Chapter 10: Leyouyuan
After Meng Lanxi disappeared at the end of the corridor, Cui Fufeng looked at Qiandeng thoughtfully and asked, "Isn't the county lady going to hold him accountable?"
"Everyone has their own flaws, just like the one on my eyebrow. It's inevitable, whether it's more or less, but... it's harmless, right?" Qian Deng raised his hand and gently stroked his right eyebrow. He looked at Meng Lanxi's back and said softly, "Besides, you and I both know that he dared to do it and admitted everything so readily because he didn't care about this selection. He might even hope to be eliminated because of it."
As she spoke, she raised her eyes and smiled at Cui Fufeng: "A bad person like me will certainly not let him get what he wants so quickly. At least he has to go through more trouble."
She smiled widely, and the cleverness in her eyes could not be concealed. Even her gorgeous attire could not hide the purity and loveliness of a young girl.
Cui Fufeng lowered his eyes, but the corners of his lips couldn't help but raise slightly, and said: "Okay, then let's just pretend nothing happened."
He was a man of the imperial court and had seen countless dangers and storms. Since the county lord did not pursue the matter, he naturally would not take such a small matter to heart.
A little episode was wiped out, and it was already late.
After a brief reorganization, dozens of riders on fast horses galloped towards Leyouyuan.
The prince's guards were surrounded by people and walked in front and behind, while Qiandeng and his mother, wearing veils, followed by Cui Fufeng and ten candidates for marriage.
Among the maids in the palace, Daimao was the most sturdy, could ride a horse and had some basic martial arts skills, so she was the one who accompanied the county lord and his wife on the trip.
After marriage, Lady Qi often rode side by side with the prince, so riding a horse was naturally no problem for her; Qiandeng was taught to ride a horse by his father when he was three or four years old, and he was even more skilled.
On the contrary, several of the ten candidates were not familiar with riding skills. The youngest, Shangluo, hugged the horse's neck tightly, the fairy-like Yan Penglai pulled the reins tightly, and Yu Guangling, whose eyesight was poor due to hard study, was stiff and looked quite embarrassed.
Fortunately, Leyouyuan was within the city, and the road was relatively flat. They barely managed to avoid falling behind, and the group reached the ancient plain one after another.
Moreover, looking at the Lingling County Lord riding ahead, the candidates all felt somewhat relieved.
Her figure is not as big and strong as the legend says, but rather slender and graceful with a flexible waist. Even her riding posture is more agile and graceful than others, which is extremely attractive.
In late summer, the grass and trees on the plain were overgrown, leaving no scenery to admire, so there were no tourists. They found a flat open space on Leyou Plain, set up their target, and drew the line.
The Crown Prince, Qian Deng, Lady Qi, Cui Fufeng and others sat down in the pavilion nearby, watching the ten men in front of them ride their horses one by one to the outside of the line, draw their bows and shoot arrows on horseback, competing in horseback archery.
When the imperial court was choosing a husband for her, they hadn't specifically considered her family's military background, and therefore hadn't prioritized archery or horsemanship. Of the ten candidates, the first few shot their arrows crookedly.
It was not until Su Yunzhong came on the field that one of the three arrows hit the target, but it was crooked and weakly stuck on the edge of the target, looking terrible.
The prince frowned, turned around and looked at Qian Deng who was sitting next to him, coughed lightly and said: "Lingling, if I had known that you were looking for a husband who was good at riding and shooting, I would have ordered more people to look for one in the army."
"It's okay. You can practice archery and horse riding. Besides, I'm not looking for a master archer. The most important thing is to have a good impression of him." The face behind the veil of the Qiandeng veil was as calm as water as he looked at Su Yunzhong who was riding back with his head down.
Perhaps because of his poor performance, Su Yunzhong was a little dazed. He returned to the pavilion, dismounted, reluctantly saluted the county lord, and returned to the crowd with his head lowered.
Qiandeng's gaze fell on his hand that was tightly gripping the bow and arrow. Seeing several messy old wounds on his hand, he wondered how they were left there.
His mother had often watched her husband lead the soldiers on horseback and shoot arrows. She leaned close to Qiandeng's ear and whispered, "Didn't this Su Yunzhong help the government catch a notorious thief? He must be quite skilled. Besides, I see he has some technique when drawing his bow and arrow. He shouldn't have shot like this."
Qian Deng nodded silently, then added, "It's a pity indeed. His shoulders are heavy and his elbows are steady, his chest and back are broad. Could it be that... he only learned martial arts and never practiced horseback archery?"
Just as I was speculating, I heard the sound of horse hooves, and the next person, Nan Yu, who was riding a horse and drawing his bow, was already galloping towards the target.
He sat on his horse with a heroic air, his back straight, clearly a skilled archer and horseman. Seeing the county lady looking at him, Nan Yu smiled and even waved at her, revealing a jade ring on his thumb.
"What a coincidence! You were looking for someone skilled in horseback riding and archery, and here comes one! He even has a ring on him." Mother smiled and asked Qiandeng, "Is this something he just took out of his purse and put on? I didn't see it before."
Qiandeng nodded, and looked up to see Nanyu galloping towards the marked line. He raised his hand and drew his bow, and the arrow flew like a meteor, hitting the target directly.
There was a slight sound and the arrow hit the bull's eye.
Amidst the cheers, the other people looked at him with a mixture of envy and caution, and some even had regretful expressions, knowing that with his abilities, he would surely win the favor of the county lord.
Nan Yu was also quite pleased with himself. He raised his hand, took the second and third arrows, and shot them at the target in rapid succession.
