Murong Xue's hesitant and embarrassed expression fell into Xie Guang's eyes, which made this Taifu Master couldn't help but feel proud in his heart.

Before this, he and his subordinates had repeatedly discussed how to deal with Murong Xue, the crown prince Zhan Shi from the imperial capital.

According to the meaning of Ye Rongcheng and other generals of the Xuanjia Army, they either didn't bother to pay attention, or they sent troops to rob and kill them halfway, and they were all over.

However, Lao Jianhua did not agree with such an approach.

There are two reasons for Lao Jianhua for this: First, the relationship between Murong Xue and the crown prince is very delicate. According to Di Xian's recollections, when he was in the imperial capital Mingdemen, Li Bing and Murong Xue had a few simple conversations, and they actually involved the late Nian Jinsong, and before he completely understood the ins and outs of the matter, he took the liberty of killing Murong Xue, and the reaction of the crown prince Li Bing was really unpredictable.

If it's not good, this will once again intensify the contradiction between Donggong and Taifu.

Second, you can't be too lazy to ignore Murong Xue and let it go. Although this person's rank and position are not high, his identity is very special. As a minister sent by the imperial court, Murong Xue obviously came to divide the prince's camp. Especially for Taifu Xie Guang, as long as he provokes a little, it can have a huge counterproductive effect and directly interfere with Xie Guang's plan.

Therefore, do not act hastily.

According to Lao Jianhua's analysis, the imperial capital appointed the crown prince Zhan Shi to an important position in the Eastern Palace at this time, and there was another purpose, which was to react to his appointment as the crown prince's horse washer, in order to compete with Xie Guang's Xuanjia military system for the prince's trust and dependence.

In this case, it is better to attack the heart.

Murong Xue came to take up his post, but the Taifu Mansion and the Xuanjia Legion did not move, and only Lao Jianhua sent people to secretly follow and monitor all the way. When Murong Xue came to Luoyi, Di Xian led the crowd to welcome guests at the city gate, Xie Guang generously presented the mansion, and also set up a feast to wash the dust for Lord Zhan Shi.

The purpose of all kinds of arrangements is to leave two impressions in the heart of the crown prince Li Bing.

First, Xie Guang is not narrow-minded, but he is bright and upright, and he is quite tolerant. Even if Li Bing doesn't think that Xie Guang is sincere, at least it shows that Xie Guang knows how to take care of the overall situation, and he doesn't want to completely mess with the imperial capital so that it makes the prince embarrassed;

Second, Lao Jianhua hoped that through these arrangements, Li Bing would feel that Murong Xue was greedy for vanity and wealth, and was not the object of deliberate full trust, and then planted the seeds of fear in his heart.

At this time, the challenge of martial arts at the banquet is to create another impression.

Shan Tingxian, the squire of the Yellow Gate, is the illegitimate son of the Lingnan general Shan Cong. Because he was not allowed in the family court, he visited martial arts masters since he was a child, practiced his skills hard, and after completing his studies, he became the deputy leader of the Yellow River Gang, the largest gang in the world.

Lao Jianhua secretly recruited Shan Tingxian to his command through the foundation of the previous Reverse Scale Division, and personally placed him next to the prince.

Shan Tingxian's martial arts are both internal and external, and his skills are above Murong Xue. If he, who is also an official of the East Palace, can defeat Murong Xue in the banquet competition, it can also make the prince feel that Murong Xue's ability is mediocre and difficult to take on important responsibilities.

After all, Li Bing is a young man, and the most common mistake that young people make is to easily evaluate a person based on simple superficial phenomena.

Under this kind of hasty evaluation, as long as Lao Jianhua uses a little means, fanning the flames on the side, and gradually deepening Li Bing's stereotype of Murong Xue, then it will be difficult for this Lord Zhan sent by the imperial capital to play any role.

Therefore, the "salute first and then soldier" planned by Lao Jianhua was gradually staged, in his words: focusing on Murong Xue, but attacking Li Bing's heart.

At this moment, Murong Xue did not completely guess Lao Jianhua's plan, he was more concerned about the problem at hand.

Judging from the current situation, this contest really can't be avoided: if you don't dare to fight, let alone that you can't get off the stage, and spreading it will also damage the face of the emperor and the tiger and leopard rider. But accepting the challenge, the opponent in front of you is not simple.

Shan Tingxian casually went to the hall to stop, and he had a feeling of stopping at Yuezhi, quite a grandmaster's style.

Murong Xue's mind changed sharply, and after thinking about it secretly, she got up and said, "Since you adults have this Yaxing, then you will be ugly in the future, and please ask Brother Shan for advice." But ......"

He looked at Xie Guang, who was smiling and silent, and continued: "However, as Lord Taifu said, I was born in the army, and most of the skills I learned were tricks to go into battle to kill the enemy, so I still hope that Taifu will approve and let me use weapons with my single brother." ”

Xie Guang was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then happily agreed: "Xie is also a soldier, and Brother Murong's temperament is very much in line with me. Come on, bring a wooden sword! ”

The attendant standing next to him hurriedly agreed, and soon took two heavy wooden swords and handed them to the two. This kind of equipment is the equipment of the daily training of the Shengtang army, and it is not very unusual in the Taifu Mansion.

