Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Royal Hunt

The birthplace of Daxia is on the east bank of Hongchuan in the upper reaches of Hengshui. Since the ancestors, they have lived a nomadic life of living by water and grass.The summer land is bitterly cold, the living environment restricts the development of the Xia people, and there are frequent dog soldiers knocking on the border of the pass. For thousands of years, the Xia people have struggled to survive in this difficult land east of Hongchuan, until Peiluo really The glorious present world and the establishment of the Daxia regime have allowed this nation, which is fighting for its fate, to breathe and develop.

In the history of Daxia, almost every word is forged with blood and tears.The nature of nomads makes their relationship with the land indifferent, which to a certain extent also makes them more inclusive and broad-minded in terms of racial issues than the southern Bian Tang and the Eastern Huai Song.For hundreds of years, the Xia people have been immigrating westward, fighting with other races, and the land has become more and more extensive. Today, it has faintly surpassed the Bian Tang Dynasty with a history of more than 3,000 years and the Huai Song Dynasty, which is the most prosperous in business and trade, and has become the number one military in the mainland. strong country.

As the tide rises, all boats rise, and Zhenhuang City, which stands majestically on the Hongchuan Plain, has become the economic and political center of the entire continent. High-rise buildings are next to each other, business travelers come and go, and it is prosperous and beautiful. The dignitaries and wealthy businessmen from all over the world shuttle on the main street of Jiuwei. Ci shoulder to shoulder, very lively. The first long bell rang in the early morning, the sound was long and mighty, the city gate slowly opened amidst the bell, the sun was shining, and a new day in Zhenhuang City, once again under the iron and blood order of the empire, slowly began.

"drive!" A clear and sharp sound suddenly sounded, and the black horse raised its snow-white hooves and stepped on the snow outside Zhenhuang City. The snowflakes splashed and the hooves clanged, leaving more than a dozen attendants far behind. "Senior Yan, you are late!" Zhuge Huai let out a long laugh, drove his horse forward, and said to the visitor with a smile.He has a warm voice and a face like a spring breeze. His eyes are half-closed, shimmering shrewdly. He is dressed in a purple gold and silver thread koi costume, and behind him is a big fur made of silver jade ferret from Cangwu Mountain.However, at the age of fifteen or sixteen, he seemed to have a superb elegance and wisdom beyond his age.

Standing beside him, there were four other teenagers, the youngest was only eleven or twelve years old, and the oldest was no more than thirteen or fourteen. All of them were dressed in brocade costumes, surrounded by followers, with handsome faces and extraordinary appearance.Hearing his voice, Qiqi turned his head and looked towards the person who came. Yan Xun reined in the horse and let out a cry.Xun Lieyuan's snow-hoofed BMW suddenly stood up, hissed loudly, and then stopped steadily on the snow field.Yan Xun was dressed in a dark purple dress, with snow white long fur on the back, said in a deep voice, "The eighth princess was at the mansion when I received the news from Brother Zhuge, it is really difficult to get out, everyone has been waiting for a long time."

"It turns out that a beautiful woman has an appointment. It seems that we have disturbed Yan Shizi's elegant mood." A young man in a pine green brocade robe stepped forward, with a soft childlike voice, who looked no more than eleven or twelve Aged, with crooked eyes like a fox, said with a smile. Yan Xun looked calm, and said: "Master Jing Xiao was joking, if it wasn't for Prince Jing Xiao who caused me to break the princess's glazed cup at the state banquet the day before yesterday, there would not be such a beautiful blessing flying here today. Speaking of which, everything I also want to thank the little prince."

The young master smiled lowly, without being annoyed, he turned his head and said to another young man in a green robe beside him, "You see, Mu Yun, I said that Prince Yan will not let it go, and he will definitely make peace with him over this matter." I theorized." Mu Yun slightly raised his eyebrows: "Are there not many people in this imperial city who have suffered from you? Prince Yan has a good temper. If it were me, he would have killed you at your house the night before yesterday." "Is it even better? If you want to chat, you might as well go back."

A young man in a black brocade robe stepped forward, with a large bright yellow bow hanging from his waist, which looked like it was for the imperial court.Yan Xun seemed to notice him only at this time, jumped off the horse, and respectfully saluted: "It turns out that His Royal Highness is also there, please forgive Yan Xun for being blind just now." Zhao Che squinted his eyes at Yan Xun, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly as a greeting, and said to Zhuge Huai directly: "My eighth brother and I have to go to the Shang study for dinner, so we don't have much time to spare."

