All your life is gentle

Horse racing and chasing the moon entered the final stage of competition, and there were three horses running almost side by side at the front, with "Thunder" in the middle.The five or six horses that followed were no more than one horse body away, and most of the rest of the horses fell further away.

Seeing that the finish line was getting closer and closer, the first three horses almost went hand in hand, and the competition was fierce.The onlookers stamped their fists and shouted, and the moonlight and bonfire illuminated the surrounding area like daylight.

"Jinglei" This guy has followed the second prince ever since he became a good shepherd, and has always been used to being arrogant. He didn't know that he was able to take the lead every time in the past, but it was because of his master's power.At this moment, he was flanked by two of the same kind, and another group was chasing after him, so he was very upset.It was not like other warhorses who had seen the flames and blood of battles, and were used to the clamor and yelling for killing. When it was suddenly placed in such a lively and tense situation, it aroused its fighting and winning nature on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was a little too excited and accelerated crazily uncontrollably.

Yu Mang's intuition was not good, so he tried his best to keep up with its rhythm, hoping to control and appease it at the end.Unexpectedly, the horse suddenly raised its hooves and neighed, and the man stood up, crossing his body and dashing to the right.Fortunately, Yu Mang was an experienced first-class rider, so he stuck to the horse's back like a conditioned reflex, hooked his feet into the stirrups, held the reins tightly with one hand, and wrapped his arms around the horse's neck with the other, but still almost fell off.

"Jinglei" dashed to the right, moving very fast and violently, and immediately bumped into the horse that was advancing side by side on the right, and knocked that horse to the ground.The rider on the horse was unprepared, and immediately flew out diagonally, and was about to be trampled under the iron hooves of the following horses.At the same time, several horses following behind were tripped by the fallen horses, frightened and out of control, and sprinted in all directions, causing chaos in the arena.Some onlookers who reacted quickly screamed in horror.

Suddenly, a group of gray shadows flew out from the middle of the field, and fell into the crowd with a "pop", overwhelming several soldiers.When everyone looked closely, they realized that it was the rider who had been knocked off his horse, and he got up awkwardly, with a dazed expression on his face.The people who were knocked down by him got up one after another, but fortunately no one was injured.At this time, Fu Zhong and others standing on the stage finally realized that King Jingbei went off in person.Only Ni Jian saw clearly that the man was thrown out by His Highness, and hurriedly flew down to help the frightened horses.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, the riders behind all slowed down and carefully avoided.Even the frightened horses mostly obeyed the owner's instructions and stopped galloping and jumping.But there were still two startled horses that didn't obey their orders, and rushed towards the crowd of onlookers.The soldiers in the front row panicked and fell into a mess.Suddenly, he heard a burst of tongue-cracking spring thunder and shouted: "Stop!" It seemed to explode in the ears, and everyone was so shocked that they forgot to move.When he looked back, the horse had already fallen to the ground and struggled, all arrows pierced his head, and Si Xu died instantly.The two riders were so frightened that they sat on the ground blankly.

Changsheng shot and killed the two startled horses, turned around, and the third arrow locked on the "Thunder" who still refused to stop.Bai Lingfeiyu was about to leave the string at that time.Yu Mang tightly wrapped his hands around the horse's neck, and shouted loudly, "Your Highness, wait a moment! Please wait a moment..."

Changsheng stood in the field, hooked his fingers on the bowstring, and the cluster of arrows moved slowly with the horse.All the people and horses present were shocked by the murderous intent of this blow, and they all fell silent suddenly.

Seeing that "Thunder" was about to rush towards the crowd, he didn't know whether he sensed the danger behind him or finally received Yu Mang's intentions, so he stopped with all four hooves.Turning around, he ran quickly along the edge of the playing field, circled half a circle, gradually slowed down, and finally stopped panting heavily.Yu Mang was exhausted, sweating profusely, rolled off the horse's back and lay on the ground.

The audience applauded thunderously.Not only for His Highness's amazing skill and archery skills, but also for Yu Mang's extraordinary skills and courage.Changsheng raised his hands high to signal the crowd to be quiet, and turned to face the finish line.

