Chapter 502

"Long live the Emperor!"

The sound of all the officials in the hall shouting in unison came,

Not long after,

Rong Xian, wearing a red flower and a bright cuju suit, with a few strokes of gold lacquer painted on his face by the Emperor, looking slightly funny, walked out with a smile.

Rong Xian was also followed by two little eunuchs, holding the rewards for Rong Xian's 'opponent' in their arms.

The cuju goal performed outside the hall was moved away,

Soon,

A row of dancers walked in with small steps, their skirts not moving, 'floating' into the main hall.

Soothing music sounded,

After the dance,

When the dancers retreated from the hall,

The eunuch at the entrance passed the sound from the hall and shouted outside: "Rest! Seat!"

"Rest! Seat!"

"Respectfully send off Your Majesty!"

Another unison shout came from the hall.

This sound was the decree announcing 'rest and relaxation'.

The shouting gradually dispersed outward.

The atmosphere inside and outside the hall suddenly became relaxed,

After the figures of the Emperor and Empress disappeared at the entrance of the hall,

Whether it was the officials or the noble ladies,

At this time, they could stand up and relax, and go to solve their personal problems.

Low-ranking civil and military officials sitting in the corridors on both sides of the square also stood up and left.

Gu Tingye, who was still waiting in the colorful shed, looked at the situation around him and said to Xu Zaijing: "Jing Ge'er, it's still better here; we can stand if we want to stand and sit if we want to sit. It's too restrained to look at it elsewhere."

Xu Zaijing smiled and looked at Gu Tingye: "Ye Ge'er, this is because you can go to the corridors on both sides or sit in the hall if you want to! If not, actually being restrained there is still quite happy."

Hearing Xu Zaijing's conversation, Di Jing and others in the colorful shed who had climbed up from soldiers all nodded.

Gu Tingye wondered: "Is this still happy?"

Xu Zaijing patted Gu Tingye on the shoulder: "If it weren't for the identity of the Marquis's legitimate son, even the seats in the corridors on both sides wouldn't be so easy for us to sit on."

Gu Tingye thought for a while and nodded: "That's true."

After all, the scholars who passed the middle examination this year are only qualified to sit in the corridors on both sides.

About a quarter of an hour later,

Everyone inside and outside the hall sat back in their original positions.

Soon, the shout of "Long live the Emperor" came from the hall again.

The ceremony continued.

In the colorful shed,

Gu Tingye put on the leather armor painted with gold and colors,

Master Gao and the four Guangrui Army soldiers of the Lady Ningyuan Marquis's residence were the same, but their armor was slightly simpler than Gu Tingye's.

Gu Tingye was already good-looking,

And years of martial arts training made him strong and full of energy; wearing this armor painted with gold and colors, he was quite handsome.

Feeling the appreciative gazes cast on him by others in the colorful shed, Gu Tingye proudly raised his chin at Xu Zaijing: "Jing Ge'er, I'm going up first!"

Xu Zaijing bowed with a smile: "Everything goes smoothly!"

Inside the hall,

Qi Heng sat behind the table behind the Princess Pingning.

"Pingning, where is your kid?"

Listening to the Emperor's words behind the imperial desk,

Princess Pingning hurriedly stood up and bowed: "Father! Heng Ge'er is here!"

As she spoke, Princess Pingning flashed slightly to reveal Qi Heng behind her.

The Emperor smiled and exchanged a look with the Empress in his seat, beckoned to Qi Heng who stood up and bowed: "Child, come over, let me take a look at you!"

The Marquis of Xiangyang, sitting in the front row, looked back at his grandson who was walking out with a smile.

The Emperor looked at Qi Heng who walked over and smiled:

"Hmm! Haven't seen you for a while, your kid has grown a lot!"

Princess Pingning hurriedly replied:

"Father has sharp eyes! In the past half year, Heng Ge'er has grown more than two inches taller."

Although Qi Heng had not yet passed the imperial examination, as the only son of a Xiao Xiao Gongye, he naturally had an official position by inheritance.

