The royal martial arts arena was very large, and Emperor Jingshun and others on the high platform could see the soldiers below. However, if the soldiers spoke in normal tones, not only Emperor Jingshun, but even commanders such as Chen Jingzong who were standing closer would not be able to hear clearly.
The situation of the competition has changed greatly from previous years. Qi Hao, the captain of the Jinyiwei, looked at the captains of the Jinwu Vanguard and Yulin Zuowei in the same row, and then looked at the commander Liu Shou outside the circle, feeling a little anxious.
In the previous two games, Jinyiwei had already scored 53 points. Even if the five opposing guards won this game and no Jinyiwei was left, the final score should only be lower than that of Daxing Zuowei.
But they are the Jinyiwei, they have always been the first. It would be shameful to be second. The Jinyiwei’s face doesn’t matter, but what about the emperor’s face
Qi Hao wanted to continue to take first place, but the problem was that he was not sure of winning with fewer people! A hand-to-hand fight was just like a close-range fight on the battlefield. There was no rules. It was all about brute force and numbers! It would be fine if the five guards were all small and skinny guys like Gao Dazhuang, but the other 49 people might not be the fastest runners or the best archers, but they were all tall, big, and strong real men! After all, the standards for selecting soldiers for the 26 guards were there!
To be on the safe side, should he win over the left guard of Daxing
As long as the alliance of the five guards is destroyed and the Daxing Left Guard, Jinwu Vanguard and Yulin Left Guard are allowed to compete for the second place, the Jinyi Guard can continue to stand aside and watch.
Qi Hao set his sights on Qin Wei. After all, he was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and had a good eye. He had already confirmed Qin Wei's identity as the captain of the Left Guard of Daxing.
At this time, the captain of the Jinwu Vanguard spoke up: "Brothers of the Jinyiwei, rest assured that even if we risk our lives, we will protect you!"
His words were not only heard by the twenty men of Jinyiwei and Yulin Zuowei, but also by the soldiers of the five guards opposite!
It's fine to join forces to attack other guards, and it's satisfying and fun, but there's a Jinyiwei on the other side...
Looking at the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard again, he was clearly winking at Qin Wei!
When the army's morale was about to waver, Qin Wei clenched his fists and laughed loudly: "Brothers, our master said that as long as the five guards can win, he will treat us to three consecutive drinks!"
The eyes of the soldiers of the Five Guards lit up and they felt relieved. Listen, the prince consort is not afraid of offending the Jinyiwei. Everything will be in his hands, so what else do they have to worry about
Qi Hao was not given any chance to formulate tactics. Qin Wei's fifty men followed the tactics that had been discussed long ago. Thirty of them rushed out first and entangled an opponent each. The remaining twenty soldiers, including Gao Dazhuang, were divided into five groups. They randomly picked five pairs of soldiers who were already fighting each other, pushed them to the outer edge of the circle, and then pushed out the soldier who was not from the Five Guards Alliance!
On the side where the two were fighting, take the Jinyiwei soldiers for example. No matter how powerful they were, it would take some time for them to drag their opponents from the middle of the circle to the outside. What's more, this opponent would not obey them and after a lot of fighting, other people from the Five Guards Alliance arrived and the situation instantly became one where five or six people were fighting against one Jinyiwei.
In this way, the number of people left in the Three Guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guards decreased, while the Five Guards Alliance did not lose a single person.
Seeing that there were only five Jinyiwei left, Qi Hao, who was carried on the shoulders and legs by six people led by Qin Wei, became anxious and cursed in a low voice: "The emperor is watching there, at least leave three people for us Jinyiwei!"
Qin Wei: "We are competing in a martial arts competition. If you Jinyiwei want to win first place, go back and train well. You can compete again next time!"
After saying that, he shouted and Qi Hao was thrown out of the circle!
On the commander's side, Liu Shou, who saw this scene, twitched his eyes violently.
Lu Wangshan shook his head and teased Chen Jingzong: "The prince consort is eager to fight, and he is aiming at the leader. He doesn't even give face to Lord Liu."
