Chapter Fourteen: True and False Carvings

  The once noisy imperial garden suddenly fell silent, the ministers' drinks stuck in their throats, unable to swallow or spit out. How could this prince be knocked flying with just one punch? And Li Yu hadn't even drawn his sword! If they laughed out loud, it would be like slapping the emperor's face, but they didn't laugh. They were so stifled that they pinched their own thighs, wanting to laugh but also in pain, complex expressions suddenly appearing on each minister's face, just like a colorful palette.

  Ziyan's eyes widened, her mouth slightly ajar, and the surprise in her heart was no less than that of the ministers present. She knew Zi Ruoye's true nature, thinking that Ruoye would at least put on a slightly weaker front than Li Yu, but she didn't expect this useless person to be so thoroughly defeated.

  Liu Qingyou's eyes widened slightly in disbelief, and his gaze flickered with a hint of confusion. Although he couldn't surpass him, he wouldn't be knocked flying by a single punch either - that person's martial arts skills were superior to his own!

  Li Yu looked at the Zi Ruoye who had fallen to the ground in a standard dog-eating-shit posture, with a hint of disdain in his voice, "Your Highness, I didn't expect that my fist would be so deeply loved by Your Highness."

  "Hehe... yeah, yeah." Zǐ Ruò Yè struggled to get up, her face slightly pale, and forced a laugh. If she hadn't used her internal energy to protect herself, that punch would have kept her in bed for several days.

  Zi Ruoye's gray-headed and dusty face looked very comical, her bun slightly tilted, and her face also had some dust on it. Her purple robe was also covered with a lot of dust from the previous slip, looking extremely comical.

  "Then... let's continue our sparring, Your Highness." In an instant, he drew out his sword, its tip gleaming with a sharp edge as it pointed at Ziyue Ye. "Your Highness, please draw your sword as well."

  "This... Vice General Li, isn't that enough to have crossed swords?" She had just been thrown down like that, but it wasn't something that could be let go with just a nod. This Li Yu thought she still hadn't lost enough face, yet he still picked up his sword and said shakily.

  All the ministers saw that Ziyue Ye couldn't even hold his sword steadily, and they looked at him speechlessly. They also saw that the prince's legs were trembling!

  "It's the final round!" With that, Li Yu swung her treasured sword, bringing with it a sharp and fierce sword aura as she attacked Zi Yue. This time, she was going to teach this ignorant prince a lesson!

  In the half-drunken, half-awake eyes, a clear light flashed for an instant, and then they were filled with panic as they stared at the sword tip. The ministers also held their breaths - could it be that Li Yu was thinking of killing the prince?!

  Only to hear Zi Ruoye exclaim, the sword in her hand fell to the ground, barely avoiding the blade. "Ahh! So scary! General Li, I concede! I concede!"

  Zi Ruoye crawled to the other side of the stage, shouting loudly in terror, even Zi Yanran heard the sound of conceding defeat, twitched at the corner of her mouth, this way of conceding... also didn't reach its extreme.

  On the other hand, Liu Chengxiang couldn't help but twitch his mouth, and it was indeed embarrassing. Liu Qing's beautiful eyes were filled with anger, but it was unclear whether she was angry at Zi Ruoye's incompetence or Li Yu's aggressive behavior.

  Every man wants to marry a good man, who doesn't want to marry a real good man, for himself and for his family... After this time, everyone will know that the person Liu Qingyou is going to marry is so unbearable, he can even feel the pitying eyes and ridicule of others in the future! What makes him even more sad is that this marriage may make it difficult for his mother's position in the court in the future. He stared at Zi Ruoye, who was still on the ground and hadn't gotten up yet, with a gaze that was almost full of tears, being choked with anger.

  "Prince, today we were just sparring, get up quickly." Li Yu looked at Ziyue Ye as if she wanted to see through her bones. How could someone who didn't understand martial arts dodge that sword? Looking at Ziyue Ye still trembling, even her lip color was slightly pale, and her eyes narrowed, probably because she had narrowly escaped.

  "Hehe, yeah, just sparring. Just sparring." Ziyueye wiped the nonexistent sweat from her forehead, her tone carrying a hint of nervousness. Perhaps it was because Liuying's gaze was too intense, but when Ziyueye turned around, she saw his eyes burning with an intensity that made her feel like he wanted to bore holes into her skin. Yet, Ziyueye smiled slyly and lightly winked at Liuying, but everyone's attention was focused on Li Yu, so no one noticed Ziyueye's small action.

  The small mouth opened slightly, and Liu Qingyou suddenly understood and glared at Zi Ruoye with hatred. This person had actually deceived everyone!

