"So that's how it is." The emperor stroked his beard and yawned, saying, "No wonder the Tubo people are so brave to play polo. Even I can't beat them in person. These people are born to take advantage."

Polo is the most popular game in the Tang Dynasty, and of course it is only popular among the nobles. First, polo needs good horses, and for a long time, the Tang Dynasty lacked good horses. And polo collisions are fierce, and casualties are common. Ordinary people cannot afford such losses. Only powerful people can afford it. Second, polo needs excellent riding skills and requires long-term training, which is not something that ordinary people can afford.

In the palace, polo is a very popular game. Not only men like it, but women also like it. The Taiping Princess Li Lingyue was a master of polo. In the fourth year of Jinglong, Princess Jincheng married Tubo, and the Tubo people came to welcome it and held a polo competition. The Tubo people won consecutive games and were arrogant. Li Longji, who was still the king of Linzi at that time, was very unhappy and played with Yang Shen, Wu Yanxiu and other four people. It was the strongest combination of the Tang Dynasty at that time. Even so, they tried their best, but they were equally matched with the Tubo people.

It can be said that just as the Tang Dynasty's army had stepped on all sides but had never been able to conquer Tubo, the Tang Dynasty's polo team was invincible in the world and stopped the food as soon as they met Tubo. This made Li Longji, who was very competitive, always be worried, and he could not forget it even though it had been more than 40 years.

After listening to Li Zaixing's explanation, he solved a mystery. It turned out that it was not that his level was not good, nor that the Tang army was not strong, but that the special physical strength was caused by that specific region, which gave the Tubo people a great advantage in nature. If it weren't for this reason, Tubo would have been destroyed by the Tang Dynasty long ago.

Li Longji was even more curious about Li Zaixing. As for the case, after the interrogation in the middle of the night, the fact that was not complicated was clear at a glance. Whether it was Li Zaixing's confession, Princess Yongmu's complaint, or even the testimony of the Zuo Jinwu Guard, it proved that Wang Hui and his son deserved to die.

In fact, for the emperor, Wang Hui was already suspected of deceiving the emperor because the princess disappeared and was deceived. What's more, he even indulged his subordinates to harass Yang Guifei, which was even more unforgivable. Li Zaixing's life and death were not worth mentioning to him. Now that Li Zaixing knows so well about Tubo and is well versed in military tactics, he certainly would not be stingy to spare him.

With a golden mouth of the emperor, Li Zaixing was acquitted.

...

As the sky was getting light, Li Zaixing climbed up from the thick straw mat, stretched his waist, breathed for a moment, rushed twice, and then practiced his fists in prison.

The boxing wind was filled with heavy shackles, and Nan Jiyun, who was lying on the table under the central skylight, was awakened. He rubbed his eyes, looked for a moment, and immediately became energetic. He walked to Li Zaixing's room and looked carefully for a moment: "Brother Li, what kind of boxing are you doing?"

"Baji, punching the far-reaching places in the world." Li Zaixing stopped his momentum and said, "Are Brother Nan interested in fighting?"

Although Nan Jiyun's skills were itchy, he could not compete with Li Zaixing in prison. He smiled and said, "If you have a chance in the future, what's the name of the move you used just now?"

"That's the starting style, called the Liangyi pile." Li Zaixing re-practice the Liangyi pile: "This is the transformation of the pile method from hard to soft, from Baji to Tai Chi, both offense and defense."

Nan Jiyun smiled: "Brother Li can show him how he can do such a skill?"

There were also boxing skills in the martial arts of the Tang Dynasty, which is what later generations called Tang Shou. Tang Shou had the same personality as the Tang people, with great strength, strong and powerful, not fancy, and extremely lethal. It is a real practical boxing technique and has similarities with the Bajiquan used by Li Zaixing. However, empty-hand fighting was not the center of gravity of martial arts for the Tang people. The Tang Dynasty martial arts were all centered on actual combat, so of course it was impossible to punch bare hands when going into battle. The real training was mainly based on various long and short weapons and riding and shooting. The boxing technique was just like the stone-throwing lock, but it was just an auxiliary training method.

Nan Jiyun also practices boxing, and his boxing skills are also good, but compared with Li Zaixing, who specializes in boxing, his boxing skills are slightly inferior, and he has not risen to the theoretical level. What turns hard to softness, or even practices with special studs, is something that is unheard of. Nan Jiyun's most proud skill is riding and shooting, which is a spear, and his boxing skills are slightly weaker. Because of this, he was taken advantage of by Li Zaixing last night and accidentally cut off Wang Zhu.

Of course, Nan Jiyun was interested in Li Zaixing's almost magical fist and foot skills. However, advanced skills are secrets, and few people are willing to tell others. Learning martial arts secretly is even more shameful.

"If it's someone else, I will naturally not show it to others easily, but Brother Nan, it's a different matter." Li Zaixing walked to the thick wooden fence and smiled and said, "Brother Nan, how about I exchange my boxing skills for your riding and shooting skills?"

Nan Jiyun hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to answer, the general of the Zuo Jinwu Guard, Li Gonglong, walked in, followed by the envoy of the palace who had been here last night. Nan Jiyun quickly gave in. Li Gonglong looked at Li Zaixing, thought for a while, but said nothing, signaled that people would open the door, ask Li Zaixing to come out, and untied the shackles on his hands and feet.