So when Qi Heng walked to the Emperor's imperial desk, knelt down, and bowed: "Subject, Qi Heng pays respects to Your Majesty! Wishing Your Majesty a long life like a turtle and crane, and evergreen like a pine and cypress!"

"Hahahaha! Good child, you have a heart! Do you have a courtesy name now?"

As he spoke, the Emperor looked at the Xiao Xiao Gongye of Qi and Princess Pingning, and the couple hurriedly bowed.

Qi Heng, who was kneeling on the carpet, shook his head and bowed: "Reporting to Your Majesty, none!"

The Emperor pondered for a moment and said: "Heng is level, changing one to yuan... why not call it Yuanruo."

"Thank you, Your Majesty/Father for the courtesy name!"

The Xiao Xiao Gongye of Qi and his wife hurriedly bowed.

Qi Heng in the middle was also kneeling on the ground.

"Good child, I heard from your mother that you have always been ambitious, don't let down her expectations."

"Subject, will keep it in mind."

The Emperor nodded with a smile: "Go!"

The Marquis of Xiangyang, sitting to the side, gave a thumbs up and sighed: "Your Majesty has a good literary talent, it sounds really good!"

When Qi Heng walked back to his seat, passing by Lu Zezong, the eldest grandson of the Xiao Xiao Gongye of Lian, who was also sitting behind his mother,

Lu Zezong sat in his chair, smiled, bowed, and whispered: "Brother Yuanruo."

Qi Heng nodded with a smile.

Inside the hall,

Many official's family members and noble ladies looked at Qi Heng who was walking toward his seat, and their eyes became very bright.

Especially the Madam of the Marquis of Hou Fu Chang sitting not far below Sun Shi,

This Madam looked back at her daughter who was very outstanding in appearance and temperament, then looked at Qi Heng, then looked at Consort Rong sitting near the Emperor, her eyes turning around.

The Madam of the Dou family, the Xiao Xiao Gongye of Fu, was closer to the hall than the Rong family. She looked back at one of her two daughters, then looked at Qi Heng for a while, and finally shook her head, whispering: "A bit mismatched!"

Rulan, who was sitting behind Wang Ruofu and near the entrance of the hall, whispered with some confusion: "Which yuan, which ru?"

In front of Rulan, another Madam leaned forward and said to Wang Ruofu: "Madam Wang, I heard that the young master is studying at the Sheng family?"

Wang Ruofu nodded repeatedly with a smile: "Yes! I heard that Master Zhuang is at my house, so the Princess let the young master study at my house!"

"Then, has your Bo Ge'er been betrothed?"

Hearing this, Wang Ruofu smiled, and just as she was about to say something, Sheng Hong, who was sitting in the first row in front of her, looked back at her while holding a wine glass.

"None! None..."

The Madam who spoke smiled: "I have a niece, beautiful as a flower..."

"Better wait until he passes the meeting examination later, to avoid delaying such a good girl." Wang Ruofu replied with a smile.

Sheng Hong in front heard this and nodded rarely, obviously very appreciative of Wang Ruofu's answer.

At this moment,

The head eunuch in the hall shouted: "Gu Tingye, the second son of the Marquis of Lady Ningyuan..."

Position of the dukes and nobles,

"Gu Hou, why is it still spear technique this year?"

Listening to the question from the Marquis of Zhongjing not far away, Gu Yanhai bowed with a smile: "Old brother Zheng! The performance today is different from before! I've seen it!"

At this moment, a heroic and generous tune sounded in the colorful shed.

The Marquis of Xiangyang looked at Gu Tingye's attire and said: "The tune hasn't changed! The attire has changed!"

Gu Yanhai nodded with a smile.

"Woo~"

Gu Tingye and the Gu family personal guards standing in the hall made a whistling sound as they swung their long spears in unison.

The Emperor sitting behind the imperial desk nodded repeatedly as he watched.

The individual spear technique Gu Tingye performed before was integrated into the military formation today,

Looking from the side, the five spear shafts of Gu Tingye and the four Marquis's residence personal guards were like one.

