Unlike the people from the Central Plains, Li Keyong didn"t know how to submit to humiliation. He had never submitted to humiliation in his past years, including the early years of defending Yin Mountain with Li Guochang and the years of suppressing the Rebellion of Pang Xun. People in the army were very direct. They fought if they had a disagreement. Whoever won was the leader. What was more, he was a Shatuo who was ferocious and aggressive.
Fortunately, Li Keyong wasn"t an ordinary person. He came to Chang"an for a very clear purpose and he knew that he should emphasize the overall situation, so he didn"t leave immediately. Even if Wu Hongshan"s att.i.tude was weak, Li Keyong didn"t shout at him. But he was strong and upright in disposition and unwilling to lose. Although he lost face, he didn"t intend to retreat. He was thinking about how to defeat Li Ye and save his dignity.
"I"ve heard that you are outstanding among the youths of the Imperial Clan and that you have great talent in cultivation. Could I ask for your instruction?"
When Li Keyong had calmed down, he challenged Li Ye.
The request was offensive. Everyone in the hall could understand that Li Keyong had lost face in front of Li Ye, so he wanted to get revenge. In an ordinary circ.u.mstance, Li Ye could ignore his offensive request and no one could say a word.
However, the current situation was different, because the officials in the hall were on Wei Baoheng and Wu Hongshan"s side. They were unwilling to see that Li Keyong was overwhelmed by Li Ye, thus affecting the marriage of Li Keyong and Wu You. So they didn"t question and even kept talking about it to stir up trouble.
"I"ve heard that General Li is the most valiant general of the Zhenwu Army. He has already reached Level 5 of Qi-refining in his young age and he"s expected to enter the Spiritual Master Realm. He is a real genius not only in the north but also in the whole world!"
The a.s.sistant left minister of the Military Department said aloud, "Moreover, General Li has defended the border of the empire and has partic.i.p.ated in the settlement of the Rebellion of Pang Xun. He"s an experienced general on the battlefield, while Your Highness Prince An was just crowned this year. It seems to have the suspicion of bullying for General Li challenging Your Highness?"
His words seemed to blame Li Keyong"s improper action, but in fact, he spoke highly of Li Keyong. He cheered for Li Keyong, but he disparaged Li Ye with a look of a "Li Keyong is very powerful while you"re too weak."
As soon as he said this, someone understood what he meant. He immediately continued, "What do you mean, a.s.sistant minister? Do you underestimate Your Highness Prince An? You may not know that Your Highness Prince An ranked first in the official examination in Niushou Mountain. What"s more, Your Highness is the heir of Celestial Master Yuan. Everyone in Chang"an City says that Your Highness Prince An is the most talented person in Chang"an!"
Li Kerang curled his lips. "Is Prince An so powerful? I wonder who is more powerful, the most talented person in Chang"an City or the most talented person in the Zhenwu Army?"
"Zhenwu Army is an elite frontier army and General Li is a fierce general. How could Your Highness compare with General Li?"
"You"re wrong. Chang"an is the capital so that the most talented person in Chang"an is the most talented person in the whole world. How could he lose?"
Everyone was talking in the hall. It seemed that the debate was divided into two sides, but in fact, they were stirring up trouble so that Li Ye had no room to retreat.
Li Ye accepted everyone"s expression in his eyes and sneered in his heart. He knew exactly what they thought. He was indifferent to them and did not care. He turned around to ask Wu Hongshan, "What"s your opinion?"
Wu Hongshan coughed and equivocated, "Well... It"s common that young people learn from each other. We all know that you"re wise and brave, but we never have a chance to witness your performance, so we all expect that."
His t.i.tle of Grand Prince made Wu Hongshan very pa.s.sive all the time, although Wu Hongshan was Li Ye"s elder, actually. So it was reasonable for Wu Hongshan to say a "young people learn from each other" and he had a pleasure of taking back the initiative.
"Father! It isn"t long after Elder Brother Ye has achieved Qi-refining stage, how could... " Wu You was unhappy and dissuaded immediately.
"Shut up and go back?!" Wu Hongshan shouted at her angrily.
Because Wu You was too partial to Li Ye, Li Keyong was in a delicate situation and he was very angry. If the marriage failed, Wu Hongshan would lose the support of the Zhenwu Army and he couldn"t report to Wei Baoheng.
Wu You was so angry that she stamped her feet, almost losing control of her anger.
Li Ye calmed her down and looked at Li Keyong. He said calmly, "Since you have issued an invitation, I have no intention of refusing you. In this case, I would like to exchange fighting skills with you, but... what are the stakes?"
"Your Highness has the final say."
Li Keyong was happy since Li Ye agreed with him.
He knew his own power clearly. There were few masters of Level 5 Qi-refining within the age of thirty in the whole world. Otherwise, he would not have been called the most talented person in the empire. Moreover, he had rich experience on the battlefield and fighting against enemies, so he didn"t worry about fighting against Li Ye.
In his view, as long as Li Ye agreed to fight, he had already won.
Li Ye smiled again. "I"ve heard that you came to Chang"an this time is to propose to d.u.c.h.ess of Li?"
