Chapter 72: Shooting a Cold Arrow
The charity business was on track, and with her fifth uncle in the shop, Zhu Yuhuan's time was mostly not wasted. She would just go to Taiping Teahouse for tea and take the money earned from the Taiping Teahouse back to her aunts.
Of course, for Zhu Yuhuan, the most important thing was to go to the martial arts school to practice martial arts. Since his experience with the bandits, Zhu Yuhuan has become more aware of the importance of physical fitness. So, as before, he would go to the Shi family's martial arts school to practice martial arts in his free time, and he became very close to Shi Jing and his friends.
Even Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but sigh. Shi Lin was becoming more and more important these days. She had been coming and going quite a lot, but she had never run into Shi Lin once...
"What's so good about the Tartars?"
Zhu Yuhuan was sitting in a private room on the second floor of the Taiping Teahouse. Upon hearing this, he turned his head to look at Shi Jing and said with a smile, "I've never seen this before. It's new to see. This Tatar is indeed stronger than the Han people, and his stature is a circle larger."
Shi Jing put down the medicine box in his hand and couldn't help but say, "Are you praising them? It sounds like you're describing animals... If those little girls outside hear this, I'm afraid they won't be able to see you as a gentleman anymore."
Han Guilan was guarding the door, while several young maids were peeking in through the crack. They were all children of the servants at the Taiping Teahouse. They knew Zhu Yuhuan was the "boss," and since she was handsome, gentle, and polite, they often came to peek in whenever Zhu Yuhuan came. Unless there was something important to discuss, Zhu Yuhuan would not have them driven away.
Hearing Shi Jing's words, Zhu Yuhuan sighed and said, "You can't say that. They are envoys from Alutai, and there are more than 400 of them. If they hear us, they will surround us."
Shi Jing was unconcerned. "What's so great about Alutai's envoys? They're still coming to the capital to pay homage to Your Majesty, seeking peace. Besides, do you really think they're coming to the capital to pay homage? I heard they often force people to buy and sell on the streets, and no officials dare to intervene." He added with a touch of gloating, "I heard Alutai was bullied by the Oirat Mongols and had no power to fight back, so he's asking the court to attack them. I think they deserve it."
The people in the capital were very familiar with the Tatars. They had seen countless Tatars long before Shuntian Prefecture became the capital. Some people even spoke Tatar. After all, the people knew best about the Tatars' border violations, and naturally they hated the Tatars very much.
Zhu Yuhuan held his chin with one hand, watching the figures of the Alutai envoys appearing from time to time in the streets and alleys, and muttered: "Your Majesty is just teasing them. He has no intention of helping them at all. I guess he just gave them some things and sent them away."
Ever since Zhu Zhanji accepted Alutai's tribute, he hadn't summoned Alutai's envoys again. While Zhu Zhanji wasn't too busy to discuss trade with Alutai, he simply wanted to give Alutai a cold shoulder and a warning. After all, Zhu Di's last expedition to Mobei was intended to completely eliminate Alutai, but unfortunately, his search proved unsuccessful and he had to return. Zhu Di even died of illness in Yumuchuan. Now that Alutai had come to him, Zhu Zhanji naturally didn't want to make things easy for them.
"I think so too. The Tartars are burning, killing and looting on the border. Why should we help them?"
Zhu Yuhuan stroked his chin, thoughtfully saying, "But the Wuliangha, Alutai, and Oirat are holding each other back. If one is lost, what will happen to the remaining two who share the same hatred? I heard that the Oirat is becoming more and more powerful. What if they become too powerful?"
Zhu Di wanted to eliminate Aluta because he was a cavalry emperor and was confident in his ability to fight wars in all directions. However, although his own father had also followed him on the expedition, it seemed that he had no plans to fight. If Aluta was really allowed to fend for himself, and the Oirat and Uriankhai became stronger, it would probably not be a good thing for the border.
Shi Jing listened to her well-reasoned speech and saw that the bruise on her forehead was still there. He gently pressed a peeled egg on Zhu Yuhuan's bruise and said, "These have nothing to do with you, a rich and idle person. His Majesty will naturally have his own considerations."
Zhu Yuhuan groaned and complained, "Why did you hit me so hard?"
"Is it heavy?" Shi Jing snorted and laughed, saying, "That's not as heavy as the punch you gave me in the face."
Zhu Yuhuan saw him sitting at the tea table, then smiled and said, "Martial arts competitions are inevitable. But next time, don't hit me in the face again. If my mother sees it, she will be heartbroken."
"As you said, a martial arts competition is inevitable." Shi Jing expertly treated his wound. Seeing Zhu Yuhuan rubbing the bruise with an egg, he sneered, "You really are a playboy. You're such a grown-up, but you still want your mother to pamper you."
