An Feng Bamboo Horse

?Flags were unfurled, three orders were passed, hundreds of people poured into the paddock under the scattered clouds, and the neighing of horses and human voices merged into one place.

Xia Anfeng was soon separated from his teammates. The moment the military drum sounded, everyone rushed out like a hungry tiger pouncing on a sheep, holding swords.Holding his standardized saber in his hand, he slowly landed at the end alone.When encountering small animals such as rabbits, voles, and wild foxes, you can catch them as soon as you can, and you don’t bother to chase them if you can’t. They wander slowly in the vast hunting grounds.The colleagues had already run away and disappeared, and the noise gradually scattered into the dense forest.

He was lowering his head to observe the trail left by a hare, when suddenly there was a horse's hooves flying beside him, and there was a long cry, and someone reined in the horse and stopped beside him.

"Yuwei, this kind of performance won't make your captain appreciate it."

There was still a smile in his voice, not a critical tone.

Xia Anfeng looked up, and a flash of excitement flashed through his mind, golden jade brocade belt, purple brocade robe, peacock red headband inlaid with silver diamonds, he was a member of the royal family.

He seemed to be about the same age as Luo Tang, he reined in the horse freely, let the green snow-hoofed horse slowly circle around him, and followed his master to size up the red-haired boy in the brand-new uniform of the royal guard in the palace. "The saber is held crooked," the other party commented, "Half an hour has passed and it hasn't been stained with blood. Are you here for an outing?"

"..." Even if it is the prince, this tone really makes people angry.And you hunt your hunting well, what do you come to watch me do?

Xia Anfeng said: "I... my subordinate's swordsmanship is impure." He hasn't gotten used to changing his mouth yet, claiming that his subordinate always feels tongue-tied.

The more he looked at the other person, the more he felt familiar. It was this person who was familiar among the princes just now, but he couldn't remember where he had met him.The prince lived in the deep palace, and it was his first time in Beijing, so there was no possibility of meeting him. Could it be that he had met a face similar to this prince?

"This prince is ranked third in the palace, you can call me the third prince."

I don't need you to introduce yourself, okay?

The third prince bent down towards him with a smile, and stretched out a hand: "Sword skills are impure, how can you know how to bow and arrow?"

Xia Anfeng was determined to solve this confusion, grabbed his hand, and jumped on the stirrup. "Yes." He said behind the third prince, "Why didn't you bring any followers?"

The third prince drove the horse to a trot, and said lightly, "I got separated."

There was blood between his fingers holding the reins.Xia Anfeng saw it, and frowned, the third prince took off the quiver from the horse's back, stuffed it to him without looking back, and said: "If anyone approaches, shoot an arrow."

...I'm here to hunt animals, right?Despite thinking so, Xia Anfeng quickly put the quiver on his back, sheathed the sword with one hand, and held the big bow steady with the other.

"Your way of picking people at random is really special. How dare you trust me if you have never met me?"

"The second son of Dingguo Xia Zun, Xia Anfeng, the newly added imperial guard of the Ministry of War, do you know this enough?" The third prince still didn't look back, and rode his horse into the depths of the dense forest, "It's not like we haven't met before. .On Kuiyang Street, you saved the life of a girl, I am deeply impressed by you."

Xia Anfeng choked behind him: "You're the one in the carriage—" He suddenly remembered where he had seen this prince before, and the flash of the face in the carriage, the stars flickering thoughtfully His pupils, the owner of the inscribed plum pattern pattern!

However, incised plum patterns are not royal emblems.

He suddenly felt as if he was involved in something that was not his personal concern and could not be easily messed with. He looked around, ready to find a chance to jump the horse.But the horse's back is not wide, he and the third prince are close to each other, if he moves at will, the third prince will naturally notice.

The third prince seemed to have guessed his sudden vigilance, and turned his head with a smile, "Rescue the prince is meritorious, and he can be promoted two levels in a row."

"????"

The horses led them to a relatively open area, surrounded by bushes as high as people, and the wind blowing and whirring.Suddenly, a cold arrow shot towards the third prince with a sharp sound of wind.Xia Anfeng was shocked, he didn't have time to think, he had already drawn out his sword, and slashed down the arrow halfway, with a sound of course.

