Before Xiao Yu understood the meaning of Xiao Yuheng's words, he saw that the young emperor had turned his face to the other side, raised his wine cup, and exchanged cups with the nobles on the other side.
There weren't many people he knew here, and he felt like he was being left out in the cold.
At this moment, a person on the right raised a wine cup to toast him.
After a glass of wine and a few polite words, the two of them no longer seemed so unfamiliar, and they heard each other ask: "Is it true that the prince can't ride a horse or have any skills in archery?"
"There is a carriage right outside the door, riding a horse buttocks, how uncomfortable it is. Besides, I am a good little prince, what's the use of learning archery?" Xiao Yu looked indifferent.
The man obviously didn't believe it, and rolled his shrewd eyes. He said "uh" and asked again: "I heard that the incident in Chaogou was related to the young prince. Is it true or not?"
Xiao Yu frowned: "Your Majesty is..."
"The lower official Pei Sui is now Guanglu Qing."
Xiao Yu's brain was spinning rapidly, and he still seemed to have some impression of this name in the depths of his memory. He suddenly said: "Pei Sui...could it be that His Majesty is from the Pei family in Hedong. He was able to write at the age of ten and was good at "Zuo family" Pei Sui and Pei Yuan of "Spring and Autumn" are understood? I have admired them for a long time!"
Pei Sui hurriedly returned the gift, with an expression of surprise on his face: "The prince knows about my subordinates?"
In history, Pei Sui had a good reputation. He was born in the Northern Dynasty but rebelled and returned to the Southern Dynasty. He was a good general and a capable official. He was tolerant and upright in his administration.
It's just that Xiao Yu didn't expect that Pei Sui would be a guest in this big tent. As for Zhu Yi, whom Xiao Yu is most familiar with...it seems that Xiao Yu has never seen the shadow of Zhu Yi since he arrived here.
"Brother Pei's reputation is as loud as thunder..."
"That's ridiculous."
Pei Sui was also polite. It seemed that he had a good impression of Xiao Yu. Taking this opportunity, Xiao Yu asked carefully: "Brother Pei, I just heard you ask about the tidal ditch. What do you mean?"
Pei Sui raised his eyes and looked at the emperor sitting on the throne. Seeing that he was talking to other nobles, he moved closer to Xiao Yu.
"Your Majesty, the spies of the Northern Dynasty are cunning and good at using various tricks to infiltrate our Qi court inside and outside, assassinate important ministers, and plan rebellions. They do everything they can. Sometimes they are also good at using beauty traps to attract young princes and princes. I heard that Your Majesty It's so sad that he has followed this path, but was completely kept in the dark! If Zhu Shizhong hadn't discovered and taken action in time, the prince would have caused a huge disaster, but he was completely unaware of it. It would be too late to regret it... "
"Zhu Yi?" Xiao Yu frowned, "Did he say all these things?"
"Your Majesty...you don't know yet?"
Xiao Yu looked at his white clothes, which were stained with gray at the collar, and said with a wry smile: "I am locked up in a prison, so what do I know?"
"Yushitai has impeached the crown prince, and some courtiers have used the issue to their advantage."
"No matter how good I am, Xiao Yu, I can be noticed by Tai Jian... Could it be..." Xiao Yu's words came to his lips, but he swallowed them hard. With Pei Sui, he talked too much. Talking too much is not necessarily a good thing.
Pei Sui didn't seem to care, he was still an honest person.
"The court officials put a lot of pressure on him. Your Majesty was originally planning to punish the prince. It was Cui Guoxiang and Princess Yongning who interceded for the prince and suppressed the situation."
Xiao Yu looked around, and there seemed to be no figures of Cui Huijing and Xiao Yuwan in his sight. He asked: "Where are the eldest princess and Cui Guoxiang? Why didn't you see them? It's because Cui Guoxiang is old and the eldest princess is old." woman?"
Pei Sui shook his head and said: "Cui Guoxiang has retired and returned to his hometown. As for the eldest princess... I am also puzzled. I haven't seen her for a long time..."
"With Prime Minister Cui Guo absent, who is the head of the officials in the court now?"
"Da Situ and Zhongshu Ling Xiao Yi, when Cui Guoxiang is reported to be ill, it is Zhongshu Ling who is in charge of the affairs of the court."
