Don't be clouded

Chapter 22

On the eighth day of March, Chenjing was as lively as the day of Shangyuan Festival, and even people from several prefectures in Gyeonggi came to join in the fun.

Most of the people who came in from several city gates flocked to the north. The high platform of the Dengquehui was set up at Yujiekou outside the inner city, with its back against the city gate.This year's martial arts competition platform is different from ordinary platforms in the past, it is extremely tall, almost as high as a three-storey pavilion, and the venue on the stage is also extremely wide.

In previous years, the first emperor would come to the Dengque Meeting every time and sit on the city wall.This year, Emperor Yuan Hui said that the dragon was unwell and could not come, so the inner city wall made an exception and allowed the people to climb up to watch the battle.And those who couldn't grab a good seat had to squeeze under the stage, looking up at the high stage with their necks up, and they might not be able to see clearly.

And starting a few days ago, some nearby teahouses and restaurants also took the opportunity to raise prices, and a large number of dignitaries who were unwilling to stand below for a day paid high prices to book seats on the second and third floors by the window.

Prince Xian got up early on purpose, rushed to the nearest restaurant to the ring, and sat by the window on the second floor just as the competition was about to start.

He glanced at the sea of ​​people downstairs, then turned his head to look inside the room.

Xu Yang immediately stepped forward and asked, "What is the prince looking for?"

"Where's Guan Chen?" Ming Wang asked suspiciously, "He will never forget that there will be a climbing meeting today, right?"

Xu Yang kept his eyes on his nose and his heart, "Maybe it's because Xuanqing Temple has a lot of affairs."

Prince Xian waved his hand, "Leave him alone, no one can guess his mind. By the way, can you estimate his strength when you have fought against Ji Yao in the past few days?"

His loyal servant touched his nose, lowered his eyes and replied: "My lord, I can't beat you, aren't you making fun of me by asking this?"

Prince Xian was annoyed to see him so big standing here, "Okay, I know you're useless, sit down and eat something with me."

Among the five or six guards and servants who followed, only Xu Yang was given a seat. He sat down at the table with some trepidation, and stuffed two pastries into his mouth.Just lamenting the good craftsmanship of this master, the prince said repeatedly: "Come here."

He looked up with a mouthful of snacks, but found that there was no figure of Ji Yao walking up the stairs to the competition stage.

The number of people who ascend to the palace is about [-] people every year, so it is divided into three rounds due to the large number of people.After the first round of lottery, two-on-two fights, the winners enter the second round of three-person battles, and only one person who wins in the melee can go to the final group arena.

Although Xu Yang said that he couldn't beat Ji Yao, he could actually roughly estimate the boy's strength, at least in the first two rounds, there was nothing to worry about.

He lowered his head and concentrated on eating some snacks again.

"Hey, why is there a familiar face of Zuo Wuwei, who put aside his face in order to become famous in the first battle." Prince Xian shook his head, "Anyway, he is also a long history from the sixth rank, for the sake of the position of the middle man who is the fourth rank. It’s really going all out. Serving military generals are not allowed to participate in the Dengjue Association, so he might even have retired from the military.”

Xu Yang glanced at it in time, took two sips of tea and swallowed the snacks, and then casually said: "You also know that the generals on the left and right side of the Wuwei love to oppress people, and many soldiers under them are not promoted. There is no other way. Aren’t all the officials in the world know people and make good use of them like you.”

Prince Xian ignored his flattery, and only said: "Promoted? Now that there are no battles to fight, there are not many ways to get military merit. How can I be promoted?"

Xu Yang shook his head, and said in a low voice: "That Ji Yao desperately wanted to join the army, what a loss."

He looked over and saw that the fight had already started on the stage. The commander Shi of the army seemed to be called He Kang, and he was very skilled.Although the bearded man on the opposite side looked burly, he was beaten to the ground within two blows.

It doesn't look interesting.Every year a few overachievers try their luck, but most get out in the first round.

Prince Xian, Xu Shi, was also bored, so he simply sent two servants back to the manor to bring his son.

The eldest son is seven years old this year, and he was born as a jade carving. Xu Yang has always liked that child, so he feels something is wrong.

"My lord, the son is still young, can't you see such a bloody scene?"

Prince Xian glanced at him coldly, "Can't the children of the Ming family see this? Besides, look at those people on the stage, are they bloody?"

Xu Yang gave up, but when he turned his head, he saw that the two newcomers on the stage were fighting fiercely.

Taking a closer look, it was Ji Bieyun who was dressed in black.

"Hey, my lord, look!"

Accompanied by the applause downstairs, Prince Xian glanced at it.

"Fortunately, the swords and swords uniformly equipped by the Dengque Society are not sharpened. Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't see any blood." Mingwang paused, and the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong, "Ji Yao is out of luck, draw lots To such a ruthless character."

Xu Yang glanced at his prince, wondering whether Ji Bieyun was unlucky or was deceived.

In fact, Ji Bieyun is also suspicious of life.

He saw those people on the stage before, except for one who happened to be strong and one who was weak, even if two people with good skills were paired together, they would basically be able to decide the winner with no more than thirty moves.But the dark-skinned and tattooed man in front of him is really difficult to deal with. They have fought for thirty strokes and it is not over yet.

At this moment, the sun was already shining high, and the cheers from the spectators in the audience grew louder and louder, as if to see how long they could fight.

