Chapter 762 Siblings Join Forces (First Update)
The king waited outside for quite a while, somewhat worried about what had happened to the young princess.
"Xiaoxue".
He called out.
The little princess stood on the windowsill, anxiously watching Xiao Jiu carrying a small bamboo tube: "I...I...I'm still pooping! Don't come in!"
The king sighed helplessly and continued to wait in the corridor.
After hesitating for a moment, still feeling uneasy, he went to the door and said, "Don't fall in."
The young princess said, "I wouldn't!"
She didn't actually poop, so how could it have fallen into the toilet?
The king lingered outside for a while longer: "Aren't you coming out?"
"Almost done!"
The king finally grew impatient, sensing something strange about the little guy inside.
"I have entered," the king said.
The king pushed the door open.
The little guy even locked the door!
There's a ghost, there must be a ghost!
"Zhang Dequan," the king called out in a deep voice.
Zhang Dequan understood, pulled the hairpin from his hair, and pried the bolt off the door in a few quick movements.
He pushed open the door, and the king stepped in with a stern face.
I knew you were up to something!
The king looked sternly at the little girl who was perched on the windowsill. The little girl was holding a large bird in her hands, and her little body trembled slightly, perhaps because the king's movements were too loud.
When she turned around, she couldn't hide her guilty look, as if she had been caught red-handed.
When the king realized that the large bird in her hand was actually an eagle, he was completely dumbfounded!
"Someone come here!"
At his command, Zhang Dequan led his guards in and rushed in, the guards taking three steps at a time to run towards the eagle that had attacked the young princess.
The young princess was so frightened that she let go of her hand.
Little Nine flapped its wings and flew away.
The little princess pouted, then burst into tears: "Waaah—I finally managed to catch Xiao Jiu—you scared Xiao Jiu away—I want Xiao Jiu—I want Xiao Jiu—"
She can still call out names.
The king walked over, picked up the little guy, and scooped him into his arms. After looking him over to make sure he wasn't hurt, he asked, "What, Little Jiu?"
"That's the bird from just now, its name is Xiao Jiu."
"So you're not here to poop, you're here to catch birds?"
The young princess let out a couple of dry cries, then looked down and checked her fingers.
This appearance, in the eyes of the king, meant that he had guessed correctly: the little guy had come to catch birds!
The king was furious: "That's an eagle, it can hurt people, aren't you afraid of being bitten?"
The young princess murmured, "Little Nine doesn't bite."
Look at his mouth! He's become more and more eloquent since he started school.
"Whose bird is it?" the king asked.
The little princess pouted and said, "Uncle Jingkong, why does he have a bird but I don't? I'm so sad."
You'd only be sad if you had a bird, you're just a little girl!
The king rubbed his forehead.
What is all this about?
The king was so angry with the little girl that he took a deep breath, feeling like he was about to explode at any moment.
"Return to the palace!"
If she doesn't go back to the palace soon, he's afraid he'll spank her!
The little princess lowered her head and said, "Oh."
The young princess was taken away by the king.
As she returned to the carriage, she suddenly said, "Uncle, I'm going to hide inside. Find me!"
Kids really do have all sorts of unpredictable ideas.
"I won't look for him!" the king refused without hesitation.
The little princess clung to the king's leg, pleading in a childish voice, "I want it, I want it, I want it! Uncle is looking for Xiaoxue, please~"
Begging won't help!
"I will only strike a few dozen times," the king said through gritted teeth.
"Uncle is the best, Xiaoxue loves you!" The little princess scurried up to the carriage, closed the curtain, and stuffed the small bamboo tubes from her book bag back into the hidden compartment.
...
Qilin Hall.
Xiao Heng and Gu Jiao went to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo. When Xiao Jiu brought the bamboo tube over, only Shangguan Yan and Xiao Jingkong were in the room.
Shangguan Yan knew immediately upon seeing those imperial bamboo tubes that they belonged to the emperor.
She couldn't move herself, so she asked Xiao Jingkong to go and ask what was wrong.
"It's a test question from the teacher," the little princess said. "Is the teacher here? Show it to the teacher quickly, don't let my uncle find out."
Gu Jiao wasn't there, so she couldn't watch it right now, but Xiao Jingkong's exceptional memory allowed him to quickly memorize the test questions.