"Is Zhongshu Ling the eldest brother of Xiao Yan, the governor of Yuzhou?"
"Exactly."
"Both of them are talented, can your Majesty suppress them?" Xiao Yu murmured, and he seemed to be saying this to himself.
But Pei Sui heard Xiao Yu's words clearly. He had a vague feeling that one of the brothers was in charge of the internal affairs and the other was in charge of the external affairs. They both held great power. This had to be said to be a hidden danger to the country, or perhaps One day, will this Xiao be able to replace that Xiao?
He couldn't help but look at Xiao Yu twice in his heart.
At this moment, a black-clothed inner guard suddenly walked into the tent from outside, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the wooden stakes have been nailed and people have been tied to them. I wonder what will be put on them today? "
Xiao Yuheng glanced at the table, grabbed a pear from the fruit plate and threw it towards the black-clad guard.
The inner guard caught it casually and left.
"What is this?" Xiao Yu was confused and asked Pei Sui again.
Pei Sui frowned: "Sheli..."
"Sheli?" Xiao Yu was obviously puzzled.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty asked you before if you are proficient in the six arts."
"That's right."
"Then why does Your Majesty ask the Crown Prince if he is proficient in the six arts?"
"What Guang Luqing means is..."
"This is not your intention, but your Majesty's. Your Majesty wants to see the Crown Prince's riding and archery skills."
"But I haven't learned how to ride a horse and shoot an arrow!"
Pei Sui sighed and said: "Your Majesty may not care about the prince's riding and archery skills. It doesn't matter whether he hits the target or not. What your Majesty wants to do..."
Pei Sui shook his head repeatedly, looking helpless at his look.
"Qing Guanglu, what you mean is..."
"Your Majesty must also want to see the prince's courage."
"What courage?"
"The courage to kill?"
Xiao Yu trembled, and he suddenly remembered the noble young man who didn't dare to kill anyone just now.
Xiao Yuheng's brutal killing should be in his bones. He is a born villain.
Perhaps using Xiao Yu’s pre-hunger thinking to understand, Xiao Yuheng has an antisocial personality and super-male syndrome. He may have a high IQ, but his badness is written in his genes. This kind of villain can become the top leader of the Daqi Empire. Rulers, that is really the misfortune of all peoples.
Xiao Yu was thinking when he saw Xiao Yuheng standing up with a wine cup, and all the relatives in the tent also stood up.
"After drinking this cup, let's go out and watch the men's riding and shooting." After Xiao Yuheng finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Xiao Yu: "Prince Jiangxia, do you dare to ride and shoot?"
Xiao Yu saw that he was the only one still sitting in front of everyone, so he quickly stood up.
…
It was almost noon, and the horns and drums were buzzing in the sky above the hunting camp, and colorful flags were fluttering.
The large open space left between the tents was filled with nobles and royal family members and some accompanying ministers on three levels inside and outside. Some guards laid down wooden stakes as a boundary to keep them out.
At this time, in the open space, the unlucky little Huangmen was tied to a wooden frame with his hands and feet spread open. His mouth was stuffed with a ball of cloth, and his eyes were full of fear.
There were a total of five pineapples placed on his head and on his outstretched arms. Because of fear, his body kept shaking, but he was still afraid that the pineapples on his head and arms would fall down.
In the center of one side of the venue is a temporary high platform, raised with a canopy and a gathering of people gathered. Xiao Yuheng was sitting happily in the center of the high platform. He was surrounded by several trusted ministers, and further outside were a guard of honor and the chief minister responsible for security. Guards.
Xiao Yu stood in an open space not far from the high platform. At this time, he had removed his prison uniform and put on short clothes that were easy to move around. A guard handed a large yellow rosewood bow into his hand.
Xiao Yu tried the bow. Based on his arm strength, it was not difficult to open the bow, but he had not received any special archery training.
If this arrow could be shot, who knows where it would go, let alone while riding a horse.
Just as he was thinking about horses, he saw that a famous groom had brought him a majestic black horse.
The black horse sneezed and kicked the ground with its four hooves.
It was obvious at first glance that this horse had a strong temper, which put Xiao Yu in a difficult position.
At this moment, a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Although this horse is a top-grade horse, it has not been tamed yet! Try it with my horse!"
