Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 38 Return to the Palace
  Jia Qiang took down the two arrow pots and placed them on the ground. Then he took out the sixteen metal arrows one by one and inserted them within reach. The big gun was placed in the most convenient position.

He felt a pity that there were too few arrows.

Although his archery skills are not good, his 'Zhentian Bow' is good enough. The shooting distance of 500 steps was close to 650 meters in the previous life.

At this distance, even if a large group of cavalry charges, he will have enough time to shoot all sixteen arrows and still have extra time.

Jia Qiang stood quietly, without much fear in his heart.

The armor on his body gave him strong defense, which can be felt from the weight of the armor.

Ordinary armor weighs more than 40 kilograms, and heavy armor does not exceed 70 kilograms. However, his armor should be specially made for masters who practice general body refining techniques, weighing a full 120 kilograms.

He took a rough look and found that the metal used in the armor was not ordinary metal, but some kind of metal that he had never seen before.

This armor gave him enough confidence that he could fight even two thousand cavalry. As long as he found an opportunity in the battle and grabbed a horse, he could even leave the battlefield.

Of course, he would not do this unless it was absolutely necessary. He would leave Emperor Jingwen on the battlefield and escape alone. Once he did this, there would be no way out.

The attack range of the Eight Ox Crossbows is up to more than a thousand meters. Four Eight Ox Crossbows lined up on the official road are enough to cause huge casualties to the cavalry.

The sound of horse hoofbeats came, like thunder and drums.

In Jia Qiang's field of vision, she saw the flag standing among the cavalry. It was the flag of the Beijing camp.

"Send the message!" Emperor Jingwen ordered in a deep voice. When he saw the banner of the Beijing camp, his expression became much more relaxed.

Xia Shouzhong took out a loud arrow, lit it and threw it with his hand. The arrow roared sharply and exploded with a red royal mark in the air.

The cavalry stopped and a knight ran out of the group.

This was a general wearing armor. He ignored the threats of the four eight-oxen crossbows and the 'Zhentian Bow' in Jia Qiang's hands, and approached the carriage.

The "Zhentian Bow" in Jia Qiang's hand is full of bows. As long as Emperor Jingwen gives an order, this general will become the dead soul of his arrow.

In the hands of a rank five master, the treasure bow can completely break through the enemy's armor, especially when using metal arrows.

The general's horses were getting closer and closer. Jia Qiang did not receive Emperor Jingwen's order. Since the general was too close to use a bow and arrow, he put the "Zhentian Bow" aside and replaced it with a big gun.

The general stopped his horse twenty meters away from the carriage, and he confirmed the shape of the carriage.

At this time, Xia Shouzhong had a golden token in his hand. When the general saw it, he no longer hesitated and dismounted his horse and moved forward quickly.

"General Zuo Ran of the Pioneer Camp of the Last General in Beijing pays homage to His Majesty!" the general said loudly with one knee on the ground and his fists clasped together.

Jia Qiang recognized this as General Zuo Ran who held the galloping horse with one hand outside the Gongyuan two years ago. He did not expect to see him again here, but he recognized General Zuo Ran. The general did not recognize him.

At that time, he was sitting in a carriage, some distance away from General Zuo Ran.

"The Beijing camp is finally here!" Emperor Jingwen's voice was neither sad nor happy, making it impossible to sense his happiness and anger.

General Zuo Ran was sweating profusely and his head lowered even further.

He had just seen Emperor Jingwen's carriage and saw the damage on the carriage.

When Emperor Jingwen travels, no matter how streamlined it is, the number of people accompanying him cannot be less than a hundred, but look at the few guards in front of him.

"Get back on your feet, and the cavalry from the Beijing camp will escort me back to the palace!" Emperor Jingwen waved his hand and said.

"I will not obey the order!" General Zuo Ran responded loudly.

He stood up, jumped on his horse again, and waved to the cavalry brigade in the distance.

The cavalry brigade quickly divided into three groups. The most elite group came to the carriage and divided it into three layers to protect the carriage.

The remaining two teams are one behind the other, thousands of meters apart. This is to prevent long-range attacks from the front and rear.

The most important task of the Beijing camp was to protect the emperor. This army was extremely experienced, and it only took a short time to complete the formation.

"Jia Qiang, get on the carriage!" Emperor Jingwen suddenly ordered.