The big man's eyes were gloomy and cold, and his moves were slanted. It seemed that he was not purely a family practitioner, but was betting his life to put him to death.

A desperado who came out of prison.

Ji Bieyun didn't want to try his best in the first round, so he insisted on not drawing his sword.

The way this man used the knife was neither to chop nor to stab, but to smash him into the ground like swinging a heavy hammer.He evaded again and again, retreating again and again, and heard the big man shout angrily: "Go to hell!"

He wondered in his heart, everyone just came to fight, why is there someone here to kill?

It wasn't until he retreated to the edge of the ring that he twisted his waist and turned sideways, and slapped the big man's exposed vital gate.

Suddenly, the wind of the palm rose, and the back of the big man's waist was hit hard. There was almost a broken pain in the spine, and the whole person fell forward.And in front of him was a four-foot-high void, with nowhere to grasp, he could only stare wide-eyed at the ground getting closer and closer to him.

However, in an instant, the back collar was grabbed, and the boy's voice sounded: "You came here by yourself?"

Only the tiptoes of the whole body were still on the stage, and the fear of death surpassed the others in an instant.Struggling to survive, the big man swung his backhand, the tip of the knife just passed Ji Bieyun's sleeve, and wiped the will against the back of his hand.

Ji Bieyun lifted the man by his collar and lowered the man a bit, and asked coldly, "Did someone tell you to kill me?"

Seeing that the man kept his mouth tightly shut and refused to make a sound, Ji Bieyun turned his head and glanced at the city wall. The crowd was crowded, and every face looked similar from a distance.

And the big man was still thumping under his hand, and when he was not paying attention, the blade of the knife slapped his wrist hard.Ji Bieyun's wrists were numb from the shock, and he quickly dragged the big man backwards and threw him. After a short period of time in the air, the big man hit his face on the ground and hit the stage hard.

He walked over, kicked the knife away from the man, stepped on his back, and asked in a low voice, "If you can't kill me, will you die?"

As soon as the words fell, the body under his feet trembled uncontrollably.

Ji Bieyun had a bottom line in his mind.

Since entering Beijing, he had to be overly vigilant about some things, so this lottery made him feel that someone was secretly arranging something.

The big man raised his head and glanced at him with difficulty, his eyes were no longer gloomy and cold, only gray and defeated.

The outcome has been announced, and someone came up to carry away the big man who was temporarily unable to move.

And after Ji Bieyun walked down the stairs, perhaps out of suspicion, he always felt that several pairs of eyes were quietly watching him, like a gangrene.The people around seemed to be enthusiastic about the fight, and the noisy voices spread to the quiet stage, making it even more apparent that the silence here was brewing a storm.

But once the Dengque Club started, there was no reason to stop it. Now that he had entered the game, he could only see the tricks.

When Ji Bieyun stepped down, Prince Xian was so fascinated by watching that he didn't even pay attention to the prince entering the door.

He didn't turn his head until the child called Daddy politely, but he still exchanged a glance with Xu Yang first.

The master and servant did not speak, but Xu Yang knew what the prince wanted to say.

Although Ji Bieyun did not accept the prince's proposal, and General Youwei submitted his name to participate in the Dengque meeting, but after all, he was a guard from the palace in name, and if he died somewhere else, it might lead to investigation by the palace.

If someone wanted Ji Bieyun's life, the Dengque Meeting would be a good occasion, and it would be logical for anyone to die here.

Although the Dengque Club is in broad daylight and in full view, there is not much room for manipulation behind the scenes.Many participants were actually ordered by the powerful, and the power of the powerful can extend to corners that are invisible to everyone.

The big man who fought against Ji Yao just now has such obvious tattoos on his face, it is very likely that he was taken out of the prison by some dignitary.It is not difficult to get a tattooed prisoner to come to Deng Que to sacrifice his life. You just need to promise the other party some things, such as a chance to survive or the health and happiness of your family.Furthermore, this big man's skills are not bad, but if Ji Bieyun is weaker, he might be pushed off the high platform and fall to his death.

Although Xu Yang didn't have a deep friendship with this young man, he still couldn't help but feel worried.

After waiting for another hour, the first round was finally over.

Before the start of the second round, there was also a lottery draw. Xu Yang watched intently, hoping that the result of the first round of lottery was just a coincidence.

However, Ji Bieyun was the first to play, and the other two, Xu Yang, also had an impression that their strength was not weak.

The outcome of the three-person competition does not depend entirely on the level of force, but more on the hearts of the people.Only one of the three can win, and the alliance and hostility are only a moment away.

Ji Bieyun and the other two stood on the stage, separated by a certain distance.

These two people are not very old, but they are also similar in stature, they are both thin and tall, and the weapons they choose are also long swords, but the clothes they wear are short and long.The two looked at each other, pulled out their swords together, and stared at him as if they were prey.

Ji Bieyun immediately understood, what is the climbing meeting, he is here after crossing the catastrophe.

He couldn't deal with it with his bare hands this time, so he held the handle of the knife and slowly drew out the long knife.

The three of them faced each other with swords drawn, and just as he was about to strike first, the man in the long coat on the right charged at the short-striking man with his sword in hand.

Ji Bieyun couldn't understand it anymore, so he couldn't help laughing, and raised his hand to hold the long knife on his shoulder.

This is a contest stage, not a stage, what are these two doing.

The author says:

Congratulations to Prince Xian and Xu Yang for being the infield commentators for this game