Chapter 1044: The Emperor Grants Marriage, Brother Lang is Delighted

Lin Lang generously presented the artillery design drawings, which made the ministers in the hall admire him very much, and their doubts about Lin Lang and Shanghai Kingdom were also dispelled a little.

At this moment, before Wu Zetian could ask Li Zhi to arrange a marriage for her niece Helan Minyue with Lin Lang, she heard an old general in military uniform at the banquet clear his throat loudly.

Although this man was over sixty years old, he was tall and strong, with a resolute face and a look of heroism and straightforwardness in his eyes. He was none other than Cheng Yaojin, the famous General of the Left Guard in the Tang Dynasty army.

Cheng Yaojin first clasped his hands together and bowed to Lin Lang.

Then, Cheng Yaojin said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, our Great Tang Emperor is a man of great military and civil strategy, proficient in riding, archery, and military tactics. During daily training in the training grounds, Your Majesty draws his bow and arrows, and never misses his target; when he arranges his troops, he is so confident and well-planned that we admire him deeply."

"I wonder what kind of skills His Majesty the Emperor of Shanghai is good at?" After saying this, he looked at Lin Lang with burning eyes. Although there was respect in his words, there was also a hint of challenge.

Lin Lang knew in his heart that the test from General Cheng Yaojin was more direct.

He smiled slightly, put down the wine glass in his hand, and said calmly: "General Cheng is absolutely right. Your Majesty's civil and military achievements are well-known throughout the world, and I have always admired him."

"Although the customs and habits of Shanghai are different from those of the Tang Dynasty, I have also learned various skills since I was young."

"I have some experience in horseback archery, but it may be different from the Tang Dynasty's horseback archery style."

"In Shanghai, we've used the power of machinery to improve our cavalry, making our archery more accurate and efficient. As for military tactics, I believe the key is to adapt to local conditions and the times."

"As for my martial arts proficiency, I'm the top martial arts champion in Shanghai State, possessing the maximum level of [Cold Weapon Mastery]. I'm proficient in swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, forks, halberds, sickles, spears, clubs, whips, maces, hammers, claws, crutch weapons, meteor weapons, weapons with ridges, blades, ropes, chains, barbed wires, and eyebrow-shaped thorns. There's nothing I'm not good at, and nothing I'm not powerful at!"

"Oh..."

All the Tang Dynasty officials in the hall were shocked by Lin Lang's words, because he was so arrogant that it made people feel that he was just bragging without paying any tax.

Li Moli and Chu Yiren sat next to each other and leaned over slightly to whisper, "Sister, our husbands are going to start showing off in the Tang Dynasty!"

Chu Yiren smiled but said nothing, quietly watching Lin Lang pretending to be cool.

Cheng Yaojin, a renowned military commander, frowned slightly after hearing this, as if doubtful: "I dare to ask the Emperor to show off his skills so that I can broaden my horizons."

Li Zhi clapped his hands and laughed, his eyes ablaze with interest. He swept his gaze across the civil and military officials in the hall and then landed on Lin Lang. His tone was part teasing and part anticipation. "I wonder if you, my dear brother, could show off your unique skills so that I and my beloved ministers can feast our eyes?"

Seeing this, Lin Lang replied calmly, "Okay!"

Hearing that Lin Lang was going to demonstrate his Kung Fu skills, Helan Minyue felt inexplicably excited. Sitting in front of the desk, her beautiful eyes moved around, staring at Lin Lang without blinking, feeling a heartbeat.

Wu Zetian glanced at her niece Helan Minyue out of the corner of her eye and thought: This girl might really have a crush on the emperor.

Li Zhi sat back on the dragon throne. The music stopped abruptly when he raised his fingertips. The twelve dancers folded their sleeves lightly, took light lotus steps, and retreated one by one like a startled wild goose skimming the water.

The hall suddenly became quiet, with only the sporadic sound of golden bells trembling in the air.

"Then please show me your skills, my dear brother!" Li Zhi raised his hand in invitation.

Lin Lang walked towards the center of the hall, stepping on the broken shadows of palace lanterns all over the ground. As his moon-white brocade robe swept across the green jade steps, it brought with it a wisp of cold fragrance.

Lin Lang stood with his hands clasped in his hands, a gleam in his eyes: "Brother, I've long heard that the men in the Tang army are experts in wrestling and hand-to-hand combat, and their ferocity in close combat is unmatched."

"However, our Shanghai Bajiquan is known as 'Opening Bajiquan, one-hit kill'. Every move is a battlefield killer move designed to strike the enemy's vital points, and is also called the 'killing fist'."

