The Red Mansions

Chapter 20 Archery
After Jia Heng returned home, he put away the anthologies of Shiwen he had bought, washed his face, and poured himself a cup of tea to suppress the rising smell of alcohol.

Previously, although he took advantage of his drunkenness to beat up Lai Sheng and other evil slaves, firstly, he acted with discretion, and secondly, he also assessed the consequences.

"After hitting Lai Sheng, as long as there are no casualties, no matter how angry Jia Zhen is, the means she can use are limited, because it completely cuts off the possibility of the government's intervention, and it's not that easy to ask the so-called family law and family rules. Unless I do something rebellious and appalling, such as burning down the ancestral hall of the Jia family, when I worshiped my ancestors, Jia Zhen wants to subdue me with the so-called family law and family rules, but it is wishful thinking!"

The family laws and family rules of this era, in some remote places, the clan might be tyrannical, like golden rules, but in the most benign places like the capital, Shenjing, the country has its own laws, and lynching is not tolerated indiscriminately.

In fact, the government of all dynasties has always held a negative attitude towards lynching.

The father wants the son to die, and the son has to die. In fact, this sentence is biased.

Even since the Western Jin Dynasty first advocated the "quasi-five service system of crimes", all dynasties have never said that there is nothing wrong with the human relations tragedy of a father deliberately beating his son to death. It is just that the punishment is reduced according to the distance of the relatives, and the sentence of death is not enough.

Even if father and son are like this, how about the same clan?

The so-called power of life and death comes from above.

Even though Jia Zhen is the head of the patriarch, this is not a year or a festival. In the most benevolent place in Kyoto, the country’s laws and regulations are strict. If Jia Zhen wants to use the money of the patriarch to lynch and punish distant relatives who are about to pay five clothes, they will also be criticized by the people of the time. .

Not to mention, the reason for Jia Zhen's dispute is really not on the table.

But it's hard to guarantee that Jia Zhen will plot and plot against her, so Jia Heng said that she won't go to Ningguo Mansion to meet Jia Zhen.

"On the contrary, if I swallow my anger today and go to Ningguo Mansion to receive discipline, I will encourage Jia Zhen's arrogance." Jia Heng took a sip of tea and put the matter aside.

Although Jia Zhen's matter is annoying, as long as he gathers Qin Ye's family and firmly grasps the truth, he doesn't have to be afraid.

Afterwards, Jia Heng changed into a warrior outfit like the previous two days, and planned to go to his cousin Dong Qian's house to borrow a horse.

Dong Qian was a small school in Wucheng Bingmasi. Because he often had to follow Shangguan to patrol the streets and maintain peace in Jingsui, he had to go home at night. Jia Heng only borrowed a horse from Dong Qian's mother at his home as usual, and then He went straight to Xie Zaiyi's house not far from Anhuamen, but he missed it without thinking.

Xie Zaiyi's wife, Mrs. Zhao, was washing clothes in the courtyard. When she looked up and saw Jia Heng coming, she smiled and said, "Brother Jia, Lao Xie asked me to tell you that the senior officials of the Ministry of War will be on patrol in the next two days. The city defense and the Anhua Gate are all busy with this matter, so I'm afraid we won't be able to go out of the city with Brother Jia today."

After Jia Heng heard this, although he was disappointed, he had no choice but to say: "Sister-in-law Xie, can you go into the house and get a bow so that I can practice in the countryside?"

Because Xie Zaiyi was not at home, he just stayed in the courtyard with the middle door wide open, did not go into the house, and spoke loudly.

Mrs. Zhao wiped her wet hands on the scarf, and said with a smile, "Brother Jia, wait a moment."

Saying that, he went into the house, and after a while, he took a hard bow and a pot of arrows, and handed them to Jia Heng.

Jia Heng thanked, took the bow and arrow, went outside, untied the horse tied to the stone pier, and went out of the city.

It was autumn afternoon, and Jia Heng drove his horse towards Anhua Gate. Unlike the previous time when he came with Xie Zaiyi, now he rode alone, looking at the grassy wilderness in the distance, and saw the blue sky and white clouds when he looked up. Below, the vast mountains and forests of the Qinling Mountains give people a sense of heroism.

With a clip in the horse's belly, and a sound of galloping, the fast horse galloped in the wilderness full of weeds.

Jia Heng first became familiar with the riding skills, then pulled the reins and drove the horse forward.

