The cold wind was howling, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. The smell of blood went straight into everyone's nose, making people want to vomit.
In addition to the smell of blood, there is also a pungent smell of gunpowder that lingers.
Gu Yanfei rubbed his nose and praised silently in his heart: Good shooting skills.
How could this be?! Baili Yin slightly widened his eyes in shock, tightened the reins with his right hand, and his handsome face, which was always playful and smiling, was no longer smiling.
The black horse under his crotch raised its legs high in fright and neighed continuously.
Baili Yin clearly felt a burning pain in his left ear, reminding him of what had just happened.
He slowly turned around and looked up. Twenty feet away, Chu Yi, who was standing on the mountainside, seemed to be on top of the clouds, holding the reins in one hand and a black flintlock in the other, with an elegant posture.
Wisps of white smoke came out of the black muzzle of the gun.
Everyone's eyes turned from the tiger's corpse to Chu Yi and the flintlock rifle in his hand. There was a bright red cat's paw print on the rifle, which looked like blood but was not blood.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Everyone's heartbeats were still pounding from the gunshot just now.
Some felt frightened, while others were pleasantly surprised.
For a moment, there was silence all around except for the whistling of the wind.
Baili Yin looked up at Chu Yi on the mountainside, lost in thought for a moment.
A young man in moon-white Hu clothing faced the cold wind, his face calm and his sleeves rustling in the wind.
He lowered his eyes and looked downward, as if he was looking at the tiger, or as if he was looking at Baili Yin. His Ruifeng eyes, as black as ink jade, were clear and gentle, like the sparkling surface of a lake in winter, or like a deep and bottomless valley.
Chu You also stared at Chu Yi in a daze, with doubt and surprise in his narrow eagle eyes, his thin lips tightly pursed, and he didn't even know when the whip in his hand fell out of his hand.
“Ahem.”
Another gust of cold wind blew violently. Chu Yi lowered his head, put his fist to his lips, and began to cough heavily. His shoulders trembled slightly, unable to hide his weakness.
He handed the flintlock rifle in his hand to Sihai, with a faint wisp of white smoke still floating from the muzzle.
Baili Yin's burning gaze moved from Chu Yi to the flintlock rifle. His eyes turned red and he was reluctant to blink.
His thick chest rose and fell rapidly, and the emotions in his heart surged several times, from shock, to ecstasy, to greed... and then to determination to win.
He traveled thousands of miles across the river to Jing State on the order of the saint just to get the drawings of the flintlock rifle.
Their Yue State had mastered the matchlock gun as early as sixty years ago, and the country was thriving. However, the Qi State in the north was corrupt and declining, and uprisings broke out in various places. It was not until more than fifty years ago that Chu Jing led his troops in an uprising and overthrew the Qi State with an unstoppable force, establishing the current Jing State.
At that time, the new country was just established and the soldiers of Jing were tired and outnumbered.
The sage of their Yue State at that time wanted to take the opportunity to lead the army northward and unify the north and the south in one fell swoop, but he did not expect that Chu Jing had improved the matchlock gun himself.
The new flintlock rifle was born from then on. It was far more convenient and more powerful than the matchlock rifle, and could be called a magical weapon.
Chu Jing established the Shenji Camp and equipped tens of thousands of soldiers with flintlock rifles, which led to a major setback for the State of Yue.
From then on, Yue and Jing divided the river and governed each other, and there was a decades-long confrontation.
Until Chu Jing passed away twenty years ago, the second emperor of Jing State, Chu Luo, ascended the throne. Chu Luo was an incompetent monarch, so Yue State once again thought of annexing Jing State and sent troops to attack Jing State twice fourteen years ago and eight years ago.
No one expected that another brilliant and talented person named Dingyuan Marquis Gu Ce would suddenly appear in Jing State.
Gu Ce was like a god sent from heaven. He single-handedly helped Jing State to defeat a larger force with a smaller one and turned the tide.
The Yue army was stopped by Gu Ce twice in Yangzhou, fourteen years ago and eight years ago...
Now, Gu Ce is dead, and the great trouble has been eliminated, but Jing State still has something that makes them, Yue State, wary——
Flintlock.
It is not difficult to get a flintlock rifle. They of the Yue State had used various means to obtain several flintlock rifles and tried to disassemble them, but after countless attempts, they still could not replicate them.
It was for this reason that they were so determined to obtain the drawings of the flintlock rifle.
Only by completely mastering the flintlock rifle can the Yue State be sure to defeat the Jing State in one fell swoop.
Thoughts flashed through his mind rapidly, Baili Yin's eyes became more and more burning and urgent, and his heart beat faster like a drum.
From what he saw today, the flintlock in Chu Yi's hand was more than twice as powerful as the flintlocks he knew. With just one shot, he killed a tiger.
In other words, after Emperor Taizu Chu Jing, someone in Jing State improved the flintlock rifle!
My trip to Jingguo was not in vain!
"Your Highness," at this time, several imperial guards came up quickly, and the leader clasped his fists towards Chu Yi and reported, "The tiger is dead."
The two imperial guards at the back worked together to drag the white tiger's body up the mountainside.
The white tiger was obviously dead. It was motionless from head to tail, with its limbs and tail hanging limply, occasionally brushing against nearby tree trunks and rocks.
All the people around, including Wei Jiaoniang, Lu Si and others, all went to see the body of the white tiger. Baili Yin also rode his horse slowly over. Only the girls from noble families like Yu Chaoyun in the distance either covered their faces, turned their heads away, or frowned, unable to bear to look directly at the body.
The bullet shot by Chu Yi entered Baihu's mouth and exited from the back of his neck. The bullet completely penetrated his spine, killing him instantly.
The tiger's eyes, like copper bells, were wide open, as if it died with its eyes open.
