Chapter 20: Gift of Armor
Li Chengqian was very satisfied with Di Renjie's attitude. With a smile on his face, he looked at Xue Rengui and his wife.
Xue Rengui met Li Chengqian's gaze and nodded slightly. He was not at all frightened because the other party was the prince!
Compared with Xue Rengui's calmness, Liu was a little flustered. She lowered her head and dared not look directly at Li Chengqian's eyes. She held Xue Rengui's big hands with both hands.
Xue Rengui turned back and smiled at Liu, patted her hands, and calmed her emotions.
Li Chengqian said to Xue Rengui: "I heard that Xue Qing has extraordinary arm strength, outstanding martial arts, especially good at riding and shooting! He can shoot a
willow through a hundred steps!" "In ancient times, there were people who were good at shooting, who could shoot through seven layers of armor with one arrow. I wonder how many layers of armor Xue Qing can shoot?" "To be honest, Your Highness
! I dare not say that I can shoot through seven layers with one arrow, but I am sure I can shoot through five layers." Xue Rengui said. "Oh! That's great! Xue Qing, you shoot it for me and Di Qing to see." Li Chengqian clapped his hands and laughed, and ordered people to bring five layers of armor and bows and arrows. After placing the armor, Xue Rengui took the bow and arrows, and saw him get ready, draw the bow and aim at the distant armor. Only to hear the bowstring ring, the arrow drew a straight line, and the arrow instantly pierced through the five layers of armor. Everyone was shocked! They were all shocked by Xue Rengui's archery skills. "Good!" Li Chengqian was overjoyed! He applauded and ordered someone to fetch the silver armor. As expected of Xue Rengui, who was famous for creating allusions such as "Good Strategy to Stop War", "Three Arrows to Conquer Tianshan", and "Brave to Conquer Liaodong". Seeing Li Chengqian's joy, Xue Rengui was also very happy in his heart. The reason why he tried so hard to show off in front of Li Chengqian, the prince, was nothing more than wanting Li Chengqian to see his value, Xue Rengui, and thus get the prince's favor. In exchange for his bright future, so that he can return home in glory and bring honor to his family. "I am very happy that Xue Qing has such a talent. It is a blessing for the Eastern Palace to have such a talent as Xue Qing." "Tomorrow, I will recommend Xue Qing to Your Majesty as the Inner Rate of the Left and Right Inner Rate Offices of the Crown Prince. From now on, you will command the Left and Right Inner Rate Offices of the Eastern Palace." Li Chengqian directly appointed Xue Rengui as the Inner Rate of the Two Inner Rate Offices. Since the Xuanwu Gate Incident, in order to better control the Eastern Palace, Li Er must appoint all officials above the fourth rank of the Eastern Palace by the Emperor Li Er. Officials below the fourth rank of the Eastern Palace are appointed by the Crown Prince himself. Therefore, whether Xue Rengui can be the Inner Rate needs to be decided by Li Er. Li Chengqian pointed at the silver armor and said, "My father gave me gold and silver armors. Today, I will give this silver armor to Xue Qing." "Thank you, Your Highness!" Xue Rengui knelt down hurriedly and thanked him profusely! Li Chengqian's words made everyone in the East Palace gasp. The Prince's Left and Right Internal Rates are military officers of the fourth rank. The Prince's Left and Right Internal Rates are responsible for managing the palace's internal guards and providing weapons. They have fewer officials than the Left and Right Guards, and they lead the left and right Qianniu Beishen, Beishen Zuoyou, Beishen Beishen and other guards. The Prince's Left and Right Internal Rates are directly related to the personal safety of the prince. Such an important position is handed over to a person from a humble background? The prince is too frivolous. Besides, Xue Rengui, who came from a grassroots background, suddenly sat on the position of Nei-shuai, how could the officials of the Prince's Left and Right Nei-shuai Palace agree to it! Not to mention others, He Lanchushi, the son-in-law of General Hou Junji, was the first one who disagreed. As the son-in-law of General Hou Junji, he was only a seventh-rank official. Xue Rengui also stood there in a daze. He thought it was good enough to be a servant of the East Palace . He didn't dare to expect to sit in such a high position all of a sudden. After all, he came from a grassroots background, and he suddenly became a fourth-rank official. I'm afraid some people would not obey him. "My lord! This is not appropriate! I'm afraid no one of the officials of the Left and Right Nei-shuai Palace will obey Xue Rengui." Wang Quan stepped forward and whispered. "No problem! I believe that Mr. Xue can suppress all the heroes and make those little brats in the left and right inner palace obedient." Li Chengqian said with a smile. This is the effect he wants. Xue Rengui, as a famous general of the Tang Dynasty in the future, if he can't even subdue the guards of the Eastern Palace, how can he lead the troops and make great military achievements for the Tang Dynasty in the future. Now is the time to test Xue Rengui's strength. After the assassination of the prince, the guards of the Eastern Palace were cleaned up, and the newly added guards were not loyal enough to the prince. Li Chengqian planned to hand over all these guards to Xue Rengui for unified training, so that they would swear allegiance to him, the prince. The guards of the Eastern Palace must become his own personal power. Wang Quan saw that Li Chengqian had made up his mind, so he had to give up. "I will not disappoint your highness!" Xue Rengui was grateful and knelt on the ground. "Please stand up quickly, Mr. Xue! From now on, my safety will be entirely entrusted to you. I hope you will not let me down." Li Chengqian said. "I am willing to die for the prince!" Xue Rengui said. The prince was very kind to him and trusted him so much that he gave him such an important position. How could he, Xue Rengui, not die for him! "After I recommend you to His Majesty as the internal commander tomorrow, you will follow me to the training ground and let the guards of the left and right internal commanders know your ability." Li Chengqian said. "Everything depends on the orders of His Majesty the prince!" Xue Rengui said. "Okay! Let's continue the feast!" Li Chengqian asked everyone to continue eating and drinking. The banquet did not end until the evening, and everyone was very happy. ... The next morning, after Li Chengqian dressed neatly, he went directly to the palace to meet Li Er and reported to Li Er about the appointment of Xue Rengui as the Neilu. "What?" After listening to Li Chengqian's report, Li Er's face suddenly darkened. The appointment of the Left and Right Neilu of the Eastern Palace and the Neilu of the Palace was no joke. The prince appointed a country bumpkin who came out of nowhere as the Left and Right Neilu and the Neilu of the Palace in such a trifling way. And he was the leader of the two guards of the Eastern Palace, which was equivalent to handing his life and property into the hands of others. Li Er was disappointed with Li Chengqian's hasty decision! I thought the prince had reformed and turned over a new leaf, but who knew he was still so unreliable. How well do you know him? How dare you do such a bold thing? What if he is up to something bad?
Isn't this just courting death? Before he is completely sure of this person, he cannot be allowed to stay in the East Palace no matter what.
Li Er made up his mind and said to Li Chengqian: "Smart! Tell me, how much do you know about this Xue Rengui?"
"This..." Li Chengqian was really stumped by the question. To say that he knows, he and Xue Rengui have only met once and did not know him in depth.
His knowledge of Xue Rengui only stayed at the information on the books.
But even so, Li Chengqian believed that Xue Rengui was someone he could trust.
"Father! Mr. Xue is from the Xue family of Hedong, and his father, Lord Xue Gui, was the governor of Xiangcheng in the Sui Dynasty..."
Before Li Chengqian could finish, Li Er interrupted him directly.
"In other words, you don't actually know much about this Xue Rengui, right?"