Xiao Jingkong is a meticulous child. He not only copied each note from memory exactly, but also asked Yu He for six bamboo tubes to put the notes in, perfectly recreating the details.
The difference is that the king's bamboo tube was the smallest size, while Yu He found him the largest size.
So when Gu Jiao and Xiao Heng returned after cutting the bamboo, they saw six extra-large bamboo tubes on the table.
That's pretty exaggerated.
"What happened?" Xiao Heng asked.
"Xiaoxue said these were Jiaojiao's test questions." Xiaojingkong patted his chest. "I memorized them, and I wrote them all!"
The two exchanged a glance. The test? Was it what they were thinking?
The two took the exam questions to the next room.
Xiao Heng closed the door and sat down at the table with Gu Jiao.
"Six bamboo tubes, six advanced individuals... Open them." He said, looking at the bamboo tubes on the table.
"Hmm." Gu Jiao casually picked up a bamboo tube, poured out the note inside, and read aloud, "Enter the Songshan Mountains, launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp near Biyue Spring, seize the secret letter, and deliver their secret letter to the First Beacon Battalion, personally handing it over to the Left Deputy Commander of this camp."
"This sounds like the task for your final selection." Xiao Heng paused. "But why are there six bamboo tubes?"
Gu Jiao opened the second bamboo tube. "You are a Turkic spy. This is the Turkic army's true secret letter. Quickly take this unique secret letter to the First Beacon Camp and personally hand it over to the Right Deputy General of the rebel army in this camp."
"What do you mean?" Gu Jiao asked.
Xiao Heng said, "The secret letter we looted during the raid on the enemy camp was a fake. If we hadn't looked at this bamboo tube, probably no one would have known that we had taken a fake secret letter. In that case, even if he reached the destination, the mission would have failed."
Gu Jiao frowned: "How cunning. In that case, this mission of escorting the real secret letter has an advantage, since we don't have to fight the enemy and we don't have to worry about carrying a fake secret letter."
Xiao Heng felt that things weren't that simple: "Let's see about the third one first."
Gu Jiao opened the third bamboo tube, and this time the situation had changed: "Enter the Songshan Mountains, launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp near Huangshupo, seize their secret letter, and deliver it to the Second Beacon Battalion, personally handing it over to the Left Deputy Commander of this battalion."
Gu Jiao then opened the fourth one.
"You are a Turkic spy. This is the true secret letter from the Turkic army. Quickly take this unique secret letter to the Second Beacon Camp and personally deliver it to the Right Deputy General of the rebel army in this camp."
"Hmm, is this a different location to farm dungeons with NPCs?"
"What?" Xiao Heng didn't understand the last two words.
Gu Jiao explained, "The only difference is the location and the people involved. The mission format is the same as the first group: one person goes to the enemy camp to steal the fake one, and the other escorts the real one."
"Let's take a look at the last two too," Xiao Heng said, guessing they were just the same thing in a different guise.
As expected, the destination of the remaining two was the Third Beacon Camp, and the location of the raid was Zicaotan in the Songshan Mountains.
Gu Jiao summarized: "This competition is divided into three groups, each with one cavalryman and one spy. But how do we determine the winner? For example, if Gu Changqing, Han Wuye, and I all draw the spy role and all safely deliver the secret letter to our respective rebels, then who among us will advance?"
Xiao Heng shook his head thoughtfully: "It's impossible to complete the missions at the same time; it's only possible to fail at the same time."
Gu Jiao was slightly taken aback: "What do you mean?"
Xiao Heng opened the note: "Take another look at what the spy said... 'Quickly bring the only secret letter.' This 'only' is the key to the whole mission. You clearly have three spies, so why mention the only letter?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment: "Because the destinations are different? For example, there is only this one secret letter for the First Beacon Camp."
“Then there’s no need to emphasize the ‘unique’ aspect.” Xiao Heng boldly analyzed, “I think the ‘unique’ aspect refers to destroying the secret letters of the other two spies and making one’s own secret letter the only one.”
As he spoke, he opened another note belonging to the cavalry, "And the cavalry's mission includes the words 'they.' Since the secret letter from the enemy camp is fake, then 'they' must refer to the three spies."
Gu Jiao understood immediately after hearing this: "So, the cavalry's mission is to seize three secret letters, while the spy's mission is to destroy the secret letters in the hands of others. As a result, it is bound to be a fierce battle among the six of them."
