Chapter 171 Assassination

In the long shed at the entrance of the paddock, Lu Yan looked at Qi Yutai in the cavalry, his expression became cold.

Qi Yutai also came.

He was riding on a tall red horse, wearing a golden sapphire blue riding uniform. He was gentle and calm. He was smiling and joking with an acquaintance of a young master from another family. He looked very romantic.

Lu Chen sneered in his heart.

Qi Yutai was at risk of epileptic seizures and should avoid overly stimulating behavior. He should have stayed away from places like the hunting ground, but he took the initiative to come.

Really desperate.

She tightened her grip on the straps of the medical kit.

The mountains and forests are dense with trees and rocks. It is common for accidents to happen in such a place. Before coming out, she packed many poison cans in the medical kit. If she could kill him here...

Her thoughts moved slightly, and she couldn't help but frown when her eyes fell forward.

No, there are too many people.

Qi Yutai was accompanied by several guards in red, protecting him closely. If one person is okay, with so many people, it should be difficult to distract them.

Can only give up.

Lin Danqing beside him curled his lips: "Why did you bring that mad dog again?"

Lu Yan: "Mad dog?"

"No." Lin Danqing pursed his lips, "Look."

Lu Chen looked intently.

Behind Qi Yutai's horse, there was indeed a gray hound following. The hound is tall, much larger than the domestic dogs that usually guard homes on the street. Its fur is shiny and its eyes are red. If it weren't for the gold collar on its neck, it would look like a ferocious hungry wolf. Looking at it, It makes people jump into shock.

"That's Qi Yutai's pet dog." Lin Danqing said, "I brought it to help with hunting."

Lu Tong understood.

In the paddock, there are often people from noble families who bring falcons and hounds to help with hunting.

"Qi Yutai loves this dog. I heard that he has to eat fresh beef tenderloin every day, a large bowl of fresh milk, fresh fruits, and bird's nest snacks. I heard that even the shacks he lives in are inlaid with gems and have special personnel to serve them..."

Lin Danqing said in an angry tone, "Look at the gold collar around its neck. I have never worn one of such fine quality. In this world, people are really inferior to dogs."

Lu Yan asked: "Why do you say it's a mad dog?"

"That dog keeps biting people everywhere. What is it if it's not a mad dog?"

Lin Danqing hummed: "The Qi family sometimes takes the dog out. The mad dog is too strong, and sometimes the servants can't hold it, and it will inevitably hurt people. Previously, a little girl had half her face eaten by this dog, and her mother cried and begged to no avail. I wrote a note of grievance and sewed it on my back, held my child in my arms and went to the house to cry——"

Lu Zhen was stunned when he heard this: "What happened in the end?"

"In the end?" Lin Danqing smiled sarcastically, "I only cried for a day. It was said that the Taishi Mansion paid a large sum of money to the little girl and was responsible for her till she got married. There were also rumors that the Taishi Mansion was kind, and that family Thank you very much, but you don’t know how you can survive to get married with such injuries?”

As soon as they finished speaking, both of them fell silent.

After another while, Lin Danqing spoke in a gentler tone: "Don't worry, that dog is being held by someone, and it's a hunting ground, so there's no need to be afraid of biting someone. I think Mr. Qi is also afraid that he will hunt around and come back empty-handed, and find a dog." The dog is just here to show off."

Lu Zhuo looked up and saw that the gray dog ​​followed Qi Yutai's horse forward, but was blocked by the dragon guard at the back and gradually lost sight of it.

She looked away and said "Yeah" softly.

Now that Long Wuwei and the hunting prince Wang Sun are in place, the hunting will begin soon.

Lu Tong stood in the tent of the Medical Officer's Hospital and watched the ceremonial officer standing on the high platform of the hunting ground and blowing the horn.

The mountains and forests were empty, and the long sound of the horn echoed, frightening countless birds into flight.

Prince Yuan Zhen drove his horse to the front of the hunting ground, and personally presented a gold-inlaid bow and arrow to the officer. Yuan Zhen took the arrow and bent the bow, pointed at the red silk in front of the hunting ground and shot suddenly——

The hunt begins!

The prince went first, followed by the guards behind him, running towards the mountains and forests. Then came the second prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince, and then Prince Ning, the princes, and officials of the third rank and above...

The first road leading to the forest was not wide, and one team followed the other. However, there were two teams in front of them that seemed to be bumping into each other, refusing to give in to each other. It was almost as if they were meeting on a narrow road.

Lu Tong looked at the person who stopped at the Lindaokou at the same time as Pei Yunying, and asked Lin Danqing: "Who is that person?"

