NCCnovel Chapter 324 It was all because of a slip of the tongue
Chapter 324 It was all because of a slip of the tongue
"No need to apologize!"
Zhao Xuan couldn't bear to see Gu Zhanghua being bullied in front of her, and she gave Yang Zilan a cold look.
Looks like I didn't scare him enough when he was a kid! After all these years, this brat has forgotten how tough his mother is!
Zhao Xuan cracked her knuckles and made a slight cracking sound. Under Gu Zhanghua's surprised gaze, she walked straight up to Yang Zilan and suddenly grabbed one of Yang Zilan's arms.
"Go away!"
Zhao Xuan gave a light shout and immediately threw Yang Zilan over her shoulder!
Fortunately, Yang Zilan was no mere showman; she possessed real skills. After a slight lapse in concentration, she immediately entered a combat-ready state. Although she wasn't thrown flat on her back, she managed a clumsy somersault to regain her balance.
"You attacked from behind! That doesn't count! Let's try again!"
Unable to save face, Yang Zilan roared at Zhao Xuan while rolling up her sleeves, ready to fight her.
"Bring it on! Do you think I'm afraid of you? You've been my defeated foe since we were kids!"
Zhao Xuan showed no weakness, puffing out her chest, raising her head, and glaring at Yang Zilan with disdain.
Gu Zhanghua realized that Zhao Xuan's anger stemmed from him, so he hurriedly grabbed Zhao Xuan's arm and tried to mediate, just like when they were children.
"Alright, alright, Sister Xuan, we adults are magnanimous, let's not stoop to his level!"
Yang Liuming raised his hand and slapped Yang Zilan on the head again, making Yang Zilan's head shake up and down twice.
"You brat! Behave yourself! How dare you challenge the Princess Consort?"
Seeing that a good show was about to end before it even started, the onlookers decided to quit!
I've heard that the Princess Consort can fly, is highly skilled in martial arts, and is righteous, but I've never seen her in person. I've only heard that Yang Zilan was the best in the martial arts examination, but I've never seen him make a move. How could I let such a good opportunity slip by?
Everyone surrounded the two, clapping and cheering excitedly!
"One more! One more! One more!"
What everyone really wanted to shout was: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
However, with two princes and a prime minister present, they had to express their feelings in a roundabout way.
Now, the two people in the spotlight were caught in a dilemma, unable to back down even if they wanted to. For some reason, Yang Liuming stopped saying anything and instead retreated to Gu Jiancheng's side, looking thoughtfully at the two people in the center of the field.
Zhao Xuan gave Gu Zhanghua a reassuring look.
Gu Zhanghua silently released his grip on Zhao Xuan's arm, thinking to himself, "I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about Yang Zilan. It's very humiliating and embarrassing for a grown man to be unable to beat you, okay?"
Unexpectedly, Yang Zilan said something to Zhao Xuan in a cheeky manner.
"A good man doesn't fight with a woman! I'll give you three moves!"
Zhao Xuan was so angry she laughed.
"You still want to fight me even after I give you three moves? You said it yourself, you're no good man!"
Zhao Xuan had never lost a verbal battle since childhood, and she suddenly felt very excited, as if she had rediscovered the feeling of beating people up when she fought with Yang Zilan when they were young.
Zhao Xuan squinted at Yang Zilan across from her. "Kid, seeing you feels really familiar!"
Yang Zilan learned real, hard-earned skills, and was most skilled with a spear. He had also received instruction from Qin Shao and was first-rate in horsemanship and archery. But now he was left with nothing but his bare hands.
How could Zhao Xuan possibly confront him head-on? Her specialty was light-footed kung fu.
Zhao Xuan fluttered around Yang Zilan like a butterfly, and would suddenly throw a punch at her, then immediately retreat to a safe distance from her, whether she hit her or not.
Unfortunately, despite her formidable martial arts skills, Yang Zilan was helpless against the slippery Zhao Xuan and could only resort to various defensive stances to avoid being hit by her.
Zhao Xuan continued to shout and yell as she fought.
"You dare look down on my fifth son!"
"So you still want to punch my little Wu to the ground!"
