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"No, no!" Li Xu waved his hand again and again in a panic. He was talked about by Du Erpu in the Su Si Department about the common sense of identifying the jade, and he could see that the jadeite that Li Shimin put in Li Jiancheng's hands was a top grade. With such a texture of jadeite, it is worth at least a dozen horses when it is taken to the grassland. In the Central Plains, the value is even more unknown.

Li Shimin waved his hand and refused to say more to him. Draw the horned bow and shoot an arrow first. The arrow was as fast as a meteor, and it "thud" and shot an inch away from the red heart. The tail of the arrow shook back and forth a few times, and then did not move.

At such a distance, it would be a little difficult for Li Xu to quietly make concessions. Just as he was hesitating whether to deliberately shoot an empty arrow that missed the target, he heard Li Shimin shouting: "Brother Zhongjian, don't worry, I lost, this piece of jade belongs to you." What about your lottery, you can't calculate that you can win me! ”

"Me?" Li Xu's eyes widened and asked. When he arrived, his package was hidden behind the saddle. At this moment, the mount was placed by the servants of the Li family who didn't know where to go, and wanted to take out a colorful head from the package that was equivalent to the jade from Li Shimin, but there was no valuable object on the body.

"It's better to bet on the two swords on the waists of you and Brother Hongji, how about it" Li Shimin smiled and asked.

"How can this sword be compared to the beautiful jade of the second son!" Li Xu hesitated for a moment and replied frankly. The swords on his and Liu Hongji's waists were all bought on the road, and the two together were only three hundred yuan. Sensei said that he could buy the piece of jade that Li Shimin took out, and he couldn't even buy the seat with the jade on the boy's crown.

"The value of this sword is not in itself, but in its master. If you lose, you will lose Brother Hongji and your own weapons to me. In the future, I will be the only one who will be driven by me. Li Shimin smiled again and explained.

Hearing this, Li Xu knew that his trick of deliberately admitting defeat in the second round was seen through by Li Shimin, and he secretly admired the sharpness of the young man's eyes in front of him. In a dilemma, he turned his eyes to Liu Hongji, hoping that this thoughtful brother would have an idea, but he saw Liu Hongji looking at him, and his eyes were full of encouragement.

"Brother Hongji wants me to win?" Li Xu's eyes widened a little, and he asked in his heart. When he was a guest at someone's house, he set off the host's field, and in Yi County, where he grew up, there was no such rule of being a guest. But deliberately lost, he and Liu Hongji became the private soldiers of the Li family, and the price was also huge.

"Just according to what Jiro said!" Liu Hongji replied loudly as if he had seen through what Li Xu was thinking. stepped forward to untie the saber at his waist, picked up the saber that Li Xu put behind the tree, and held it in Li Jiancheng's hand.

There was silence in all directions, and even the clouds in the sky slowed down. Li Xu didn't dare to hide his secrets anymore, took a closer look at the position of the arrow target, and put the arrow on the bowstring. But when he saw that the bow opened like a full moon and quickly rebounded, the feathered arrow flew out with a whizz. Immediately, the cheers were like thunder, and Li Wan'er danced with both hands, beating the drum hammer like a shocking sound.

"Good!" Suddenly, an old voice came from afar, suppressing all the noise in the field.

Li Xu turned his head when he heard the sound, and saw a loyal elder with a lot of wrinkles on his face, but a kind and kind eyebrow, walking towards him briskly from a distance.

At this moment, Liu Hongji also saw the old man, and immediately stepped forward quickly, stood upright, attached his hands to his heart, took a step forward, raised his fists and eyebrows, bowed twice, and then withdrew his outstretched eyebrows and hands to touch his forehead, bowed a third time, and said: "Junior Hongji meets Shibo!" Finally, he attached his hand to his heart, took a step back, and met the other face. (Note 9)

The person who came was upright, straightened, first accepted his big blow, and then attached his hands to his heart, hugged his chest, bowed down slightly, and replied with a smile: "Since the old man was ordered to take the grain, he has been looking forward to you every day, taking care of your safe return home, and also giving an explanation to Ling Zun." Unexpectedly, you are late! ”

The little nephew thought about this crusade, and there would be a shortage of good horses in the army, so he specially went to the outside of the fortress! After a delay on the road, I hope that Shibo will forgive my sins! Liu Hongji smiled and added in a low voice.

"It's good that you can come, why take that risk in the bitter cold land outside the plug!" Li Yuan stretched out his hand and patted Liu Hongji on the shoulder, and sighed: "When we were separated, you only reached the old man's forehead, but now you are much higher than the old man." There is a way to send new branches next to the old tree, and the rotation of the old and the new is the way of heaven, so you can't be convinced. Who is the strong man who came with you, and can you introduce me to the old man? (Note 10)

"It's a friend that my nephew made on the road, surnamed Li Mingxu, and the word Zhongjian." Liu Hongji replied with a smile, turned around and beckoned to Li Xu, and ordered in a low voice: "Zhong Jian, hurry up and see Tang Gong." ”

Li Xu had already deduced from the process of Liu Hongji and the old man greeting each other that this person must be Tang Gong. Only those who are a generation higher will Liu Hongji worship each other with a big bow, and the other party is qualified to return the favor with a level lower than the big one. However, since he was a child, he had never seen an official with such a prominent status, so he couldn't help but panic for a while, and he didn't know how to meet him to be rude, so he had to stand by in a daze.

