The hunting is divided into three rounds. In the first round, Mr. Sitang of the Academy, Xilou, Zuo General Ge Yiyan, and Mo Mansion Young Master Mo Ke participate. The rules are very simple. The one who shoots the most hunts wins, and the winner can get the golden tassel ring bestowed by Emperor Rong.
First knife.
All the contestants put on battle armor, each straddling a red-brown horse and lined up at the starting point. The rays of the cold sun passed through the canopy of trees and fell on the armor, reflecting dazzling silver light.
There are more than a dozen pagoda-like observation decks in the center of the forest, high up through the tree canopy, with tents set up at the top and fires lit to keep the royal family and nobles warm.
Because of Mo Fei's relationship, Zuo Qing made an exception and went to the observation deck, and with the secret help of the prince, he was able to sit at the same table as the prince.
Everyone's eyes on the observation deck passed through the dense trees and fell on the contestants. Before the competition started, everyone already knew the winner in their mind.
Ge Yiyan squinted at Yan Zhen, who was about a foot away from him, with lingering fear, not daring to express his anger. However, it was Yan Zhen who spoke first: "In this hunt, do you think it is more important to get a ranking or to survive?"
Ge Yiyan smiled dryly: "It's just a competition, there's no need to take it seriously, everyone is just trying to make His Majesty happy."
Yan Zhen rolled his eyes, walked to him on horseback, and said weirdly: "I think the only way to make His Majesty happy is to have exciting games. It would be boring if you don't shed some blood. Do you think I'm right?"
"
Ge Yiyan swallowed hard and pulled his horse away in a panic: "The general is joking, it's better if we stop ordering."
Yan Zhen smiled proudly to himself and quietly returned to his starting point.
Zuo Qing's thumb and index finger were rubbed together tightly, and the joints turned white. His drooping eyelashes made a pair of dark brown eyes shadowy, and a circle of translucent mountains around him slowly squirmed, like a god's mansion.
Su Yan looked up at him, feeling an indescribable discomfort in his heart. Maybe it was because he couldn't get what he asked for, or maybe it was just uncomfortable to look at. Such a young man with a clear moon and clear wind had an aura that was inconsistent with his age.
Full of scheming and morbidity.
Yan Zhen turned his horse's head again and came closer to Su Yan. The mountain wind blew up his infinite black hair, making Su Yan tremble all over.
"Good sister, you follow me later, I hit one and you pick another, I hit a pair and you pick another pair, so you will be number one!"
Su Yan frowned: "Isn't this cheating?"
Yan Zhen raised his eyebrows: "What are you afraid of? If you are found to have taken all the responsibility, just show off. The most important thing is..." He glanced at Xilou, "The most important thing is that I don't want him to win!"
Su Yan couldn't help but laugh, and winked at the West Tower from a distance across the Buddha's door. His face was full of confusion.
"Are you so vindictive?"
"Not everyone can hold a grudge. I don't think you can hold a grudge. You will suffer a loss. Let me warn you, whoever bullies you in the future must remember that you will pay him back a hundred times a thousand times in the future, otherwise he will
I don’t know what reincarnation and karma are!”
Yan Zhen laughed with joy, and his words became more and more serious, and in the end he was even more unobtrusive. Even the people in the west building heard him, and the people in that room looked towards this room and immediately turned away their heads.
Su Yan shook her head helplessly and drove her horse towards Fo Zhen. She thought that Fo Zhen would be under a lot of pressure because she was assigned to the west building, but she didn't expect that she was overly worried. She only saw her raising her head, as if she was looking at something.
Su Yan asked her: "What are you looking at?"
Fo Zhen didn't speak, just stared at the top of his head. Su Yan looked up curiously and saw countless branches intertwined above his head, forming a huge dense net above his head. They were like prey caught in the net, with nowhere to go.
escape.
For a moment, Su Yan felt that the giant net was tightening, and a sense of oppression swept over her. She shuddered and quickly looked away.
"What's so interesting about the branches?"
Fo Zhen shook his head and said: "Zuo Qing and His Majesty are above us. It is very clear whether looking from top to bottom or from bottom to top, but the west side where Mo Fei is is very hidden. I don't know what he is going to do.
But I always feel uneasy."
She suddenly realized after Su Yanjing pointed it out, but what could Mo Fei do? He couldn't harm anyone in public!
She told Fozhen about this doubt, and he said: "Isn't it convenient to hide in the dark and do some shameful things? He is a minister of Rongguo, and his power is comparable to that of the prime minister of the previous dynasty. Who would suspect that he is
He, no one dares to doubt that it is him."
Su Yan disagreed: "He has all the power in the government and the public. Even the current prince must be courteous. What else does he ask for?"