Xiao Heng sighed, "Three want to seize it, and three want to destroy it. It's not just a fierce battle; it's a fight to the death."
Gu Jiao frowned slightly, thinking of a possibility, and asked, "What if all of this fails? For example, the secret letters are all destroyed?"
Xiao Heng's expression turned solemn: "Then the winner... will be the king!"
The king never intended for anyone to win.
He first used the power of the ten great families to get everyone to agree to the proposal to select a commander for the Black Wind Cavalry. Then, he used the selection rules to eliminate all the cavalrymen. In this way, he could say in a grand manner, "It's not that I don't want to give you a chance, it's that you yourselves don't have the ability. So I have no choice but to temporarily take back the Black Wind Cavalry."
Gu Jiao said, "Just like when he took back the Mu family's military power."
The mind of the King of Great Yan is deeper than the sea.
Xiao Heng gazed intently and said, "This time it's not just a struggle against the aristocratic families, but also a struggle against the King of Great Yan. Fortunately, we know the exam questions, which gives us a significant advantage."
Gu Jiao said solemnly, "I won't let him have his way."
She won't let the powerful families have their way; she'll definitely take back the Black Wind Cavalry of the Xuanyuan family!
...
The three-day deadline arrived as scheduled.
Gu Jiao and her six companions gathered at the Han family's cavalry camp early in the morning. This round of examinations was jointly supervised by the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, the Court of State Ceremonies, and the Commandery.
The person from the Commandant's Office was Wang Xu.
No one from the Wang family advanced this time, so Wang Xu placed his hopes on Mu Qingchen. But when he saw Gu Jiao, he suddenly thought that it wouldn't be bad if Gu Jiao advanced.
The two did not exchange any words, and even though they saw each other, they acted as if they did not know each other.
After the group assembled, they set off in a grand procession towards the entrance of the Songshan Mountain Range.
The Minister of War announced the rules for this round of assessments, which were roughly as follows: the martial arts sparring should be limited to a point, and no one should be injured or killed. Those who violated the rules would have their selection results canceled and would be punished according to the law.
Then they began to enter the small bamboo house one by one to draw lots.
On the surface, it's about drawing numbers, but in reality, it's about the task at hand in this selection process.
Wang Xu and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial were sitting in the small bamboo house. It was a relatively enclosed space, and apart from the cavalrymen and the two examiners, no one knew the task on the slip of paper.
Gu Jiao was the last to enter the small bamboo house. After she came out, the Minister of War struck the gong.
The five men rode into the mountains and soon separated from each other.
Gu Jiao was moving slowly, more like riding a donkey than a horse, which made the examiners anxious for her.
Why don't you just leave!
Are you reluctant to part with us or what?
Gu Jiao wasn't reluctant to part with them.
After Gu Jiao and the others had gone far enough, they hurried after Gu Changqing in the direction he had left.
Gu Changqing was already waiting halfway there.
Seeing her approach, he rode over and said, "They've all left; it's safe here."
"What did you draw?" Gu Jiao asked.
Gu Changqing handed her his note.
Gu Jiao looked closely, grunted, and said, "You drew a cavalryman from the First Beacon Fire Battalion? I'm a spy from the First Beacon Fire Battalion!"
Gu Changqing smiled slightly: "We're from the same battalion, that's great."
He and his sister are destined to be together.
Gu Jiao: Uh, whatever makes you happy.
Gu Changqing didn't care at all that he was a cavalryman and his sister was a spy; he was willing to betray his sister at any time for her sake.
Gu Changqing said in a good mood, "I saw that everyone was going in different directions, so I guessed that everyone's destinations might be different, but I didn't expect that even their identities would be different."
Gu Jiao explained the analysis of the six bamboo tubes to Gu Changqing.
Gu Changqing suddenly realized: "I thought we could get the secret letter by raiding the enemy camp."
Gu Jiao waved her hand: "That's a fake secret letter. It's useless even if we get it. The real secret letter is in the hands of our three spies. They're still in the dark. Let's go rob them!"
Gu Changqing looked at his younger sister with affection: "Okay."
Gu Jiao asked, "Where did those four go?"
Gu Changqing said, "Master Qingfeng and Mu Qingchen went due east, while Fifth Master Han and Jun Xiuhan went southeast. Who should we chase first?"
(End of this chapter)
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