sbdcsierra Chapter 346 Reward
Chapter 346 Reward
Although he was extremely surprised, the King of England quickly recovered from his shock, picked up the prize and honorary book from the tray in the hands of the third protocol officer, and handed them to Liang Jingcheng with a smile.
"Whose child are you from? Your performance in the competition today has well demonstrated the bravery and wisdom of the good men of Dasheng. Your horseback archery skills amazed the whole audience and made my blood boil."
Hearing the King of England's question, Liang Jingcheng smiled respectfully, but his father had told him not to mention his life experience in front of outsiders. If anyone asked, he should say that he grew up with his teacher and his mistress and knew nothing else.
"In reply to your Highness, I have grown up with my teacher and mistress since I was young, and I have never heard my teacher and mistress mention my parents or relatives."
Liang Jingcheng's words surprised the King of England at first, but when he saw that Liang Jingcheng was so similar to the man back then, he nodded as if he understood, and then he looked at Liang Jingcheng with a kind smile on his face.
Seeing Liang Jingcheng respectfully accepting the prize and the book of honor from his hands, the King of England took off the white jade spot on his thumb and spoke.
"This jade-spotted finger was given to me by the late emperor when I first learned archery. Seeing you so calm and steady in the archery competition today reminded me of how naughty I was when I first learned archery. It's rare that you have such archery skills at such a young age. Today, I will give you this jade-spotted finger."
Meng Yanxi and Patton were both shocked when they saw the King of England's actions. This was a gift from the late Emperor and was so precious. The King of England actually wanted to give such a treasure to Liang Jingcheng. Both of them looked at Liang Jingcheng with envy.
But Liang Jingcheng kept waving his hands to refuse. The King of England guessed that Liang Jingcheng might refuse, so he smiled and pulled Liang Jingcheng's hand, put his white jade finger on Liang Jingcheng's thumb, and then laughed heartily.
"Cai Zhengqing is truly worthy of being the great scholar who served as the chief priest of the Imperial College. Each of his disciples is a pillar of our Great Sheng!"
As he spoke, the King of England patted Liang Jingcheng on the shoulder and expressed his earnest expectations for Liang Jingcheng.
“Boring…”
Accompanied by the sound of clear gongs, Qiu Bao, the deputy commander of the Hundred Cavalry Division, stepped onto the platform, followed by three eunuchs carrying trays.
Qiu Bao bowed to the King of England, who gestured to him to exempt him from the formality, and then Qiu Bao sang loudly.
"Your Majesty has a reward!"
As soon as Qiu Bao finished speaking, everyone on the platform knelt down, the officials and nobles in the stands followed suit, the common people inside and outside the polo field and the students of the Imperial Academy also knelt down and shouted "Long live the polo team!"
"His Majesty the Emperor will reward the champion of the archery competition, Liang Jingcheng, a precious bow from the Imperial College. The second place winner, Patton from the Four Gates College, and the third place winner, Meng Yanxi from the Imperial College, will each be rewarded with 100 taels of gold. The rest of the finalists will each be rewarded with 100 taels of silver."
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
After everyone knelt to thank the emperor for his grace, three eunuchs came forward carrying trays. On the tray held by the first eunuch was a bow. The handle of the bow was wrapped in thick leather, and the bow body was decorated with intricate and exquisite decorations, which looked very gorgeous.
Liang Jingcheng leaned forward, took the precious bow from the tray, then held the bow in his left hand and pulled the bowstring hard with his right hand.
"Buzz~..."
The moment Liang Jingcheng released the bowstring, it made a low humming sound.
Everyone at the scene was amazed in their hearts, what a precious bow it was. Patton, Meng Yanxi and other students who received the reward all stared at the precious bow in Liang Jingcheng's hand with envy.
After the first eunuch withdrew, Barton and Meng Yanxi stepped forward and took a gold ingot specially made by the inner court from the tray in the hands of the second eunuch. The remaining seven people also stepped forward and took a silver ingot specially made by the inner court from the tray in the hands of the third eunuch.
Although everyone envied the precious bow in Liang Jingcheng's hand, everyone was delighted to get the gold and silver ingots specially made by the imperial court. These gold and silver ingots were specially made by the imperial court for rewarding the emperor, and were very different from the gold and silver ingots circulating in the market.
For the students who made it to the finals, receiving the imperial gift would be a great joyous event that would bring honor to their family!
The ten students who received rewards from the emperor stepped down from the stage with smiles on their faces.
When Ye Changyan, Ao Chong'an and Fan Tao saw Liang Jingcheng coming over with the imperial bow, they all went to greet him excitedly and reached out to touch it with envy.
"It is truly worthy of being a precious bow bestowed by the Emperor. It is so gorgeous and beautiful!"
As the son of a second-rank frontier official like the Jiangzuo Governor, Ao Chong'an had naturally seen many fine things, but he had to admit that the bow in front of him was truly gorgeous. Ao Chong'an even pulled the bowstring himself, and the low humming sound was truly thrilling.
Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng looked at each other, and both could feel the other's joy and excitement from the bottom of their hearts.
Next came the award ceremony for the polo match. When the members of the Guozi Tiangang team stepped onto the podium, they once again won thunderous cheers and applause from the audience.
The King of England first awarded prizes and letters of honor to the Fenghuo Cavalry Team and the Black Armor Cavalry Team, which failed to enter the finals, and then awarded prizes and letters of honor to the War Wolf Knights Team, which failed to win the championship.
Then he came up to the four members of the Guozi Tiangang team, smiled and spoke to everyone.
"The tenacity and bravery shown by the Guozi Tiangang team today have deeply shocked me. You were able to turn the situation around and win the championship despite being at an extreme disadvantage. You deserve the applause and cheers of all the audience here."
As he spoke, the King of England was the first to applaud, and immediately the whole audience burst into thunderous applause again.
Amid the applause and cheers of the audience, the King of England awarded the champion prizes and certificates of honor to the four members of the Guozi Tiangang team present one by one. The one for Lu Xiaotong was received by Lu's father who came in a hurry.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they learned from Lu's father that Lu Xiaotong was not in danger of death except for three fractures and multiple injuries.
At this moment, King Ying looked at Ye Changyan carefully before asking.
"Are you the disciple that Cai Zhengqing accepted not long ago?"
Ye Changyan smiled and replied respectfully to King Ying.
"To reply Your Highness, it is the student."
"Good, good, good! Cai Zhengqing really has good vision. All his disciples are great. If you hadn't come on as a substitute and turned the tide today, the champion of this polo match might not still be the Imperial College Tiangang team."
As he spoke, the King of England took off a gold ring inlaid with a gem from his middle finger and continued.
"Your performance today can be regarded as the soul of the entire game. This ring on my hand was given to me by the late emperor when I was crowned. Seeing that you responded calmly and made good decisions on the field today, you have the demeanor of a rare general. Previously, I gave a jade ring to your senior brother, so now I will give this ring to you!"