Chapter 37: A Martial Competition at the Banquet (Part 2)

  The two men's weapons were not long, so the distance between them was very close as they fought, and their movements were extremely fast. Just as the short sword of one of the passersby was about to pierce Gao Yuan's chest, he suddenly raised his left arm and met the blade head-on.

  The whole field exclaimed again, could it be that Gao Yuan was confused? At this time, Li Yinghong had already closed his eyes in fright and didn't dare to look anymore.

  Xing Renjiu's heart was filled with joy, knowing that his sword had struck down, and Gao Yuan's left hand was now useless. Even if he himself was wounded by Gao Yuan, the two were still evenly matched, and he still held a great advantage. Therefore, this time he could not afford to lose the initiative again.

  Yu Nian's mind was not yet clear, and the short sword of Xing Ren Jiu had already stabbed into Gao Yuan's left arm. However, the sword tip seemed to have hit a hard object and could no longer penetrate further. Xing Ren Jiu was shocked in his heart and immediately understood that Gao Yuan must be wearing some kind of armor on his arm. No wonder he dared to use a move that would cause mutual destruction from the start, and wanted to perish together with him. Therefore, he immediately withdrew his sword and retreated.

  But at this time, the high plain's sword had already been cut off. The light of the knife flashed, and the right arm of the traveler's nine grasping swords was severed by the high plain. Immediately afterwards, the second knife of the high plain followed, cutting a long wound of nearly thirty centimeters between the chest and abdomen of the traveler's nine, with blood gushing out like a fountain. The traveler's nine let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground on his back.

  Although it was a life-and-death struggle, Gao Yuan did not take advantage of the situation to attack and take Xing Ren's life. Instead, he took a step back and said, "Prime Minister, let's send Xing Ren back for immediate medical treatment, perhaps we can still save his life."

  The knife on the plateau had indeed inflicted nine serious injuries on Traveler Nine, but it was not fatal. If rescued in time, it was still possible to save his life. However, Traveler Nine's right arm had been severed, so even if he was rescued, he would be disabled and no longer a threat.

  But what Guo Kai thought of was that he had lost another 2,000 taels of gold. In total, he had lost 3,000 taels of gold. Three thousand taels of gold! He had spent decades accumulating wealth, and now it was all gone in an instant. How many years would it take to accumulate it again? The thought made Guo Kai feel like his heart was bleeding. It was all because of these two useless things that he had lost 3,000 taels of gold in one go.

  Just then, Gao Yuan let Guo Kai rush to rescue the pedestrian, and Guo Kai suddenly exploded, pointing at the fallen pedestrian and scolding: "What's the point of saving him? This useless thing, Ben Xiang usually provides you with food and drink, golden beauties for your enjoyment. When it comes time to use you, you don't give Ben Xiang any face, causing Ben Xiang to lose 3,000 taels of gold. You deserve to die, why didn't you die earlier? Ben Xiang wouldn't have lost 3,000 taels of gold."

  At this time, the pedestrian was lying on the ground with only one breath left, but his mind was still clear. After hearing Guo Kai's words, he couldn't help feeling angry and anxious in his heart. He suddenly spat out fresh blood and died.

  At Guo Kai's seat, there was still a master Qiji Zi left, and the faces of other guests were not looking good, everyone had a feeling of sorrow.

  Gao Yuan looked at him with a mixture of pity and amusement, thinking that it was unfortunate for these people to have such a master. He intentionally teased Guo Kai, saying: "I've heard that among the three great swordsmen under your command, I've already met two of them. Since everyone is in high spirits now, I'd like to meet the third one as well. Would you be willing to engage in another match?"

  Li Mu immediately chimed in: "Yes, I'd also like to gamble with Prime Minister Xiang again. This time we'll bet 4,000 taels of gold. What do you say, Prime Minister?"

  Kuo Kai's face twitched, and he bet another 4,000 taels of gold. Even if he had the money, he would probably lose everything. Therefore, he didn't dare to make another bet with Li Mu, and naturally, they couldn't compete in martial arts either. Moreover, after Ji Qi Zi's previous performance, he had completely lost interest in Kuo Kai. Even if Kuo Kai asked Ji Qi Zi to fight alone, he would probably find excuses to decline. He wasn't afraid of death, but it wasn't worth dying for a master like Kuo Kai.

  At this time, Zhao Cong stood up and dryly said: "Mr. Gao has won two rounds in a row, which is enough to show that his martial arts skills are strong, and it's also opened our eyes wide. However, today was originally supposed to be a celebratory feast for our great victory over the Qin army, not a martial arts performance. I think we'll stop here for today, everyone can just enjoy themselves, drink freely and watch the singing and dancing."

  Zhao Wangqian also knew that Zhao Cong was trying to smooth things over, and now Gaoyuan had won two rounds in a row. If they were to compete for the third round, it's likely that Guo Kai would lose even more. No matter what, Zhao Wangqian wanted to protect Guo Kai, so he said: "The Grand Marshal is right, today was supposed to be a joyful banquet, and the martial arts competition in front of the seats was just a game. Everyone should sit down and watch the singing and dancing, and enjoy the fine wine. What do you two think?"

