Xiao Yu sat cross-legged in the prison car and closed his eyes to meditate. The heavy curtain blocked all the light that could shine through. No matter whether he opened his eyes or not, his eyes were completely dark.
The carriage moving beneath him became bumpier and bumpier as it went on. I don't know how long this bumping lasted. Suddenly, a horn sounded in my ears, and the barking of a hound was vaguely heard.
Xiao Yu slowly opened his eyes in the darkness, knowing that his destination was coming soon.
Soon, the carriage finally stopped. Xiao Yu dragged the heavy shackles and tried to stand up. The curtain above his head was suddenly opened, and thousands of rays of sunlight passed through the gaps in the shadows of the dense trees and hit him, shaking him so much. He couldn't open his eyes.
But there was a noise in his ears, like the roar of wild beasts and the frightened whimpering and crying of men and women. There was also a faint pungent smell of blood filling the air.
At this time, Xiao Yu was suddenly shocked. He had countless fantasies on the way here. The only thing he didn't expect was that he would be taken to a slaughterhouse!
Just as he was thinking of this, there was a sound of unlocking, and at the same time, Xiao Yu finally recovered from the blindness caused by the dazzling sunlight.
"Little prince, get out of the car!"
Xiao Yu raised his eyes and saw the Ouchi guard named Zhao Shouzhong standing in front of the open iron door, bending respectfully towards him.
Xiao Yu looked around and said with a wary expression: "Where are you and what are you going to do to me?"
Zhao Shouzhong hesitated slightly, but before he could speak, he heard Zhou Neiguan's urging behind him.
"Guard Zhao, why are you still standing there, why haven't you helped the young prince down?"
Zhao Shouzhong nodded and stretched out a hand: "Don't be surprised, young prince, this is where the carriages and horses are parked. Your Majesty is not here for hunting."
Xiao Yu turned his head and glanced to one side. Parallel to his own prison car was another prison car. This prison car was larger than the one he was in, but it was packed with men and women in ragged clothes. The cry came from here. came from.
Looking at the other side, on the same carriage, there were more than a dozen hungry wolves roaring softly in iron cages. They looked ferocious, and the smell of rancid blood came from them.
Seeing Xiao Yu's hesitation, Zhou Neiguan stepped forward and pushed Zhao Shouzhong away: "You useless thing. You have to park the car in this dirty place. It scared the young prince. He is clumsy and doesn't know how to serve people. Come to our house!”
Zhao Shouzhong was scolded by Zhou Neiguan, but he showed no dissatisfaction at all. He stepped back and stepped aside.
Xiao Yu was sitting in the cage. Hearing what Zhou Neiguan said, he probably understood and put his mind at ease.
He saw Zhou Neiguan standing in front of the iron door of the cage and waving to him.
"Forgive me, young prince, but there is nothing we can do if we stop the carriage here. We can't let the horses pull the carriage to the emperor's feet! Just wait for the young prince to get out of the car!"
Xiao Yu shook the chain on his body and smiled bitterly at Zhou Neiguan.
The officials in the Zhou Dynasty all understood and replied: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for these shackles... We cannot be the masters of our family and must obey His Majesty's will."
Xiao Yu didn't want to embarrass the people present. He dragged the chain and walked towards the iron gate with difficulty.
Just as the two were about to get close, Xiao Yu suddenly heard Zhou Neiguan whisper: "Your Majesty, what happened that night... Your Majesty has never mentioned it to anyone, right! No one has asked about it either!"
Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment. He didn't react for a moment, but seeing the anxious look on the other party's eyebrows, he suddenly realized that Zhou Neiguan was referring to the verbal agreement between the two that night.
If Xiao Yuheng knew that he was not dead yet, the attendant Zhongchang around him would start looking for the next master. This tyrannical emperor would definitely not be able to spare him.
But Xiao Yu knew that keeping this relationship might be useful in the future.
Xiao Yu's expression became calmer from the previous panic. He smiled, also lowered his tone and said: "How can I say such nonsense? My relationship with Duke Zhou will not be casual. Then he took it out to show others.”
Zhou Neiguan understood, and his sullen face smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, please remember that although I am on duty in Taicheng, my heart is for the Crown Prince."
Xiao Yu actually didn't really believe in this Zhou Neiguan. If it wasn't profitable or the chain of interests was tied, would he care about a little prince who was so destitute that he was worthless?
Xiao Yu whispered: "Don't say too much, Duke Zhou, I understand, and so does Prince Jiangxia."
Speaking of Prince Jiangxia, Zhou Neiguan's eyes suddenly lit up.
At this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly tripped over the chain under his feet, and his whole body subconsciously fell forward, almost falling outside the iron cage.