Lin Danqing took a look and said, "Master Yan Xuyan, Commander of the Privy Council."

Yan Xu?

Lu Zhen's heart moved slightly.

Isn't that Pei Yunying's mortal enemy?

Under the shady trees, the young man reined in his horse and looked at the man blocking his way.

"Master Yan," he smiled, "the road is narrow, be careful of slippery roads."

The man on the horse is about forty years old, wearing a dark gray riding uniform and has a thin build. His appearance was very mediocre, except for his pair of shrewd and wise eyes, which were staring at him with a gloomy expression.

This is Yan Xu, the commander of the Privy Council.

It was well known to everyone in the court that the Privy Council and the Palace Chief were not dealing with each other, and Yan Xu and Pei Yunying had old grudges for many years. They regarded each other as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their bones. Whenever they appear on the same scene, there will always be two sentences that stumble.

Today is no exception.

Yan Xu glanced at him and said meaningfully: "Master Pei and His Highness the Third Highness are following very closely. They are just like the Qi family's hunting hound."

The Privy Council Cavalry who was following him burst out laughing when he heard this.

When hunting in the mountains, the imperial guards are different from the noble children and need to be escorted by the princes. He did not follow the prince, but the third prince.

And Yan Xu is now very close to the prince.

Pei Yunying smiled, as if he didn't hear the sarcasm in the other person's words: "Before going up the mountain, His Majesty specifically asked to guard the Third Prince to be safe, just as Lord Yan guarded the Crown Prince to be safe. The two of them are brothers who love and are friends, and the younger brother is respectful and obedient. You and I are both sharing His Majesty's worries. If it comes to helping with hunting, Lord Yan is no less."

He responded without any courtesy.

Yan Xu stared at him and sneered: "You are young, I wonder if you have heard an old song."

Pei Yunying looked at him indifferently.

The man lowered his voice: "A foot of cloth can still be sewn; a bucket of millet can still be pounded. Two brothers cannot get along."

The young man's eyes moved slightly.

The next sentence of the song is: What's more, the world is so vast, but they can't get along...

Yan Xu glanced at his face, smiled with satisfaction, urged his horse, and ran into the mountains with the Privy Council riders.

Lu Tong watched the turmoil on the other side of the forest road. Although she didn't know what happened, from the looks of the cavalrymen in front of the palace, Yan Xu seemed to have said something that made Pei Yunying unhappy.

It wasn't until Pei Yunying also ran into the forest with the cavalry guards and could no longer see his shadow that Lu Tong retracted her gaze.

She remembered the rumor.

Before entering the medical officer's hospital, Miao Liangfang told Lu Tong all the crooked ties and relationships in the Shengjing officialdom that he knew, including Yan Xu.

This Lord Yan, the Privy Councilor, was in charge of the military affairs of the Liang Dynasty and the border defense and military orders, and he was extremely powerful. However, the reason why he became the center of everyone's gossip and private conversation was not because of his power or indifference, but because of his past with the wife of the former Zhaoning Duke.

It is said that many years ago, Yan Xu proposed to the wife of the former Duke Zhaoning, who was waiting to be married, but was rejected. However, Yan Xu was not in his current official position at that time. After the wife of the Duke Zhaoning got married, she rose step by step. Some people said that Yan Xu was angry and wanted to make the wife of the Duke Zhaoning regret it.

Later, the wife of the Duke Zhaoning was held hostage by the rebels, and Pei Di wanted to take down the rebels regardless of the wife's life. It was even more ironic that a generation of beauties died in this way. It is unknown whether the wife of the Duke Zhaoning regretted it before her death, but it is clear that Yan Xu, the Privy Councilor, hated the Pei family from then on.

According to Lin Danqing, the relationship between the Palace Front Office and the Privy Council was not good and they checked and balanced each other. After Pei Yunying went to the Palace Front Office, the contradiction became more intense, and the two sides often fought to the death.

She originally thought that this might be a rumor, but today it seems that it is not completely fabricated. It seems that Pei Yunying and Yan Xu did have a lot of conflicts, otherwise they would not have confronted each other in front of so many people in the hunting ground.

Just as I was thinking, Chang Jin's voice came from the front, calling on all medical officers to return to the medical officer camp to wait.

The medical officers were waiting in the tents. If someone was injured, they would go into the forest for emergency treatment or wait in the tents for bandaging. Generally speaking, they would only go into the forest in critical situations, and most of the time they would wait in the tents.

Lu Tong raised her eyes and looked at the forest road again.

Almost all the people who went into the forest to hunt had gone into the mountains, leaving only a few scattered guards behind, and there was no sign of Qi Yutai.