  In his heart, he was slightly surprised and curious about what level of martial arts skills Zi Ruoye had actually achieved.

  "Good! You are indeed worthy of being my successor!" Ziyuan said with great praise, lightly applauding. The ministers saw Ziyuan applaud and hurriedly followed suit.

  "This is just the king's concession." Li Yu said with a fist, holding the treasure sword and walking down from the stage. The ministers saw Li Yu step down and hurriedly walked forward to praise his swordsmanship as fierce and his technique as exquisite.

  Zi Ruoye gently rubbed her belly, glanced at Zi Yanran sitting on top, with a faint expression that carried the threat of settling accounts after autumn. She walked back to her seat in three steps, sat down and picked up her wine cup to drink. The Minister of Justice, who was sitting beside her, slightly turned his head and asked, "Is the king still well?"

  The Minister of Justice, perhaps because she has been in charge of the Ministry of Justice for many years, is inevitably rigid and unfeeling. Many cases have been solved smoothly under her hand, even overturned. This time, she didn't bring her own son, just attending the banquet as a formality. She doesn't like this kind of arranged marriage, she and her husband met on the Qixi Festival, so she hopes her son can find someone he likes.

  "This king will drink some wine to calm down. Minister of Justice, why don't you go and chat with the generals?" She found that the Minister of Justice sitting next to her had been sitting for almost the entire banquet, except for a few polite words with the person next to him, the rest of the time was spent in a state of "eyes watching nose, nose watching heart".

  "The subordinate officer won't speak." She also picked up her wine cup and took a sip, she was never a talkative person, the criminal law could be said to be a set of rules, but when it came to flattering words, she really didn't have much talent.

  "But just now, Li Yu was really ruthless." He thought that the Minister of Justice would not be moved by Ziyue Ye's words, but he was suddenly frightened by her sentence, and the wine card in his throat coughed again.

  Minister of Justice, can you please not speak suddenly... it's scary.

  The Minister of Justice did not expect that his words would have such a great destructive power, and he solemnly said to Purple Leaf, "His Royal Highness should take care of his body."

  "This king's, will's." She awkwardly smiled, thinking of taking care, today was really a tiring day. Looking at the banquet where the music had started again, Zi Ruoye lazily narrowed her eyes, praying for it to end soon. Her lazy gaze unintentionally fell on Liu Qingyou, finding that he was indeed staring at Li Yu without blinking, his infatuated gaze unchanged.

  She gave Ziyuanran a deep and mysterious look, still not understanding why Ziyuanran insisted that she marry Liu Qingyu. Was it for power? For wealth? Or was it for something else... Perhaps the thoughts of emperors have always been as deep as the ocean, but she didn't bother to investigate further. In any case, as long as she wasn't the bride, everything would be fine.

  Ziyan sat at the top, her expression unchanged, as she accepted two faint glances from Ziruo Ye. Her eyes held a hint of regret, thinking that Liu Qingyu would rush out, but he was more tolerant than expected. When looking at Li Yu, however, there was a subtle anger in her gaze, and she had clearly seen that kick.

  It was always at the end of the banquet, when the emperor's feast was about to disperse, that the ministers would bid farewell and hurry home. Today's events were certainly enough for them to savor for a long time. But Li Yu found Zi Ruoye again as he left, saying they should spar again next time they had a chance. The result left Zi Ruoye speechless - this sparring session had almost broken her ribs; the next one would probably break her skull.

  But the first step was achieved... The effect was also good, Zi Ruoye sat in the carriage, with hot wine beside her, emitting a faint light smoke, filling the carriage with a strong wine aroma, as if sitting in the carriage would make people feel slightly drunk.

  The horse carriage suddenly stopped, and a voice came from outside, "Your Highness, there is someone blocking the way ahead." The sky had already darkened slightly, she couldn't see clearly who the person was, just as she was about to shout loudly, she was interrupted by Zi Ruoye.

  Zi Ruoye lifted the curtain of her carriage and saw Liu Qingyou standing in front of it, looking like he had come specifically to block her way. He hadn't even changed his clothes, still wearing the same servant's attire. She felt annoyed that Liu Changxiao hadn't noticed anything. Seeing the young servant about to chase him away, she spoke up, "Let him in."

  The little servant looked at the mysterious person, but still got off the carriage and lifted the curtain to invite Liu Qingyou in. Just as a gust of wind blew by, the little servant hadn't even reacted when there was no one in front of him anymore. It turned out that he was skilled in martial arts! He put down the curtain and continued driving the carriage.

  Digression

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