Chapter 294: My old maid Qingcao [Thank you all for your support! Bowing again!]

Inside the Imperial Palace,

The incense burner lay on the floor,

Emitting a few wisps of blue smoke.

The Emperor behind the imperial desk had a heaving chest, and his eyes were full of murderous intent. He glanced at Zhao Zilong.

Zhao Zilong understood, his face showing anxiety, and he bowed:

"Your Majesty, the Jing Prince is of noble birth, and his maternal grandfather is the Assistant Ling Ling Guo Gong; when he went to his fiefdom, he had even more money and people!"

"Now that the Jing Prince has deep roots in his fiefdom, this is the time when the imperial court is fully preparing to attack Bai Gao; the south cannot be in chaos!"

The Emperor was still breathing heavily through his nose. Zhao Zilong glanced at him and continued to persuade:

"Your Majesty, although the Jing Prince associates with noble families and wealthy households in his fiefdom, and officials are also forced by his power!"

"But Your Majesty knows, the Jing Prince has a violent personality and has been extorting and plundering in his fiefdom, which has not won the hearts of the people!"

The Emperor hatefully hammered the imperial desk and said:

"I shouldn't have summoned them to the capital before, letting them grow ambitions for no reason!"

Zhao Zilong bowed and didn't speak. At that time, Your Majesty didn't have a son either.

"Your Majesty, do not worry!"

"Previously, the fierce bandits who received salt merchant gold and silver in Yang Zhou were his elite troops, using the cover of having betrayed the Jing Wang Fu as thieves. Zhao Meifeng asked the personal guards of the Gu Marquis and Xu Marquis mansions who took action."

"Their infantry combat is acceptable, but encountering cavalry, pfft."

Hearing Zhao Zilong's words,

The Emperor's brows relaxed. After exhaling, his eyes shifted, and he nodded, saying:

"Hmm! Zilong's words make sense. Now, taking the horse-raising grounds of the Bai Gao Kingdom is the priority! Regardless of whether the Jin Kingdom can defeat Northern Liao, opportunities like next spring are rare."

"Your Majesty is wise! I suggest transferring soldiers and bows and crossbows from the Jing Prince's fiefdom and its vicinity to support the north."

The Emperor nodded: "Not just soldiers and bows and crossbows; transfer the craftsmen related to military equipment to the north as well."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The Emperor sat down again, looked at the lantern in front of him, and said: "Let the imperial clan descendants come to the palace to warm up."

Zhao Zilong was about to take his leave when the Emperor said:

"Which families said that sentence, remember it clearly; I will have use for it next year!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Amidst the drizzling small snowflakes,

"Pitter-patter, pitter-patter."

The sound of the punishment rod hitting buttocks sounded exceptionally loud outside the Xuande Gate in the night.

After it rang for a while,

Xu Zaijing rubbed his buttocks and, supported by the eunuch, got down from the bench, stood up, and limped to the side.

"Hiss."

Liang Han, standing with Qiao Jiulang, bared his teeth and gasped, then glared hatefully at Lu Sanlang, who was standing not far away.

Just now, after the imperial physician examined the wound on Lu Sanlang's neck, fearing that something might go wrong with the wound on the neck of this son of the Duke's mansion, he suggested that the caning be carried out after some time.

The Heir of Prince Yong and the Heir of Prince Jing were also not punished because of the puncture wounds on their respective bodies.

The sons of the other families, such as the Duke of Korea and the Marquis of Zhongshan, had by this time walked to the benches where Xu Zaijing and the others had been lying, and their outer garments had been removed.

The Grand Eunuch on the side held his horsetail whisk, looked at the sons of the Zhang family, the Xu family, and others, and said in a shrill voice:

"The punishment is over! You all go back! If you fight and brawl again in the future, His Majesty will not spare you!"

Xu Zaijing, Zhang Fangling, and Zheng Xiao all grimaced, bowed, and cupped their hands in acknowledgment.

The Grand Eunuch nodded slightly and said: "Please!"

Seeing this, the attendants of the Duke of Ling's mansion hurriedly supported Lu Sanlang as they walked over, followed by people from the three princely mansions.