The third prince looked sideways, and said: "The accuracy and strength are well grasped."

Before Xia Anfeng could yell at him, he calmly signaled, "Here we go again."

This time, there were four or five arrows shooting out from different directions, Xia Anfeng didn't care to think about what the hell was going on, he only knew that those arrows didn't have eyes.He suddenly raised his hand, and the saber drew smooth sword flowers in his hand, and swept the fast arrows to the ground one by one.The third prince gave a compliment, then kicked the horse's belly, Xia Anfeng shook, and quickly grabbed the saddle to stabilize his figure.

The snow-hoofed green horse raised its hooves like flying, passed through the bushes, and briskly escaped from the range of the arrows that were chasing after it.

Beside a small river, the third prince stopped the green horse, and Xia Anfeng jumped off the horse without saying a word.

"I'm going back." Turn around and leave.

A cold long sword lay across his neck, and the third prince's smiling eyes were reflected on the blade of the sword. "On the mountain by this river, there is an adult white tiger, which is hunted by everyone every year. In order to repay you for saving your life, this prince specially led you here by taking a shortcut. Don't you want to be the first?"

"I'm afraid I don't have that ability." Pulling away the long sword and leaving again, the third prince said leisurely behind him, "It's too late for you to get away, those assassins of my eldest brother have just witnessed you protecting me. If If you don't walk out of this hunting ground with me, it is very likely that the next day, no, this afternoon, someone will find the dead body somewhere, beyond recognition."

Xia Anfeng stopped in his tracks, the regret in his heart almost made him bury himself in this river.What did he do to get on his horse, and why did he let him lead him around, knowing that it was impossible for his entourage to stray away from him just by accident?

The internal strife in Hou Ye's mansion is already annoying enough, is he involved in the royal family's strife now?

"If you hunt the white tiger, I guarantee that not only you, but also Bu Zhangbai will be safe and sound in the capital."

Xia Anfeng turned around abruptly, staring closely at the man who was still sitting on the horse with a smile on his face.

"you……"

"When Bu Shuai was alive in the past, he took good care of this prince. Since his descendants came to the capital, this prince will help him out of emotion and consideration." There is a lot of meaning in the words, "What he wants, this prince will help him I believe you would like his long-cherished wish to come true, don't you?"

Although the frowning and thinking red-haired boy in front of him may not know what Bu Zhangbai really wants.

After a while, Xia Anfeng said disconsolately: "Xiaobai can pass the general examination with his own ability, so there is no need for you to do anything extra."

"After the general examination, there is also the palace examination. During the palace examination, there is still the question of who to be an official." The third prince laughed, "You have succeeded in re-enrolling the imperial guards, so guess what, Bu Zhangbai passed the school examination smoothly, It's easy to be on the list, did Ding Guohou make a fuss about it? I happen to know a Xuezheng, and I heard that his biological son was just promoted under Lord Hou's command a while ago, and the time just happened to be when the exams in the guild hall ended and the list came out. those days."

"..."

"Have you thought about it? After thinking about it, get on the horse. We cover each other and take off the white tiger skin and present it to my father."

The third prince Qi Xuemiao is not the only one who wants to hunt the white tiger.

Weapons fell on the ground outside the cave, and the ground was covered with blood, but there were no traces of beasts or claw marks. It seemed like people who came to hunt tigers were killing each other.

The third prince tied the horse to a big tree, called Xia Anfeng who was about to walk into the cave, and threw him a golden pill.

Xia Anfeng held it in his hand and looked at it for a while, wondering, "What for?"

"There is miasma inside, this is the antidote."

"How can there be miasma in the cave where the tiger lives?"

"Or the miasma only diffuses around the entrance of the cave, which will have a bad effect on the humans who enter."

Xia Anfeng said: "You sent someone to tamper with it?"

The third prince took out the same pill by himself, swallowed it, and smiled with crooked eyebrows: "The prince and his followers got separated. I don't know where they are and what they did, so I can't answer your question." .”

This is not a coincidence at all, but a well-designed bureau.

Xia Anfeng lost his temper because of him, chewed up the medicine and swallowed it. Qi Xuemiao took back the bow and arrow and asked him to walk in front with the sword.Remind him: "If you see a white tiger, don't run away."