Before he finished speaking, Lin Lang had already taken three steps back, clasping his palms together as if embracing a mountain. "Today, I will use my humble skills to throw out some ideas. I would like to ask for your guidance, my royal brother and the other lords. Let's see which of our two armies' martial arts can more easily sweep away thousands of enemies!"

Li Zhi replied with a loud voice, "Okay!"

Lin Lang took a half step sideways with his left foot, clasped his hands in front of his abdomen, and his eyes suddenly became as sharp as an eagle.

When he started, he took a half step back with his left foot, and as his body sank, his right fist shot out like a cannonball, the wind from his fist piercing the air with a sharp sound, "Hey!"

With a low shout, Lin Lang unleashed a powerful and explosive "King's Toast". The tip of his fist went straight into the air a few feet in front of him, and it even caused the candlelight of the copper lamp in the corner of the hall to sway slightly.

As the saying goes, an expert sees the doorway. Cheng Yaojin looked at the core and found that Lin Lang's move was to drive the shoulders and back to exert force by twisting the waist, forming the explosive effect of "one punch, three forces". He was suddenly shocked: Could it be that the emperor of Shanghai is really a martial artist?

Immediately afterwards, Lin Lang suddenly turned his body, his left palm cut across like a knife, and his right fist turned into a hammer and hit directly in the face, performing a "straight to the point" move!

The collision of fists and palms created a whistling sound in the wind, and the ground was crushed with great force under the feet. Every step seemed to be accompanied by thunder rolling from under the gold bricks.

Suddenly he turned sideways, his shoulders and back felt like an iron mountain pressing down on him, like a "tiger climbing a mountain"!

Lin Lang's move was extremely powerful, and his fluttering sleeves created a vortex of air, causing the cups on the tables in the hall to tremble slightly.

He punched as fast as lightning, and threw three consecutive punches with the "Three No-Looks at the Door" technique. The shadows of his fists turned into afterimages, and the muffled sounds of them hitting the air became like thunder.

When turning around, he swung his elbow sideways, making a sharp sound of breaking wind, as if there were really waves crashing against the shore.

The entire set of Bajiquan is as powerful as a giant axe that splits a mountain, and every move hits the vital points.

Elbow thrusts, blows and punches were like a violent storm, and the "rubbing and grinding steps" of his feet raised the dust on the ground. Every blow seemed to split the air, and the sound of "whoosh" of powerful energy echoed between the beams and pillars in the hall.

All the civil and military officials in the hall had already stood up from their seats. The old Cheng Yaojin's pupils suddenly shrank and his fists clenched unconsciously - the penetrating power contained in the fist wind made him feel his skin tighten even from several feet away.

Some officials who didn't know the moves of boxing murmured to themselves, "This... this set of Bajiquan is as powerful as collapsing mountains. I'm afraid one elbow could kill a cow, right?"

General Li Ji, standing nearby, exclaimed in a low voice, "Look at how he generates his power from his waist and hips. Every move contains a hidden element of throwing and grabbing. In close combat, I'm sure no one can stop him! If our soldiers could learn this style, it would surely strengthen our army and our country."

Lin Lang twisted his waist suddenly and approached the bronze tripod ten steps away. His right arm stretched out like a bow, and with a muffled "puff" sound, he launched an "elbow to the heart" to hit the body of the tripod!

The bronze tripod weighing a thousand pounds was actually shaken by this blow and moved more than three meters away, and the incense ash in the tripod rose like mist.

"Wow..." Everyone in the hall was so shocked that their pupils trembled.

Cheng Yaojin was so shocked that the jade cup in his hand dropped to the ground with a clang. He slammed his calloused palm on the table and exclaimed, "The power and explosiveness of the emperor's elbow strike far surpasses all the generals of the Tang Dynasty!"

Before everyone could exclaim, Lin Lang turned sharply, and his left arm swept across like an iron whip, and the "horizontal elbow" brought up a fierce gust of wind.

Then came three consecutive "fatal elbows", with shadows of the elbow tips overlapping, and the air was filled with the sound of gas explosions like popping beans, and fine wood chips fell from the sandalwood pillars in the hall.

The offensive came to an abrupt halt.

Lin Lang's feet did not move, his knees were slightly bent to gather strength, and his hands were slowly raised to his chest as if holding a ball, with his palms facing inward, as if to gather all the fist wind that had just overflowed.

At the moment of closing the movement, press down with both palms suddenly, drop shoulders and elbows, sink the Qi into Dantian, and the whole set of movements becomes smooth and flowing.

Finally, Lin Lang put his heels together, his body straight as a pine tree, stood with his hands hanging down, his clothes moving without wind, and his eyes and eyebrows revealed an aura of majesty without anger, which was full of oppression.

The entire hall was so silent that one could hear the sound of falling candle wax. The civil and military officials were all stunned with shock, until Helan Minyue was the first to clap and cheer excitedly, breaking the stunned silence.

