General Qingyi shook his head:
"Do you know why you were unable to attack for so long just now?"
Jiang Yan was stunned by the other party's question. He hesitated for a moment and then nodded lightly.
Xiang Baili couldn't help but smile, and said earnestly and seductively:
"It's good to know. On the battlefield, if you just attack brute force without knowing how to adapt, and think about how to subdue the opponent as soon as possible with every move, you will soon become restless, your breath will be unstable, and your mountain-destroying power will naturally be ineffective.
It’s on sale.”
Young Mo Lingwei lowered his head in embarrassment and bowed deeply towards the man:
"Remember the general's teachings, I was defeated today!"
"You are not defeated either. Young Master Ziyin clearly had the upper hand, but failed to continue the attack, wasting a great opportunity to defeat the enemy. Both of you must remember that whether you are leading an army to fight or entering in person
In the battle formation, even if there is a trace of kindness and mercy, it is cruelty to yourself and the soldiers under your command."
"Students remember!"
Qi Ziyin also got up from the ground, bowed respectfully to Baili, and then picked up the Xuanchi double blades named Yinya from the ground and handed them back to General Qingyi's hands.
"So, today's competition is a tie? Hum, that's pretty much it! Now we can go out of the palace to go shopping, right?"
"I also want to watch "The Legend of the Dragon Slayer". Yue'er, you and Ziyin should go first. I'll come back to you later during lunch."
The black-eyed young man shook his head, took out a torn and torn book from his arms, and waved it in front of his companions.
"Tsk, you're such a boring guy. How many times have you read the story of Emperor Bai Jiang slaying monsters? Don't you feel tired of it? If you don't want to come, forget it. Ziyin, let's go to Nanxunmen to eat fried breasts!
"
The red-haired girl made a playful face, pulled up Qi Ziyin beside her and turned around to leave. They were worried that they would be discovered by people in the palace, so they did not go through the front door, but used a few rocks on the rockery to cross over in a familiar way.
Courtyard wall.
"The little demon girl is simply too presumptuous! I will send people to chase my nephew back! And Xiang Baili actually asked two children to compete with real swords. If they hurt the young master, they can still do it!"
After witnessing all this, Qi Shouyu was so angry that he ordered his followers to chase after him, but Duke Ye pressed his right palm forcefully to indicate to the other party that there was no need:
"Brother Wang, children are playful by nature, so let them be. When you and I were at their age, weren't we the same?"
"But--"
The short and fat Marquis Jinghai wanted to argue again, but before he could finish his words, Qi and Yin asked back:
"I wonder how Brother Wang thinks Zi Yin's martial arts has improved over the past three years?"
"With General Baili as my teacher, I have made rapid progress. But after all, I have not been practicing martial arts since I was a child. I am still far behind in terms of physical strength and foundation. I am unable to exert the power of this set of five swords..."
"I think that Yin'er was neither anxious nor panicked, neither discouraged nor arrogant, nor greedy nor ruthless during the battle. He was quite a bit like the late King Dehuan Gong."
He never thought that Duke Ye would praise his youngest son in public and speak highly of him. Watching the young man in white disappear behind the courtyard wall from a distance, a faint smile appeared on his face.
, "I am very pleased to be able to teach Zi Yin to be like this. Come on, pass on the message and reward General Baili with a hundred gold ingots and a hundred pieces of silk. In addition, let him not come to the court today so that he can have a good rest."
After the order was issued, Qi Daoxian and Lord Shengming followed him to the left and right. Even Marquis Jinghai swallowed back the words that were on his lips and put his iconic smile on his face again.
However, that night, a black-inked crow took advantage of the moonlight to fly out of Jinghaihou's mansion, heading straight towards Xiyin City dozens of miles away. According to later history, it was that night when the eldest son Qi Zixiu was in the government office.
Zhongda was furious and stayed up all night. This time Mo Crow sent a message, which was also considered to be the trigger that caused the decline of Ye State and Zuo State in the future and led to successive years of fierce wars.
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