In the literary examination seven days ago, a total of one hundred people stood out from thousands of talented scholars to participate in today's military examination.
The martial arts test will be held in Furong Garden. At that time, the order of the hundred people will be disrupted and divided into ten groups. Each group will have only one winner. As long as they can defeat Princess Shouning, they will become son-in-law.
Of course, if there are two or more people who defeat the princess, they need to compete with each other again, and only one son-in-law will be left in the end.
As for whether the grouping would be unfair, and whether the distribution of power was even, anyway, there was only one consort, and there was no difference between the second and the hundredth, so there was no need to think about it so much.
The courtiers were very worried about this. Who didn't know that although Princess Shouning was a woman, she was both civil and military, and her martial arts skills were extremely outstanding. Last year, when the imperial court recruited the champion of martial arts, she secretly disguised herself as a man and forcibly made it into the top ten...
At that time, the officials had already realized that Princess Shouning had few rivals among her peers, even those who were a generation or two older than her.
Those with higher martial arts than her have practiced martial arts for many years, so it is impossible for them to participate in this competition.
Of course, this is something the would-be son-in-law needs to worry about, and they like it.
In the Hibiscus Garden, on a huge open space, ten arenas have been set up.
The officials and dignitaries in Beijing are not outside, but in a large hall, where they have wine and food, and talk freely with each other.
They don't pay attention to the competition outside, they will compete for the last ten people in a while, and they will come here.
Several old men with white beards sat together, their faces full of joy.
"This time when I was recruiting a son-in-law, I found a lot of good seedlings during the essay test, which deserves attention."
"That Muzi is definitely a good looker. His political opinions make even this old man feel ashamed..."
"Come on, it seems that you can compare to others except for political comments. His poems and essays, in the entire capital, are not comparable to him. It even reminds the old man of King Jing back then. The strange thing is, Why have I never heard of such a person before..."
"Compared with King Jing, it's a bit too exaggerated... In fact, besides this mysterious Muzi, there are a few others whose performances are remarkable..."
…
In the hall, the officials and dignitaries of the imperial court watched the excitement without too much trouble, but next to the arena in the Furong Garden, the people who had already got their respective groups were full of sadness.
An elegant-looking young man waved his hand violently, with a look of resentment on his face: "The literary test is just a literary test, why do you have to compete in martial arts? It's an insult to the gentleman, it's an insult to the gentleman..."
The person beside him nodded in agreement, and said, "I'm the one who puts a pen to the world, how can I act like a reckless man..."
An eunuch came over and said, "You two, please come to the ring!"
After hearing the words, the two walked onto the ring silently.
It is extremely difficult to stand out from thousands of people, even if it is humiliating, they must not let go of this opportunity.
The rules of the second martial arts test are very simple, that is, there are no rules.
Ten arenas, one stick of incense time, and finally standing on each arena is the winner, who can enter the inner hall and complete the last level.
There were also quite a few people standing around the arena watching. As an eunuch lit incense and announced the start of the martial arts test, the atmosphere on the arena changed immediately.
Even the referees on the sidelines couldn't believe what they saw.
They have seen handsome young men who splash ink and write beautiful articles in the examination room, but they have never seen weak scholars who huddled together, scratched their faces, and did everything they could.
Thinking about it carefully, it is not surprising that such a scene occurs.
All-round talents in civil and military affairs are rare after all. The first literary test is so difficult. Most of the people left in this test are scholars with great literary talent. — This is the scene in front of me.
Of course, not all ten arenas are so unsightly.
A certain two arenas are the home of young heroes from two aristocratic families in Beijing. They have martial arts skills, and the rest of the arenas are quickly cleared out by them.
There is also a arena where nine people are united in a rare way, chasing and beating a fat man. I don't know what happened...
The weirdest thing is probably the first ring.
There were only two people in the first arena, and they stood on one side of the arena, motionless.
It was only after Li Yi cleared out the few people who rushed towards him at the first time that he realized that there was only one person left on the other side.
The man wore a hood on his head, covering his face, so he couldn't see clearly from outside.
The other party's body was also covered in a loose robe, making it difficult to see the slightest bit.
Apart from Li Yi himself, this is another weirdo who doesn't want to show his true colors.
The other party didn't move, and neither did Li Yi.
He didn't move because the person opposite was very powerful, very powerful.
Li Yi only taught Li Han yesterday, there are people outside the world, and there is a sky outside the sky. I didn't expect that after only one day, something happened to him.
He thought that his life had been screwed up a lot, and now that he was under the guru, it was difficult to find an opponent. Obviously, he also made a fool of himself once.
The person on the opposite side is obviously not a grandmaster yet, but he is not sure that he can beat him.
Li Yi didn't move, so the person opposite moved.
His speed was so fast that an afterimage even appeared in front of Li Yi. His figure flickered and disappeared in place. At the same time, the figure of that person appeared at his position just now.
Li Yi suddenly smelled a familiar fragrance.
Not a perfume scent.
It is the fragrance of the pearl.
"Pearl!"
His eyes widened, and he even used his own voice because he was so shocked.
The figure had already moved, but after hearing his voice, it suddenly stopped.
Li Yi could feel a pair of shocked eyes looking at him under the cloak.
He walked over quickly, but the figure hidden under the cloak suddenly took a few steps back, jumped off the ring, and quickly disappeared from his sight.
Li Yi stood alone on the ring, a little dazed.
What's happening here
Mingzhu disguised herself as a man and competed with him for longevity
Li Yi himself was shocked, let alone the audience below.
The man with the cloak had an afterimage just now, he must be a master, they were in high spirits, but the other party suddenly abstained from the stage, in addition to being surprised, he was also disappointed.
In desperation, he had no choice but to set his sights on the last arena where the winner had not yet been decided.
On the ring, a young scholar with a bruised nose and a swollen face pushed a companion off the ring with great effort. After looking around, he found that besides him, there was only the fat man lying on the edge of the ring.
As long as the fat man is dragged down, he is the winner.
He walked to the fat man's side, grabbed his legs, and dragged them outward.
The fat man remained motionless.
He blushed and exerted a little more strength.
Stab it!
The fat man's trouser legs were torn by him, and with a piece of cloth in his hand, he fell headlong into the ring.
So far, the ten winners of the martial arts test have all been competed.
…
Hibiscus Garden, somewhere in a hall.
Li Xuan looked around and asked in confusion, "Strange, where did Mingzhu go?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure walked in from outside.
Li Xuan stepped forward and said, "Where have you been? The last ten people have already competed. It's time for us to go to the palace."
"Some things are delayed." Li Mingzhu tidied up her clothes and said, "Let's go."
…
"The empress dowager is here, the empress dowager is here!"
"His Majesty is here!"
"The eldest princess is here! Princess Shouning is here!"
In the main hall, hearing the eunuch's high-pitched and thin voice, many courtiers and dignitaries bowed to salute.
"All without ceremony." The queen mother looked down and said, "Announce those ten young handsome men into the palace..."
A trace of suspicion appeared on Li Xuan's face, and he murmured: "It's already this time, and that guy hasn't appeared yet..."
Li Mingzhu glanced outside the hall, looked away again, and did not speak.
Shou Ning sat in his seat, his body was straight, his eyes were looking towards the direction outside the hall, he did not blink his eyes, his hands were tightly holding the corner of his skirt...
Under the leadership of an eunuch, nine people entered the hall.
The reason there were nine people was because there was another fat man who was carried in.
Li Xuan glanced at the faces of those people, showing disappointment.
Shou Ning's gaze was fixed on the figure on the far left, and he couldn't move away...