Zhuge Huai said with a smile: "Since Prince Yan is here, let's start." Prince Jing Xiao clapped his hands with a smile: "Zhuge found something new again, quickly show it to me." Zhao Jue said: "I see a bunch of animal cages have been transported over there. Zhuge, you are looking for us to hunt, right? That's not interesting." Zhuge Huai shook his head and said mysteriously: "I have put a lot of thought into this today, just watch." After finishing speaking, he stretched out his hand and patted lightly twice, the sound was clear and clear, echoing far away on the pale snow. stand up.

The empty paddock surrounded by fences in the distance was opened, Zhuge Huai's entourage pushed six large carriages into the paddock, and six huge cages were lined up on the open space, covered with a black cloth, without a trace of sight. Lu, I can't see what's inside. Prince Jing Xiao said with interest: "What's in it? Zhuge, don't be a fool." Zhuge Huai smiled, and waved to the attendants in the distance, only to hear a shua sound, all the black cloths were pulled off together, Prince Jing Xiao let out a cry, was slightly taken aback, and then laughed happily.

I saw that the huge cages contained a group of young girls, no more than seven or eight years old. There were twenty of them in each cage, and each of them only wore a coarse cloth jacket, with the breasts of the clothes like prisoners. The same big characters are written, and the characters in each cage are different. There are Mu, Youjing, Youyan, and Zhuge. Zhao Che and Zhao Jue are distinguished by the characters "Che" and "Jue".The group of children had been locked in a black cage for a long time, and when they saw the light suddenly, they were blindfolded and huddled together in panic, their eyes terrified, like a group of timid rabbits. Zhuge Huai said with a smile: "A while ago, a caravan of barbarians from the Western Regions came to the mansion. They taught me this game. Later, I will ask people to remove the cages and release the wolves in the cages. Those beasts I have been starved for three days, and my eyes are red. We can shoot animals or slaves in other people’s cages. After a stick of incense, we will see who has the most slaves left, and whoever wins.” Prince Jing Xiao laughed, clapped his hands first and said: "It's really interesting, it's fun." Zhuge Huai said: "That's the beginning, thirty arrows per person." After finishing speaking, he turned his head and said to a subordinate: "Zhu Shun, open the cage." The servants were ordered to remove the cage and left the paddock.The children stood there tremblingly, as if they were still trapped by a cage, not daring to move. Suddenly, there was a roar, and the fence gates on both sides were opened, and more than 20 ferocious wolves rushed into the paddock, opened their bloody mouths, and rushed towards the children roaring! A huge exclamation sounded immediately, and the seven and eight-year-old children screamed in unison, gathered together in a hurry, and ran towards the direction where someone was standing.At the same time, the sharp arrows outside the fence violently charged into the fence.However, the whereabouts are not those ferocious wolves, but those children who are running towards him. A strong bloody smell shot up into the sky, screams and wailings attacked the sky, sharp arrows pierced the children's thin shoulder blades and chests, and blood gushed out, blooming bright flowers on their thin bodies. safflower.Stimulated by the smell of blood, the wolves became more ferocious and sturdy. A wild wolf all over in navy blue jumped up quickly and bit off the neck of a child. Before the child could utter a scream, another wolf tore him away A thigh was cut off, and half of the head was bitten off. The white brains and blood mixed together, splashed out, and sprinkled on the snow-white ground. The sky and the earth were in chaos, the screams were endless, the pain on her shoulders was unbearable, her eyelids were as heavy as a huge stone, Jing Yue'er's small body was pierced by a sharp arrow, and she was nailed to the ground fiercely, her breathing gradually weakened, She seemed to be dead, but her brows were tightly wrinkled together, and the frowns became tighter and tighter.A ferocious wolf approached slowly, looking at the child with its wolf eyes gleaming fiercely, and the smelly saliva dragged on longer and longer, dripping on the child's cheek with a bang. In the dark, it seems that the eyes of God are watching the tragedy in the lower world. At the moment when the wolf kiss fell, the child's eyes opened suddenly, as bright as a knife, without the timidity and weakness that a child should have.Almost instinctively, he reached out his hand, pulled the wolf's upper and lower jaws up and down, then raised his head, bit the wolf's extended tongue, and hissed hard! A sharp howl sounded immediately, and everyone turned their heads