Fo Zhen pondered for a moment and then said: "Mo Fei was originally the prince's mentor, but later he turned against him and secretly supported the fourth prince. Do you think it's strange or not? Mo Fei's power is huge. There are so many people in the court.
Party member, when he was betrayed by the prince, why didn't he kill him and establish a new prince instead, instead he settled the matter and settled the matter?"
"After all, he is the prince, and he has His Majesty's support behind him. No matter how powerful Mo Fei is, he can't just do it casually..." Su Yan looked around cautiously and whispered: "What's the difference between that and rebellion? He just doesn't want his life."
, you also need a reputation behind your back, right?”
"What you said makes sense, but..." She looked away to the west, "This winter hunting is very strange anyway."
Su Yan's heart was in her throat, and she always felt that something would happen next. Maybe it was a habit, or dependence. Whenever these times, she would subconsciously look at Zuo Qing, as if just seeing him would make her feel at ease.
But when she looked up, Zuo Qing was nowhere to be seen. Where the young man in black robe had stood on the observation platform, only the silk flag was left fluttering.
Ge Yiyan, who also noticed Zuo Qing's disappearance like her, was staring at her and said in a strange tone: "I heard that Your Majesty sent Zuo Qing to wait in the woods to the west. If you reach the finish line first, Your Majesty will give you another reward.
I wonder if this is true?"
Su Yan said in surprise: "I just heard about it too." He looked at Xilou and asked, "You are getting close to him. Is this true?"
Xilou said: "You knew it too late. It seems that Lord Ge has better information than you!"
Ge Yiyan said sarcastically: "I think we will all be back by the time he arrives!" His words immediately aroused the disgust of both Su Yan and Yan Zhen.
When the sun rose to the top, there was a loud sound of an iron whip, and hundreds of birds rushed out of the woods. The scene was extremely shocking.
Yan Zhen glanced at Ge Yiyan provocatively and took the lead, galloping out first, followed by Su Yan and Fo Zhen.
Ge Yiyan glanced at the west building, then arched his back, clamped his legs hard, and the red-breasted horse disappeared like an arrow from the string in the blink of an eye.
Xilou, however, had no competitive mentality at all and rode his horse slowly into the depths of the woods.
Su Yan was not familiar with horseback riding. He had gone to learn it for a few days just for today. Now he could only do it reluctantly. But how could this reluctant riding skill be compared to Yan Zhen? He grew up on a horse, and the fierce horse was under his control.
His hands exerted their maximum effect, and after just running for a while, the two of them were far apart.
Su Yan's stomach was churning. He quickly pulled the reins and stopped under a tree to rest. After he calmed down, he looked around and was really shocked.
I don't know when I have entered the depths of the woods. If my judgment is correct, then half a mile to the west is where Mo Fei is. She turned around and looked behind her, but there was no Buddha figure, and there was no sound of horse hooves nearby.
The only silence was her own breathing. She walked around with her heart in mind, hesitating whether to go west again. If Murphy really made any move, would it endanger them?
She shook her head and comforted herself: Fo Zhen's guess was unreliable to begin with, and she became unreliable no matter what.
He pulled up the reins with one hand, held the bow and arrow tightly with the other, and rode cautiously to the west.
My line of sight became increasingly unclear. I could see thick mountains covered with my hands, intricate paths under my feet, and the trees on all sides were like obstacles in a maze.
But there was no one nearby, and it was as quiet as a ghost forest.
"Buddha...Buddha...Buddha?" She called a few times softly, but there was no response.
Suddenly! The leaves above her head rustled, and she immediately drew her hunting bow and aimed it. Her nerves tensed into straight lines at this time, and she sweated more and more. Her gestures continued for a long time until she confirmed that the sound was
It came from a bird, Fang retracted his bow and arrow. But just when she relaxed, there were continuous noises from the direction just now. When she raised her head again, several flying arrows were shot at her. She immediately straightened the reins, and the fierce horse
With a long hiss, he ran in the opposite direction.
The mountain wind carried the leaves and quickly passed through her body like a sickle, cutting several bloody wounds on her back. There were also countless hidden weapons mixed in, making it difficult to guard against. She arched her back and barely avoided most of them, but more and more people were coming.
The hidden weapon flew out from the depths of the woods. Su Yan held the horse's neck, drew his long bow, and fired several arrows into the darkness of the woods. Immediately, screams were heard. Five more arrows were fired in unison. As expected, someone fell to the ground.
.
Su Yan calculated the number of people. Although the forest was large and secretive, it was impossible for Mo Fei to hide dozens of people from Rong Di. There were no more than ten people at most. She took out five arrows from the arrow box and placed them on the ground.
Bowing, she closed her eyes and calmed down, using her ears to listen to the sounds around her. At first, apart from the sound of horses' hooves, there was only the sound of leaves flying by. But as her heart gradually calmed down, she heard the sound of human footsteps hundreds of feet away.