Upon hearing this, everyone took a deep breath. Apparently, they could predict what Li Ye was going to ask for.
Li Keyong looked at Li Ye severely. "What do you mean?"
Li Ye smiled. "Coincidentally, I have also been admiring d.u.c.h.ess of Li for a long time."
He cupped his hands towards Wu Hongshan as he said this. "Please don"t think I"m rude. d.u.c.h.ess of Li is an excellent girl and only a hero can match her. So I think that if General Li loses today, their marriage won"t need to mention again."
Upon hearing this, Wu You"s body shook slightly and she was overwhelmed by happiness. She had grown up with Li Ye together, but it was the first time for him to say those words so directly.
Wu Hongshan"s expression changed. "Your Highness, you..."
Li Ye didn"t wait for Wu Hongshan"s agreement and looked at Li Keyong directly. "General Li, what do you think?"
Li Keyong was deep in thought. It was for the marriage that he came to Chang"an. The marriage was so important that it related to the future of the Zhenwu Army. Li Ye took this as a gamble, so he needed to weigh Li Ye"s suggestion.
Li Ye was aware of Li Keyong"s hesitation, so he said with a smile, "It"s said that you"re expected to enter the Foundation-building Stage and that you"re an outstanding hero. You charged forward on the battlefield and you were invincible. So why are you afraid before the fight at the moment?"
"Okay, I agree!" Li Keyong didn"t hesitate to answer.
He wasn"t goaded by Li Ye, but he didn"t think that Li Ye could win.
How could a pampered Grand Prince win?
If Li Keyong had no confidence, he couldn"t be called a valiant general. It wasn"t his style to be afraid before the fight on the battlefield.
"Okay, please, general."
After a while, everyone came to the courtyard from the hall and stood in the surrounding corridors, while Li Ye and Li Keyong had already stood in the center of the courtyard.
Li Kerang laughed. "I have thought that I have to submit to today"s humiliation in the street. I don"t expect that Prince An would ask for trouble and dare to fight with my elder brother! My elder brother would beat him to death!"
The a.s.sistant left minister, who stood next to Li Kerang, also laughed. "I know exactly General Li"s strength. The contest is a breeze for him to win. A few years ago, I went on an expedition with the army during the suppression of the Rebellion of Pang Xun. I remembered clearly that at that time, General Li had rushed into the midst of the enemies as if he had entered a place without anyone."
"Although Prince An has got the inheritance of Celestial Master Yuan, it isn"t long after he has started to cultivate. He has no chance of winning this contest. I really don"t know why he would accept the challenge of General Li."
"It"s for the sake of his dignity. We all know the relationship between Prince An and d.u.c.h.ess of Li. Facing the challenge of General Li, Prince An definitely cannot be a weakling. But he isn"t aware that it will only be worse since he is so stubborn."
"After all, he is young and not mature!"
Li Keyong was satisfied with their discussion, but he didn"t show his arrogance. He said to Li Ye calmly, "Your Highness, please."
The calmer he was, the more confidence he had.
Li Ye glanced at Wu You and Shangguan Qingcheng at the side and made them feel at ease with a smile. And then he said to Li Keyong, "General Li, you"re a guest, so you don"t need to be courteous."
"Okay!" Li Keyong didn"t hesitate and he took a deep breath into his Elixir Field. He disappeared in place, and then appeared in front of Li Ye instantly and punched at Li Ye"s face.
His punch seemed ordinary, just in a simple and direct way. But in fact, his cultivation was so high that any of his moves contained a variety of changes. The wind drove by his fist distorted the air around. His punch was obviously powerful.
Li Keyong was a member of the army and he never did things sloppily. He had used 70% to 80% of his cultivation for his punch in the guarantee that Li Ye could not dodge and could only fight him directly. At the same time, he was ready to crush Li Ye by the force of his cultivation. It was obvious that he wanted to discredit Li Ye and show his real power.
Li Ye didn"t move at all and had no intention to dodge. He punched out directly.
Li Keyong was happy as he saw Li Ye was so arrogant. He thought that Li Ye was a reckless person and that Li Ye had to suffer a failure this time.
The two punches. .h.i.t together directly. Spiritual Qi collided between the two punches, causing waves in the air, and blew their long hair backward.
Li Ye"s expression didn"t change, while Li Keyong"s expression changed slightly. Power from Li Ye"s punch made Li Keyong"s fist numb and his arm tremble. He was almost beaten backward. Obviously, Li Ye"s cultivation power was stronger than his!
Li Ye did not move at all while Li Keyong stepped backward. Li Keyong was shocked and he thought how could it be possible?
People on the side of the courtyard let out a cry of surprise as they saw this scene. All of them were cultivators so they could know that Li Ye had occupied the absolute upper hand in the fight.
Upon hearing the exclamation, Li Keyong"s face darkened. He had intended to show Li Ye his real power but he was beaten backward in the end. He felt awful about that.
"General Li, why don"t you try your best when you face enemies?" Li Ye asked easily, but it was full of sarcasm and especially harsh as Li Keyong heard of it.
"Once again!" Li Keyong no longer dared to underestimate Li Ye and have reservations. He mobilized all his cultivation power. He moved forward again and punched Li Ye one after another.