to look at the child who was biting the wolf's tongue fiercely in his eyes. In astonishment, he even forgot to shoot an arrow. Zhao Che was the first to react. Seeing the big character "Che" on the child, he laughed, bent his bow and drew an arrow, and shot it at the wolf's throat with a whoosh. The wild wolf howled and fell to the ground. The tragedy in the paddock continued. The rest of the wolves chased after the other girls. There were torn corpses and broken limbs everywhere. Heartbreaking screams and cries.Jing Yue'er stood up tremblingly, her eyes widened in disbelief, as if she had been petrified, her small body was shattered, her hair was disheveled, her face was pale and bloody, the cold wind blew, and her little She is as small as a weak grass. With a whoosh, a sharp arrow suddenly shot at her, and Jing Yue'er jumped back nimbly, dodging the deadly attack, but she was small and weak, so she was still injured by the sharp arrow in her calf, blood was rushing flowed down. Prince Jing Xiao smiled, continued to nock the arrow, and shot it again. Zhao Che raised his eyebrows, snorted coldly, bent his bow and set his arrow, and smashed Prince Jing Xiao's arrow with a whoosh. The wolf behind him followed like a shadow, and the stench immediately hit her. Before Jing Yue'er had time to check her injured calf, she rushed towards Zhao Che. It was this person who had saved her twice in such a short period of time. With her mind in a trance, she quickly chose the direction that was most beneficial to her. However, just as she took two steps forward, a sharp arrow suddenly shot and nailed her feet fiercely.The child was taken aback for a moment, then stopped, then raised his head, frowned, and looked puzzled at the black-robed boy on the maroon horse. Zhao Che coldly snorted contemptuously, glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and shot an arrow through the vest of another girl who was running. It was stained red with blood, and was quickly torn apart by wolves. Time is both fast and slow.The child stood there with a dazed expression. Suddenly, she pursed her lips and turned around quickly. Her speed was extremely fast, and her injured calf didn't affect her flexibility at all. A wolf chased after her, fiercely He rushed forward, but she escaped in the slightest. There was a pile of sticks and weeds for the horses in one corner of the paddock. The child picked up a stick, and without turning his head back, he slammed the wolf's waist open. The wolf howled and staggered to the side, apparently seriously injured. "Come here! Come all here!" The child yelled, squatting down to pick up two stones, smashing them together, sparks splashed everywhere, and the weeds burst into flames with a whoosh.The stick was lit, and the child held the torch and ran all over the place to disperse the wolves that were attacking the child, shouting loudly: "Come here! Come here!" The young children cried loudly and ran towards Jing Yue'er. They were all injured, some were bitten by wolves, and more were wounded by arrows.After such a short time, there were less than twenty people left. The wolves were afraid of the fire. Seeing Jing Yue'er protecting the children, they hesitated to go forward. They had been hungry for a long time, and after walking around the children for a while, they turned back and ran towards the corpses in the field, wantonly Devour it. Zhuge Huai narrowed his long and narrow eyes slightly, and suddenly said softly: "Useless beast." He took an arrow and shot at the wolf. Sharp arrows shot up one after another, and the wolves were attacked immediately. After a burst of bloody screams, the wolves fell to the ground one after another, and none of them survived. The surviving children were overjoyed. Regardless of the pain all over their bodies, they jumped up together and cheered loudly for the rest of their lives. However, before their voices came out of their throats, another wave of arrow feathers came densely and shot at their small bodies.The aristocrats of the Celestial Dynasty had sharp eyes and ruthless methods, ruthlessly aimed at each other's children, bloodthirsty and killing them. A sharp arrow whizzed towards him with astonishing force. It pierced a child's head with a bang, shot through the right eye, penetrated the back of the head, and landed firmly on the tip of Jing Yue'er's nose.White brains flooded her face, the child opened his mouth wide, and still held the burning stick in his hand, as if it was a log and would no longer move.The cries of the children echoed in her ears, and it was like a nightmare. The arrow feathers gradually thinned out, Prince Jing Xiao and Mu Yun laughed together, put on their bows and arrows, aimed at the girl, and shot towards the girl with unsurpassed speed. Zhao Che frowned, and drove his horse forward, touching the quiver, but there was only one left. He snorted coldly, broke off the