Just as they were about to bid farewell to the Grand Eunuch,

The Grand Eunuch extended his horsetail whisk to block the crowd and said:

"Hey! Wait! His Majesty has an imperial decree: since you are involved in the outflow of military equipment, you must wait for the Prefect of Kaifeng to finish questioning you; you cannot leave yet."

Hearing this, Lu Sanlang covered his neck and stared: "Ah?"

Immediately, he turned to look at the three imperial clansmen behind him.

The Heir of Prince Jing said:

"That crossbow was brought by Qin Chi Han of the Marquis of Dongchang's mansion. We do not know the ins and outs of the matter, so please..."

"This is His Majesty's imperial decree."

The Grand Eunuch said with a stern face.

At this moment,

In the light snow, a eunuch panting and puffing white breath arrived at the palace gate,

And after walking to the Grand Eunuch's side, he said: "His Majesty says to let the young clansmen enter the palace to warm up, and by the way, let the imperial physician take a careful look."

The Grand Eunuch was stunned and hurriedly agreed.

Because the incident happened in winter and at night, there were few people to begin with.

Even if the idlers shouted, there were not many people in Bianjing who knew about this excitement.

It would have to wait until tomorrow for it to really spread.

As far as Xu Zaijing was concerned, today's incident was much smaller than the affair of the Heir of Prince Yan.

Not only because he was not the one who caused the most damage,

But also because Xu Zaijing did not, under the gaze of other dukes and nobles, forcefully smash the teeth of the legitimate son of a princely mansion's retainer, nor did he break the legs of a princely heir, thus forging a deadly feud.

Under the eyes of everyone, it was the Heir of Prince Jing who struck first.

Moreover, before the incident, the one most severely injured was the Prince Jing mansion guard who first put on the lethal brass knuckles.

The reason Xu Zaijing threw the flying knife at the Heir of Prince Jing was also to "protect others."

Young nobles in the capital are hot-blooded, and it is common to see them fighting when drunk, even among the imperial clan.

Of course, there was basically nothing like the previous time Xu Zaijing stirred up turmoil.

After all, usually, the fight would end during the guards' brawl.

If the Heir of Prince Jing had not insanely fired a heavy crossbow in the restaurant,

The result of this brawl would mostly have been Xu Zaijing and his party walking away, while the Heir of Prince Yong and his side lay on the ground groaning in pain, only to hide far away when they saw Xu Zaijing and his party in the future.

However,

The behavior of the Heir of Prince Jing completely changed the nature of this matter. Now, the most important thing is to figure out how this heavy crossbow flowed out!

Otherwise, if the Great Zhou Emperor goes out of the palace to Jinming Pool or other places one day and gets hit by this heavy crossbow, wouldn't that be terrible?

On the way to walk toward his own family,

Zhang Fangling said to Xu Zaijing on the side:

"Jing Ge'er, Zheng Xiao told me before that coming out to play with you would definitely not be boring!"

"I didn't believe it before, but now I think what he said is right. For so many years, I have fought many fights, but I have never seen that thing."

Saying this, Zhang Fangling shook his head.

Xu Zaijing rubbed his buttocks and said:

"Hiss, as if I see that thing often! That bastard, he really dared to pull the trigger!"

Zheng Xiao touched his shoulder with lingering fear.

Qiao Jiulang, who was following behind, said: "Next time I encounter... forget it, let's not encounter it!"

After Qiao Jiulang finished speaking, the group nodded and passed by the Imperial Guards maintaining order, arriving in front of their own families.

The carriages of each family were parked side by side here.

The carriages of the Duke of England Zhang family and the Xu family were very close.

Beside the carriage, Zhang Fangsong, the third son of the Zhang family, patted Xu Zaijing on the shoulder and said: "No one would have thought he would have that thing, don't take it too much to heart!"

After Zheng Xiao and Zhang Fangling nodded in agreement, they got into the same carriage.

Watching the Duke of England's carriage drive away, Liang Han, who was limping, came to Xu Zaijing's side and said:

"Jing Ge'er, thank you for saving me."

"What are you saying? Hurry back!"

Qiao Jiulang, who was beside Liang Han, also bowed and followed.

Xu Zaijing turned his head and looked at Zaihang: "Brother."

"Get in the carriage."