With a whooshing sound, arrows flew through the air, and three feather arrows were clearly visible in the center of the target, all hitting the center of the bull's eye.
The mother smiled and praised Qiandeng, "This child can really be said to have shot the arrow through the air from a hundred paces away."
Qiandeng nodded. Nanyu rode back, his expression somewhat pleased and contented.
He only heard a laugh from behind him. Ji Linyou rode past him on his horse and said, "Last year, you suddenly changed your personality and switched to archery. I didn't expect that today you would be lucky enough to catch a dead mouse."
Nan Yu was in a good mood at the moment. Seeing that it was Ji Linyou, with whom he had previously studied swordsmanship, he smiled and said, "Brother Ji is very skilled, so he must be quite good."
Ji Linyou and he were both from the military examination, and his skills were indeed good, but he had not specialized in archery, and his accuracy was slightly inferior to Nan Yu. The others behind him were not as good as Ji Linyou, and there was no one who was outstanding.
Everyone finished riding and shooting, and it was already noon.
The grass on Leyou Plain was lush and green, and a gentle breeze blew past. Cui Fufeng stood up from the pavilion, and under the eager gaze of the crowd, he unfolded the scroll in his hand and descended the steps.
"Thank you all, gentlemen, for your hard work today. The Ministry of Rites and the Changhua Palace have completed their selection process, and the County Master has recognized your talents and strategies. Marriage is a matter of great caution, and the specific candidates must be reported to the court for careful consideration by the Emperor, Empress, and the Palace..."
He was halfway through his words when he suddenly heard a commotion. The sound of rapid horse hooves crushed the late summer wasteland, followed by a burst of wailing.
Everyone looked back and saw a group of civilians crying and running towards them from below, with dust billowing behind them. A group of chaotic soldiers galloped towards them with a fierce grin, their horses' hooves trampling on the backs of these unarmed old and weak people.
Seeing this, the prince frowned and ordered the guards to go and see what was going on.
The imperial guards immediately went to stop them. Seeing that they were all tall and strong, with swords and bows slung over their shoulders, the rebels did not dare to engage them for a moment and retreated down the ridge cursing.
Cui Fufeng questioned the civilians and returned with a slightly gloomy expression. He told the Crown Prince, "They are soldiers from Jingyuan. The Jiedushi allowed the soldiers to plunder the city with such impunity. I'm afraid the reward for the troops wasn't met, and something bad has happened to the army."
The things he worried about before arriving at the palace came true so quickly.
The prince was shocked and walked to the edge of Leyouyuan to take a look.
Smoke and fire were everywhere in Chang'an City, and the people from the surrounding areas fled in panic with their families. It was obvious that the rebel soldiers entered the city not long after they went to Leyouyuan.
The prince's voice trembled slightly, he couldn't believe it: "Just... because of the reward for the troops, they actually dared to mutiny?"
Cui Fufeng nodded silently, signaling everyone to leave immediately and not stay in the dangerous place.
In the early years of the Xingyuan era, the Fengtian Rebellion arose from a minor incident. The Tang Dynasty, which had only recently experienced stability, was plunged into turmoil again, catching everyone off guard. (Note: The Fengtian Rebellion refers to the Rebellion of the Two Emperors and Four Kings during the middle Tang Dynasty.)
Just as everyone was preparing to evacuate Leyouyuan, they heard a loud shout from behind: "Fat sheep!"
A large number of rebel troops appeared at the foot of the ridge. It turned out that they had just retreated temporarily to seek help. Now they were coming in large numbers, like a group of hungry wolves pouncing on a flock of sheep, extremely ferocious.
The guards immediately stepped forward to stop them and cover the prince's retreat from the mountain.
Everyone mounted their horses and prepared to ride away.
Suddenly, he heard a cry of "Ouch!". Shangluo was young after all, and was so frightened that his hands and feet became weak. When he tried to jump onto the horse, he was so panicked that he fell down.
Amid his screams, the frightened horse galloped backward with its empty saddle. His trembling feet could not catch up at all, and the soldiers behind him had already rushed up behind him.
Qiandeng was closest to him, and when he heard his panicked shout, he turned to look at him.
The chaotic army behind him had already caught up with him a few steps away, and they were about to chop Shangluo in the back. Fortunately, Shangluo tripped over some weeds and stumbled sideways, avoiding the blow on his back. Only his right arm was bleeding profusely.
Shangluo cried out in pain and fell to the ground in the grass. Seeing that the strong and sturdy soldier behind him was about to catch up and break Shangluo's back, Qiandeng made a quick decision and jumped off his horse, pulled Shangluo up, and then thrust his hands forward and stabbed at the man in front of him.
The soldiers and bandits who were ferocious the moment before, screamed and fell backwards to the ground the next moment.
Only then did everyone see clearly that Qiandeng was holding two arrows in his hands.
Her grandfather, Prince Changhua, was recognized as the best single-player fighter in the Tang army. He once crossed the river alone with two spears in hand and killed Liu Longxian, a general under Shi Siming, in just one encounter. The tens of thousands of enemy troops were frightened out of their wits and turned to flee.
The twin spears that were praised as miracles had been buried with his grandfather, and Qiandeng had no weapons in his hands. He only grabbed two feather arrows, using them instead of spears, which greatly reduced their power.
But she had practiced hard for three years after all, and her swift stabbing skills were quite similar to her grandfather's. The tip of the arrow instantly pierced the opponent's calf and arm, and tore a bloody hole when it was pulled back. The opponent immediately fell to the ground with blood spurting out of his hands and feet.
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