Chasing the moon and horse racing was originally one of the most solemn ceremonies in Xirong.What's more, when the army is on the way to the expedition, what they want is a good atmosphere and good omens to boost morale, and it cannot end in a hurry anyway.Although something went wrong, luckily nothing bad happened.The scene here had just restored order, and the soldiers immediately remembered the question of the champion, and all turned their attention to the winner in front of them, waiting to see His Highness award the winner and successfully conclude the grand ceremony.Many people have already recognized that the winner standing at the finish line is none other than the well-known outstanding rider in the army, Baihu Yiheli under the leadership of Qianhu leader Fu Liao of the left guard battalion of the Chinese army.

Heli ran to the left of Yu Mang, and was the first to reach the finish line.Although the chaos in the arena was thrilling, it took only a moment for it to subside.He had just stood firm in front of the drum stand when he saw Fu Liao, who was presiding over the competition, wink at him. He hesitated for a moment, straightened his back, assumed the victor's posture, and reached for the drumsticks on both sides of the stand.Following his movements, the steaming heat in the air stirred again, and the crowd couldn't help but get excited again, and began to discuss in low voices, waiting for the sound of the drums to cheer for the brave and lucky hero.

At the moment when Heli was about to touch the drumstick, he only heard the sound of "Pu Pu", two arrows, one left and one right, unbiased, stuck to his arm and nailed to the wooden stake of the drum stand, vibrating endlessly as if in demonstration .In shock, Heli shook his hands, and the drumstick rolled to the ground.He stood with his back to everyone, dumbstruck.The soldiers didn't know what happened, they were all stunned, and the field fell into silence again.

At this time, some people who were closer had already discovered that the second highness held a good bow with dragon marrow, the strong and strong bow string that was said to be made of the marrow of the raging dragon in the abyss, the lingering sound continued, and there was a buzzing sound.

Chang Sheng said solemnly: "Turn around, raise your hand, and show everyone."

Under the gaze of thousands of eyes, Heli slowly turned around.He turned his head as if he wanted to ask someone for help, but in the end he could only move his neck with difficulty.The eyes looked around in the void, staring straight ahead.

Changsheng held a bow and arrow, and his tone became colder: "What is in your hand, let everyone see."

Hearing these words, the eyes of the audience focused on Heli's hand in a "swish".

Although the riders of the horse races all wear military uniforms, the harness and supporting equipment are the things that are most suitable for each of them.On Heli's hands, he was wearing a pair of cowhide gloves specially designed for horse racing—the upper end was longer, and it was directly used as a wrist guard, and the lower end was only half, just enough to expose the fingers, which can not only protect but also be flexible.But at this moment, the wrist part was put down, covering half of the back and palm of the hand.

The eyes of everyone made him unable to resist.His Highness's arrow made people have nowhere to escape.Heli closed her eyes, feeling a dry sting.After a momentary blankness in the mind, regret, shame and fear came flooding in.He thought: Your Highness, why don't you shoot an arrow and give me a good time?

In the eyes of the audience, the well-known excellent rider in the army had a distorted expression and his whole body was stiff.Finally, in the deathly silence, he straightened his wristbands, slowly raised his hand above his head, let go of his fist, and showed his palm.

"Ah!" The crowd exclaimed in disbelief.

——In the leather glove on Heli's left hand, there is a small ball of light on the palm, shining like a star, shining brightly.The Xirong soldiers present, even though they had never seen it before, guessed it at once: it is a golden ice flower stone that has been carefully polished.

Ice flower stone is a rare gemstone with extremely high brightness in the desert.And the golden ice flower stone is the brightest and most eye-catching one among them.Ordinary people will feel dazzled if they look at it for a long time, not to mention horses who are much more sensitive to colored light.The purpose of such a thing embedded in Heli's glove is self-evident.

Athletes in the desert grassland value the ability and reputation on horseback most.What's more, in such a grand ceremony as the Mid-Autumn Moon Chasing Horse Race, it attracts the attention of all the people and is famous for a lifetime.Winning or losing is important, but reputation is more important than life and death.After Heli did such a thing, his reputation would be ruined, and life would be worse than death.