  Since Zhao Wang Yan has spoken, Li Mu cannot help but give face to Zhao Wang Yan. Moreover, Gao Yuan has won two consecutive games and solidified his identity as a heavenly general. He also won 3,000 taels of gold from Guo Kai, which is a great gain. Li Mu knows the principle of knowing when to stop while ahead. After all, Zhao Xuan had said that in terms of true strength, Gao Yuan was still inferior to Shi Kui, Xing Renjiu, and Ji Qizi. If they were to lose even a little in the third game, wouldn't it be a waste of their previous efforts? Therefore, Li Mu also said: "I obey the great king's orders."

  Kuo Kai also let out a sigh of relief, having finally stemmed his losses, and reluctantly sat down.

  At this time, the waiter came up again, rearranged the table and chairs, and the officials took their seats again. This time, Li Yinghong pulled Gao Yuan to sit in the seat between Li Mu and himself, and Li Mu did not object. Gao Yuan thus sat in the front row.

  The music starts again, and the dancing girl floats onto the stage, singing and dancing. The sword lights from earlier have all disappeared without a trace.

  After the banquet, King Zhao Xiang of Zhao formally issued an order to promote Gao Yuan as a senior minister, with an annual salary of 5,000 dan of grain and a fief of 300 households. He also rewarded him with 500 jin of gold and gave him a mansion in Handan city.

  The official system of the Zhao state still followed the Zhou system, divided into three categories: Shi, Daifu, and Qing. Each category was further divided into upper, middle, and lower levels. These were both official ranks and job titles, such as Prime Minister, Marshal, Great General, and Military Strategist, which were special appointments made on an ad hoc basis and not regularly established. However, after the Warring States period, each state established its own officials based on its needs, and positions like Prime Minister, Marshal, and Great General became regular posts. Other regular official positions included Imperial Censor, Court Judge, Governor, and County Magistrate. The three ranks of Shi, Daifu, and Qing were still used in various states. Generally, once an official reached the rank of Daifu, they had the qualifications to participate in court politics. For example, Gao Yuan was only in his early twenties when he suddenly became a Senior Daifu, which was not unprecedented but extremely rare.

  Although Zhao Wang gave Gao Yuan a set of official residences, it was definitely too late to move in that night. Therefore, after the dinner party, Gao Yuan still followed Li Mu and Li Xuanhong back to their residence. Sima also had his own official residence in Handan, but he hadn't seen Li Mu for a long time, so he went with them to Li Mu's residence for a casual visit.

  After everyone sat down in Li Mu's main hall, Sima Shang also patted Gao Yuan's shoulder and said: "Good kid, you really did it. Shi Kui and Xing Renjiu, those two young masters, have been rampant in Handan, but they are surprisingly skilled in swordsmanship, and no one can control them. I had two brothers under me who compared swords with them, and both died under their swords. You helped me vent my anger. But what made me the happiest was seeing Guo Kai's bitter face. I've never seen Guo Kai look like that before. I'm afraid I'll be too excited to sleep tonight."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "General Sima has spoken too much, in fact, I was lucky to win these two battles. If we were to talk about real strength, I may not be their match."

  Li Yinghong also said: "Uncle Sima, what do you say? I was almost scared to death at the time." Turning his head again to Gao Yuan: "You're too reckless, don't you know how dangerous it is? If you were a little slower, that one sword from Xing Ren would have stabbed you."

  Zhao Xuan said: "When two people fight, it's like two armies fighting. If you can't defeat the enemy with strength, then use your wits to win. Therefore, winning is just winning, without any luck involved. However, this time you have gained a great reputation in Handan, and I'm afraid there will be many people who want to challenge you in the future. Although you are now a middle-ranking official, ordinary swordsmen can be ignored, but some high-ranking swordsmen, even the king cannot refuse. And these people's martial arts skills are only above or below Shi Kui and Xing Renjiu, not below that. Therefore, you must be careful. With your current strength, it's likely to be difficult to achieve great things."

  Gao Yuan also nodded, of course he knew that these two battles were won by clever tricks rather than real strength. He thought to himself that he still needed to strengthen his own strength, but how to do it? Simply relying on oneself to practice hard would not be enough. At least he had to find an opponent stronger than himself to spar with. Gao Yuan knew that Zhao Xuan was a suitable candidate, so he said: "I'll have to ask Mr. Zhao for more guidance in the future."

  Zhao Xuan nodded and smiled, "Alright, if you don't think my marksmanship is superb, then come find me with Yinghong in the future. At least I can still be your opponent."

  Gao Yuan also heard and knew that Zhao Xuan had agreed to point out his own martial skills, so he was very happy. Moreover, it seemed that the gap between him and Zhao Xuan had been greatly reduced after tonight.

  The crowd chatted and laughed for a few more sentences before Sima Shang also stood up to bid farewell.

  Li Mu stood up to see him off. As soon as they stepped out of the main hall, Ning Qi led an imperial attendant over in a hurry. The attendant rushed forward and said urgently, "Your Highness, General Sima is also here, which is great. The Emperor has issued a decree, ordering Your Highness and General Sima to enter the palace together to meet with him. Please follow me to the palace immediately."

  Li Mu was also stunned, and he knew that if nothing big had happened, King Zhao would not have summoned him so late at night. So he said: "Your Excellency, what's going on? The king wants to summon me and General Sima into the palace together."

  The inner attendant said: "The Qin army has already attacked and broken through Xinzheng, killing King An of Han. The state of Han has been destroyed."

  Dividing line Dividing line

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