Chapter 92

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"Li family?" Liang Xiao stopped in his tracks, ignoring the arrow pointed at his face, and sized up the angry young man in front of him. "Are you General Li's son?"

"His name is Li Jiao, my second elder brother," a voice came from behind. Li Gan, holding a horsewhip, walked over quickly and gave Liang Xiao a playful look. "He is the best archer among my three brothers, second only to my father. If you can beat him, you will have the right to challenge my father."

"Why should I challenge General Li?"

"Hey, didn't you want to challenge my father when you were at the Weiyang Lang Office?"

Liang Xiao looked at Li Gan's surprised face and suddenly laughed. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Li Gan must have been不服 (unwilling to accept it) but knew his own strength wasn't enough, so he brought Li Jiao, the best archer among the Li brothers, to challenge him and regain the family's honor.

"At that time, I did indeed plan to challenge your father, but unfortunately, the officials at the Lang Office didn't dare to accept the challenge, so it ended up being a non-event. Your elder brother Li Danghu was there and saw everything clearly. You were there too, right? Why didn't you come forward to accept the challenge?"

Li Gan was extremely embarrassed, let out a dry laugh, and turned his head away.

Seeing this, Li Jiao became suspicious but didn't want to ask directly. He stared at Liang Xiao and said, word by word, "Stop talking nonsense. Will you accept the challenge or not?"

"What if I accept, and what if I don't?"

"If you accept, we will have a match. Archery on foot or on horseback, you choose. Whether it's a friendly match or a life-or-death duel, I will accompany you. If you don't dare, then leave Chang'an and don't mention the Li family again."

Liang Xiao raised an eyebrow. Li Jiao was quite domineering, demanding that he leave Chang'an. If I leave Chang'an, won't that cut off my future? Should I give up everything just for the Li family's face?

"If I win, will you also leave Chang'an and return to your hometown in Longxi?"

Li Jiao was taken aback and hesitated. After a moment, he nodded forcefully, "Of course."

"Liang Xiao, don't fall for his trick," Liu Ling said, riding a white horse along the Ju River. She had just heard Li Gan and Liang Xiao's conversation and immediately interjected. As she spoke, she had already galloped up to Liang Xiao. She wore a bright red cloak and a tight-fitting white outfit that accentuated her curves, exuding both bravery and charm.

"Princess Liu?" Li Jiao recognized Liu Ling and didn't dare to be careless. He quickly put away his bow and bowed. His demeanor was very respectful, but he didn't want to give up. "Why do you say that? If I lose, I will definitely leave Chang'an and keep my word."

"You can leave Chang'an, but that doesn't affect your career. Whether you follow your father, General Li, on a campaign or receive an official post, it doesn't matter whether you are in Chang'an or not. It's different for Liang Xiao. If he returns to Jiangdu, his chances of entering officialdom are slim. Do you think that's fair?"

Li Jiao blushed but wouldn't back down. "Then what do you suggest, Princess, to make it fair?"

"Let's bet on money," Liu Ling said with a smile to Liang Xiao. "That's the fairest way."

Li Jiao thought for a moment and agreed. "Fine. But I have an additional condition: if he loses, he can't use the Li family's name to gain any advantage in the future."

Liu Ling turned to Liang Xiao, "Liang Xiao, what do you think?"

Liang Xiao smiled. "Fine. But I also have a condition: if you lose, the Li family must not cause trouble or provoke me without reason. I have a tight schedule and no time to deal with you. Of course, if General Li comes to visit personally, I will certainly entertain him."

Liu Ling laughed and turned to Li Jiao. Li Jiao suppressed his anger and nodded forcefully. "How shall we compete?"

Liu Ling quickly said, "Let's do standing archery. Liang Xiao competed in standing archery at the Weiyang Lang Office. Since Li Jun is not satisfied, we should do the same to avoid any excuses or additional issues."

Li Jiao nodded confidently. He had the same idea. Liang Xiao had made a name for himself in standing archery, and he wanted to show his skills in the same event. Liang Xiao had once hit seven out of twelve arrows, with one hitting the center and another the bullseye, but Li Jiao wasn't worried. His archery skills were the best among the three Li brothers, second only to his father, Li Guang. He was confident he could hit at least six out of twelve arrows. As for hitting the center and the bullseye, he thought it was a matter of luck. Even if Liang Xiao tried again, he might not hit them.

Moreover, he had asked Li Danghu about Liang Xiao's performance. Liang Xiao's normal accuracy at a hundred paces was only about 30-40%, and his outstanding performance at the Weiyang Lang Office was largely due to luck. Luck wouldn't always be on his side, and by choosing a public venue for the competition, Li Jiao wanted to embarrass Liang Xiao and show everyone that his success that day was just a stroke of luck, not real skill.

Before they could finalize the details of the bet, a crowd had already gathered around them. Both men and women were excited, and the women were even more so. Li Jiao, the second son of General Li, was a handsome young man in his early twenties, a dream for many young women in Chang'an. Liang Xiao, though younger, was also tall and well-built, especially with his long arms, which aroused the curiosity of many.

"Wow, this young man has such long arms," someone said, bursting with curiosity.

"You don't know anything. That's called 'ape arms,' which are naturally good for archery," someone else explained. "General Li Guang was famous for his archery because of his ape arms. His three sons, though skilled, couldn't surpass him because they didn't inherit his ape arms."

"The Li family's sons don't have ape arms, but this young man does. Could he be related to General Li?"

"Don't be silly. Does everyone with ape arms belong to the Li family?" someone argued. "Ape arms are a gift from nature. Since the Li family has already produced General Li, there won't be another set of ape arms. Otherwise, wouldn't heaven be too partial to the Li family?"

As people chattered and gossiped, Liang Xiao didn't have time to pay attention. Although his hearing was sharp enough to hear everything, he couldn't afford to be careless facing Li Jiao.

He knew that his performance at the Weiyang Lang Office had a lot of luck involved, and he wasn't sure if he could replicate it today. But being pushed to this point, he couldn't admit that it was just luck.

Seeing Liang Xiao's silence, Liu Ling guessed what he was thinking. She dismounted and leaned close to him, whispering, "Not confident?"

"Indeed, I'm not very confident," Liang Xiao nodded honestly. "But I will do my best."

"I'll help you," Liu Ling said with a satisfied smile, walking gracefully towards Li Jiao. "Li Jun, since it's a bet, adding a prize will make it more interesting, don't you think?"

Li Jiao glanced at Liang Xiao disdainfully. "Princess, that makes sense. What does Liang Jun want to bet?"

"Liang Xiao said he needs a good horse, and he has his eye on your mount."

Li Jiao's face darkened. "My black horse is a fine steed from Longyou, worth ten gold pieces. Can he afford it?"

Liu Ling turned and waved. Lei Bei walked over, placed a leather bag on the ground, and opened it. Inside were several gold ingots, at least fifty gold pieces at a glance.

Li Jiao's expression immediately changed.

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