The discussion among the crowd became louder and louder, and some people couldn't help shouting loudly, their contempt was beyond words.If it wasn't for the superiors' pressure, the few soldiers who almost died under the hooves of the frightened horses would rush up and beat them up immediately.

Heli's face was like dead ashes, leaning against the drum stand behind him lifelessly.The sounds of mocking and cursing around me entered my ears with the wind, and it seemed that every word was extremely clear.I suddenly figured it out: "I... how could... be so confused..."

With a single thought, he fell from heaven to hell.

At dusk, just after the equestrian competition, Fu Liao quietly called Heli over and handed him this "special" pair of gloves.Seeing him holding his gloves and shaking his head without speaking, Fu Liao became anxious.

"Heli, you don't want to look like this, I can't help it... It's not like you didn't miss it, those guys in Beijing stole the equestrian show, and our own brothers didn't earn any face... It's all fancy things It’s not worth it…” Fu Liao groaned, “The next race to chase the moon, we’ll have to take down anything we say! I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided that you’re the safest on the horse. This thing , of course it’s fine if you don’t need it, just in case…”

"Master Qianhu, this...I..."

"Leave me alone, do you understand how important this matter is? That's right, we are now following General Fu Zhong and the second prince, but we can't ask irrelevant people to catch up with us and bully us! I think you and I were in the past Blood and sweat, what did he do alone when he was dying? Raising horses! Farming the land! And that Xia man surnamed Ni, a coward who surrendered, looking so arrogant. I don’t understand, those gangs in Beijing The guy followed the emperor all day long, with his eyes on the top of his head, and he nodded and bowed at him, it really disgraces me, Xirong Jianer..."

Fu Liao finally complained enough, and patted Heli on the shoulder: "Anyway, we must win this match! Otherwise, how can we brothers hold our heads up in front of His Highness the Second Highness? Besides, that dragon marrow bow was the one used by the Emperor back then. After all, among those who are going to race today, who else is worthy except you, Heli? Think about it, after winning this bow, it will be passed on to your son in the future, and your son will pass it on to your grandson..."

Heli imagined the scene of receiving the jiaosui bow from His Highness and being surrounded by the crowd and riding on horseback, and his palms warmed up.

"...This thing is very useful. When you open your hand and shake it towards the horse's eyes, the horse will be stunned for a while, without anyone noticing it--I know you won't need it, so it doesn't matter if you carry it, right? As long as it's not you I deliberately showed it to others, God knows..."

Heli lowered his head to look at the gloves: the top-quality cowhide, with silver embroidery around the edge, and a large golden ice flower stone embedded with pigeon eggs in the middle of the left hand, shining like a small sun.I have heard that this thing can only be owned by a very small number of tribal leaders or great nobles.Used to train horses, but also to show off.Or, like now...

In terms of riding skills, there are a lot of masters in the army, and no one dares to say that they are sure of victory.How can you say that you are infallible on the field?However, if you have this thing...

Suddenly remembered something, Heli asked: "Master Wanhu Mansion, do you know..."

"What do you care about this!" Fu Liao scolded him.He smiled again and said, "Don't worry. As long as you get the dragon marrow bow, you will be the number one rider in the army. When the time comes..."

Heli thought: Why did I agree then?As if possessed by a demon, I thought that the golden ice flower stone was the sun shining on the future, but I didn't expect that it might turn into a burning wildfire.

Ordinarily, experienced horses were startled by reflections like ice flower stones, and as Fu Liao said, they would be stunned for a while, and then they would soon return to normal.It's just that they didn't expect that Yu Mang was riding the Second Prince's horse, a famous young horse that had never been on a battlefield.Seeing that it was difficult for him to win, Heli struggled several times, but finally failed to resist the temptation. Under the cover of the moonlight bonfire, he rolled up his wrist guard and opened his left hand, shaking it towards "Thunder".The already manic "Jinglei" suddenly saw a dazzling golden light and became wild, almost causing an irreparable disaster.