The smell of blood in the air became stronger, and the stench of the tiger's mouth hit me in the face.
He was sure that this was something that an ordinary flintlock rifle could never do.
This speed, this power...
Chu You’s right hand held the reins tightly, almost tearing it apart.
Yuan Zhe beside him was also confused and had many questions in his mind, but he could only suppress them now.
"Young Master Yi is a really good marksman!" Baili Yin said as he rode his horse towards Chu Yi.
There was a playful smile on his lips again, and his eyes were fixed on him, without blinking...
"You are too kind." Chu Yi looked at him from a distance and smiled, "I heard that Third Prince Baili was looking for tiger bones, so I will give this white tiger to Third Prince Baili."
His laughter was warm and gentle. When he smiled, his eyes and brows seemed to be stained with a few rays of sunshine, and his whole body looked like a shining jade statue.
"Hahaha." Baili Yin laughed loudly, his eyes fluttering, making him look handsome. He seemed to not care about the outcome of the hunt. "Then I would like to thank Master Yi for his kindness."
He clapped his hands lightly and made a gesture to his subordinates behind him, and the several Yue guards accompanying him immediately took the tiger corpse.
He kept smiling, his smile was frivolous and casual, his eyes were fixed on the flintlock, his eyes were sharp and full of ambition.
What the saint failed to accomplish when he was young fourteen years ago, and eight years ago, he and his brother the Crown Prince will definitely accomplish this time. He will become a sword in the hands of his brother the Crown Prince.
The atmosphere around was lively and filled with an unusually excited atmosphere, which dispelled the chill in the mountains and forests.
Everyone was talking about the shot Chu Yi had just fired. Words like "flintlock", "powerful", and "kill with one shot" floated around from time to time.
Wei Jiaoniang, Lu Qin and others also joined in the heated discussion, talking at once and in high spirits.
It was not until they saw Chu Yi and Baili Yin riding away on horseback that Wei Jiaoniang called out to Gu Yanfei and the others to follow them. They walked and talked all the way without ever hearing a word.
"My grandfather also had a flintlock rifle. I wanted to ask him to let me play with it, but he refused, saying that if it went off accidentally, it would be disastrous." Wei Jiaoniang muttered, "This is the first time I have seen the power of this flintlock rifle."
"This is also the first time I've seen a flintlock rifle." Lu Qin said with shining eyes, "It's far more shocking than the rumors."
"Yeah yeah……"
They talked more and more excitedly, and Wei Jiaoniang was not paying attention and her arm accidentally bumped into a girl in yellow who was wearing a red-gold phoenix hairpin.
The girl in yellow frowned unhappily as she saw some dirt on her left sleeve.
"Miss, your clothes!!" Her personal maid yelled at Wei Jiaoniang in a fuss, "Hey, you've soiled our lady's clothes!"
"Forget it." The girl in yellow used a handkerchief to gently brush off the dirt on her sleeves. The tassels of her hairpin swayed slightly with her movements. "It's all dirty."
Her voice was gentle, but it could not hide her disgust.
"Ah!" The other pink-dressed girl sighed and covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, seemingly unable to look directly at Wei Jiaoniang and the others. "Miss Wei, Miss Lu, how did you end up like this?"
"Yes, it's covered in blood and mud, and it smells terrible. We girls shouldn't be like this."
The two girls gave "kind" words of comfort one after another, their tone was soft, but their eyes were full of contempt.
There were also several well-dressed ladies from wealthy families who were laughing quietly, and their words were almost like saying directly that they were dirty and smelly, and had none of the gentleness, grace and beauty that women should have.
Wei Jiaoniang is not a soft-hearted person who would allow others to ridicule her like this with a good temper.
"It's better than some people..." She casually flicked the whip, looked around at these ladies from aristocratic families with a half-smile, and said with a smile, "I don't look like a decent person, and this horse doesn't look like a decent horse either!"
How could anyone be like them, dressing up in gorgeous clothes to come to the hunting grounds to hunt, as if they were attending a banquet, and even equipping the horses with horse bells, because they thought the prey couldn't hear them? ! "Puff!" Lu Qin laughed out loud without any courtesy.
She looked back and forth at the girls from the aristocratic families, and imitated them by covering her nose. She shook her other hand in disgust and sneered, "You smell so good, are you trying to suffocate your prey to death?!"
The faces of those girls from noble families changed instantly, and their chests heaved.
They prided themselves on being noble ladies from aristocratic families and always paid attention to manners and etiquette. Even if they wanted to insult someone, they would do it in a roundabout way without using any dirty words. They had never seen anyone who acted like Wei Jiaoniang and Lu Qin.
How vulgar!
They were too embarrassed to curse directly, so they could only hold it in, their bodies tense.
Seeing that they were being suppressed by Wei Jiaoniang and others, Yu Chaoyun in the back had a strange light in his eyes. He kept smiling slightly without even moving the corners of his eyes or eyebrows.
She made a silent gesture, and the old woman led her horse forward a few steps, just blocking the way of Gu Yanfei, Wei Jiaoniang and others.
Yu Chaoyun gently gathered up the bright red cloak trimmed with pure white rabbit fur.
Suddenly, the red gold butterfly necklace inlaid with seven treasures on her neck broke, and the gold necklace slipped off her body...
"Ouch." Yu Chaoyun exclaimed softly and made a gesture to grab it with his right hand.
But she was still a step too slow, and the gold collar brushed past her hand and fell straight onto the grass below.
"Miss Gu, my collar fell off, please help me pick it up."
Yu Chaoyun gave Gu Yanfei, who was a few steps away, a graceful smile and spoke softly, as if she was just asking Gu Yanfei to do her a favor.
(End of this chapter)
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