Zhou Neiguan panicked all of a sudden. He hurriedly tried to help the young prince, but the top of his head was hit by the thick chain on Xiao Yu's body, causing him to cry out and did not care about the young prince to protect himself. head.
Just when Xiao Yu felt that he was about to fall headfirst, a black figure suddenly flashed in front of his eyes. A pair of not-so-strong arms suddenly supported his body, and then slowly put him down. On to the ground.
This series of situations frightened Xiao Yu. When he landed and took a closer look, he realized that it was Zhao Shouzhong who was holding him up again.
"Guard Zhao, thank you!" Xiao Yu thanked him quickly. He glanced at Zhou Neiguan. It seemed that Zhou Neiguan was still concerned about the big bump on his head that had just been smashed.
Zhao Shouzhong had a look of panic on his face. He didn't say anything. He cupped his fists and retreated to the place where he was standing before.
However, Xiao Yu's favorable impression of the Ouchi guard who spoke little has improved a bit, but his feelings towards Zhou Neiguan have become even colder.
"Is your prince okay?" Zhou Neiguan asked, rubbing his forehead.
"Is Zhou Gong okay?"
"It's okay, the hit was not in the right place. I was dizzy for a while, but I'm better now." Zhou Neiguan said, holding the black crown on his head, "Your Majesty, the time has passed, don't keep His Majesty waiting any longer."
Xiao Yu frowned: "Mr. Zhou, don't you know why this place is?"
As he spoke, he began to look around, and saw a dozen large cars parked side by side around him. The men and women in ragged clothes were either imprisoned at the door, or some birds and beasts.
The clearing is surrounded by patches of dense woodland. Flags are fluttering at the edge of the woodland, and every few meters you can see brightly-armored Forbidden Army soldiers standing guard.
Zhou Neiguan reminded: "There is nothing to see here. This is Leyou Park, where His Majesty hunts. It is actually just a piece of grassland and a few pieces of woodland. Let's go!"
Xiao Yu nodded in understanding, then saw Zhou Neiguan shake the fly whisk in his hand, turn around and walk in one direction.
Suddenly two sturdy men in black came to Xiao Yu. They were not as polite as Zhou Neiguan and Zhao Shouzhong. They held Xiao Yu up one on the left and the other on the right and followed Zhou Neiguan.
Xiao Yu felt that his feet had already left the ground, and the chains were being dragged on the ground with a clanking sound.
Suddenly he heard a woman's voice coming from the cage next to him. The voice seemed particularly harsh in the noisy environment.
"Is that the young prince?"
Xiao Yu turned his head and looked in the direction where the sound came from, and replied: "You are..."
I saw a ragged woman in the distance holding on to the iron railings of the cage and replied: "Little prince, I am She Quli's sister. We have met before and you saved me."
"It's you!" Xiao Yu sighed in his heart.
"Young prince, save She Quli! Save the elders of our clan!"
"Where is She Quli?" Xiao Yu asked loudly.
But the woman's voice was suddenly destroyed by a heartbreaking sound of whipping, and the wailing sounds of men and women drowned everything.
Xiao Yu turned his head hard, but his body had been pushed far away by two guards in black.
Looking back, I realized that I had already crossed the river like a mud bodhisattva, and I couldn't save myself. Would he still have the chance to save others?
Just as he was thinking about it, Xiao Yu had been carried into a woodland, but not far into the woodland, he saw a bright yellow curtain in front of him, with colorful flags fluttering inside the curtain, and the restless neighing of horses could be vaguely heard.
Xiao Yu knew that he would soon meet the real owner of this hunt.
…
Hunting camp, the open space outside the main tent.
Under the eyes of many distinguished royal relatives, Da Qi Emperor Xiao Yuheng, who was dressed in golden armor, kicked a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy to the ground.
"You're a thing without muscles and bones. You can't even kill someone! What's the point of keeping you!"
The young man let out a scream, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground, half of his face touching the ground.
A strange smell of blood and soil rushed towards him, and the side of his face that touched the ground was slippery and sticky.
The young man opened his eyes nervously, only to see half of his body lying in a pool of blood. The middle-aged man who had not been hacked to death by him just now was lying in front of him. They were in the same pool of blood, and the other man was standing there in a daze. Looking at him, he opened and closed his mouth and spit out blood, as if he was trying to say something.
The young man's scalp was numb for a while, and he was going crazy. He sat on the ground shivering, tears streaming down his face, and kicked his legs to get away from the man who was still alive.
But when I stepped back, my hand seemed to touch something sticky again. When I looked down, I saw that it was a ferocious human head!