As Heli went straight to the finish line, he turned around and saw the people behind him turning their backs on their backs, and felt guilty and panicked.At this moment, being exposed by the second prince face to face, and meeting the angry and disdainful eyes of tens of thousands of compatriots, he almost gave up his life.Suddenly, a voice shouted from behind: "Heli! I really didn't expect...you would do such a thing! Your Highness, such a scum has come out of Fu Liao's hands, what a disgrace! Your Highness, please severely punish..."

When Heli heard the words, he was instantly furious, turned his head and stared fiercely at the stage, and finally gritted his teeth and remained silent.Some things, if you say it, not only no one will believe it, but you will humiliate yourself.It's already wrong, it's better to carry it to the end.

Changsheng put down his bow and arrow, looked at him with an indifferent expression: "Are you convicted?"

Heli's knees softened, and he knelt down: "The villain is convicted..."

Changsheng flew up to the high platform, and his clear and clear voice spread far away, subduing all the noise and noise: "Everyone, let's run horses and chase the moon tonight, and stop here. Although there is no winner or loser, everyone is safe. Mang controlled the horses well, even though he was shocked, he was transferred to the vanguard battalion of the former army." He rushed to Yu Mang who was standing in the distance and said, "Yu Mang, I gave you "Jinglei", you don't have to return it to me."

Without waiting for Yu Mang's response, he glanced at countless faces full of awe, and said slowly, "As for the cheater in the horse race—" he turned his head and asked Fu Liao, "He's called Heli, right? What position did you hold before?"

"Your Highness, it is the Hundred Household Wing of Zuowei Camp."

"En." Changsheng nodded slightly, and announced: "Yi Heli, a hundred households in the left guard camp of the Chinese army, cheated and cheated, and harmed his comrades. The crime is unforgivable, and he should be executed according to the law, but—" After a slight pause, "Tonight During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is ominous to execute criminals, so for the time being, we will punish them with [-] lashes and show them outside the camp, and we will deal with them tomorrow!"

Immediately he raised his voice and said: "Soldiers, you are all warriors of my Huarong Dynasty. I, Fu Sheng, will never allow my subordinates to bleed for no reason. Please leave your courage and strength to future enemies. Defeating your opponents on the battlefield will be more difficult. Winning the horse race is more important!" He said, raising the longbow in his hand, "Three days later, the army will set out to raid Yantai Pass. The first hero to climb Yantai Pass is the owner of this sacred bow!"

The second prince rescued people and shot horses in a crisis, and revealed the truth in the chaos. His figure as fast as a ghost, his aura as steady as a mountain, and his insightful wisdom had already been deeply imprinted in the minds of everyone present, and they were completely convinced without knowing it.In this group that was accustomed to worshiping the strong, the soldiers suddenly realized that they had followed such an outstanding coach, and immediately became enthusiastic.Following Changsheng's gesture, everyone raised their heads at the same time, looking up at the prince on the stage: the bright moon is in the sky, the fire is surrounded, the night wind is rustling in the mid-autumn forest, and the flags are flying, making the man in the middle more majestic and majestic, like a god.

I don't know who knelt down first, and then they all knelt down a large area.The crowd is like a low-lying jungle in the wind, falling down row by row; but the voices are like rolling waves, rising up layer by layer: "Your Highness, thousand years old! Thousand years old! Thousand years old!..."

As soon as Zhuang Lingchen gestured to Ni Jian, all the princes and princes on the stage knelt down with a "plop" and shouted a thousand years old, shouting even harder.When Fu Zhong, Fu Liao and other senior generals reacted, they realized that they were the only ones standing abruptly in the audience, which was extremely embarrassing.No one expected that the situation would take a turn for the worse and become like this.Fu Zhong looked around, feeling an indescribable depression in his heart, but also seemed to imply some kind of inexplicable relief.Before he could figure it out, the shouts from all sides seemed to be pressed by an invisible force, and his legs knelt down.The others naturally fell to their knees.

