Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 50 Li Zhi's Reward

After the hunt, the first thing to do is not to count the number of prey, but to send people to the forest to check the prey to prevent false reports.

To be fair, the Tang Dynasty usually requires each participating country to send one person to accompany the team for inspection.

Li Zhi sent several royal family members, including King Li Zhen of Yue, and asked them to bring people from the five countries to the forest to inspect the prey.

He also asked Xue Rengui, Qibi Heli and others to go to the tent to rest.

This hunting was for the honor of the country, and everyone was fighting bravely. Some fought too hard and were almost exhausted, such as Cheng Mingzhen, who was almost fainted as soon as he entered the tent because of his old age.

At this time, he didn't know how many people were hunting. He only saw Qibi Heli limping and looking pale. He asked hurriedly, "Prince Consort, are you feeling unwell today?"

Qibi Heli said with a dark face, "I raised a leopard that appeared out of nowhere and attacked Nai Gong. Although I killed the beast, I broke my leg. Later, His Majesty did not allow me to hunt again."

Cheng Mingzhen was surprised and asked, "How many did you hunt?"

Qibi Heli said: "Including the leopard, there are only twenty-five. How about you?"

Cheng Mingzhen said in a deep voice: "Thirty-six."

Zheng Rentai said: "I am not as good as you. I only hunted thirty-four."

Cheng Mingzhen said, "I don't know how many prey those foreigners have hunted. This time, I'm afraid we'll lose."

Zheng Rentai looked at Gao Kan and asked, "General Gao, how many did you hunt?"

Gao Kan said, "Thirty-nine."

Cheng Mingzhen was surprised and asked, "Did you really hunt thirty-nine prey?"

Gao Kan said: "I dare not lie."

Cheng Mingzhen nodded, and finally looked at Xue Rengui and said, "General Xue, what about you?"

Xue Rengui saw that everyone was looking at him, and after a slight hesitation, he said, "Sixty-nine."

As soon as these words were spoken, Cheng Mingzhen, Zheng Rentai and Qibi Heli all widened their eyes and stared at him without blinking.

"How much did you say just now?" Qibi Heli thought he had misheard because of his poor hearing.

Xue Rengui said, "I was lucky. I was lucky enough to hunt sixty-nine prey."

Cheng Mingzhen laughed out loud, but he laughed so fast that he almost choked and his face turned red.

Qibi Heli strode over, grabbed Xue Rengui's hand, and said happily, "Good warrior, I underestimated you before. Your Majesty's vision is indeed much better than that of us old losers!"

Gao Kan glanced at Xue Rengui, as if to say, "You lied to me that you could only pull the bowstring?"

After a while, everyone had rested and the sound of drums calling for help came from outside.

Qibi Heli grabbed Xue Rengui's hand and limped out of the camp.

In another camp, Dubu and others also came out, with different expressions on their faces.
Although they did not know the achievements of Xue Rengui and others, they had heard about Qibi Heli falling off his horse.

In addition, Li Kugo killed forty-four preys in all directions, and he felt that there was a chance to defeat the Tang Dynasty this time.

Murong Xin and Lie Ge's faces looked very ugly. They had the same thoughts as Queen Bin and did not want to see the Tang Dynasty lose.

The Uighur envoy thought to himself, "It seems that all the great Tang generals have withered away."

Du Bu smiled and showed no sign of hiding his satisfaction.

Li Zhen has brought people back and the investigation is correct, with no one committing fraud.

Li Zhi instructed Liu Rengui, "Mr. Liu, please announce the results to everyone."

Liu Rengui responded, strode out, and began to announce the results.

The first countries to be counted are the five Gentile nations.

There were 44 Khitans, 38 Tibetans, 36 Uighurs, 33 Tuyuhuns, and 32 Tonu Kingdoms.

Total: One hundred and eighty-three.

Tang Dynasty: Qibi Heli had 25, Zheng Rentai had 34, Cheng Mingzhen had 36, Gao Kan had 39, and Xue Rengui had 69.

Total: 203.

The Tang Dynasty won.

In an instant, the eyes of envoys from all countries were focused on Xue Rengui, with surprise and admiration, as well as fear and suspicion.

Li Kuge sighed and said, "I originally wanted to rest for another ten years and then establish myself as Khan. Now it seems that only after this man dies can I make this move again."

Li Zhi rewarded the contestants according to their ranking. The first place winner, Xue Rengui, was rewarded with five silver ingots, and the others were rewarded in decreasing order.

He then ordered his men to fetch the game, roast it outside the forest, and distribute it among his ministers and guests from various countries. After the banquet, Li Zhi arranged for the imperial carriage to return to Ganlu Hall. He ordered his men to call Xue Rengui into the hall and asked Wang Fusheng to fetch a bow. He smiled and said, "Mr. Xue, your bowstring is broken. I will give you this bow."

Xue Rengui took the bow and thanked him.

Li Zhi looked at Xue Rengui and said slowly, "Regarding today's incident, I will send people to suppress the news as much as possible and prevent more people from knowing. Do you understand my intention?"

