Lin Daiyu chatted with Li and Qi in the Longkong Palace for half a day, Lin Daiyu glanced at the sky, it was already around 3 pm.

  At this time, Lin Ying had not yet come to greet Li Shi and Qi Shi out of the palace, and the emperor's side had not sent anyone to pass on a message.

  Lin Ya called Ye Gonggong from Changkun Palace and instructed him: "Go to the Diligent Government Hall to see what the Emperor and Lin, the Commander-in-Chief, are doing."

  Ye Gonggong nodded and left, then quickly returned with the news, smiling as he reported to Lin Yuer: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Emperor and Commander Lin are competing in swordsmanship at the drill grounds."

  Lin Di smiled at Li and Qi: "The emperor is indeed in a good mood."

  Leaf public just can't find the opportunity to show up in front of the queen, seeing the queen happy, immediately continued to explain: "This morning, Lin Dujiu entered the palace, and the emperor summoned him to discuss government affairs in the Diligent Government Hall. At noon, the emperor kept Lin Dujiu in the Diligent Government Hall for a royal meal, after lunch, the emperor asked Lin Dujiu to play several games of chess with him, later the emperor said he always wins and it's not interesting, so he said he wants to compete with Lin Dujiu in his skilled swordsmanship."

  Lin He heard this and became interested, asking: "Then who won between the Emperor and Commander Lin?"

  Yue Gonggong replied: "The Emperor and Lin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, are evenly matched in their appreciation of autumn colors, neither surpassing the other."

  Lin Yan smiled slightly, which meant her father hadn't used his full strength at all.

  Although the emperor was also skilled in archery and horseback riding, having led troops and fought battles as a prince, after so many years of being an emperor, with busy government affairs, even if he still made time to practice every day, his skills in archery, horseback riding, and swordsmanship would have become somewhat rusty.

  But his father was different, not to mention that he had a natural talent for martial arts. After so many years of actual combat with the Hu people in the northwest border, it is impossible for him to only tie with the emperor.

  Lin He came over with interest and said to Qi Shi and Li Shi: "Let's go, we'll also take a look at the Emperor and Father."

  Then he pulled Qi and Li, taking four or five palace people together to the school field.

  Lin Daiyu did not go down, but just took a look from the pavilion.

  The Emperor and Lin Ying have changed their tactics, switching to archery.

  Both men held giant bows of ten stones in their hands.

  The emperor drew his bow, took aim at the target, and fired ten arrows in a row, all of which hit the red center.

  As for Lin Ying, he also shot ten arrows at once, but his ten arrows knocked down the ten arrows that the emperor had shot into the red heart, and his own were inserted into the target.

  From this point of view, Lin Ying is still slightly better at archery.

  The emperor returned the bow to the guard's hand, walked over and patted Lin Ying's shoulder, saying a few words with a smile. Lin Ying stood upright, bowed his head respectfully.

  Ye Gonggong asked Lin He from the side: "Your Majesty, do you want to go down and greet the Emperor and Commander-in-Chief Lin Du?"

  Lin Yan smiled and shook her head, saying: "Don't disturb the emperor's interest."

  What's more, she would have to pay homage to the emperor, and then Lin Ying would have to pay homage to her, a whole bunch of rules and tedious formalities. And she didn't like paying homage to the emperor, nor did she like her own father paying homage to her.

  Lin Di turned her head and said to Li Shi: "Grandmother, look at Father, he won't even yield half a step to the Emperor."

  Mr. Li said with a smile in his eyes: "Your father has always been straightforward." His face had an expression of having the upper hand.

  Lin Xiang said that although he was straightforward, he wasn't completely inflexible, or else he wouldn't have been able to tie with the Emperor in a swordsmanship contest.

  Sometimes pleasing those in higher positions is also a skill, you can't let them win too easily, nor can you let them lose too miserably. If you win, it should be a small victory; if you lose, it should only be a small defeat.

  Everyone outside says that her father has a violent and straightforward personality, with more bravery than wisdom, but Lin Xiao knows that Lin Ying is an old fox who deeply understands the ways of officialdom.