Hearing Liu Hongji's summoning at this moment, Li Xu knew that he couldn't dodge, so he walked forward and said, "Shanggu Li Zhongjian has seen Tang Gong, I wish Tang Gong good health!" ”

Tang Gong Li Yuan turned sideways and returned with his fists. Then he looked Li Xu up and down a few times, and asked with a smile: "You are from the Li family in Shanggu?" Is there any relationship with General Han Fei? ”

"Back to Tang Gong, according to the genealogy, the younger generation should be the twenty-fourth generation great-grandson of General Fei." Li Xu thought for a while and replied in a low voice. His voice sounded hoarse and sweaty from his forehead.

"Wrong, wrong!" Tang Gong Li Yuan shook his head with a smile.

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. I didn't know what was wrong, but I heard Li Yuan laugh and add: "Boy, you shouldn't come to see me with regular etiquette." You and I are originally of the same clan, according to generations, you and Jiancheng, the people of the world should be brothers! ”

"Don't meet Shibo yet!" Liu Hongji pushed Li Xu's back and ordered.

At this time, even a fool could hear the intimacy in Li Yuan's words. Li Xu smiled awkwardly, stepped forward, and saw Li Yuan again with the gift of a junior like Liu Hongji, and apologized in his mouth: "The junior is confused, I don't know that the elders of the same sect are standing in front of me, I hope Shibo will forgive me!" ”

Li Yuan didn't avoid it this time, stood up straight and accepted his big gift, bowed down and gave a flat bow, and ordered with a smile: "You don't know that we are of the same clan as each other, what is the crime." Since you are a nephew in your later life, if you need anything in the future, just tell me bluntly! ”

"Shibo has a saying, the younger generation dares to disrespect his life!" Li Xu bowed down again and thanked his seniors for taking care of him. The two laughed and recounted a few genealogies, and quickly explained each other's generations. According to the genealogy, Tang Duke Li Yuan is the seventh grandson of the former Liang Emperor Li Hui, and the Liang Emperor Li Wei is the sixteenth generation of Li Guang's descendants. Therefore, Li Yuan is the twenty-second generation descendant of Li Guang, and the twenty-third generation of Jiancheng and Shimin are the same generation as Li Xu.

After describing the genealogy, Li Yuan was relieved, took Li Xu's hand, and asked with a smile: "I didn't expect that since the two Han Dynasty, my descendants of the Li family can reproduce such a divine shot." Which hero did you learn from, can you tell the old man? ”

"The younger generation is a random archery artist, and has been taught by three or four people!" Li Xu smiled wryly and replied in a low voice. In an instant, he changed from the identity of a grass man to the junior of Tang Gong Li Yuan, which made him feel very uncomfortable. From head to toe, every pore on my body felt numb, and my legs were as heavy as lead.

"The first person to teach the younger generation of archery is surnamed Sun, Anzu!" Thinking of Sun Jiu, who treated him like his own son and nephew, Li Xu felt a burst of warmth in his heart. In a hurry, he didn't notice that Li Yuan and Jiancheng's brows were quietly wrinkled, obviously this name had given them a great shock.

"The second person who instructs the younger generation in archery is a good man of the Xia tribe, named A Silan, and the third teacher is a coppersmith who wandered from the south of the Yangtze River to outside the Saiwai, his surname is Wang, and he has always refused to tell the juniors his name, and the juniors are not easy to ask!" Li Xu looked at Tang Gong's inquiring gaze and added curtly. The coppersmith master who pointed out him the most in martial arts, but he didn't know his name, and anyone who heard this topic would think it was a big joke.

"If the surname is Wang, it must be from the Jiangnan Wang family. Your mentorship is also famous, no wonder you can reproduce your ancestors' magic skills! Li Yuan smiled and summarized for the other party, frowning just now because he heard Sun Anzu's three words, and quietly calmed down.

"Tang Gong has won the award, and it has only been the second round of the arrow competition, and the juniors have already lost to the second son!" Li Xu shook his head and replied modestly.

This sentence provoked Li Yuan to shake his head again and again: "You are too modest, the old man came first, and he has been watching you from a distance." After the first round of shooting, Shimin had already lost. If he is self-aware, where would he dare to compete with you in the second round! ”

Although it is the family style of the Li Mansion to suppress oneself and promote others, this sentence is too modest. Not only did Li Xu not even dare to say it, but Jiancheng, Shimin and Wan'er all raised their heads and were unconvinced. Especially Li Shimin, who is young and competitive, his eyes are angry. If the person who made this judgment was not his father, it is estimated that the little guy would have rushed to reason with him.

"You're not convinced, aren't you?" Li Yuan looked at Shimin's face and asked with a smile.

"In the third round, my son was convinced, and this jade should belong to Brother Zhong Jian." Li Shimin ran to Jiancheng's side, picked up the jade as a bet, and replied loudly. "In the second round, Brother Zhong Jian deliberately gave in, and his son also knew that he had lost. But in the first round, he and I both hit the bull's-eye......"

"We each have a draw and a win, and we deserve a draw!" Li Xu hurriedly waved his hand, saying that he did not dare to accept the jade that Li Shimin lost to him. Before the words fell, Tang Gong was heard to say: "But on the surface, it is true. Go and get the target and let the Father tell you why you lost in the first round! ”

Before Li Shimin could do anything, a servant had already run up to carry the target back for him. Li Yuan touched his son's forehead lovingly, bowed down, pointed to the arrow hole on the target, and asked in a low voice: "In the first round, you aimed for about three breaths before releasing the arrow, and Zhong Jian raised his hand to shoot, I don't know if what my father said is right or not?" ”

"That's true!" Li Shimin thought about it and replied in a low voice.