On the way back to Quyuanjie,

Xu Zaijing sat in the carriage, the jolting making him grimace as he listened to Zaihang say:

"Don't worry, Mother already knows the whole story! Father and Brother are in the North; we don't look for trouble, but we don't fear it either."

"After they finished looking at the bloody elephant trunk, they looked at you bunch, what does it mean?"

"Are they hoping we families have bloodshed... bah bah bah! Damn that bunch of little beasts!"

Xu Zaijing endured the pain and said nothing.

If it weren't for Qingyun recognizing that the guards of Prince Jing's mansion looked somewhat like fierce bandits and having the opportunity to provoke the other side, Xu Zaijing and the others might have really had to swallow this anger tonight.

If they didn't swallow it, then they would be the side that struck first, and they wouldn't be in the right.

Amidst the rumbling sounds,

The carriage drove through the streets of Bianjing,

Followed by six or seven guards from the Marquis's mansion on horseback.

Returning to Quyuanjie,

Xu Zaijing and his elder brother arrived at the Matriarch's courtyard.

Except for Xu Zaijing's nephew,

The whole family had not yet slept. Seeing Xu Zaijing enter, Anmei on the side said:

"Mother, look, I said it, Little Five won't suffer a loss in a fight!"

Sun Shi rolled her eyes at her daughter, looked at Xu Zaijing's appearance with worry, stood up, and said:

"Jing'er, you're injured?! What happened? How come I heard there was a heavy crossbow!?"

"Mother, it's nothing, I just took ten sticks, just skin wounds!"

Holding Sun Shi's hand, Xu Zaijing frowned and sat slowly on the chair, saying:

"The child doesn't know where they got the heavy crossbow either, they are truly bold and reckless!"

"They brought this upon themselves!"

Hearing Hualan's words, everyone in the room nodded.

At that time, after leaving Qingfeng Tower, when the group went to the palace, Zaihang had already sent someone back to report the news.

"Fortunately, that Heir missed his shot..."

Xu Zaijing nodded. Being able to dodge a crossbow bolt with his back turned and save someone on the side was too shocking; it was better to explain it as the other person missing.

"Mother, the child is fine, you and Brother and Sister-in-law should rest quickly, I'll go apply some medicine."

Sun Shi nodded and said: "Go, I already had the maid in your courtyard crush several pieces of 'Gold-Cannot-Replace' to have ready."

"Yes, Mother."

In the palace,

The Emperor paced to the Empress's bedchamber,

Looking at the Empress sitting by the bed, the Emperor put on a smiling face and said:

"Why haven't you slept yet?"

"Your servant heard that Your Majesty was very angry, so I wanted to wait for Your Majesty to come and help you soothe your temper."

The Emperor smiled, walked to the bed, lay down, and said: "Hmm, come on!"

The Empress pursed her lips and smiled: "Then you must let down your hair and take off your outer robe!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I was so angry I was dizzy."

After getting settled,

The Emperor lay down again and closed his eyes, while the Empress pressed the Emperor's temples:

"Your Majesty, what made you so angry?"

After the eyeballs under the Emperor's eyelids moved, he continued to smile:

"Sigh, it's that brat from the Xu family, causing trouble for me every day!"

Looking at the Empress's puzzled eyes, the Emperor said:

"Today at Qingfeng Tower, he had a conflict with the child from Prince Jing's family, and as a result... the child from Prince Jing's family actually pulled out a heavy crossbow, not only shooting off the hair bun of Prince Tan's youngest son, but also almost opening a hole in the neck of the Lu family's third son, and even shot through the shoulder of Prince Yong's eldest son!"

The Empress paused and said: "Ah??? How... how did this heavy crossbow flow into the hands of these children!"

The Emperor said angrily: "That's why I'm so angry!"

"Your Majesty, just punish the derelict officials, why get angry!"

"If it weren't for the child from the Xu family, perhaps this matter wouldn't have been exposed!"

The Emperor felt comfortable being pressed by the Empress: "Hmm, that's true, how long has it been since the Empress pressed me like this."

The Empress smiled and said: "In the past, how could your servant have such leisure."

The Emperor raised his hand and touched the back of the Empress's hand.

A quarter of an hour later,

The Grand Eunuch and the Empress's personal maid retreated outside the room.

Listening to the movement inside, the maid bowed to the Grand Eunuch and said: "I will go prepare the warm room for bathing."