"Are you jealous?" Zhu Yuhuan raised his eyebrows proudly at him, which suddenly tugged at the wound on his face. He couldn't help but gasp and said, "Do you understand that a child with a mother is a treasure?"
Shi Jing said disdainfully: "Why are you acting like a young lady? What kind of man relies on his mother every day?"
Zhu Yuhuan chuckled and clapped his hands, saying, "That makes sense!"
Seeing her like this, Shi Jing was a little confused, but when he saw the Alutai envoys walking through the streets with their horses, he couldn't help but feel a little envious. He said, "The horses raised on the grassland are really different. They look taller than our horses."
Zhu Yuhuan thought for a moment and said, "That's about right. The horses raised in Guyuan aren't necessarily bad, but those are used as war horses, so we won't see them." She smiled and said, "If you want to see them, I'll have someone bring them out for you later."
Shi Jing was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that Zhu Yuhuan and Zhang Zhong of the Duke of Ying's mansion were acquaintances. He said, "You can hang out with Zhong'er, so your family must be extraordinary. You can even get tribute horses. Could you be His Majesty's youngest brother, Prince Wei?"
Zhu Yuhuan took a bite of the boiled egg in his hand and teased him deliberately, "Then I will be the first to ask my brother the emperor to teach you a lesson. You even dared to hit the Prince of Wei?"
Shi Jing curled his lips, obviously not taking Zhu Yuhuan's "threat" seriously. However, his brows twitched, and he suddenly remembered something and said, "Why do I feel that this is a bit familiar? I seem to have heard it somewhere..."
Zhu Yuhuan ignored him and just pointed to a place not far away and said, "Hey, there's a fight going on down there."
Shi Jing stood up and walked to the window. He looked in the direction she pointed and saw several Alutai people arguing with the common people. The roadside stalls were in chaos. He was immediately furious and said, "These Tartars dare to mess around under the feet of the emperor——"
Seeing him angrily about to leave, Zhu Yuhuan said, "You're just a brat in front of them. You'll only get beaten if you go. If someone dies, do you think the court and Alutai will pay any attention to you?" She shouted outside, and soon someone brought bows and arrows. Zhu Yuhuan ordered, "Go call the people from the East City Military Commission. They're responsible for patrolling. If they can't even handle such a small matter, what's the point of having them?"
Shi Jing was stunned when he saw that she said this as if she was giving orders to a servant. He saw Zhu Yuhuan actually bent his bow and drew his arrow, stepped on the window frame, and used the force to aim at the Aluta envoy below.
Now it was Shi Jing's turn to persuade her. He said, "What did you just say? Why are you going to shoot Alutai's people in the blink of an eye..."
Zhu Yuhuan laughed and said, "What do you mean by shooting? Don't you even look at my arrow?"
Shi Jing took a look and saw that the arrowhead was wrapped in red cloth and was made of cork. Unless the opponent was a natural strongman, it would not be able to hurt the opponent's life. Looking at the bow and arrow again, there were several gears on it, tied to the bowstring, and they squeaked as Zhu Yuhuan pulled the bow to full length.
Zhu Yuhuan turned around and shouted to the outside, "Guilan, go open all the doors of the private rooms."
Although Han Guilan didn't understand why, she still did as she was told.
Shi Jing realized something was wrong and quickly held her hand, emphasizing, "If the military officials find out, you'll be in big trouble. Aren't you afraid that someone will report your family to His Majesty?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuhuan curled the corners of her lips and sneered, "Investigating my family? That couldn't be better." She loosened her fingertips, and the arrow flew off the string, hitting the back of the head of the Aluta envoy accurately.
She knew that Zhu Zhanji had long since stopped wanting to bother with Aluta's group of Tartars, and causing some trouble would give Zhu Zhanji an excuse to drive them away.
Before Shi Jing saw the other person's angry expression when he turned around, Zhu Yuhuan had already pulled him to another window. He shot an arrow every time he passed a mouthful, and surprisingly, he hit the bull's eye every time... No, he hit the top of the head!
Shi Jing was led away by Zhu Yuhuan. Seeing her high-spirited look when she drew her bow and arrow, he couldn't help but feel envious.
No one else would have such courage and bearing. No wonder this guy always looks confident and elegant. Not to mention the girls outside, he would be envious of them.
Aluta's men naturally knew that the arrow was shot from the window, and they were shouting that they were going to go forward and cause trouble, but the people from the Bingmasi arrived in time and immediately stopped Aluta's men, so in the end the matter was left unresolved.
Zhu Yuhuan acted so recklessly but ended up being unharmed. The East City Army didn't even come up to ask what had happened.
In Shi Jing's opinion, dealing with Alutai was not easy, but arresting someone to convict was easy. Why didn't the military officers come forward to ask for clarification? These military officers were not usually so easy to talk to. Could it be that they already knew Zhu Yuhuan's identity?
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