usatvline Chapter 316 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous Regent 11
Chapter 316 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous Regent 11
As soon as Shangguan Jingzhi finished speaking, the court officials stood on both sides, leaving the middle position to Leng Yuexing and Li An.
Leng Yuexing handed the imperial sword to the eunuch standing to the side and nodded slightly to Li An.
"Lord Li, please enlighten me."
Li An walked to the opposite side of Leng Yuexing and nodded in return, saying, "Excuse me!"
Immediately afterwards, he flashed forward and rushed towards Leng Yuexing!
However, Leng Yuexing was faster than him, and everyone's eyes could only catch a fleeting afterimage of Leng Yuexing.
In the blink of an eye, the two were locked in combat.
For a moment, the sounds of impact, "bang bang bang," rose and fell, deafeningly loud.
Before long, the two separated, and Li An knelt to the side, clutching his chest.
"I apologize, Lord Li," Leng Yuexing said, bowing respectfully.
Ang Lee coughed a few times, "I admit defeat because I am less skilled than others."
Li An dared not look the Left Prime Minister in the eye, knowing that the Left Prime Minister must be furious at this moment.
However, he wasn't too worried about what the Left Chancellor would do to him. After all, he was the only supporter of the Left Chancellor in the Ministry of War. At most, the Left Chancellor would give him a warning, but wouldn't dare to do anything to him.
Leng Yuexing turned to look at the Left Prime Minister, "Left Prime Minister, do you have anything else to say?"
The Left Chancellor gave Li An a disappointed look, gritted his teeth and said reluctantly, "Since Lord Leng has won, the position of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is naturally yours."
Leng Yuexing turned to look at Shangguan Jingzhi, "Your Majesty!"
Shangguan Jingzhi said loudly, "I will give you one week. Within one week, select 108 members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You may choose any of the guards in the palace."
"Your Majesty, I thank you!" Leng Yuexing said, bowing.
"I believe in your abilities, my dear minister," Shangguan Jingzhi said in a low voice, the words "my dear minister" carrying a strange tenderness.
After the court session, Leng Yuexing gave Shangguan Jingzhi a subtle nod, then turned and left the main hall. He was going to personally select candidates for the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Unexpectedly, just as Leng Yuexing turned the corner of the corridor, Li An, who was waiting there, called out to her.
"Lord Leng, I apologize for what happened today. Please forgive me." Li An said apologetically.
Leng Yuexing waved her hand, "Lord Li, you are too kind. We are each serving our own masters, and the competition is fair and square. There is no question of offending anyone."
After a moment's hesitation, Li An finally spoke, "Actually, I have always admired Lord Leng's martial arts skills and character, and I am completely convinced after today's battle."
Leng Yuexing was meeting Li An for the first time, so he naturally didn't believe what Li An said and replied with a perfunctory smile, "Lord Li, you flatter me."
This smile made Ang Lee somewhat lose his composure.
A strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart, and his face unconsciously turned red.
He pretended to cough, covering his face to hide his lapse in composure, and then said softly, "In that case, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
Li An turned and left in a hurry. Leng Yuexing watched Li An's departing figure, lost in thought.
Leng Yuexing had already suspected that Li An was one of the Left Chancellor's men, but now he was no longer so sure, as he did not see any hostility toward him in Li An's eyes.
Unable to figure out the reason, Leng Yuexing put Li An's matter aside and quickly walked towards the palace guard camp.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the guard camp was tense and solemn.
Earlier, Shangguan Jingzhi had already issued clear instructions that, apart from the guards who were carrying out daily patrols, everyone else should quickly assemble in the camp and wait for Leng Yuexing's arrival.
These guards had already heard about Leng Yuexing's duel with Li An, the Vice Minister of War, in the main hall.
They clearly realized that this person named Leng Yuexing was by no means just a pretty face, but a person with real talent and extraordinary strength.
Therefore, none of the guards present dared to underestimate Leng Yuexing in the slightest.
With steady steps and a composed demeanor, Leng Yuexing slowly stepped into the guard camp.
He looked up and saw that all the guards in the guard camp were standing solemnly. After seeing him, they all turned their attention to him.
The head of the guards hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Everyone says that Lord Leng is both a scholar and a warrior, and seeing him today, I can confirm it is true."
Leng Yuexing returned the greeting with a cupped hand, saying, "You flatter me, sir."
As the guard captain led Leng Yuexing to the front, he said, "His Majesty has already informed Lord Leng of the purpose of your visit today. He requests that Lord Leng personally select the candidates for the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
"Thank you, sir."
After Leng Yuexing stopped, she turned around and looked in the direction where the guards were.
"Hello everyone, I am Leng Yuexing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard appointed by the Emperor. I'm sure you all know the duties of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which is to be in charge of guarding the Emperor and to patrol and arrest criminals."
"Of course, I'm sure everyone knows the more detailed responsibilities without me having to go into them."
"However, you all should be familiar with the reputation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard since ancient times, so my first criterion for selecting members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is—voluntary participation!"
“I dislike forcing others the most, so those who don’t want to be Jinyiwei can take a step back, and those who want to be Jinyiwei can take a step forward.”
As Leng Yuexing's voice fell, more than half of the guards in the guard camp took a step back, while only a small number of guards stepped forward.
Just as Leng Yuexing had guessed, most of these people were not from noble families or official households.
This was exactly what Leng Yuexing wanted, since the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be dealing with these noble and official families. It would be bad if their descendants became Embroidered Uniform Guards and tipped off their families.
Therefore, Leng Yuexing nodded in satisfaction.
He then said loudly, "Very good, I see your determination."
Leng Yuexing broke off a branch from a nearby tree and then drew a large circle around the guards.
"This circle is the area I've set for you. From now on, for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, you will engage in a free-for-all. Those who can remain in this circle will be the Imperial Guards I choose."
"Now, let's begin."
As soon as Leng Yuexing finished speaking, the guards began to fight amongst themselves.
At first, they were in pairs, but then some of them chose to team up to attack another person. After half an incense stick's time, only half of the original group remained in the circle, about fifty people.
Leng Yuexing clapped her hands lightly, then clapped her hands to signal two eunuchs to bring over a table, some wooden plaques, and writing materials.
After receiving the documents, Leng Yuexing sat behind the table and personally wrote wooden plaques for the remaining fifty-odd people.
The first to step forward was Chen An, who was on good terms with the commander of the guards.
The commander of the guards originally wanted to find an opportunity to recommend Chen An to Leng Yuexing.
He never expected that Leng Yuexing would select the Imperial Guards in this way.
Chen An became a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard through his own efforts, and the commander of the guards looked at him with satisfaction.
"What's your name?" Leng Yuexing asked.
"Chen An," Chen An replied in a low voice.