Chapter 753 The King Returns! (First Update)
The Han family.
Old Master Han went to the clan to discuss with the elders the selection of candidates for the competition.
Han Ye was left in the house to recover from his injuries.
Han Ye sat in the chair, his face extremely grim.
Qi Xuan pushed open the door and entered, saying to the servants, "You may all leave."
The servants breathed a sigh of relief.
Qi Xuan sat down next to him, glanced at him, and said, "I heard it starts tomorrow."
The two of them knew perfectly well what was going to happen.
Han Ye's hands, resting on the armrest, were clenched into fists. His eyes, which hadn't slept all night, were bloodshot, and his face was pale and weak.
Qi Xuan sighed with pity: "I understand that you're upset."
Han Ye was filled with rage, his eyes blazing: "No, Master, you don't understand. You don't know what it feels like to be called a piece of trash? You don't know how painful it is to fall from the clouds to the dust? You don't know what it's like to have the Black Wind Riders taken from my hands!"
Qi Xuan opened his mouth, but didn't say anything to refute him.
Han Ye said coldly, "Who exactly leaked the information?"
Qi Xuan said, "The Han family kept your injury a secret. It couldn't have been leaked from the Han family. It must have been from Xiao Liulang and the eldest grandson of the emperor."
Han Ye frowned: "It's infuriating to think about it, the eldest grandson of the emperor is actually real!"
Wang Xu personally authenticated it, so it must be genuine.
The question is, how did he end up getting involved with Xiao Liulang?
Qi Xuan had no answer to this question either.
However, one thing is certain: the eldest grandson of the emperor has caused them considerable trouble, and he may continue to do so in the future.
Han Ye gritted his teeth: "If the Black Wind Riders are lost in my hands, then I will truly become a sinner of the Han family!"
Qi Xuan said, "No, that won't happen."
Han Ye frowned and looked at Qi Xuan: "Why can't you?"
Qi Xuan smiled faintly and said, "The Black Wind Cavalry will not be taken away by other aristocratic families."
Han Ye snorted coldly: "Does Master have so much confidence in the Han family's disciples?"
Qi Xuan said, "Your fifth uncle is back."
Han Ye was startled: "Fifth Uncle..."
Qi Xuan nodded: "He has returned with a new Black Wind King, a Black Wind King who is more powerful, younger, and faster and stronger than your previous mount."
Han Ye could hardly believe it: "More powerful than my Black Wind King... how is that possible?"
He found it hard to accept this fact for a while.
Qi Xuan is so much older than Han Ye, how could he not know what Han Ye is thinking?
On the one hand, he sincerely hoped that the Han family could win, but on the other hand, he did not want to see any members of the Han family who were more outstanding than him.
It's a contradiction in short.
Qi Xuan didn't expose his thoughts, but simply said, "You should know that the Han family has been trying a new method to train the Black Wind Riders for a long time."
Han Ye asked suspiciously, "Did that method succeed?"
Qi Xuan nodded and said, "Yes, it was a success, so you can rest assured that no one can take away the position of commander. The Black Wind Cavalry belongs to the Han family!"
...
"Madam Nan, Master Lu, Elder Meng, I'm leaving!"
Inside the house, Gu Jiao bid farewell to the three of them.
Master Lu glanced at the dark sky: "It's so late, why don't you leave tomorrow morning?"
Gu Jiao said, "Tomorrow is the day of the preliminary selection. Going there today will allow Black Wind King to rest more and be ready to fight back."
Nan Shi Niang glared at her husband: "We have to travel all this way from here tomorrow morning, and then the competition starts right afterward. Who can handle that?"
Moreover, Black Wind King hasn't been eating properly lately and has lost a lot of weight, so he's not at his peak anymore.
Master Lu laughed and said, "That's true. Then Jiaojiao, be careful on your way."
"I'll take you," Gu Yan said.
"Sister, I'll give you one too!" Gu Xiaoshun said.
"Okay." Gu Jiao smiled.
Mr. Meng calmly called out to her, "Wait a minute."
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao asked, adjusting the saddle for Black Wind King while looking at Old Master Meng.
Old Master Meng took the token of the Six Kingdoms Chess Saint from his waist and handed it to her: "Take this."
After learning that he was the real chess master, Gu Jiao returned the token to him.
Gu Jiao said, "I can enter the inner city without a token now."
The Imperial Preceptor's Hall gave her an inner city token.
Mr. Meng said with a sour face, "Take it. If there's anything you can't handle, just say that I, Mr. Meng, owe him a favor."
Gu Jiao didn't refuse and reached out to take it: "Okay, thank you, old man."
Old Master Meng coughed lightly: "Call me Master!"