Lin Lang's breathing was steady. He glanced sideways at Helan Minyue, who was sitting next to Wu Zetian, with a smile on his face. This was his first meeting with this Tang Dynasty beauty who was about to be married off.

The moment their eyes met, Helan Minyue's little face turned red.

She bit her red lips and lowered her head, embarrassed to look Lin Lang in the eye.

Helan Minyue's shy, smiling and coquettish look was so beautiful that it immediately moved our Brother Lang's heart.

At the same time, Li Zhi had already stood up from the dragon throne, and ran down the dragon steps in two steps. He tightly grasped Lin Lang's arm, his voice trembling with excitement: "My dear brother, the power of thunder and lightning is truly shocking to the heavens and earth!"

"This punch is incredibly powerful, and every move is a killer on the battlefield. It's truly a powerful military skill!"

Li Zhi looked around at his ministers, his eyes gleaming. "If all the men of the Tang Dynasty practiced this boxing, why would we worry about border insecurity? Brother, are you willing to teach this Bajiquan technique to the Tang army?"

Lin Lang's eyes flashed with stars, and he replied cheerfully: "Shanghai Kingdom and the Tang Dynasty are as close as a family. This set of Bajiquan was originally created for breaking armor in battle. If it can help the Tang Dynasty's warriors become more powerful, it will be a great honor. One day on the battlefield, this Bajiquan will surely shock all directions!"

Li Zhi was overjoyed after hearing this. He put his arm around Lin Lang's shoulders and laughed loudly, "When my dear brother passes this fist technique on to the three armies of the Great Tang, our Great Tang cavalry will surely be able to break through the vast mountains and rivers and sweep across the four barbarians!"

Lin Lang raised his hand to support him, smiling brightly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. If this punch can help strengthen the Tang army, it will be my humble contribution to world peace. I will do my utmost to help!"

Before he finished speaking, the whole hall erupted in applause. All the ministers in the hall were full of admiration for Lin Lang. Cheng Yaojin stroked his beard and laughed. The doubts in his eyes disappeared, and only admiration for Lin Lang and his fierce boxing skills remained.

Seeing Lin Lang stealing the show in the Tang Dynasty Hall, a smug smile spread across Chu Yiren's face.

While eating the sweet grapes from the Tang Dynasty on the table, Li Moli thought to herself: Brother Alang is doing so well in the Tang Dynasty, he is really amazing!

Zhou Mengyao, Mu Xueman and Pan Xiaoting exchanged glances, and all of them showed proud smiles on their faces because Lin Lang stole the limelight in the hall.

However, they were stunned by what they saw next.

Empress Wu smiled broadly, looking at Lin Lang with a gentle gaze. She said, "My dear brother, you have forged artillery for the Tang Dynasty and have generously taught me Baji Military Fist. Such friendship should be reciprocated by the Tang Dynasty."

"Your Majesty, your brother is so devoted to our Great Tang. It would be inappropriate for us not to express our gratitude."

After hearing this, Li Zhi nodded quickly and said, "The Queen is absolutely right. I need to think carefully about how to reward my dear brother in return."

Empress Wu turned slightly to the side, glanced at Helan Minyue beside her, and then suggested: "In my opinion, why not marry my niece Helan Minyue to you, my brother?"

"This way, we can not only promote the marriage between the two countries, making them closer, but also consolidate the friendship between our Tang Dynasty and Shanghai, making the relationship between the two countries closer. Isn't this a good thing to kill two birds with one stone?"

After hearing this, Li Zhi's eyes lit up and he immediately made the decision: "As the Queen said, I will grant the marriage immediately."

"Brother Lin Lang, Minyue is well-educated, gentle and charming. She is a perfect match for you. As your elder brother, I will grant you Minyue in marriage according to the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty. How do you do?"

Although Lin Lang felt happy, he subconsciously looked at his wives and concubines in the hall, and exchanged glances with Chu Yiren and others, with an embarrassed look on his face.

A barely perceptible sneer spread across Chu Yiren's face, and she thought, "Why are you looking at me? Isn't this exactly what you want? Even if you traveled back to the Tang Dynasty, you could still be granted marriage and concubines by the emperor. You're truly unique."

Zhou Mengyao took a deep breath with an unhappy look on her face, thinking: No way! Wu Zetian always gives me bad ideas. How come I have another love rival? And this is a beautiful woman who followed the Three Obediences and Four Virtues and obeyed everything in ancient times!

Li Moli suddenly felt that the grapes from the Tang Dynasty in her hand were no longer sweet, and she thought to herself unhappily: Brother Alang’s luck with love is really unstoppable. How come he was granted marriage by the emperor on the first day he traveled to the Tang Dynasty?