There was a wheezing sound.
Swish——
The five arrows quickly separated from the bowstring, flashed past like lightning and thunder, and plunged into the darkness of the woods.
The shadows of the trees shook violently, accompanied by screams, and birds fled out of the canopy in groups. In just a moment, the surroundings returned to dead silence.
A series of hoofbeats sounded from the east, and Xilou, who had been left behind, came galloping on a horse, passing through the fallen leaves like a whistling wind.
Su Yan was dumbfounded by this scene. He was stunned there, forgetting that the arrows in his bow were empty, and forgetting that there was an ambush in the dark.
Xilou flew off his horse and ran over, hugging her into his arms: "I'm late!"
Su Yan raised his lips disapprovingly, pointed at the trees behind him that still shook, and said, "Kill a few, and there will be a few left."
Xilou immediately drew out the sword from his waist and sprinted over, making every move cleanly and without any sloppiness. As he turned the blade of the sword, shouts could be heard endlessly.
Su Yan chased after them and saw four masked men falling out from behind the bushes. There was a long bloody gash on their chests from top to bottom, and they were already dead.
"Let's leave quickly, we shouldn't stay here for long!" She wished she could grow wings and fly out of the forest.
However, Xilou took out the handkerchief from his sleeve unhurriedly and wiped the sword with great leisure: "Since the mastermind behind the scenes has laid a dragnet here, he will not let anyone get close easily. Just wait and see,
Your Majesty will not receive news from the assassin until at least half a stick of incense has been burned."
At this time, Xilou said something, and she slowly calmed down and sorted out the whole thing.
Emperor Rong was stupid and ignorant. He knew that too many people wanted his life. Therefore, he brought guards along with him, and secretly had dead soldiers on standby. If the assassin dared to sneak attack, he would be full. But if
If it were the people around Emperor Rong, it would not be impossible for him to kill his master. After all, the person who knows and is closest to Emperor Rong the most is the easiest to kill him. As for the people who want to kill Emperor Rong, except for Mo Fei, the current minister, really
I can't think of anyone who would have such courage and such a reason.
Today, Emperor Rong finally left the palace, and there were not many guards around him. Mo Fei naturally had to spend a lot of money to fight for himself. Looking back at this time, when Mo Fei built a villa in Bishui Lake, it seemed that he wanted to stay.
A big foreshadowing.
But in the final analysis, Mo Fei is a cautious person. If the killer finds out that the person coming is not the emperor, he should not take action and choose another time. But those killers just now clearly wanted Su Yan to die.
There is probably only one reason: the person who was ordered to be the killer was not Mo Fei.
Su Yan suddenly realized it, turned around, jumped on the horse, stretched out his arms towards the west building, "Quick, there is an ambush here!"
Xilou also noticed something unusual and immediately jumped on his horse.
All the way back, Su Yan kept thinking about the reason. If the person behind the scenes was to kill him, how did he know his identity? If it was not for the identity of the prince's legitimate daughter, why did he kill him? This question remained until he returned.
Couldn't figure it out.
Zuo Qing had been waiting outside the palace for a long time. It seemed that he had heard about what happened in the woods, but he didn't expect that the news would be spread before half a stick of incense.
Su Yan couldn't help but mock the person behind him: "I thought you were a living Zhuge, but I also miscalculated!"
Xilou smiled bitterly: "It's already this time, but you still have fun."
"It's just some superficial injuries. It's my ancestors' blessing that I can save my life!"
Xilou said nothing, but his arms around her seemed to be a little tighter. Su Yan felt weak all over and wanted to break away, but he was injured and couldn't move.
When Zuo Qing saw this scene, he found it dazzling.
"You shouldn't have ended up like this with your abilities." Zuo Qing was immediately troubled by her wound. He impulsively wanted to wipe the blood stains for her, but his reason still did not let him do so. Instead, what he said was a bit inappropriate.
Favor.
Su Yan only felt that his chest was being choked. He was feeling aggrieved when he couldn't move up or down. "It's easier said than done. Let's try it instead. I think I'd be shot into a sieve."
Zuo Qing glanced at Xilou in surprise, wondering, had he made a mistake in his calculations? Ge Yiyan couldn't wait for the prey, so he wanted to take the opportunity to kill Su Yan? But it was too far-fetched, Su Yan's identity had been kept secret.
He had no way of knowing, let alone killing an unrelated person. But if it was just to use Su Yan to hurt himself...
Xilou took Su Yan's hand and was about to take her for treatment, but Zuo Qing stopped them both: "This matter has been handed over to Ge Yiyan. For your own life, you'd better keep quiet for the time being."
"Ge Yiyan!" Su Yan was dumbfounded and despaired again, "Leaving it to him is giving him the opportunity to protect Mo Fei!"