—Gu Jiao is gone.
Mr. Meng: Traitor!
Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun escorted Gu Jiao to the alley entrance. Gu Yan hooked Gu Jiao's finger around his finger and said, "You have to win."
Others might say that winning or losing doesn't matter, and that we should act within our means.
Gu Yan could sense that there was something in the depths of her soul that she valued more than her own life.
"Okay." Gu Jiao nodded.
Gu Xiaoshun secretly slipped a mechanism box to his sister: "This one is an improved version, it won't attack indiscriminately, you can use it with peace of mind."
Last time, even Gu Jiao herself shot herself. Gu Jiao tried it once in the Imperial Preceptor's Hall and almost shot herself and Ye Qing into sieves.
Gu Jiao accepted the mechanism box: "You can go back now. I'll be back as soon as I'm done with this."
Gu Xiaoshun pulled Gu Yan away, and after they were both far away, he turned back and waved to Gu Jiao: "Sister, be careful on your way."
Gu Jiao waved her hand and said, "Yes, I will!"
Only after the two entered the courtyard did Gu Jiao mount her horse.
This was her first time riding Black Wind King, and it was quite different from riding other horses.
She raised an eyebrow: "Am I riding a horse? It's a Lamborghini."
That's so cool!
Considering Black Wind King's condition and stamina, Gu Jiao didn't ride too fast. Halfway through, she vaguely felt that she was being followed.
She looked at her shadow on the ground and gently touched her chin.
She made the Black Wind King stop.
The shadow stopped too.
She left.
The shadow followed.
She tapped her fingertips on the saddle a few times, then suddenly dismounted and walked toward the shadow.
Horse King panicked and plunged his head into the roadside bushes!
You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me...
Gu Jiao: "???"
...
Xiao Jingkong refused to sleep; he wanted to wait for Jiaojiao to come back.
Not content with waiting in the Qilin Hall, he went directly to the main gate of the Imperial Preceptor Hall.
Xiao Heng had no choice but to follow.
The two, one big and one small, waited like statues at the entrance of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall, until Gu Jiao finally arrived.
With two horses.
Black Wind King and Horse King.
The moment Xiao Jingkong saw the Horse King, his eyes lit up: "Wow! Little Eleven! Jiaojiao, you brought Little Eleven!"
The horse's body trembled, and it was so frightened that its legs split!
Oh, what's this little brat doing here!
Is it too late to escape now?
"Huh?" Xiao Jingkong's gaze was drawn to the Black Wind King.
He realized that this was not the family's horse.
The horses at home aren't this tall or this majestic.
Compared to the Black Wind King, Xiao Jingkong was like a tiny spore. Gazing at a towering tree, he exclaimed in awe, "Wow!"
He looked at Black Wind King in amazement, and Black Wind King looked at him with great curiosity as well.
After a moment, she took two steps toward him and smelled his scent.
Just like when I used to smell that red-tasseled spear in the backyard.
"It likes you very much," Gu Jiao said to Xiao Jingkong. "It doesn't have a name yet. Do you want to give it a name?"
Horse King's morale soared immediately!
I have a little brother now.
Xiao Jingkong tilted his head and said, "Boss!"
Horse King's face immediately fell.
Xiao Heng reached out his hand to Gu Jiao, and Gu Jiao jumped off her horse using his hand.
Xiao Heng gave the Black Wind King a deep look: "It is..."
Gu Jiao nodded and said, "It is."
Little Jingkong led two horses and happily galloped into the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
Xiao Heng gazed at the Black Wind King's retreating figure and said, "It's been fasting for too long and seems a bit weak. Is it really alright?"
Gu Jiao looked at the Black Wind King walking silently in the darkness and said firmly, "I believe in it."
...
The next morning, Gu Jiao met Ye Qing at the Qilin Palace.
Ye Qing first greeted Xiao Heng, who had brought Gu Jiao, saying, "Your Highness, Changsun." Then he said to Gu Jiao, "My master asked me to escort Young Master Xiao to the preliminary selection. I have already registered Young Master Xiao. This is the token."
Gu Jiao said "oh," took it, and put it directly into her pocket.
Ye Qing was stunned.
Gu Jiao rode the Black Wind King out of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
The preliminary selection will take place at the Han family's Black Wind Camp, which the Imperial Advisor took Gu Jiao to yesterday.
Many people came to participate in the selection. In addition to the children of aristocratic families, there were also many children from poor families who had received letters of recommendation. Most of the letters of recommendation came from academies or government offices in Shengdu.
The preliminary selection will eliminate the vast majority of people, but it is highly unlikely that they will be from the Ten Great Families or the Nangong Family.