Chen Jingzong: "It's all about the sheer numbers, it's just a trick. If it's a one-on-one fight, no one can beat the Jinyiwei. In the first two games, the Jinyiwei came in first, which shows how strict Lord Liu is in training the Jinyiwei. I was lucky enough to win the championship today because I received Lord Liu's guidance when I was in the Jinyiwei, and I learned a lot of real skills from him."
As he said this, he bowed to Liu Shou as a disciple.
Although his words might seem like flattery to Liu Shou, every word of his was true. At the moment, the Five Guards were indeed winning by numbers, and Chen Jingzong had indeed served under Jinyiwei Liu Shou for three years.
The more convincing the flattery is, the more useful it is.
Liu Shou smiled, walked over to help Chen Jingzong up, and said with satisfaction: "The waves behind push the waves ahead, and the students are better than the teachers. We are already old, and the emergence of young generals like Prince Consort and Mr. Qi is a blessing for the court and the people."
Chen Jingzong and Qi Jin said “thank you” together.
While the commanders were talking, the melee in the circle ended, and only fifty soldiers from the Five Guards Alliance were left.
On the high platform, Emperor Jingshun didn't care about the "annihilation" of the Jinyiwei at all. He was more curious about how Chen Jingzong would arrange the final candidates for the "twenty-six". Obviously, the Daxing Left Guard was the backbone of this alliance. Without Chen Jingzong, the son-in-law, the other commanders and soldiers dared not offend the Jinyiwei. Therefore, it was reasonable for Chen Jingzong to keep all ten people from the Daxing Left Guard.
In the center of the venue, Qin Wei asked Gao Dazhuang to say a number in his mind, and then asked people from the other four guards to guess. Each guard would send out one person first. If the first four people did not guess correctly, the next four would come.
Soon, someone from Jiyangwei guessed it right.
Qin Wei said, "There's no need for them to compete. The forty-eight of us can choose opponents from different guards, twenty-four against twenty-four. Winning or losing depends entirely on ability. How do you think?"
The captains of the other four guards were all very happy. Although the thinnest Gao Dazhuang took advantage, it was very fair that Daxing Zuowei was willing to do so!
In order to win an extra spot for their own guard post, the 48 soldiers fought extremely hard, almost as hard as they fought on the battlefield. Some of them had their upper bodies pushed out of the circle, and they bent over and threw the opponent standing behind them out from above their heads! Other soldiers hugged their opponents tightly, preferring to die together rather than let the opponent stay in the circle!
Although the number of people was much smaller than the 260 people at the beginning, this desperate hand-to-hand combat could better demonstrate the soldiers' bloodiness to the end!
Gao Dazhuang didn't want to just stand there and insisted on fighting with the soldier from Jiyangwei.
One was tall and strong, the other was thin and weak. The soldiers of Jiyang Guard were unwilling to fight with all their strength because of the support of the prince consort, and were hit several times by Gao Dazhuang. When he fought back, Gao Dazhuang ran away, and the other party stopped. Gao Dazhuang then tried to provoke him again, which made Emperor Jingshun shake his head and laugh.
Finally, when there were only twenty-six people left in the circle, the third competition was declared over.
There were six people left in the Daxing Left Guard, including Gao Dazhuang, with 30 points, which together with the 20 points from the first foot race and the 20 points from the second archery, totaled 70 points, ranking first!
The Embroidered Uniform Guard ranked second with fifty-three points.
Jiyang Guard, which was once at the bottom of the list, had only six people left in the last game. Its score in the second archery game was also decent, ranking third with 51 points!
The top three commanders, along with their ten soldiers, went to the platform to pay homage to the emperor.
As they were still walking this way, Concubine Lin raised her voice slightly and said to Empress Qi with a smile: "The prince consort is very capable. The Daxing Left Guard actually defeated the emperor's Jinyi Guard. With such a genius, it's no wonder that he was chosen by the Empress to be the prince consort of Huayang."
She smiled and looked at Emperor Jingshun.
Emperor Jingshun deeply agreed with this. It was true that he valued the Jinyiwei, but he wanted to see other guards also train millions of soldiers.
Concubine Lin: …
Wanyi secretly scratched the palm of the princess's fourth aunt.
Huayang just smiled and said nothing. In terms of verbal confrontation, Nankang could not defeat her, and Concubine Lin was even more defeated by her mother.