  The Emperor of the arena and Lin Ying have changed arrows for another round of competition.

  Lin Xiao and Qi Shi Li Shi looked at each other for a while before saying: "Let's go back first."

  The Qis and Lis waited for about an hour in Changkung Palace before Lin Ying arrived to escort them out of the palace.

  Lin Daiyu had Yeye Gonggong escort them out, carrying with her the gifts she had given to each of the Lin family's households.

  The gifts were already prepared, but at first they didn't know that the Zhuang family was pregnant. Later, Lin Xiao added a few more items, all of which were suitable for pregnant women and babies.

  The emperor also sent over some gifts.

  Soon after Zhi's, Li's and Lin Ying's departure, the Emperor also returned to Changkun Palace.

  His body was still covered in sweat, but his face was very happy. The stern face had a rare relaxed look, and he said: "It's been a long time since I've exercised like this. This exercise made me realize that my archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship have all become rusty."

  Lin Yan smiled with pursed lips, letting someone bring in hot water and then letting someone attend to the emperor's grooming.

  After the Emperor had finished his toilet and changed into another suit of clothes, Lin Daiyu asked him, "How was the battle today between Your Majesty and my father?"

  The emperor sat down on the couch, took over the tea handed to him by Lin Daiyu, and smiled: "Your father is not an honest man, I saw that when we compared swords, he only used eight-tenths of his strength." After finishing speaking, he drank a mouthful of tea.

  Lin Daiyu supported her chin with her hand and smiled at him, saying: "I've heard that when playing chess, Your Majesty always wins."

  The emperor put down his tea cup, a smile on his face, and said: "Everything else is easy to say, your father may not have used his full strength, but this game of chess, I dare say that even if your father uses all his might, he still can't beat me."

  Lin Xiang smiled, the emperor's chess skills were indeed famous for being good.

  "Of course," Lin Xiang said with a smile, "but as for my father's chess skills, even my mother can't beat him."

  The emperor shook his head and said, "Your father's chess skills are not as good as mine, but they're not bad either. I suppose your father usually lets your mother win."

  Lin Xiao naturally knew. Lin Xiao's chess skills were learned from Lin Ying, and even Zhuang Shi couldn't beat her, how could she possibly beat Lin Ying? Zhuang Shi was the real one who played rotten chess, but she liked to win, so Lin Ying could only coax her.

  Lin Wei looked at the Emperor and smiled: "Why don't Your Majesty accompany me in a game of chess?"

  The emperor exclaimed, "Oh!" and became interested. He turned his head to her and said, "If you're not afraid of losing too badly, I'll play a game with you."

  Lin He looked at him discontentedly and had the palace maid set up the chessboard. The Emperor played with black pieces, Lin He played with white pieces.

  The Emperor said: "I will let you take a step back, White Son, go first."

  Lin Xiao didn't hesitate and dropped a chess piece on the mountainous chessboard.

  The emperor followed and fell beside her.

  In less than thirty moves, Lin Xiao had already seen that she was facing a dead end, all her chess pieces were trapped.

  The Emperor smiled and said: "I told you earlier that you would lose miserably." He then added: "In this case, I will let your three sons go."

  Lin Yan glared at him and pouted her mouth unhappily.

  The emperor burst out laughing.

  Lin Xiao suddenly thought of something and her eyes lit up. She turned to the Emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, who is older, you or my father?"

  The Emperor said: "Your father is four years older than me."

  The emperor finished speaking and only then felt something was off. He raised his head to look at Lin Xiang, while Lin Xiang looked back at him with a sly and triumphant expression.

  The emperor couldn't help but laugh and gently patted her head, scolding with a smile: "Little girl, you even want to take advantage of me in this."

  Lin Xiao triumphantly lowered her head and placed a piece on the chessboard, intentionally muttering: "Old cow eats tender grass."

  The emperor looked at her with a helpless shake of his head, his face indulgent and tolerant.