The Grand Eunuch smiled and bowed, thinking to himself: 'Tomorrow I must prepare some tonic medicinal meals.'

Quyuanjie,

Marquis Yongyi's Mansion,

Xu Zaijing, whose hair was still a bit wet, lay on the bed.

When he came back, the pain was still manageable, but after taking a bath, the pain began to intensify slightly.

Yin Bo, who knew his beloved disciple had been caned, sent some medicine, which, combined with the crushed 'Gold-Cannot-Replace', was about to be applied to Xu Zaijing's buttocks.

Looking at the half-removed underpants, Qingcao bit her lip without changing her expression, applying it to her young master with a medicine bowl in one hand and a jade piece in the other.

Huaxiang and Yunxiang at the door poked their heads in, saw Xu Zaijing under the candlelight, and shrank back shyly.

Xu Zaijing closed his eyes, feeling the coolness of the medicine, and sighed: "At critical moments, my old maid is still the most reliable."

Qingcao pursed her lips and said: "Young Master, it's just a bit red, someone who didn't know would think you suffered a very serious injury!"

"How is it not serious? Ten sticks! Apply it well!"

Covering it with a stain-proof mattress, Qingcao lightly covered it with a quilt.

Xu Zaijing closed his eyes and said: "You two come in, my hair isn't dry yet!"

After Yunxiang poked her head in at the door, the two walked in.

"Qingcao, tonight let Mother Xia burn the stove fire more vigorously!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

End of the Yin hour (5:00 AM).

At this hour, the winter morning sky was still dark.

The candlelight in the room where Xu Zaijing lived lit up,

A voice came:

"Mother Xia, mix two more basins of water! Young Master needs to use them!"

After being about a quarter of an hour later than his usual wake-up time,

Xu Zaijing, looking like nothing had happened, took Qingcao out of the courtyard and came to the horse racing track.

The light snow from last night had long since stopped, and the horse racing track had turned slightly white.

Xu Zaijing had Qingyun place all the feathered arrows in front of him, and did not let Qingyun stand in front of the target.

Then Xu Zaijing stood there and began to shoot arrows.

On weekdays, Xu Zaijing usually practiced with one or two quivers, thirty arrows each; it was rare to take six quivers of feathered arrows like this early in the morning.

"Thud!"

The feathered arrow nailed into the target, shaking off quite a bit of the snow that had fallen last night.

After shooting twenty arrows to fill one target, Xu Zaijing changed to another.

And Qingyun carried the empty arrow quiver to the target, pulled the feathered arrows from the target, and brought them back.

When the sky brightened, white steam was already slightly rising from Xu Zaijing's head.

Qingyun ran back holding the feathered arrows and said panting: "Young Master, how come you are getting faster and faster?"

Xu Zaijing took the feathered arrows from his arms and said: "Have you counted how many quivers you brought back?"

As he spoke, the feathered arrow flew straight toward the bullseye again.

Qingyun wiped his sweat and said: "There must be a hundred quivers!"

Xu Zaijing exhaled: "Good! That's it for today."

The sky was bright,

Bianjing City became noisy again.

At noon,

The events of last night were also being spread by word of mouth.

After all, encountering a heavy crossbow during a fight was rare in Bianjing,

And since the sons of princes, dukes, and marquises were injured, there was even more to talk about.

In Pan Tower,

On the first floor,

A Bianjing squire who claimed to live near Qingfeng Tower said with certainty:

"That Xu family brother, he dodged that crossbow bolt! Why don't you all believe me?"

"When that crossbow was raised, he was already facing away from the Prince's mansion Heir!"

"I was eating on the first floor at the time! You, you all!"

A wealthy man wearing silk and satin on the side said:

"According to what you say, that Xu family brother has eyes on the back of his head?"

"Then why didn't I see the third son of the Duke of Ling's mansion dodge it?"

"You probably haven't seen how fast a crossbow bolt is!"

"That's right! Hahaha!"

Listening to the laughter around him, the squire flicked his sleeves, sat down, and shook his head!

After Chai Jin glanced at the attendant who was settling the bill,

He walked into the crowd of people talking and said: "Brother, please tell me in detail, I'll treat this meal!"

(End of this chapter)