At this moment, he felt a burst of warmth coming from his crotch, and heard the young emperor yelling in his ears:
"It's nothing! It's such an insult to our ancestors. I'm so scared that I'm scared to death. Is this still my general disciple of Daqi?"
After that, he stepped forward and kicked the young man in the stomach several times.
It's just that the young emperor always hit people with deadly force, and the injury on the young man's body also hurt the hearts of his father and brother outside the camp.
The young emperor kicked him more and more fiercely, and the boy huddled on the ground and kept begging for mercy.
"Your Majesty, spare your life... spare your life... spare this little minister! I've been weak since I was a child and don't know how to use swords. I really can't hold this murderous knife!"
The flesh on Xiao Yuheng's face trembled: "Can't hold the murderous knife? Just based on your ancestor's military exploits, you still want to seize the title and become a marquis!"
"I don't want it! I don't want it either. I just want to live a peaceful life."
"Being a worm in the country for the rest of your life? Let the court raise a thing like you?"
The more Xiao Yuheng thought about it, the angrier he became. He picked up the Huanshou knife that had fallen to the ground and walked around behind the young man.
The emperor's relatives, nobles and ministers who were watching all around were dumbfounded. When no one understood what was going on, they saw the young emperor raising the ring-headed sword in his hand high, and the cold blade flashed in the sun. The cold light of the overcast test.
No one dared to make a sound, not even his father and brother. Everyone present held their breath and widened their eyes to see what the young emperor wanted to do.
At this moment, there was a sudden neighing of a horse, and the maroon horse under the crotch of an honorable disciple was suddenly frightened for some reason, and he stood up.
This sudden situation once again attracted the attention of everyone present. Fortunately, the knight's riding skills were superb and he quickly calmed down his mount.
When the nobles present felt alarmed by this, their attention returned to the young emperor.
Xiao Yuheng seemed to be affected by the horse's loss of control just now, but then he was impressed by the knight's superb horsemanship, and his mood suddenly became better. He laughed twice and put down the ring knife in his hand.
But when he saw the young man from the Xungui family cowering on the ground, he couldn't help but have a slightly angry look on his face.
At this moment, an honorable disciple in military uniform dismounted from his horse, walked straight towards the emperor, and said with an arrogant and unruly look: "Your Majesty, I want to try the sword!"
Xiao Yuheng's face was filled with joy: "Feng Huai, haha... He is indeed the only son of Yuning Weibo Feng Daogen. How is your father's condition now?"
Feng Huai was neither happy nor worried: "My father's condition is good and bad. Thank you for your concern. I want to try the sword today!"
Xiao Yuheng threw the ring-headed knife to Feng Huai. The noble disciple caught the long knife and chopped off the half-dead man's head with just one blow and kicked it aside, which also attracted applause from some people.
Xiao Yuheng looked at Feng Huai with a face of joy: "How about this sword?"
Feng Huai raised the Huanshou sword, examined it carefully, and kept praising the sword: "Your Majesty, my father has been a soldier for half his life, and now he has a lot of weapons in his family. Such powerful things are rare!"
"This knife is given to you as a gift!"
Feng Huai hurriedly knelt down to thank him. When he raised his head again, his eyes were strangely fiery.
"Your Majesty, good steel is used on the blade. With such a magic weapon, there is no point in staying in Jiankang. Please give me an order to let me go to South Xuzhou and Shouyang! Under the old general Pei's tent, even if you are a You can be a corps commander, or even a senior officer. A junior minister does not rely on the support of his fathers, he has to earn his share of military glory by himself and bring glory to his family!"
Xiao Yuheng smiled casually and said: "Haha... If all the noble disciples of our Daqi are like you, there is hope for the revival of our Daqi! Don't be anxious about this matter, give me some time! I will follow Liu Jinu's example and command my troops. In the Northern Expedition, we will first recapture Chang'an and Luoyang, then take back Hebei, and drive all the Suolu back to the north of Yinshan Mountain! I also want to attack the desert in the north, seal the wolves in Xu, open up the Hexi Corridor, and create the glory of our Han family in the world!"
Feng Huai was so excited that he knelt on the ground and clasped his fists and said, "If your majesty uses me, I will do anything to my heart's content!"
Some of the young nobles were also eager to try, and even the mounts under them were constantly restless.
But those older and more experienced ministers could only lament secretly that the Southern Qi was weak, and it was extremely difficult to conquer the Northern Wei at this time when it was at its peak. Maybe there would be another "Yuanjia Cao Cao".
Everyone present had their own thoughts. Some were in high spirits and had dreams of making great achievements, while others were worried about the country's ill-fated future.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion in the crowd, and everyone looked outside the venue in unison.
I saw a medium-sized internal official standing there respectfully, and next to him was a young man with heavy shackles.