Firstly, the background of the aristocratic family is a factor to consider; secondly, the disciples selected by the aristocratic families are indeed not ordinary people.
They are all pillars of their families, nurtured with heavy investment and resources. Given their equal talent and diligence, how can a century-old foundation and generations of accumulation lose to ten years of hard study?
For children from poor families to succeed, ordinary talent isn't enough; they need exceptional talent, to be one in a million, and they also need to put in unimaginable effort.
Gu Jiao saw Gu Changqing from afar.
Gu Changqing was with the Crown Prince and it was inconvenient for him to come over. He only exchanged glances with Gu Jiao for a moment before entering the camp with the Crown Prince.
The Han family members have special privileges.
Therefore, while everyone else was queuing, Gu Changqing went ahead to familiarize herself with the venue.
Ye Qing said to Gu Jiao, "I won't go in. I'll wait for Young Master Xiao outside."
The people in the Imperial Preceptor's Hall don't participate in matters of military power. Sending Gu Jiao to the door was already the limit. Going in to accompany Gu Jiao during the selection process would only give others cause for gossip.
Gu Jiao nodded.
After Ye Qing left, Gu Jiao patted Black Wind King's head and said, "Are you ready?"
Black Wind King took a few steps forward impatiently, exhaling two heavy breaths as if in response to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao smiled, tightened the reins, and looked ahead: "Let's go!"
...
The preliminary selection took place on a training ground west of the Black Wind Camp. The selection process was not complicated. In the center of the field were six man-made iron bridges, each five feet wide and two zhang long, with flames burning on the iron chains on both sides of the bridges.
At first glance, they appear to be six fiery bridges burning fiercely.
Candidates had to ride horses across a fire bridge, walk along a path buried with gunpowder, and then make a sharp turn to step onto a wooden platform about the height of a person.
The last one remaining on stage advances.
It is worth mentioning that cavalrymen cannot dismount in any way during the entire process; otherwise, they will be considered to have failed to be selected.
Gu Jiao went to draw lots. There were six people in a group, and she was number thirty-six, in the morning group.
Gu Changqing is number six.
When Gu Jiao entered the arena, he had just finished his competition. He was riding the Black Wind Cavalry, and his horsemanship and martial arts skills were excellent, so he advanced without any doubt.
Gu Jiao wasn't so lucky; in the first round, she encountered both the Han family and the Feng family at the same time.
The Han family sent Han Che, riding the valiant and agile Black Wind Cavalry. The Feng family sent a member from a collateral branch, who was also a rare expert.
Although the horse he rode was not the Black Wind Cavalry, it was still very brave and fierce.
In addition, his internal strength is strong, and he can stabilize his mount with his own power when necessary.
The other three were also top-notch experts, two of whom even spent a lot of money to borrow the Black Wind Riders from the Han family.
Everyone else's preliminary selection was in normal mode, but Gu Jiao's was in hell mode from the very beginning.
Gu Jiao has a toothache.
Standing on the first track, Han Che arrogantly declared, "Is there still one person who's not coming? How much longer are we supposed to wait? I don't think they're scared and want to forfeit. I advise you all to forfeit too. How much confidence do you have in yourselves in competing with the Han family for the Black Wind Riders? No, how much of a misunderstanding do you have?"
The Feng family expert said coldly, "Hmph, enough nonsense! We'll see who's the real deal on the field later!"
Han Che scoffed, "Overestimating yourself!"
The Black Wind Rider he chose was the fiercest horse besides the new Black Wind King, and this level of difficulty was not as tough as his usual training.
He's going to win!
As soon as his thoughts turned, he felt his mount move a few times without his command.
The warhorses of the Feng family experts also took a few steps.
The other two Black Wind Riders also seemed to shift uneasily.
"Don't scare my horse!" the Feng family expert said to Han Che.
Han Che said irritably, "If you're afraid of being scared, then stay away from me!"
I even suspect that you used your internal energy to startle my horse!
The horses began to become more agitated.
Not only were the horses about to go on the field like this, but Han Che also noticed that the horses waiting or resting on the sidelines were starting to become restless, as if they were feeling some kind of suppression from their bloodline.
Han Che frowned.
The next second, a powerful killing intent enveloped him from behind, and almost simultaneously, he heard someone beside him exclaim, "Black Wind King? The Black Wind King of the Han family has arrived!"
Black Wind King?
His fifth uncle is here?
Han Che quickly turned around.
However, what he saw was not his fifth uncle, but a boy he would recognize even if he turned to ashes!
The young man rode the former Black Wind King, who once belonged to the Han family, like a returning king, his eyes sharp, as he walked towards them step by step.
(End of this chapter)
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