She retracted her gaze and walked towards the direction of the tent.

…

The mountain forest road was steep and steep.

The towering ancient trees blocked the sky and drove the hot sunlight tightly outside the branches. There was the sound of gurgling waterfalls flowing through the stream, and the summer in Huangmaogang was quiet and cool.

Qi Yutai rode on a horse, followed closely by the Qi family guards.

He did not take the busiest forest road, but chose a less crowded direction. It was not because of anything else, but because he was afraid of being seen by others for his poor riding and archery skills.

The Qi family only had one son, and he was not the sickly Xia Miao in the residence of the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, who was required to participate in the event by the sons of dukes and powerful officials. If he was the only one who did not come, it would inevitably cause criticism behind his back.

However, his father did not like him to do too much intense activities since he was a child, and he only learned riding and archery hastily, and was not proficient. Every year during the hunting, those young masters all looked forward to this opportunity to show their prowess and compete for prey. He could not let others see that his prey was hunted by guards and hunting dogs, so he could only avoid people.

Fortunately, Huangmaogang was very large, and it was easy to avoid people if he wanted to.

Qinhu crouched down and sniffed the soil under the forest carefully. The guard beside him whispered: "Master, the female doctor is now in the tent at the foot of the mountain. Do you want to lure her here now?"

Qi Yutai's eyes flashed.

"No."

He stared at the greyhound: "It's still early, let Qinhu sharpen his teeth first."

As soon as the voice fell, the hound in front of him suddenly rushed out and plunged into the bushes not far away. In a flash, he grabbed a rabbit in one bite.

"Good!" Qi Yutai was immediately overjoyed.

The hound barked wildly and threw the white rabbit in its mouth in front of Qi Yutai's horse. The white rabbit was bitten off the neck by the hound's sharp teeth. The blood that flowed out dyed its fur red. The legs kicked weakly for a few times, and the chest gradually sank.

Qi Yutai took out a piece of fresh dried meat from the leather bag and threw it to the hound. The hound swallowed it in one bite and rushed into the forest in front again.

Qi Yutai felt happy.

Strangely enough, whenever he saw a tiger being captured and a beast being hunted, he always felt extremely happy, as if it was not the hound that bit off the rabbit's neck, but himself.

He was very happy to see such a weak prey struggling helplessly in front of a stronger one. The excitement of hunting made him excited. That excitement was different from the excitement of taking cold food powder, but it made him happy as well.

Happiness from the bottom of his heart.

Unfortunately, his father disciplined him very strictly. When he acted outside, he always had to take into account the status and face of the Qi family. In the mansion... he had to abide by the old rules set by his father. Only here, in this mountain forest, could he taste the bloodthirsty and violent momentary happiness through the sharp mouth of the tiger.

Qianhu was alert, his ears erect, as if he had discovered something, and he suddenly rushed into the woods. Not long after, there was a scream of a beast struggling, as if it was struggling to death.

Qi Yutai's eyes were more satisfied, and he shouted: "Good, good!"

The more prey it bites to death, the more ferocious the hound will be. When Qinhu bites a few more rounds, the blood will be fully stimulated, and then Lu Tong will be brought here...

The weak body will be torn into pieces in an instant.

That is the most wonderful prey.

Thinking of this, Qi Yutai's eyes were red with excitement, and he felt that his blood vessels were surging all over his body. He shivered with anticipation!

"Let's go!"

He couldn't help laughing.

...

"Swoosh--"

The feather arrow shot out from the woods and suddenly penetrated the beating body. With a "bang--", a wild deer fell down, and the blood splashed everywhere.

"Wow--" the young man shouted with joy, turned over and got off the horse, dragged the wild deer over, tied it up, and carried it on his horse's back. He patted the deer's body and exclaimed: "This deer is so fat!"

Wild deer are fat and strong, and they are heavy. They can be taken back to make venison balls, venison grains, venison dumplings, venison rolls... They can also replenish qi and yang, nourish blood and dispel wind. The young man licked his lips.

On the black horse, the young man put away his bow and arrow, looked at him, and asked: "Is it enough?"

"Enough, enough."

Duan Xiaoyan smiled and said: "It's neither eye-catching nor ugly. It's just right to receive a reward that is not too light or heavy, and it doesn't steal the limelight from several princes. Two words to describe it-perfect."

He looked like a supporting actor. Pei Yunying glanced at him and whipped the horse forward.

At the beginning of the hunt, the children of each family competed to try out bows and knives, calling eagles and inserting arrows. They wished that the horses were full of prey and they would be the first when they looked back to discuss the rewards.

But Pei Yunying was always uninterested.