"The white tiger is not afraid of people? Will it chase?"

"No, because the prince is behind you, you will bump into the prince."

"..."

The white tiger's position is easy to find. It probably knows that someone has set up an ambush at the entrance of the cave and cannot go out. It just listens to the sound of ping-pong-pong killing each other outside and walks around in the cave anxiously.The roar of the tiger came from the depths of the cave, and the earth shook and the mountains shook, piercing the eardrums.

From the hands and feet of the third prince's entourage, it must have not eaten for at least two hours, and its temper should not be very good.

Xia Anfeng walked in front, his steps were light, and he was alert.

Killing a tiger was not unheard of during the martial arts training in the Lord Hou's Mansion, but it was an open place, moving around, with enough room for dodging and attacking, and there were trusted people nearby to help out.This time, he was in a cave with an unclear terrain, followed by a third prince who had ulterior motives and didn't know what was going on in his mind.

He turned his head to take a look, and the third prince walked behind him calmly, blocking his way back.

The roar of the tiger approached, but stopped abruptly.The ferocious beast that smelled the scent of a stranger let out a low whining sound.

Xia Anfeng turned around the entrance of the cave, and saw a white tiger lying on a huge rock at a glance. Its fur was as clean as the first snow, and the pattern of "king" above the hanging eyes was full of domineering.He clenched the long sword in his hand.

The white tiger didn't rush forward as expected, but lay down on the spot, arched its back, and let out a threatening roar.Under its belly, two furry heads protruded, and its eyes were not fully opened.

Seeing the two tiger cubs, Xia Anfeng was taken aback for a moment, and an arrow swished in behind him, hitting the tiger's raised paw.

"Aww!" The white tiger roared in pain.

"What are you waiting for?" The third prince jumped over him, proficiently drawing the bow and arrow, before Xia Anfeng could finish saying "slow down", the arrow had already shot into the tiger's shoulder blade, and blood gushed out.

Xia Anfeng said angrily: "It's protecting the boy! This is victory without force!"

Qi Xuemiao sneered softly, "What is the need to be upright in hunting? If you don't take advantage of it's attack, why would the prince risk his life to enter the house alone with the two of you?"

Two consecutive arrows finally enraged the white tiger, and pushed the two little white tigers behind the rocks, raised their heads to the sky and roared, and charged at the two of them.

The third prince took two steps back and said, "If you want to be a benevolent gentleman, you don't have to do anything."

Seeing that the tiger had rushed to the front in two steps, Xia Anfeng had no choice but to forcefully draw his sword, only blocking the tiger's first pounce.

The tiger opened its mouth wide and bit Xia Anfeng's neck fiercely. He put the long sword across in front of him in a hurry, and only heard a clang, and the tiger bit it off with one bite.

Secretly groaning, what kind of broken sword is this for Yuwei, which can be broken by a tiger bite?

But the tiger was also wounded by the blade, blood dripped from his mouth, and he paused for a short moment.Xia Anfeng rolled over and fell out from under it. The tiger's claws swung his back, and his clothes were torn.

On the way of rolling, he touched a huge boulder with the size of a head. Xia Anfeng held it firmly in his hands, quickly adjusted his posture, stood up, endured the shoulder pain and turned around, ready to fight the tiger to his death.The tiger did not rush at him, but turned its head around and roared angrily.

The third prince stood behind the rock, with one foot on the two whining little tigers, he drew an arrow with his bow, and the arrow aimed at the white tiger's forehead.

There was still a smile like spring breeze melting snow on his face, but there was no warmth in his eyes.With a tremor of the bowstring, the long arrow shot straight into the white tiger's forehead within a finger-close distance, and pierced out from the back of the head.

The huge body slumped to the ground, and the unclosed amber eyes were still fixed on the two cubs under Qi Xuemiao's feet.

"Okay, let's skin the tiger." The third prince withdrew his bow and arrow, and waved to the stunned man with a smile, "These two little tigers haven't been weaned yet, so they probably won't survive. Let's clean them up together."

Xia Anfeng kept silent, picked up the broken sword body, and walked out of the cave without looking back. ?