Zhao Xuan finally landed a punch on Yang Zilan's chest, and couldn't help but gasp. Her pectoral muscles were incredibly hard and resilient; Zhao Xuan's hand even hurt a little.
However, she hit the target and raised an eyebrow at Yang Zilan triumphantly.
Gu Jiancheng was watching the game and kindly reminded Yang Liuming, who was standing next to him.
"Lord Yang, have you thought this through? Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, and Zilan is your only child. I don't mean to say anything unlucky, but..."
Gu Jiancheng left it at that.
Yang Liuming happened to see Yang Zilan being beaten, and his lips twitched.
"Your Highness, I originally thought that since you, as the Prince of Cheng, could personally lead troops to the front lines, what did I have to worry about? But now it seems that with his skills, won't he cause you trouble?"
As for Yang Liuming, he had his own considerations regarding whether his son won or lost.
Winning is of course great; who wouldn't want to win?
But there are advantages to losing. Perhaps the son will realize that he is not as skilled as others and give up the idea of going to the battlefield.
Prince Cheng is right. He only has one son. If he hadn't really been unable to persuade him otherwise, he wouldn't have been so noble as to send his son to the army.
At this moment, Yang Zilan was angered by Zhao Xuan's opportunistic fighting style. She deliberately exposed an opening and saw Zhao Xuan throw a punch at her face. She immediately squatted down and threw a punch at Zhao Xuan's abdomen.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed her fist. Yang Zilan looked up and saw Gu Jiancheng smiling at her.
Zhao Xuan stepped back two paces and clapped her hands.
"I've already stood up for my little one, I'm not fighting anymore!"
"Zhao Xuan, why are you getting more and more petty as you get older! I was just joking with Xiao Wu!"
Yang Zilan realized that she had made a slip of the tongue and, taking advantage of the way Gu Jiancheng had given her, yelled at Zhao Xuan, which was a roundabout way of apologizing and thus letting the matter drop.
Gu Jiancheng released Yang Zilan and showered her with praise.
"Zilan, my fifth sister-in-law's lightness skill isn't very effective on a battlefield with thousands of troops. We still need to fight a real battle! I have faith in you!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness!"
Yang Zilan chuckled foolishly and turned to look at Yang Liuming.
"Father, I just drew with Zhao Xuan, I didn't lose!"
You have quite the nerve! Don't you all see whether you've lost or not? His Highness Prince Cheng was just giving you face.
Yang Liuming ignored Yang Zilan and said to Gu Jiancheng:
"Your Highness, do you think you can accept him? Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. If I don't agree, he will definitely run away from home and go to Fengcheng to find you!"
Yang Zilan was dumbfounded.
"Huh? Father! You could have guessed that?"
"Do I need to guess your little scheme? Your mother said she didn't agree, and look how busy you've been these past two days. You even hid a few steamed buns in the bundle under the bed?"
Yang Liuming showed no mercy to his son and directly exposed the truth.
Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this.
Zhao Xuan stepped forward and patted Yang Zilan's shoulder hard.
"How old are you? Look at how little you know. I used to hide steamed buns when I was six!"
"I'm thinking that we absolutely can't let eating or sleeping interfere with our journey; we have to keep going non-stop to catch up with the army as soon as possible!"
Yang Zilan, her face flushed red, tried to explain herself.
"Did you only hide steamed buns? Did you hide water?"
Gu Zhanghua winked at Yang Zilan.
Yang Zilan suddenly realized.
"Oh right, we also need to bring a water bag! How could I forget?"
Yang Liuming sighed and rubbed his forehead as he listened to his son being led astray by Gu Zhanghua.
"Now that you've officially enlisted, you don't need to run away from home to catch up with the main force anymore. What are you hiding for?!"
Yang Zilan paused for a moment, then grinned.
"Father is wise!"
The onlookers burst into laughter again.
Zhao Xuan whispered to Gu Zhanghua.
"Why is Yang Zilan still the same as when she was a child? She hasn't grown up at all, and she's still acting silly?"
“He’s always been this straightforward,” Gu Zhanghua said, looking at Yang Zilan with some envy. “He’s even been to the battlefield, how can you say he hasn’t made any progress?”
Zhao Xuan glanced at Gu Zhanghua, sensing that there was something more to his words.