"You are free." The messenger came up and bowed: "Your Majesty wants to see you."

Nan Jiyun was stunned. He looked at Li Gonglong and Li Gonglong curled his lips. Obviously, he was as shocked as Nan Jiyun. No matter how many reasons Li Zaixing had or how capable Li Zaixing was, he killed Wang Hui and his son and was only in prison for the middle of the night before being acquitted. This kind of thing was really incredible.

The disciples of the monk are indeed different.

With countless people's admiration, Li Zaixing walked out of the prison of Zuo Jinwu Guard with high spirits.

...

The emperor did not sleep well last night and could not hold on. When Li Zaixing arrived at Xingqing Palace, he was taking a rest. No one knew when he got up. Li Zaixing was arranged to wait in a remote courtyard. He stayed in prison for the middle of the night, and there was inevitably a smell on his body. Someone arranged for him to wash up, change into a new dress, eat a full meal, and then wait honestly.

It was not until the evening that Li Zaixing, who had been sitting for a day, waited for the emperor to receive him. He followed an eunuch through the long corridor and came to Jiaotai Hall, where he saw Li Longji, the famous Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Guifei, one of the four beauties.

The emperor was in good spirits, with a red face and not much white hair on his head. He wore a black soft-footed head similar to an ordinary person, an ochre yellow round-necked brocade shirt and a pair of black leather boots. In addition to the ochre yellow of the clothes, the only one who could represent his identity was probably the gorgeous jade belt around his waist.

Yang Guifei's outfit is relatively beautiful. She has a high bun on her head, a brocade robe on her upper body, and a colorful silk skirt on her lower body, embroidered with patterns that Li Zaixing couldn't understand. In addition to being gorgeous, her makeup is not too thick, at least within the range that Li Zaixing can accept. In Li Zaixing's opinion, Yang Guifei is of course quite good-looking, but the four beauties are obviously a bit exaggerated. It is probably boring that literati spread rumors and boast about it.

Of course, Li Zaixing didn't have much chance to look up close. He just glanced at the emperor and Yang Guifei from a distance, and was ordered by the eunuch who accompanied him to bow his head. Looking at the emperor directly was a serious crime of disrespect. He didn't want to escape the disaster, but because he looked at what he shouldn't have looked at, he was then chopped off his head in a confused manner.

Perhaps because Yang Guifei returned to the palace, the old and young couple divorced better than the newlyweds. The emperor was in a good mood and did not care about Li Zaixing's rudeness. Instead, he was amused by his clumsiness.

"Raise your head and let me see what kind of person it is, and dare to kill the third-rank censor in anger."

Li Zaixing raised his head and faced the emperor's gaze.

"Look!" a eunuch beside him shouted sternly.

"Forget it, he is a commoner and grew up with a monk in the mountains. It is inevitable that he does not understand the etiquette of the court." The emperor looked at Li Zaixing and said with a slight head: "Well, his eyes are bright, fierce but not rude, and he has the potential to be a general. Have you read a book?"

Li Zaixing shook his head: "When you go back to your Majesty, the grass-roots only know a few words and have never read a book."

"If you don't read, you don't understand the truth." The emperor shook his head: "It is not enough to have a good martial arts skills. You also need to read more books. Reading can not only make sense, but also understand the past and present affairs, and know the qualities of the highest and lowest etiquette, so that you can achieve something."

"Yes, the people of Cao must follow His Majesty's teachings, read more books, and be famous officials."

"Hahaha..." The emperor laughed, pointed at Li Zaixing, and said to Yang Guifei: "Madam, listen, this kid doesn't even understand the most basic principles, but he boasted that he wants to be a famous minister."

Concubine Yang walked over, held the emperor's arm, pursed her lips and smiled: "The young man was ignorant and fearless, and his heart was simple. He was ridiculous and cute. He wanted to be a famous minister because he was in power and was born in a prosperous era. He dared to say such things. If the world was uneasy, he could only be harsh in troubled times. Only in the prosperous era created by His Majesty, he would have the opportunity to gain a reputation among the princes."

The emperor laughed and nodded repeatedly: "Young man, please use what the imperial concubine said as a teacher, work hard and be a famous minister."

"Here." Li Zaixing responded again: "Thank you for your teachings in the imperial concubine."

Yang Guifei scolded: "Du, answer before His Majesty, you should answer "Yi", don't answer "Yu", have you heard clearly?"

Li Zaixing Khan said that he promised the emperor that he would answer "Nei" and could not answer "Nei" like ordinary people. He made two mistakes just now. Fortunately, the emperor was in a good mood, otherwise, this mistake would be enough for him to drink a pot. Concubine Yang took the initiative to remind him not to make mistakes again, which shows that he is still a good person, not a vicious woman.

It’s a pity that this woman’s life is miserable. When she thought that the Anshi Rebellion broke out in a few years, the charming and gentle Yang Guifei in front of her was about to be hanged to death on Mawei Slope, Li Zaixing suddenly felt deeply moved.

Rise and decline, honor and disgrace, really only in a moment.

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Chapter completed!