After a collective performance,

The four people of the Guangrui Army changed to knives and shields,

Gu Tingye stood in the middle of the four with a spear,

And began to perform alone in the huge venue,

The long spear in Gu Tingye's hand sometimes bit like a poisonous snake,

Clearly a distance of more than a zhang from the personal guard holding the shield in front, but the spear tip arrived in a flash, poking the shield and making a 'dang' sound,

Before the audience in the hall could react, the shield of the personal guard behind Gu Tingye was also poked, but Gu Tingye had already grasped the swallow mouth under the spear blade and poked it with the spear butt at the tail.

Then, the long spear danced in Gu Tingye's hand, making a 'woo woo' whistling sound again, accompanied by the impact sound on the shields of the Gu residence personal guards who surrounded him.

With just this move, the pincer attack from front and back was like a joke in front of this spear technique.

Sometimes like a tiger's tail whipping, the spear butt at the tail of the long spear smashed heavily on the ground,

"Dong~!"

The sound was deep.

Afterward, Gu Tingye squatted in a horse stance, quickly stretched out his left hand to hold the tail of the long spear, and held the long spear flat, the spear shaft not shaking at all.

"Good!"

With just this move, the Marquis of Xiangyang couldn't help but shout behind the table.

Applause rang out in the hall,

Gu Yanhai, who had no expression on his face but was full of pride in his eyes, looked at the Emperor's position, and the Emperor naturally had eyes full of appreciation.

But the Emperor's son, Zhao Fang, was clapping with a smile, but there was no rare or surprised look in his eyes.

This can't be blamed on Gu Yanhai,

After all, he didn't know that on the night his wife Bai Shi received the title of honor, Xu Zaijing stayed in the palace.

Early the next morning, when Xu Zaijing was practicing martial arts in the palace and swinging an iron spear to smash wooden stakes, Zhao Fang followed the Empress and watched quite a lot.

And because it was a wooden stake, Xu Zaijing didn't need to have any scruples when practicing.

Also, beauty is combat power, so Xu Zaijing's every move was naturally beautiful, but Xu Zaijing's long spear momentum was domineering and ruthless.

When he went down to Yang Zhou, Xu Zaijing had truly faced fierce bandits and eliminated them, which was also the biggest difference between Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye's spear.

Inside the hall,

Gu Tingye ran forward two steps with the spear, then flew into the air as high as a person while turning his body like electricity, and the long spear in his hand stabbed straight out with great momentum; the spear head was raised on the battlefield, which was straight at the knight's head.

It had the momentum of a return horse spear after losing his mount on the battlefield.

"Pa!"

Gu Tingye held the spear and landed steadily on the ground in a horse stance.

"Huff huff!"

Gu Tingye, who was dancing the spear with all his might, had his chest heaving up and down.

"Clatter clatter!"

Applause rang out from the audience in the hall.

"Bravo!"

Qi Heng, Liang Han, and others stood up happily and cheered.

Listening to the cheers that rang out from time to time in the hall,

Bai Shi, who was sitting behind Gu Yanhai, stood up and looked at her son with pride.

The applause subsided slightly,

Gu Tingye looked at the Emperor who was beckoning to him,

Hurriedly handed the long spear in his hand to the Gu family personal guard, and walked quickly toward the Emperor.

"No need to kneel!"

Looking at Gu Tingye who walked closer, the Emperor waved his hand with a smile.

"You kid are not bad, the spear technique is much stronger than when you were a child! You must have practiced a lot on weekdays, right?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my subject practices every morning."

"Hmm! This time, do you still want the long spear in my palace?"

Hearing the Emperor's words,

The nobles and high officials around laughed one after another, which made Gu Tingye feel quite embarrassed.

"Can, can I?"

As he spoke, Gu Tingye looked back at the long spear behind him.

"Forget it, these long spears are not sharpened, after the festival, I will send someone to your house to customize a pair for you."