"Mo Fei suggested it, and your Majesty did not refute it, but this is none of your business, just take care of your own injuries." He handed her a packet of medicinal powder, "Mix the medicinal powder with water and drink it, and there will be no scars.
"
But Su Yan felt that this man had insulted you a few times and was very kind to you. He couldn't tell clearly and couldn't tell what he was thinking. He just felt that he was uncertain and weird. So he threw it away angrily.
"Don't worry about me!" Just as she was about to enter the palace, she saw someone coming towards her in the corridor. This person was none other than Prince Zheng, Ge Zheng.
Su Yan's feet suddenly stopped moving. He didn't know what to do and panicked.
While thinking wildly, Ge Zheng had already arrived at the palace gate, followed by several people from the Criminal Department, but Changsun Wuzheng was not among them. His eyes swept over Su Yan and Zuo Qing, and he nodded to the west building alone: "I heard that in the woods in the western suburbs
There was an assassination, and Mr. Changsun had already led people to search. Only then did he hear the sound of fighting. Could it be the Second Young Master and Mr. Su..."
Xilou raised his hand and said, "There were about ten or twenty assassins in the group. We shot a few of them on the spot and the rest all ran away."
Ge Zheng was horrified: "The assassin has already been ambushed there?"
"It should be." Xilou looked at the nervous Su Yan and said, "The Ministry of Punishment must have found out the clues. Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. These assassins can't even get close to me, let alone Your Majesty!"
"Having said that, I won't be able to feel at ease until the assassin is found out..." After all, Ge Zheng couldn't avoid the shocking wounds on Su Yan's body, "Mr. Su shouldn't have taken risks... He was seriously injured.
Heavy?"
Su Yan looked at him in shock. It took him a while to regain his composure and mechanically shook his head.
Xilou protected her in his arms and said with a smile: "This case has been handed over to your master for trial, with the assistance of the Ministry of Punishment. Your Majesty is relieved."
Su Yan looked at this and that, thinking that it was none of his business, so he moved inside, then moved again, and finally moved to the palace gate, but was stopped by Ge Zheng, "I will accompany you."
I have brought the royal doctor with me and will treat you later."
Ge Zheng smiled elegantly and kindly, turned around and walked into the villa.
Su Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly remembered that Zuo Qing Xilou was still behind him, so he hurriedly suppressed his shock, pressed against the wall of the corridor, and fled in a hurry.
Xilou regretted and sighed: "I didn't expect that Ayan would meet Ge Yishan's people, let alone those people who couldn't kill you, so I just wanted to kill Ayan to vent my anger."
Zuo Qing looked heavy: "I'm afraid this assassin is not just targeting me."
"How to say?"
"After Su Yan entered the western suburbs, His Majesty also decided to hunt in the woods with the most prey in the west. Although he ended up going to the east, if he followed the previously arranged direction and happened to pass by the place where the assassins ambush, don't you think that this time?
Assassination, the assassin’s target also includes Emperor Rong? If that’s the case, then the mastermind is not just Ge Yiyan.”
"Could it be Mo Fei?" He tried to find a trace of denial on Zuo Qing's face, but was disappointed.
Zuo Qing said: "Throughout the ages, there have been many murders during royal hunting. Some of the people involved in this hunting were Mo Fei's dogs. The time and place were favorable. How could he let go of this good opportunity that did not require a large number of troops and was not easy to expose himself.
"
"But Murphy is cunning and cautious. He will not let his people alert the snake before catching important people. From this, it seems that those assassins are not Murphy's lackeys."
"It's better to think of it this way. Mo Fei had already planned to assassinate Emperor Rong while hunting, so he set up a dragnet and waited for Emperor Rong to go hunting in the western suburbs. This assassination plan was presided over by Ge Yiyan, but Ge Yiyan was not able to do so last night because of
I have murderous intentions towards you and me, so I tried to kill two birds with one stone today. Unexpectedly, Emperor Rong changed his route temporarily and bumped into Su Yan. He figured that since Su Yan was brought to the academy by me, he thought that she would be useful to me.
The weight is extremely heavy, if he kills her or captures her, he will definitely be able to restrain me and get what he wants."
"I still feel that it is not Murphy who is the mastermind. According to his style, he will not take action here."
Zuo Qing crossed his arms and thought calmly: "There is another possibility. It's just that I'm overthinking it. However, I can make use of it."
Xilou burst into laughter: "I'm curious whether your predictions are based on clues or random guesses?"
"Guesses must be based on evidence. I just figured out Ge Yiyan and Mo Fei."
"Mo Fei's heart is like a city. He has never been caught with anything for so many years, but his nephew is a simple-minded person who acts recklessly. He really doesn't look like a family member."
"That's the difference between us and him."
The two looked at each other, smiled, and walked back side by side.