Jia Qiang was startled at first, then followed the order and sat on the shaft of the car, right next to Xia Shouzhong.

Xia Shouzhong looked at him deeply. Emperor Jingwen's order was beyond Xia Shouzhong's expectation. Only Xia Shouzhong who knew Emperor Jingwen could understand how special this order was. General Zuo Ran, who was riding beside the carriage, was also looking at Jia Qiang carefully.

The big gun, the 'Zhentian Bow', and the sense of threat that Jia Qiang gave him all showed that Jia Qiang was a master who had practiced the art of general body refining.

But there are only so many masters in the capital who practice the art of general body refining. General Zuo Ran is not familiar with them all, but at least they are not strangers.

Emperor Jingwen's attitude towards Jia Qiang made General Zuo Ran pay more attention to Jia Qiang.

Jia Qiang sat on the shaft of the chariot, his big gun was held by the guard on the side, and the 'Zhentian Bow' was placed beside him.

Probably only in this case was it possible to get so close to Emperor Jingwen with a weapon in hand.

Two thousand cavalry advanced for half an hour, and another infantry group arrived and joined the guard.

Until they entered the city gate, there were no more assassinations.

Thinking about it, it is very difficult to assassinate in the middle of a large army. If you can really succeed, it will be easier to assassinate in ordinary times.

After entering the city, the cavalry blocked the road ahead, all shops were closed, and passers-by knelt on the ground.

Jia Qiang deeply felt the majesty of the emperor in feudal society. On the entire street, no matter who they were, they were all kneeling on the ground, and no one dared to raise their heads.

He did not take it lightly. He probably guessed the reason why Emperor Jingwen asked him to get on the carriage.

He had previously affected the firing lines of four eight-niu crossbows and saved Emperor Jingwen, making Emperor Jingwen even more confident in his close defense capabilities.

This time when I returned to the palace, I didn't clear the streets beforehand, and the second and third floors of the shop were the best places to assassinate.

With Jia Qiang, a fifth-level master, he can block even another assassination attempt.

Jia Qiang half-drawn the 'Zhentian Bow', ready for possible assassination at any time.

Probably the person behind the scenes gave up on the assassination, and the team reached the palace gate without encountering any more assassinations.

Jia Qiang followed him into the palace, but was not able to go deep into the palace. He was only placed in a room at the palace gate.

His big gun, 'Zhentian Bow', 'Qingfeng Sword', armor and dagger were all taken away by the eunuch. He was left alone in the room, not knowing when he would be able to go back.

Emperor Jingwen returned to the East Palace. When he entered the main hall of the East Palace, his whole body couldn't help but feel weak.

Xia Shouzhong, who was beside him, stretched out his hand to support Emperor Jingwen in time, and carefully moved Emperor Jingwen to a chair to sit down.

Only in the East Palace, on Emperor Jingwen's own territory, would he show his weak side. Outside, he would always be the emperor of Daqian, maintaining the majesty of the emperor.

"Master, I will send someone to investigate the assassination right now!" Xia Shouzhong said softly.

"Investigate it. In fact, there is no need to investigate. We all know that it was my good brothers who did it, but if we can't find any evidence, the Supreme Emperor will not allow me to deal with those good brothers!" Emperor Jingwen shook his head bitterly and said .

As an emperor, there are probably not many people who can reach his level.

"Master, to be disrespectful, that body won't last for many years. When you take the real power, then..." Xia Shouzhong said this and did not continue.

"Stop talking about this, look up Jia Qiang. I want to know everything about Jia Qiang!" Emperor Jingwen waved his hand and ordered.

After returning to the palace, he needed to consider the follow-up treatment of this assassination.

The first is punishment. The reaction of the Beijing camp was too slow. Some officials who acted unfavorably took this opportunity to eliminate them. His people could be replaced in unimportant positions.

The second is the reward, including General Zuo Ran who rescued in time, and Jia Qiang, the fifth-level master who unexpectedly escorted him.

There are several kinds of great achievements that emperors must reward generously. This has been the case throughout the ages, without exception.

The first is the achievement of destroying the country, which is enough to be written on the emperor's epitaph.

The second is the merit of following the dragon, and the third is the merit of rescuing the driver. If these two great merits are not rewarded, who will sacrifice their lives for the emperor.

The most important thing is that if there is no reward for the two great achievements of Cong Long and Rescue, the emperor's unkindness will be recorded in the history books.

(End of this chapter)