arrow feathers, and put both of them on the bow. Immediately, he knocked down the bows and arrows of Prince Jing Xiao and Mu Yun. Zhuge Huai laughed loudly and shouted: "Good arrow skills!" As soon as the words fell, all the screams stopped, the north wind swept across the white ground, and the smell of blood filled the air.In the scarlet paddock, only one child, Jing Yue'er, was left. She had messy hair with straw sandwiched between her hair, her clothes were blood-stained, and her face was pale. Side, seems to have been frightened silly. Zhao Jue said: "Seventh Brother is so powerful, I'm out of arrows, it seems that Seventh Brother has won a big victory today." Prince Jing Xiao raised his eyebrows, glanced at himself, then at Mu Yun, and finally turned to look at Zhuge Huai. Zhuge Huai had a handsome face, and said with a smile: "I have long since run out of arrows." "Isn't Yan Shizi still there? The time has not yet come. It is still unknown who will win the deer." Mu Yun said suddenly, and everyone's eyes immediately turned to Yan Xun. Zhao Che looked at Yan Xun coldly, and said flatly, "Shizi Yan always surprises people by surprise." Just half of the time for burning incense, everyone's arrow feathers have been sold out, only Yan Xun's quiver still has a snow-white feathered arrow stuck in it. Yan Xun was sitting on the horse. Although he was only thirteen or fourteen years old, he had a straight back, sharp brows and starry eyes, a high nose bridge, and sharp eyes. He was wearing a dark purple dress that was ironed on his body, making him look even more outstanding, handsome and cold.With a calm expression on his face, he slowly drove forward, drew his bow and arrows, and aimed at the child in the middle of the paddock. The long wind was howling, and the child's broken clothes and messy hair were rolled up. She was still very young, but she looked like six or seven years old. She was malnourished and sallow and thin, like a newborn wolf that hadn't grown fur yet. His body, neck, and calves were all covered with scars, and the wound on his shoulder was almost close to the heart vein.She stood in the middle of a messy Shura field, with stumped limbs and broken arms everywhere, bloody corpses all over the place, the stench of blood wafting everywhere, the cruel force was like a desperate shock, tearing the child's fragile eyeballs. A sharp arrow flashing with a bloodthirsty cold light slowly aimed at the child's throat. The young man sat on the horseback, his eyes were sharp, his eyebrows were furrowed, and the veins on his arms were bursting, and he slowly drew the bow to the full. She was unable to avoid it, chaotic thoughts roared and rushed from her mind, so many puzzles and doubts all collapsed in front of the sudden massacre.She raised her head slowly, her eyes were cold, with cold hatred and disgust, she looked at the boy who was facing her coldly, without any fear. On that day, it was the fourth day of the first lunar month in the 466th year of the Baicang calendar. The people of Zhenhuang City had just celebrated their new year. She and him met for the first time on the royal hunting ground outside Zhenhuang City. . Time penetrated the track of history, broke through the gate of time and space, and placed two souls that should not have touched each other on the same platform. Yan Xun frowned slightly, tilted his fingers slightly, and let go of the sharp arrow. The long arrow whizzed away, driving the cold wind in the air and making a swishing sound. Everyone's eyes were focused on it, looking at the child standing there. With a sound of swish, a line of blood stretched suddenly, and the sharp arrow passed by the child's neck in an instant, drawing a bloodstain.The child swayed slightly, staggered two steps, but still stood in place. "Haha! Congratulations Seventh Brother!" Zhao Jue laughed loudly. Zhao Che looked at Yan Xun contemptuously, and said with a sneer, "Young Master Yan is immersed in singing, dancing and poetry all day long, I'm afraid he has forgotten how the ancestors of the Zhao family used arrows." Yan Xun put down his longbow, turned his head, and said calmly: "The descendants of the Zhao family should remember how the ancestors of the Zhao family held arrows. Yan Xun dare not do it for him." Zhuge Huai said with a smile: "In this way, today's lottery will go to His Royal Highness the Seventh Highness. A banquet has been set up in my residence. Let's all go to the bar for a glass of water." Everyone agreed and got on their horses together, as if everything just now was just an ordinary game. The strong wind whizzed past, rolled up the big fur cloaks that everyone was hunting and flying, and the wind spread over the empty snowfield. In the distance, Yan Xun turned his head and saw the blood-stained child still standing in the wilderness, with deep eyes Looking towards this side, he remained motionless for a long time.