When we came to the place where we practiced with Xie Zaiyi, there was a low hill, covered with green grass and few people, surrounded by dense hazel pines, surrounded by green shades, blocking the sight line, it was the location of the practice.

Jia Heng got off the horse first, took off the arrow target wrapped around the saddle, and then ruthlessly inserted the wooden wedge into the soft grass. After doing this, he got on the horse, picked up the bow and set the arrow, and drove the horse under the seat to circle around Aim at the target.

However, when he opened the bow, he knew something different, he seemed to be holding the bow wrongly, this was the bow Xie Zaiyi used, it was as strong as two stones.

And the bow he used the day before yesterday was a strong stone bow.

Jia Heng tried to pull it, um, found that although it was a bit difficult, he could pull it, and felt strange.

Relying on this body to strain the muscles and bones, the body is strong, and the strength of the arms is beyond ordinary people. The day before yesterday, he could open a stone with a bow, and Xie Zaiyi praised the deep foundation.

But the horn bow he opened at this moment is two stones, and he found that it is even more convenient than yesterday.

"Could it be that after time travel, not only the soul, but also the body has undergone some kind of change?" Jia Heng's eyes flickered, and some guesses arose in his heart.

After thinking about it, it was a good thing after all, so I didn't worry about it anymore.

Feather arrows shot out, "Swoosh..." There was a sound of explosion in the air, but... all ten arrows were empty!
Immediately bumping, the accuracy of the archery will be greatly reduced.

Jia Heng was not discouraged either, and the essentials Xie Zaiyi said flashed through his mind. He drove his horse around the target again from right to left, and once again drew his bow and set his arrows. The arrow hits the target.

Shoot ten arrows again, and all ten arrows are empty again!
Jia Heng's face was indifferent, neither happy nor sad, three rounds of arrows passed, his arms were sore, he needed a moment's rest, just got off his horse and went to pick up the arrows.

And how much fun it was to shoot arrows just now, how tiring it is to pick up arrows now.

Some arrows flew quite far, Jia Heng was carrying the quiver at the moment, picked up the arrows shot in the grass one by one, and put them into the quiver.

But at this moment, the sound of "da da" of horseshoes was suddenly heard, from far to near, and the sound of men and women talking and laughing.

Jia Heng frowned, and looked up, the quiet and deep pupils reflected the lush green forest, a group of cavaliers in gorgeous costumes, and a cluster of bright red in the snow-white eyes.

On top of more than a dozen maroon horses sat a few young men in brocade robes with warrior outfits and bows and arrows on their backs, talking and laughing all the way, believing that the horses came from the reins.

Hugging in the front and back, there are only four people as the leader, and the rest are mostly dressed as retinues and generals.

Jia Heng paused, but among the dozen or so riders, he saw a familiar figure - Feng Ziying.

It's just that Feng Ziying fell to the side, and there were only four riders walking side by side.

Four riders, three men and one woman, two riders lined up on the left and right outer edges, all of them looked like teenagers around the age of seventeen or eighteen, wearing wide-sleeved Chinese clothes, with densely embroidered needlework on the skirts, in the afternoon sun, there was a little golden glow on their bodies, Followed by two cavalry retinues.

The retinues were all young men in their thirties, with a strong figure, a broad face, calm eyes, a rein in one hand, and a waist knife in the other, with an appearance of vigilance around them.

The second rider in the middle is obviously a woman disguised as a man. She wears a plain warrior suit with arrow sleeves embroidered with plum blossoms on the collar, and a brocade belt inlaid with blue and colorful pearls. Show off the figure.

A standard melon-seeded face, sandalwood mouth and nose, under the willow-leaf eyebrows, the narrow and long red phoenix eyes flash with a clear light, and there is a tear mole hidden in the corner of the eye, Ruli Rui's face is as white as jade, smooth and flawless, but the eyebrows and eyes are quite obvious Desolate and secluded charm.

This girl was riding a white horse, the horse was snow-white, with strong hooves, and a peaceful expression. A bell with bright red tassels chiseled was gently shaking under the horse's neck, and the crisp sound was scattered in the mountains and grass.

Beside her, there is another girl who is younger, but only in the age of cardamom. Although she is young and immature, she is beautiful and clear, her eyes are like autumn water, she is charming, and she is riding a maroon horse under her crotch. a dimple.

While talking, the number of riders has also approached.

(End of this chapter)