Clang,

Gu Tingye, wearing armor, knelt straight on the carpet in the hall: "Thank you, Your Majesty! But can my subject ask Your Majesty to bestow two?"

The Emperor waved his hand at Gu Yanhai, who was staring, looked at Gu Tingye and said: "You kid is really... give me a reason, if you can convince me, I will bestow you two!"

Gu Tingye looked at Gu Yanhai and bowed: "Uh, Your Majesty, the golden spear you bestowed on me before is still enshrined in the family ancestral hall..."

"If you only bestow one, it will probably still be enshrined in the ancestral hall, but my father often tells my subject that in the future, I will open up territory for Your Majesty! But by then my subject... so..."

"Hahahaha!"

The Emperor laughed a few times,

There were also many echoes in the hall,

"Good, I will bestow you a few more! Marquis of Lady Ningyuan, don't let them all be enshrined in the ancestral hall!"

"Subject, obey the decree!"

Gu Yanhai hurriedly stood up and bowed.

Bai Shi behind him also stood up and bowed.

Looking at Bai Shi behind Gu Yanhai, the Emperor nodded with a smile: "Gu Hou's wife, this child of yours is really very good!!"

"Thank you for the Emperor's praise."

Bai Shi bowed again and replied with her head lowered.

Hearing the Emperor's words, Gu Tingye looked at Bai Shi with more joy than just receiving the reward, and then looked at Pingmei and Tingyi who were also standing up behind Bai Shi.

The focus was still on Pingmei.

At Pingmei's place, Tingyi beside Chai Zhengzheng leaned over to Pingmei and whispered: "My brother wants my sister-in-law to write to my elder brother, praising his performance today, it's almost written on his face."

Pingmei heard this, nodded to Gu Tingye who was kneeling in the hall, and said: "Second Brother mainly wants your elder brother to know that his mother was also praised by the Emperor today because of him."

Gu Tingyi looked at his second brother and nodded repeatedly.

Afterward, the Emperor let Gu Tingye retreat, and those who stood up sat down one after another.

Gu Tingyi couldn't help but say to Chai Zhengzheng: "Zhengzheng, how is it, is my brother's set of spear techniques handsome?"

Chai Zhengzheng nodded: "It's handsome!"

At this moment,

The head eunuch's voice sounded again: "Xu family's Fifth Brother of the Marquis of Yongyi's residence, Cao family's Ninth Brother of the Marquis of Tuoxi... Zhu Qinghu, the son of Anyang County, Di Jing, the commander of the cavalry, etc., present the chorus 'Western Army Out of the Pass'!"

After the head eunuch finished shouting,

The scene suddenly became quiet.

Outside the hall,

In the colorful shed,

More than a hundred people led by Cao Yi, Zhu Qinghu, and Di Jing were wearing shiny military armor,

With red cloaks hanging behind them,

Lined up, walking out in neat steps.

Palace maids and female officials along the way danced rhythmically to the music.

Not far outside the hall, Rong Xian, who had changed his clothes but still had gold lacquer on his face, stared wide-eyed at the people walking out.

Inside the hall,

Because it was quiet,

So before seeing anyone, they heard the sound of more than a hundred people walking neatly in armor.

In this sound,

There were neat footsteps,

There was also the sound of armor rubbing against armor,

And the sound of cloaks sweeping against armor,

The sound gradually became louder, and Zhu Qinghu and the others gradually approached the main hall and walked in.

"Whoa! These kids, their attire is handsome enough!"

The Xiao Xiao Gongye of Ying, who was sitting near the Emperor, said in a deep voice.

The dukes and nobles who heard this nodded one after another.

What Xu Zaijing and the others wore was not Gu Tingye's leather armor painted with gold and colors, but solid metal armor!

The weight of the metal made the armor not so floating, not so easy to be messed up by their own movements, and a heavy feeling came over them.

And the group of people wearing armor,

Whether it was Xu Zaijing at the end of the line, or Cao Yi, Zhu Qinghu, Ye Fang, and others walking in front,

These were all fierce generals and brave soldiers who had fought bloody battles and made contributions on the battlefield in the northwest, and they naturally had a unique momentum.

