walk to the water

More than ten days later, Chen Yu's squadron returned to the tide and did not dare to go straight into the city, so they camped fifty miles outside the capital to wait for orders.When Fu Ling heard the news, he went to greet him in person. Chen Yu hurriedly went out of the camp to bow down, and apologized: "The final general failed His Majesty's trust, recklessly underestimated the enemy, and suffered such a disastrous defeat. Please forgive me!"

Fu Ling helped Chen Yu up with his own hands, and comforted him: "This matter is due to my lack of consideration, and it is not the fault of Qing alone." The decree decreed that Chen Yu would be demoted to the third rank, and his salary would be suspended for half a year, but he would still lead the army as Marshal Ma. He is in charge of training the navy.Chen Yu was grateful, so he worked extra hard for it.So far, Fu Ling has settled the matter.But he saw that all the soldiers in the camp were tired and dejected. Although he was calm on the surface, he still couldn't help being depressed when he thought of how high-spirited and full of ambition he had when he set off for the expedition a month ago.

When I returned to the palace that day, Chu Xiang had already greeted him. Seeing that he looked good, Fu Ling felt a little relieved, and said with a smile, "I've been busy these days, but I've neglected you. Xiang, how are you?"

Chu Xiang replied: "It's very good, but His Majesty is getting thinner and thinner, which is disturbing. Doctor Su once told him to take good care of him for half a year before he can recover. Your Majesty has worked hard day and night, but it is against the doctor's advice."

Fu Ling sat down and rested his forehead with his hands, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. He often felt dizzy these days and couldn't sleep at night. He sighed: "You're right, this front-line matter is over for now. It's time to breathe a sigh of relief."

Chu Xiang persuaded again: "The affairs of the court are day after day, so there is no end? It's almost the end of spring, why don't your majesty go out for a few days of hunting in the green and suburbs, just to relax?"

Hearing this, Fu Ling laughed, and gave Chu Xiang a high-five: "You have a good idea, and it's exactly what I want. Speaking of which, I've kept you here for so long, and you're very bored, and it's time to go out for a walk. I just have to wrong you and pretend to be my imperial guard."

Chu Xiang said with a smile: "I have little effort to be His Majesty's bodyguard, yet I still want His Majesty to worry about me!"

After chatting and laughing for a while, Fu Ling sent orders to prepare for spring hunting.He originally had a palace a hundred miles away from Shangjing, called Shanglin Garden, with a radius of hundreds of miles, it was a place for hunting in spring and autumn. In the garden, there are undulating mountains, verdant trees, hordes of wild animals, and the scenery is superb.A few days later, Fu Lingguo led the clan's children and the Imperial Forest Army to go to the spring hunt, but he did not invite his concubines to accompany him, and the queen also stayed in the palace, bringing only the 12-year-old prince Fu Jin, who was the queen's own son-in-law. eldest son.Fu Ling has raised three princes and two princesses so far, but they are all still young.Chu Xiang walked with Fu Ling as the imperial bodyguard.The Great Qin Kingdom respects military force, especially riding and shooting on horseback. Therefore, hunting every year is also a time to test the martial arts skills of noble children and imperial generals. Everyone knows that Fu Ling's martial arts skills are excellent, and they are all gearing up to take advantage of this opportunity to show off their skills in front of the emperor. .

The next day the weather was fine and the sky was clear. Fu Ling and a group of trusted guards started hunting early in the morning. Several deer deer and hares had been placed in the hunting ground in advance. .He had never galloped so freely in many days, swiping his whip and laughing loudly, sweeping away the haze of the past few days.