Chen Jingzong and others arrived, and because they won the first place, Daxing Zuowei walked in the front.
Chen Jingzong looked straight ahead and did not look towards Huayang.
Huayang looked at his husband openly. After all, at this moment, almost everyone on the platform was looking at Chen Jingzong. Some looked happy, some were dignified and reserved, and some were curious.
Everyone knew that it was a disgrace for Jinyiwei to come in second, and that Jiyangwei's high score was due to the support of Daxing Zuowei, which was not worthy of praise either.
Emperor Jingshun only praised Chen Jingzong: "You are a good son-in-law who trains soldiers and is brave and resourceful. You have made the Daxing Left Guard jump from the last to the top. If every guard has a general like you, I will rest assured."
Chen Jingzong bowed his hands and lowered his eyes, saying respectfully: "Your Majesty, I am too humbled to accept your praise. If you had not transferred me to the Jinyiwei and given me the opportunity to learn from Lord Liu, I might still be just a young boy. As for today's third competition, I won by cheating, and I can only use it once this year."
Chen Tingjian glanced at his fourth son and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Emperor Jingshun liked his son-in-law more and more. He had the courage of a young military officer, but was also calm and humble, and did not become complacent with his temporary victory.
"Winning is winning. Tell me, what reward do you want?" Emperor Jingshun was in a good mood. He had never given any rewards to the Jinyiwei when they won in previous years.
Chen Jingzong declined the offer.
Emperor Jingshun thought for a moment and said, "Since you don't need anything, give each soldier of the Daxing Left Guard a silver reward. I hope they will continue to train diligently and win more championships in the future."
Chen Jingzong led Qin Wei and ten others to kneel down: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. We will not dare to slack off!"
Emperor Jingshun nodded and said to Gao Dazhuang alone: "I think your archery skills are not bad. It's a pity that you have been delayed because of illness. I will go to the Imperial Hospital and ask a few doctors to check you out. If you need medicine, I will pay for it until you recover."
Gao Dazhuang burst into tears and knelt on the ground, kowtowed several times. Fortunately, Eunuch Ma helped him up in time, otherwise he would have broken his forehead!
After rewarding the soldiers, Emperor Jingshun led the Crown Prince to the front of the center of the platform and gave some words of encouragement to the 23 commanders and more than 200 soldiers below. He concluded: "Even the Daxing Left Guard, who was once last, can run seventh and shoot seventh, and can also get first place in the total score. You soldiers are obviously better than them. Practice well in the future. You will definitely surpass the Daxing Left Guard again in the next competition. I will wait and see!"
Commanders and soldiers: ...
Behind the royal father and son, Chen Jingzong and other soldiers stood respectfully facing the backs of the emperor and the prince.
Princess Nankang secretly looked at Chen Jingzong. After experiencing the incident of Meng Yanqing being beaten by Chen Jingzong on Mid-Autumn Night, Princess Nankang had some evil thoughts and wondered if Chen Jingzong had any feelings for her. Today, Chen Jingzong was in the limelight, and Princess Nankang felt that Chen Jingzong was more handsome and taller, better than Meng Yanqing in every way!
But why didn't she get the chance to be such a good prince consort
The more Princess Nankang admired Chen Jingzong, the more jealous she became of Huayang. But when she thought that the person Chen Jingzong might like was her, Princess Nankang couldn't help but feel proud again.
After Emperor Jingshun finished speaking, he took the crown prince and went downstairs first.
After them came the female members of noble status, such as Empress Qi.
Chen Jingzong and others stood with their eyes lowered, waiting to act together with the other ministers on the stage.
Princess Nankang walked behind Huayang and Wanyi. When she passed Chen Jingzong, she stopped and praised him with a smile: "Your brother-in-law is so handsome today. As an elder sister, I am happy for Sister Huayang."
Chen Jingzong glanced at her, then lowered his eyes and said in a voice that only Huayang, Wanyi and Princess Nankang could hear: "So you are Princess Nankang. I was mistaken just now and thought you were the Imperial Concubine."
Princess Nankang: …
She is more than 20 years younger than her mother!
Does she really look that old
(End of this chapter)