As soon as Xiao Yu turned his head, he saw Wei Yanrong walking over with a brown horse. Next to her were Zheng Yuanyi, the "Demon King of Zheng", and several other noble disciples he met that night, but only Cui Hong is missing.
Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment. Wei Yanrong had already walked up to her. With a playful expression on her bright little mouth, she stretched out the reins to Xiao Yu.
"pick up!"
A blush appeared on Wei Yanrong's smooth and pretty face. She looked a little shy, but not pretentious.
Seeing Xiao Yu's embarrassed face, Wei Yanrong thought it was because the young prince looked down on her horse, and said unhappily: "What's wrong? This Cong Yun colt was given to me by my father, and I trained it myself. Is it okay for the young prince?" Can’t trust me?”
"No, no, Wei... Miss Wei, you misunderstood. To be honest... I can't ride a horse..."
"Can't ride a horse?"
Wei Yanrong was stunned for a moment, and she and several other noble disciples looked at each other.
Zheng Yuanyi said: "Little prince, your father is the king of Jiangxia, and he is a general who has been serving our army for half his life. How can you not know how to ride a horse?"
Someone asked: "My father is a general, does my son have to be able to ride a horse?"
Someone else interrupted: "Demon King Zheng, you don't know that the young prince was crazy for a while in the past two years..."
Zheng Yuanyi didn't listen to this and said anxiously: "What should we do? Your Majesty asked the young prince to ride and shoot?"
Wei Yanrong frowned: "Ignore this for now, it's just temporary support. Let's help the young prince get on my horse first, and then talk about anything else."
So several friends lifted Xiao Yu onto the horse together, but the action of getting on the horse was extremely funny, causing everyone around him to burst into laughter.
Zheng Yuanyi waved her hand: "Go, go, what's so funny."
The young emperor on the high platform seemed to be in a good mood. He also saw Xiao Yu's funny look when he mounted the horse and gave some instructions to the officials beside him.
The internal official stepped forward and shouted loudly: "His Majesty said, you guys should be careful not to throw the Prince of Jiangxia down!"
Xiao Yu finally sat swaying on the horse. He felt that the horse under him was particularly humane, as quiet as a virgin.
Wei Yanrong briefly explained the key points of horse riding to Xiao Yu, but she was worried about how much the young prince would understand.
Zheng Yuanyi said regardless of the occasion: "Brother Cui has an official position and it is inconvenient to come. Let us work harder for the prince."
"Then I would like to thank Brother Cui, and also thank you all." Xiao Yu cupped his hands to the people around him and said, "Everyone, Xiao Yu is in such a state of desperation, why should he be favored by you all."
"Pretentious, long-winded." Wei Yanrong said coldly.
Zheng Yuanyi said with a smile: "If you have seen blood together, you are not an outsider. We still have a drink!"
Xiao Yu nodded vigorously, and at this moment, the sound of drums and horns sounded again behind him.
Xiao Yu noticed that not only himself, but also several men in short clothes also mounted their horses with bows and gathered towards a certain area in the open space.
"This...what does this mean..." Xiao Yu didn't understand the rules.
"It's no fun to shoot pears with one person, but it's fun when there are many people." Zheng Yuanyi was the heartless type. He glanced over there: "There are so many people, and that guy Zhang Jinnian is also here. Hey, little prince, be careful. That guy is good at shooting, but his hands are very dark. In the past, he would do anything to get the top spot."
Xiao Yu didn't pay attention to his opponent at all. He glanced at the small yellow door tied to the wooden frame.
"Then... what about that little yellow door?"
Zheng Yuanyi didn't understand: "It doesn't matter what he does, it's just his unlucky nature. Usually, spring hunting competitions are difficult, but the objects he shoots are dead objects. But this time, since he committed a crime and received this punishment, it's okay." You can only hope for happiness."
"It's not about shooting people, it's about shooting objects?"
"There's no prize for shooting people. Hitting the head pear is the first prize, but the reward for shooting the slave's arm is barely there." Zheng Yuanyi thought for a while, "But some people may not want the prize. They come here just to shoot people. "
"Shoot someone?"
"Death is in vain, it depends on the fate of that slave." Zheng Yuanyi said.
Xiao Yu was frowning when he saw Wei Yanrong pat the horse's neck.