Especially since everyone had a serious face, it was like a beast retracting its claws and teeth walking in.

Zhao Fang beside the Emperor,

Kept nodding as he looked at the people who came in, and when he saw Xu Zaijing who came in at the end, the smile on his face became bigger and bigger.

The dukes and marquises below the Emperor, especially the Xiao Xiao Gongye of Ying, Marquis of Lady Ningyuan, etc., who had been on the battlefield, were all nodding in appreciation.

"These kids, the momentum is a bit amazing! No wonder Marquis Cao and Marquis Xu could kill through Bai Gao!"

The Xiao Xiao Gongye of Ying's deep voice sounded again, and his tone sounded a bit greedy.

When Xu Zaijing and the others entered the venue,

The atmosphere alone made everyone in the hall stretch their necks and look at the entrance.

Among them were several young ladies who smiled brightly when they saw someone who came in last but looked very attractive.

There were also people flipping through the posts in their hands, looking at the summary of this performance.

Afterward,

The hall became quiet.

【It is recommended to read with the chorus version of the song "Hero Out of the Pass"】

"Deng~"

In the colorful shed, the sound of a bell rang,

"Dong dong~"

The large drum behind the pipa was also struck.

More than a hundred Western Army soldiers standing in the hall hummed in a low voice.

"Woo~~~"

In the colorful shed of the band,

A strong man in the army took a deep breath, puffed up his cheeks, and blew the bugle that Gu Tingye was curious about just now, the bugle sound was desolate and thick.

The soldiers' humming continued,

"Hi!"

The musician beating the drum in the colorful shed shouted hard.

"Ah~~~~"

Xu Zaijing stood in the queue and shouted according to the rhythm with a suppressed voice.

Although the voice was suppressed, the shouting of more than a hundred strong men was very imposing,

In front of the Emperor, they couldn't help but think of the past when they lined up in Bai Gao in the northwest, ready to fight the enemy.

After the soul-stirring shouting,

"Iron hooves rumble, stepping on the dream of Keyi Gate"

"Steps are clanging, looking west to Helan, stepping on blood!"

"Battle flags are fierce, rolling up the sand and dust of the desert!"

"Battle drums sound, resounding for thousands of miles, seeing ambition!"

"..."

The singing of the soldiers, full of masculinity and unison, began to drift in the hall, the momentum of the song was different from the past, and it seemed to contain surging emotions.

When everyone was singing, the drums outside the hall were also sounding, but they became low, as if it were the footsteps of the soldiers moving forward on the battlefield.

"Fight bravely, comrades risk their lives for each other!"

"Western Army out of the pass, the heart of the country is in the chest"

"Draw swords on the battlefield, we will surely win the future!"

As Xu Zaijing sang, it seemed as if he had returned to the days in Bai Gao in the northwest,

Horses galloping, battle flags fierce, comrades fighting bloody battles, sunset like blood.

Looking west to Helan, stepping on blood.

Others were also influenced by the singing,

The past of shouting and fighting on the battlefield appeared in their minds.

When singing 'smashing the dream of Keyi Gate' again, everyone's singing was full of pride.

"..."

"Draw swords on the battlefield, we will surely win the future!"

After the song was finished,

The hall was quiet for a while,

Then,

A round of applause rang out from the Emperor's position, followed by cheers.

Looking at the people standing up and applauding in front,

Cao Yi, Zhu Qinghu, and others who finished singing patted Xu Zaijing in the queue hard, their faces full of smiles.

"Good! Sang well! Good!"

The Xiao Xiao Gongye of Ying, Xiao Xiao Gongye of Xin, Marquis of Lady Ningyuan, Marquis of Xiangyang, etc., who had been on the battlefield in front, had not yet dissipated the expressions of recalling their youth, and after hearing the Emperor's high-spirited shout, they echoed one after another.

And the military officers in the corridors on both sides outside the hall had mostly stood up, curiously looking at the hall, attracted by the singing.

(End of chapter)