Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

This unexpected result left the entire parade venue completely silent.

Only the soldiers' mournful cries echoed across the wilderness.

Li Hong's face was ashen, as if he were about to burst into tears. Even Feng Chun, who was serving him, felt a strong sense of oppression coming down on her.

Li Hong had imagined many possible outcomes, but he never expected that his most prized personal guard would be defeated so quickly.

He gripped the prayer beads tightly in his hand, wishing he could crush them to pieces.

In front of foreign envoys, they not only humiliated the Wu Zhao Kingdom, but also themselves.

He had an urge to annihilate all the Chu soldiers on the training ground.

"Close the team!"

In contrast to the tense expressions of everyone present, the twelve-man Chu army guard calmly slung their guns over their shoulders after firing, and then stood in two neat rows.

Ban Dingyuan smiled slightly and said to Li Hong, "Your Majesty, this is just a normal drill and doesn't mean anything."

Victory and defeat are common occurrences, and I hope Your Majesty will not take it to heart. In truth, in terms of one-on-one close combat, the skills of my guards are no match for those of your cavalry.

These words made Li Hong loosen his clenched fist. It was clear that Ban Dingyuan had given him a way out to save face.

But Xue Dongluo was full of resentment and immediately knelt on the ground, saying to Li Hong, "Your Majesty, the Chu soldiers used strange and ingenious techniques to catch our soldiers off guard."

I am utterly dissatisfied with this result. If it were to happen again, I am confident that I could utterly rout these Chu troops!

After saying that, he glared at Ban Dingyuan with resentment.

"Enough! A loss is a loss. Do you think we, the people of Wu Zhao Kingdom, are sore losers? You disgraceful servants, get out of here!"

Li Hong gave a stern order, stopping Xue Dongluo.

"If this were a battlefield, would you be given a second chance? That's ridiculous."

Then, he looked at Ban Dingyuan and smiled: "Your country's weaponry is truly amazing, I have never seen anything like it before. I wonder if Your Excellency would allow me to take a look?"

These words were quite skillful, easily defusing the awkward situation and telling everyone present that the soldiers of Wuzhao Kingdom had not failed; the defeat was due to the strange nature of Chu Kingdom's firearms, which caught them off guard.

This indirectly saved face for him.

Ban Dingyuan did not refuse: "Since it is the king's request, how could I possibly refuse?"

After saying that, he took the rifle from a soldier, held it horizontally with both hands, and bowed to Li Hong as if presenting it.

Li Hong stood up, slowly walked to Ban Dingyuan, picked up the gun, and gently stroked it to examine it.

Suddenly, he said to Xue Dongluo, "Take those wounded soldiers forward, quickly."

"Yes."

Xue Donglu accepted the order and left.

Before long, the twelve soldiers, supporting each other, came before the emperor. Each of them endured the pain and dared not look Li Hong in the eye.

Li Hong walked up to a soldier and asked, "Where are you injured?"

"Your Majesty, my abdomen hurts terribly; it feels like I was hit by something."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong immediately instructed Xue Dongluo to remove the overcoats covering the soldiers' armor.

But on the soldier's lower abdomen, one of the armor plates was deeply sunken, causing the surrounding armor plates to deform as well, like a crater.

A barely perceptible glance flashed in Ban Dingyuan's and Pei Ju's eyes.

In their competition with the Wu Zhao Kingdom's cavalry, they used specially made rubber bullets for training. These bullets are not lethal unless they hit a vital spot within fifty paces.

However, the penetrating force of the bursting rubber still caused considerable damage to these Wu Zhao soldiers; the powerful inertial compression inevitably resulted in broken bones and muscles.

For example, two soldiers suffered broken hands and feet from the impact of rubber bullets.

After seeing their injuries, Li Hong immediately said, "You are all good men. You have lost with honor. Go back and take good care of your injuries."

He then said to Fengchun, "Fengchun, inform the Imperial Household Department to take three hundred taels of silver and distribute it to them as my recognition of their courage."

Feng Chun bowed his head and accepted the order: "This servant obeys the decree."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The wounded soldiers immediately thanked Li Hong.

After they left, Li Hong touched the gun again and asked Ban Dingyuan, "Your Excellency, how do you use this gun?"

After Ban Dingyuan patiently explained how to operate the firearm, Li Hong immediately pulled the bolt.

"What a powerful firearm! Truly extraordinary."

After examining them, Li Hong happily played with them for a while, then asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, is the State of Chu willing to sell these firearms?"

Ban Dingyuan replied, "If Wu Zhao State is interested in purchasing these rifles, Chu State is naturally willing to sell them."

Li Hong nodded upon hearing this: "Very well, very well. I am quite fond of this rifle. May I ask how much your esteemed envoy would like to know?"

Ban Dingyuan laughed: "Your Majesty is quite the joker. Since Your Majesty likes it, this rifle is yours for the taking."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Li Hong immediately put away his rifle and happily returned to his position.

"Haha, today's military parade is truly unprecedented for me, showcasing an unconventional and extraordinary scene."

It's getting late, and everyone is tired, so please go back and rest. Later, I will send you a meal from the Imperial Kitchen for you to enjoy together."

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire drill ground knelt down in unison: "Respectfully bidding farewell to the Emperor, long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Amidst shouts of "Long live the leader!", the military parade "successfully" came to a close.

……

The following day, just when Ban Dingyuan and Pei Ju thought they could at least reach a trade agreement with Wu Zhao Kingdom, they received some bad news.

"Gentlemen, I am very sorry, but His Majesty pondered deeply with me late into the night last night, and we concluded that the differences between our two countries are too great."

There is still too little communication between us, so we cannot grant your request for trade at this time.

He Yong, who came to report, looked embarrassed and troubled, and his face also showed signs of fatigue.

Upon hearing this, Ban Dingyuan was indeed surprised by the result, but fortunately, he was mentally prepared and was not too disappointed.

"In that case, let's leave it at that. Thank you for your care these past few days, Lord He. I think we should set off back to Haizhou tomorrow."

He Yong said, “My envoys, please let me finish speaking. His Majesty does not refuse to trade with your country, but he wants your Empress to come to Shengjing in person to communicate with His Majesty before making a decision.”

Pei Ju could no longer contain himself: "Should we also follow your country's etiquette and escort His Majesty to his bedchamber?"

He Yong looked embarrassed, but quickly found an excuse to brush it off: "Gentlemen, this is just normal procedure. Please forgive me. I am merely following orders to issue a notification."

"Oh, and His Majesty also sent thirty cartloads of imperial artifacts as a return gift for the spears presented yesterday. This will ensure the two envoys can smoothly return to Chu and report their mission."

Ban Dingyuan: "Alright, we will report the situation here to the court truthfully when we get back. Lord He, we still have to thank you for taking care of us during this time."

He Yong: "It is an honor for me to meet you both, and I hope we can meet again."

Ban Dingyuan: "It definitely will."