"My young prince, don't listen to that guy's nonsense. It's just an archery competition. My young prince has never learned equestrian skills. There is no need to compete with others on the field. It's enough to just run on the field and shoot a few arrows in the air to deal with it. Okay, among those people there are masters with exquisite shooting skills, and generally no one will pay attention to the young prince on the court."
Xiao Yu nodded, and then the drum beat became more urgent, as if urging the contestants to gather at the gathering place.
Xiao Yu stepped on the stirrup tightly and kicked the horse's belly.
"Let's go!"
The horse spun around on the spot, lowered its head and made a "neighing" sound.
Wei Yanrong laughed out loud. She patted the horse's butt, and the horse galloped away carrying Xiao Yu who was in a hurry.
On the other side, Xiao Yuheng looked at Xiao Yu, who was making fools of himself on horseback, with a faint smile on his face. He then turned to look at the gathering place for the players. Two knights nodded slightly to him.
The young emperor turned his head and looked straight ahead.
Not long after, the gong sounded, and the referee announced: "My dear gentlemen, the contestants can only shoot on horseback. If they are fifty steps closer to the target, they will return. Those who shoot within forty steps will be considered illegal. The one who hits the pear on the head will be the first. Those who hit the other four pears will also be rewarded. Those who shoot people will not be counted. Each person will have five arrows until they finish shooting. If the five arrows are finished and the leader has not been hit, there will be a rematch. Each person will be assigned three arrows. If there is no objection, the gong will sound. After all, let’s start the game.”
The contestants responded and expressed their understanding.
Xiao Yu was riding a horse among many knights. When he saw those knights holding bows and arrows and horse reins, all of them were excited and eager to try, but he felt a little uneasy.
Looking at the center of the other side of the shooting range, the little Huangmen who was tied to the wooden frame was trembling, and Xiao Yu couldn't help but sweat for him again.
The referee's voice had just finished announcing the contest.
The knights, who had already lost their temper, had already set their horses and whips, and drove towards the center of the shooting range one after another.
Xiao Yu was not good at equestrian skills. Just as he was about to imitate others and whip the whip, someone bumped him hard beside him, seemingly intending to knock him off the horse.
Xiao Yu was startled and felt that the world was spinning. The horse beneath him seemed to be knocked unconscious and his front legs were about to stumble.
He turned around suddenly and saw a dark man riding a tall horse staring at him with a fierce expression. In just a moment, the man passed by him with his whip raised.
Perhaps to outsiders, this was just a thrilling collision when the riders were fighting for position, but Xiao Yu had clearly felt that the other party was coming from an unkind person.
Just when Xiao Yu thought he was about to fall down with the horse, he suddenly heard the horse neighing stubbornly and stood up again, which caused a burst of cheers from around him.
This time Xiao Yu was no longer nervous. He just felt countless lights and shadows shaking in front of his eyes, and his mind went blank. He clamped the horse's belly and rushed out with a whip.
The dangerous moment just now frightened Wei Yanrong, who was watching from the sidelines. She had been holding a golden pill tightly in her hand, and her hands were covered with sweat without even realizing it.
As a female general, she always has a keener intuition than ordinary people. He seemed to feel that this seemingly game actually contained murderous intent.
Previously, she had already noticed the man who deliberately collided with Xiao Yu on horseback.
Because there were a few new faces among the many noble gentlemen participating in the competition, and that knight was one of them.
Not only because of his unfamiliar face, but also because this unfamiliar face has been eyeing Xiao Yu for a long time. If you think about it carefully, the seemingly sudden accident must have been planned.
But the combination of these thoughts made Wei Yanrong more and more confused.
The royal hunting ground, the competition between noble sons, the intervention of strangers, under the eyes of the moody emperor, what on earth is going on...
Wei Yurong felt that something more dirty had not happened under this dirty hunting ground that seemed lively but stained with blood.
"Look! Doesn't the young prince know how to ride a horse?" Zheng Yuanyi suddenly jumped up.
Another companion beside him said, "Is that the young prince? Just now I was holding the horse on his ass."
Wei Yurong said nothing, staring straight at the center of the field. Her favorite horse named "Chai Ying" was galloping on the battlefield. The young master on the horse was galloping, looking so handsome.
