Chapter 880 Assassination and Probing
On the other side, Consort Song's two elder brothers, Song Gan and Song Kun, were also causing trouble. They rode into the dense forest and watched as others hunted their prey, which made them sweat profusely with anxiety.
Their horses snorted restlessly, their empty game bags swaying in the wind, a stark contrast to the noblemen around them who were returning laden with their spoils.
Song Gan said, "We've searched all over, but we haven't even caught a single rabbit."
Song Kun said, "Is this the royal hunting ground? Are there any prey here? It's not as good as the woods back home, at least there are pheasants and wild boars. The prey they hunted certainly wasn't hunted here."
Seeing the prey hanging on other people's horses, Song Gan's greasy face turned a deep purplish-red. "Damn it, if this keeps up, where will we put our faces? We'll utterly disgrace Consort Shu! She told us to perform well and try to make a good impression on the Emperor. How can we make a good impression without any prey?"
As the two complained and cursed, a sharp arrow whizzed past them with a whoosh, followed by a howling sound.
Song Gan asked, "What was that sound just now?"
Song Kun curled up on the horse's back, "Never mind the sound, whose arrow didn't have eyes and almost pierced our heads."
The two men turned pale with fright and dared not move, but after waiting for a while, there was still no movement.
The person hiding in the shadows cursed, "What are you two cowardly fools doing still climbing on horseback?"
"My lord, what should we do now?" asked one of the Dada envoy's subordinates.
"Keep releasing the prey," Dada said coldly.
The next moment, several pure white rabbits ran out from not far away. The two Song brothers immediately spurred their horses to chase after them.
Just then, they saw a sika deer lying weakly on the ground in the distant dense forest, wounded by an arrow. It looked like it was about to die. The two looked around and realized that the arrow had hit the sika deer. No wonder it had made a neighing sound.
"Who shot that arrow? Why aren't they here to take their prey?"
A glint of light flashed in Song Kun's eyes as he said, "This arrow was clearly shot by us; it's our prey."
Upon his reminder, Songgan immediately understood. "Yes, yes, this is the prey we shot ourselves. The rules say that the reward for hunting a deer is very high! We can even see the Emperor. Now we will never embarrass Consort Shu again."
The two men, their eyes darting around furtively, rode their horses into the dense forest. The forest was deep and the grass was thick, and the light was dim. After a while, when they saw that it was a mature male deer, they could no longer suppress their wild joy and let out a low growl. This adult male deer was very valuable. They had to use all their strength to drag it out of the grass.
An arrow was stuck in the neck of the stag, hitting it squarely in a vital spot, demonstrating the archer's exceptional skill.
Song Gan took the small golden bell used to mark the prey and tied it to the inside of the sika deer's hind leg. He checked it several times before he felt at ease, because only by attaching the Song family's mark could it be proven that the deer was hunted by the Song brothers.
With such a large deer, what reward would the emperor bestow upon them? Perhaps the emperor would be so pleased that he would grant them an official position.
The two were only happy and proud of their "merit," completely unaware that several ghostly shadows were darting through the forest, waiting for them to take the bait. The two were really too stupid; even if they were to get their prey for free, it would take a lot of effort.
They released some small animals to lure the Song brothers, who were overjoyed as if they had found silver. They were so engrossed in their game that they didn't notice the figure silently approaching the deer carcass in the woods. The figure placed a dark, palm-sized, cold, mechanism-like iron block into the deer's body.
After doing all this, they disappeared once again into the depths of the forest, as if they had never been there.
Song Kun and Song Gan suddenly had a stroke of good luck, hunting many small animals, and they returned home with a full load today.
-
Jiang Jinyan and Xiao Shang also entered the depths of the forest, where the further they went, the denser it became.
In the distance, amidst the dense foliage, shadows seemed to sway. Jiang Jinyan suddenly stopped and looked over...
Xiao Shang had already nocked an arrow into his bow, and Jiang Jinyan said coldly, "Wait a moment."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Xiao Shang's arrow shot mercilessly toward the shadows of the trees. There, a doe and a fawn were seen. The doe suddenly stepped in front of the fawn, as if to shield her child from danger.
Just when Xiao Shang thought he could kill two birds with one stone and take down both the doe and the fawn at the same time, an arrow suddenly shot out from the other side and intercepted Xiao Shang's arrow. Xiao Shang's arrow changed direction and shot into a tree next to him.
"Heaven cherishes life, so there's no need for the eldest prince to take his anger out on animals!"
Xiao Shang looked in the direction of the voice and saw several figures on tall horses. He recognized the speaker as Lin Yu, who was with Jiang Fenghua.
She just caught one of his arrows, which only shows that her martial arts skills are not weak, but it is not certain whether she can defeat him.
Xiao Shang said, "Your master didn't come, but sent a maid instead. What does she mean by that?"
Lin Yu said, "What is Prince Xiao talking about? Prince Xiao is also a competitor in today's hunting competition. I just wanted to try out what the royal family's hunting competition meant and what it had to do with my master, but..."
Lin Yu smiled faintly. He actually knew about her relationship with Jiang Fenghua. Who exactly was this man?
Xiao Shang thought: He was led here by Jiang Jinyan. Could it be that Jiang Fenghua had planned this all along?
Suddenly, Lin Yu held a crossbow in her hand and aimed it at Xiao Shang. She adjusted the position of the crossbow and, without thinking, the crossbow bolt "whooshed" and shot directly towards Xiao Shang's forehead.
Xiao Shang hadn't expected that Jiang Fenghua would try to kill him, not by assassination in secret, but by sending someone to kill him right in front of him. He suddenly felt that he couldn't understand Jiang Fenghua anymore.
He felt he understood her well. She had been humiliated and died in her previous life, so in this life she should take revenge, just like the Su family, and disappear from the world forever.
He successfully dodged the arrow shot from Lin Yu's hand.
Immediately afterwards, Lin Yu fired another arrow...
Jiang Jinyan was an official appointed by the imperial court, so he couldn't easily take action against Xiao Shang. However, Lin Yu was not, and Lin Yu could act with impunity.
Last time, Lin Yu watched him fight Jiang Fenghua; this time, she was fighting him. If the person in front of her really was the man in black, she knew she wouldn't be his match.
Suddenly, another group of men in black joined him in the woods to fight him.
However, the next moment, he took out the bamboo flute from his waist and started playing it. His flute music seemed to have a magical power, able to control people's minds through the sound.
At the same time, seeing this, Jiang Jinyan shouted to Lin Yu and the others: "Close your five senses, don't listen or look."
But before he could finish speaking, Lin Yu's men had already been taken into custody.
Jiang Jinyan had shut down his five senses and was temporarily out of his control. Although it was the warm spring weather of March, the surrounding environment was frozen.
Jiang Jinyan shook his head. There was no frozen world at all; it was all a figment of his imagination, which is why everyone saw something different.
Jiang Fenghua and Sang Yupianpian also saw everything from the shadows.
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