Shan Tingxian took the wooden sword, weighed it in his hand, and secretly rejoiced in his heart: This weapon is hard and heavy, if it is swept on Murong Xue's legs, he will not be able to get off the bed for a month!

Murong Xue took advantage of everyone's inattention, picked up a small thing from the table, and secretly put it on his waist, then he turned around and left the desk, walked to the center of the hall, and held a sword against Shan Tingxian.

"Okay-" Xie Guang smiled, and then gently tapped the copper wine bottle with a jade chopstick: "The competition begins!" ”

As Xie Guang started, Shan Tingxian immediately stepped forward, moved a distance of nearly two zhang, and slashed Murong Xue with a sword. Seeing this, Murong Xue retreated, quickly dodging the opponent's powerful sword, and was about to fight back with a backhand. Unexpectedly, Shan Tingxian was just a false move just now, and after successfully forcing Murong Xue back, he immediately approached two steps and swept with a horizontal sword.

Hearing only the sound of the moment, Murong Xue held the sword in both hands, desperately resisting the strong attack from the side, and at the same time felt that her arms were sore.

He had fully estimated the strength of his opponent in advance, but he still underestimated Shan Tingxian. The opponent is not only fast and flexible, but also has extremely domineering internal strength.

Seeing that she had lost the opportunity, Murong Xue couldn't help but take a few more steps back, planning to use the distance to regroup her defense. However, Shan Tingxian was unforgiving, as soon as Murong Xue retreated, he rushed to the front and attacked more than a dozen swords in a row.

Murong Xue visibly fell into passivity with the naked eye, resisting in embarrassment, and couldn't stop retreating under her feet. Fortunately, his body is still quite sensitive, and he was almost swept by the opponent's wooden sword several times, and the scene was thrilling.

However, if he continues to be so passive, I'm afraid he won't last long.

More than 20 rounds passed in a blink of an eye, Murong Xue had already shown his defeat, and in desperation, he was determined to take a risk, and after struggling to block Shan Tingxian's killing sword, he lowered his head and crashed into the other party's arms.

When Shan Tingxian saw that Murong Xue was going to fight in close quarters, he guessed that the other party was suddenly ill and rushed to the hospital, hoping to change to a lose-lose draw in the case of disadvantage. But at this moment, he has firmly gained the upper hand and taken the initiative, how can he give Murong Xue such an opportunity? Shan Tingxian shouted, "It's a good time!" At the same time, he retracted the wooden sword that had already been swung out like lightning, changed from a forward stab to a downward split, and slashed straight towards Murong Xue's head and neck.

Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, who were watching the battle from the side, couldn't help but let out a soft cry when they saw this.

Although both sides of the competition are wooden swords, for a master of Shan Tingxian's level, even if he takes a branch, he can still take people's lives. If he really let the heavy wooden sword used in military training hit Murong Xue's back of the head, it would be enough to kill him on the spot.

Accidentally injuring Murong Zhan of the East Palace would be a big deal, but if he directly killed the representative of the imperial capital, the trouble behind would be incalculable.

However, just when Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua were stunned, Murong Xue, who was worried about her life, suddenly changed her moves, and her body that was rushing forward suddenly froze, followed by a neat somersault, which was able to avoid Shan Tingxian's sword blade, and jumped over the top of the opponent's head and backwards.

This strange move greatly exceeded Shan Tingxian's expectations. He never expected that Murong Xue was so good at light skills, not only successfully avoiding his own attack, but also taking the opportunity to flash to the empty place behind him.

However, after all, Shan Tingxian is also a first-class master in the rivers and lakes, and he is not chaotic in the face of the changes on the field, and immediately uses his internal force, turning his body gently and skillfully, and at the same time raising his sword to guard against Murong Xue's counterattack.

Who would have expected that after Murong Xue landed, he did not immediately attack Shan Tingxian from behind, but as if the force he used when he jumped just now was too fierce, he couldn't restrain his steps at this time, and staggered forward, and opened the distance between him and Shan Tingxian in a blink of an eye.

As soon as Shan Tingxian turned around, he happened to see Murong Xue with his back to him, and his footing was unstable and staggered. This embarrassment, how could he let it go, he hurriedly lifted his breath and lightened his body, and chased after him like a shadow, preparing to injure Murong Xue with a sword from behind, ending this competition perfectly.

It can be said that just as Shan Tingxian was chasing closer and closer, Murong Xue suddenly threw away the wooden sword in his hand, followed by a lunge to stabilize his legs and feet, and quickly turned around.

At this moment, a delicate slingshot suddenly appeared in his hand.

Whoosh - smack!

Shan Tingxian, who was speeding forward, suddenly felt a flower in front of him, and immediately felt a slight pain in his forehead.

Then, a stream of cold liquid slowly flowed down the bridge of his nose from the door of his head.

Shan Tingxian didn't know what the situation was in front of him at all, so he subconsciously stopped and stood on the spot.

Murong Xue slowly stood up, arched her hand and said loudly: "Brother Shan's martial arts are strong, and he has conceded." ”

Shan Tingxian, who looked confused, came back to his senses, looked at the slingshot in Murong Xue's hand, and reached out to touch his forehead. He was shocked to find that the cold liquid was not blood, but a transparent state.

"I'm sorry, Master Shan," Murong Xue smiled slightly, glanced at Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, who were also a little dazed, and continued to say calmly: "What hit you just now was just a grape. ”