First, as the commander of the Palace Front Division, he cannot steal the limelight from the princes. This is the rule. Second, he was not interested in this kind of competition. He just wanted to go through the motions.

Even with his archery skills, it would be easy for him to win the first place.

They accompanied him all the way, but Duan Xiaoyan saw some foxes and rabbits to hunt for him, and the black dog Gardenia followed behind him - it was a rare opportunity to have a ten-day leave on official business, so it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

The third prince Yuan Yao went ahead. He didn't like Pei Yunying following him. As soon as he got up the mountain, he signaled Pei Yunying not to get too close.

Duan Xiaoyan said, "I understand again." "Think about it. Brother, you are so handsome and handsome. Who would not feel ashamed to walk in front of you? If I were the Third Prince, I would not want you to follow me. You have taken away all the glory. It is really disgusting."

"Oh?" Pei Yunying raised his eyebrows: "So the reason for the person following next to him?"

"Of course, it is to set off!"

The two looked at the people who were busy around the Third Prince and fell silent at the same time.

The youngest son of the Minister of the Central Secretariat was accompanying Yuan Yao.

This Minister was born weak and innocent, just like his father. It is said that his father was only a sixth-rank official at the beginning, with mediocre qualifications. It happened that his boss's mother accidentally slipped and broke her leg that year, so he got up before dawn every day to take care of the sick, and personally took care of the feces and urine for a whole year. He was more caring than his own mother and son. Later...

Later, he was promoted all the way and became the current Minister of the Central Secretariat.

The Minister not only inherited his father's looks, but also seemed to have inherited his father's good popularity in the officialdom. In just half a day, he had already made the Third Prince happy. Indeed, his short and weak figure walking beside the Third Prince made the Third Prince look even more handsome and tall.

Of course, the Third Prince was a nobleman, so he shouldn't care about these details, let alone deliberately let him stand out.

There was a spring splashing down the cliff in front, and the Minister pointed to the lush pine forest behind the spring: "Here! Last summer, Lord Wang of the Military Department saw a white wolf here, but unfortunately he didn't shoot it and let it run away. I remember it clearly, it was this pine forest!"

White wolves are rare, Yuan Yao's eyes lit up, and he was about to take people in.

Pei Yunying drove his horse to Yuan Yao's side and stopped him: "The pine forest is dense and the cliffs are steep. Your Highness may allow me to search in the forest first..."

"Pei Dianshuai," Yuan Yao interrupted him impatiently, "By the time you go in, the wolf king will be scared away. What can we hunt?"

Pei Yunying paused.

The minister heard this and laughed, "That's right, hunting is meant to be flexible and casual. Your Highness's move is a bit disappointing. There's no need to be too nervous."

As soon as the voice fell, without waiting for Pei Yunying to speak, Yuan Yao raised his whip and rushed into the pine forest first.

Pei Yunying frowned, and Xiao Zhufeng, who followed him, shook his head helplessly. The two of them said no more and followed the guards into the pine forest.

The pine trees on Huangmaogang are dense, and the forests cover the foothills, like a thick green cloud covering people's heads. When the horse stepped on the grass on the ground, the insects and beasts flew away.

After running half a circle, the white wolf was temporarily out of sight, but a small wild boar was found.

The half-grown wild boar ran fast. Yuan Yao excitedly held an arrow and bent his bow to chase the wild boar. The feather arrow flew off the string like a gust of wind and lightning, hitting the wild boar's butt. The beast howled and ran even faster. Yuan Yao laughed loudly, drew another long arrow from the longbow, and let go of it, and the feather arrow went straight to the wild boar!

The minister behind him couldn't help but praise: "Good! Your Highness has a good archery skill!"

Pei Yunying smiled and rode to catch up. Just as he was about to give a few perfunctory compliments, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

The sharp sound of the feather arrows cutting through the air came one after another, but it didn't just come from Yuan Yao's hands.

Pei Yunying was shocked, and he didn't care about the horse under him. He drew his sword and rushed forward: "Your Highness, be careful!"

"There is an ambush in the forest--"

“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh——”

In the depths of the pine forest, dozens of feather arrows came like heavy rain. Yuan Yao was chasing the fleeing wild boar, but something happened suddenly. In panic, he forgot to dodge, and saw the rain of arrows about to hit him——

At the critical moment, someone suddenly pulled him aside, and the silver knife flashed brightly, and hit the rain of arrows with a bang, cutting the flying arrows into two pieces!

Yuan Yao breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head, and widened his eyes in fear.

The young man protected him at his side, and behind him, a silver feather arrow flew in the air and stabbed at his back!