In the afternoon, Fu Ling led the crowd to the top of Lingyun Mountain, the highest peak in the garden. When he looked up, he saw a goshawk hovering in the sky above his head. Fu Ling laughed and said, "Who of you can shoot this eagle down? There is a big reward!" He said and passed the imperial bow in his hand to a guard in front of the horse.This imperial bow is called Bao Diao Bow. The body of the bow is like ink, inlaid with a string of multicolored gemstones the size of rice grains, and the two ends are inlaid with gold. It reflects the sunlight and dazzles the eyes.The guard hurriedly thanked him, and took the bow, but it was twice as heavy as a normal hard bow. He opened the bow and set an arrow, and shot an arrow with all his strength, but the eagle flew very high, as if walking through the clouds, and the arrow did not reach its strength. Exhausted, fell from mid-air.The guard blushed, full of shame.

Fu Lingling passed the imperial bow to the next one, and after passing it around, no matter whether the royal guards, generals or warriors, either lacked strength or missed their heads, no one was able to shoot down the eagle.Fu Ling shook his head, feeling slightly disappointed, and was about to shoot by himself, but he heard Chu Xiang beside him say: "Your Majesty, please let me try!"

Fu Ling was overjoyed when he heard the words, and handed the bow and arrow to Chu Xiang. Chu Xiang took the bow, stretched the ape's arms lightly, and then pulled a carved bow like a full moon, and a white feather flew out.Hearing the sound of the wind, the eagle fluttered its wings and wanted to fly, but the arrow was as fast as a meteor, and the eagle could not avoid it. It only heard a long neighing sound, and it fell headfirst, and landed on the open space in front of the horse's head!Surprised and admiring voices erupted from the watching crowd, and a guard hurried over to pick it up and presented it to Fu Ling when he came back.Fu Ling saw that the arrow was passing through the eagle's eyes, and he couldn't help but praised: "The ancients once taught the art of piercing Yang with a hundred steps, but General Chu's shooting skills are even better than the ancient legends!"

Chu Xiang leaned forward and said, "Your Majesty, you are so honored!"

Fu Ling said: "This bow is given to you!" After saying this, he looked up to the sky and laughed.Chu Xiang took the imperial bow and thanked him according to the etiquette.

It was not until sunset that Fu Ling ordered to return, and the monarchs and ministers returned home happily.The hunt continued on the third day, and there were several times more people participating, but the day before Chu Xiang stole the limelight from everyone, everyone was polite, but their expressions were a little strange.Seeing this, Chu Xiang couldn't help feeling depressed, so he found an opportunity to sneak out halfway, and without saying hello to Fu Ling, he rode one by one and strolled in the paddock.After turning a few hillsides, we were far away from the hunting ground.Suddenly he heard the gurgling water in front of him, and Chu Xiang followed the sound and rode over to see it, but it was a valley between the green hills, with deep twists and turns.Walking along the stream for more than a hundred feet, there is a waterfall in Qianchuan, about thirty or forty feet high, like a white line running down from the top of the mountain, hitting the boulder, the waves are like thunder, the water splashes everywhere, and the cool water vapor blows towards the face, rippling. A layer of very light and fine mist, the waterfall falls into the half-moon-shaped deep pool, the water of the pool is as blue as emerald, glowing with intoxicating waves, and the edge of the pool is full of flowers and luxuriant grass.Seeing this beautiful scenery, Chu Xiang was refreshed, jumped off his horse, sat down casually by the pool, listened to the singing of the waves, and watched the long white clouds reflected at the bottom of the pool, as if he had left the world for a while.

Chu Xiang was enjoying himself when he suddenly heard a crisp voice behind him asking, "Who are you? What's your name? Why did you come here?"

Chu Xiang turned around, but he was a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, jumping off a pony. He was dressed brightly and luxuriously, wearing a small crown on his head. He was handsome and childish, and his facial features were very similar to Fu Ling .Chu Xiang knew that he was Fu Ling's beloved son Fu Jin, and hurriedly got up and said, "It turns out that it is His Royal Highness, and the name of this servant is Chu Xiang. I wonder what advice His Highness can give you?"

With her hands behind her back, Fu Jin looked Chu Xiang up and down, and said, "You are Chu Xiang? I heard that you shot down an eagle yesterday?"

Chu Xiang replied: "Yes, Your Highness!"