The people on the stage—whether they were prophets such as Zhuang Lingchen or those who realized later such as Fu Zhong—understood that this former Yongzhou garrison had truly become Jingbei King Fusheng's team from this moment on.

In the early morning of the next day, the guards on duty suddenly discovered that the prisoner tied to the stake for public display was gone!The bundled rope was broken into several pieces and thrown on the ground, apparently waiting for an opportunity to escape in the middle of the night.When Fu Liao heard about this, he personally went to Shuaiying to ask the second prince to hunt down the deserters.

"You actually ran away from under the noses of my guards, your subordinates are very powerful!" Chang Sheng raised his eyebrows lightly.

Fu Liao raised his eyes to peek, he was meeting the other's eyes without warning, and couldn't help feeling a chill down his spine.His Highness clearly had a smile on his face, but those bottomless eyes made people feel as cold as a snow-capped mountain and an ice cave.

As if eager to ease something, Fu Liao said a little awkwardly: "He has been whipped, immediately send someone to chase him, he shouldn't be far away..."

"Well. I'll leave it to you. If you catch up, send me here."

Fu Liao saluted and retreated.

Ni Jian snorted, "Scumbag!"

——In the middle of the night, he followed Changsheng's instructions and brought Heli over for a secret interrogation, and then pretended to let him go secretly.Knowing the whole story of the cheating incident, Captain Ni admired He Li, who directly admitted his mistakes and dared to take the blame, and looked down on Fu Liao's insidious behavior.

The owner of the Zhuang ignored Captain Ni's behavior of making a unilateral moral judgment based on his own position, and only discussed practical issues with Changsheng: "Your Highness, in case Heli is caught up..."

"It's been almost two hours, no." Yu Mang interjected.It was he who realized that Heli should be a descendant of the Chile tribe from the way he controlled the horse, and reported it to Changsheng in time.Originally, it was only intended to investigate the secrets of horse racing cheating in the first trial. After receiving this information, the second prince and his staff immediately felt that this was a godsend opportunity that should not be missed.Coaxing and intimidating, coercing and luring, Heli was finally forced to go to "Qingqiu Baishui" as an undercover agent.The Chile people have been in exile for a hundred years, and the escape and hiding skills left by their ancestors can be regarded as the best in Xirong, so Yu Mang is so confident.

After finishing speaking, I remembered that I had robbed my boss. I was feeling guilty, but I heard the second prince say: "If he is really chased back, he may have to sacrifice his head. The situation is pressing and no delay is allowed. If that is the case, the Yulu clan This road can only be put aside for the time being and find another way.”

Zhuang Lingchen murmured: "Your Highness's words are very true. But——would Heli really take refuge in Yu Lu..."

Shan Qi, Yu Mang, and Ni Jian shook their heads at the same time.But Chang Sheng laughed and said, "It doesn't matter whether it's true or not? I don't believe it. He, King Yulu, got the news of our attack on Zhuozhou, so he couldn't resist jumping out to grab a piece of fat..."

In the autumn of the fourth year of Yongqian (the seventh year of Tianyou), King Fusheng of Jingbei led an army to attack Zhuozhou.After several rounds of tug-of-war, Yantai Pass was finally conquered before it snowed in October.

At the same time, the cavalry of the Yulu tribe in Qingqiu suddenly attacked Suiyuan County and Pingyu County, the border cities of Zhuozhou from the northeast, abducted a large number of people and livestock, and burned countless houses.

Huang Yongcan has been reluctant to proclaim himself emperor, all he wants is to keep a low profile and accumulate strength, hoping that Xirong will focus on the Xijing court and not bother himself too early.Unexpectedly, Fu Yang dared to punch both the northeast and the southwest at the same time after only a few years of work.What's even more hateful is that the barbarians of the Yulu tribe also jumped out to join in the fun at this time.Under the attack from both sides, General Huang simply did not do anything, and immediately announced the founding of the country and the enthronement, named Yanxia, ​​and changed Yuan Gengshi.

In the first year of Gengshi in the Yanxia Dynasty, the emperor's first imperial decree after ascension to the throne can be summed up in eight words: Conscription by the whole people to resist foreign aggression together.