Xue Rengui thought for a moment and said, "What I am about to do must be kept very secret, so reputation is only a burden to me."

Li Zhi said happily, "I'm glad you understand. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, I will issue an edict to appoint you as the envoy of promotion and demotion in Jiangnan. You will publicly go to Jiangnan, but secretly go to Songzhou. I will issue an edict to Songzhou to fully cooperate with you."

Xue Rengui bowed and said, "I accept your order."

Li Zhi thought for a moment, then asked Wang Fusheng to fetch a book, handed it to Xue Rengui, and said with a smile, "Take this book too. When you have time after returning, study it carefully."

Xue Rengui took it and saw that it was the "Book of Han: Biography of Wei Qing". He was so excited that he bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xue Rengui took the reward, quickly left the palace, and returned home before curfew.

As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw his wife Liu holding his son and looking out the door.

Xue Rengui walked over quickly and said with a smile, "It's so windy, why are you waiting at the door?"

Liu said angrily, "You were just saying that. Half an hour ago, some barbarians came over with horses, saying they wanted to give you as a gift. When I asked them why, they just praised you and couldn't explain why. Then two more groups came, some bringing sheepskins, and some bringing scimitars. It was really scary."

Xue Rengui said, "Don't worry, just accept it."

He knew that the Hu people admired the strong, so it must have been sent by envoys from several countries participating in the competition today.

Xue Na said with a smile: "Aye, did you bring me any food?"

Xue Rengui comforted his wife, patted his son's head, and said with a smile: "Bring back a leg of lamb, and let your mother cook it for you tomorrow."

After entering the house, Liu found that Xue Rengui had a lot of things on him. His bow and arrows and books were casually placed aside. When she saw the silver ingots, she said happily, "Husband, where did you get so many silver ingots?"

Xue Rengui sat back in his chair and said with a smile, "Your Majesty gave me this as a reward, including the bow and arrows and the book."

Liu was both surprised and delighted. She quickly put away her bow and arrows, picked up the "Book of Han: Biography of Wei Qing" in her hand, and asked curiously, "Why did His Majesty give you a copy of Wei Qing?"

Xue Na rushed to say, "I, I know Wei Qing is a great hero. Your Majesty must think that my father is also a great hero like Wei Qing!"

These words touched Xue Rengui's heart, and he scolded him with a smile: "Silly boy, don't talk nonsense. How can your father compare to the Marquis of Changping?"

Liu frowned and said to Xue Rengui, "I heard that Wei Qing married a princess. My dear, does His Majesty want to marry the princess to you?"

Xue Rengui laughed and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm already over 40 years old. How could His Majesty let me marry a princess?"

Liu snorted, "So if you're only thirty years old, you're hoping His Majesty will grant you a princess, right?"

Xue Rengui smiled bitterly and said, "What are you talking about?"

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

Xue Rengui went to open the door, and the visitor was Gao Kan. He was carrying an oil-paper bag and a pot of wine. He said with a smile, "Brother Xue, I'm sorry to bother you."

After the hunting trip in the forbidden garden, Xue Rengui also had a better impression of Gao Kan. He smiled and said, "Please come in."

He invited Gao Kan into the study. In the oil-paper bag Gao Kan was holding was a roast goose. Liu also made two side dishes for him to drink with. Xue Rengui then started drinking with Gao Kan.

When Gao Kan was in high spirits, he said with a smile, "Brother Xue, to be honest, although I'm not very talented, I've never admired anyone so much. You're the first one."

Xue Rengui said, "Brother Gao, you are too kind."

While the two were chatting, Gao Kan asked Xue Rengui what the emperor had called him to do. Xue Rengui hid himself in Songzhou and only said that he had obtained a bow and a book.

When Gao Kan heard that he had obtained the "Biography of Wei Qing," his face became serious and he said, "Brother Xue, don't blame me for speaking harshly. His Majesty may have given you the book and bow as a reminder."

Xue Rengui was slightly surprised: "What do you mean?"

Gao Kan said, "Although you won the championship today, you were too arrogant. First, you deliberately didn't report the number, and then you broke the bowstring. It's obvious that you are telling everyone that you have the ability to surpass Emperor Taizong, but you just don't want to."

Xue Rengui remained silent. He did not report the number and broke the bowstring, with a definite intention of making a surprise attack.

He was already quite old, and was very afraid that he would end up like Su Dingfang, who had great skills but had to wait until he was in his fifties to show his talents.

Gao Kan said slowly, "The Marquis of Changping is not only a good general, but more importantly, he is humble and modest. Your Majesty may wish you to emulate this."

Xue Rengui took a deep breath and recalled his conversation with the emperor. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He bowed to Gao Kan and said, "Thank you, Brother Gao, for your advice."

Gao Kan smiled and said, "Brother Xue, you're too polite."

The two of them drank for half an hour, finished a roast goose, and then Gao Kan said goodbye and left.

(End of this chapter)