On the first day of July in the thirty-first year of Kangxi's reign, Kangxi drove out of Beijing and headed north to escape the summer heat.
The destination was the northern area of Mulan Paddock. The leaders of the four Outer Mongolian tribes also led their entourage to pick up the Holy Spirit at Mulan Paddock.
This northern tour can also be said to be another formal meeting between the four Outer Mongolian tribes and Kangxi after the alliance was formed.
It was precisely because Kangxi wanted to gather the leaders of the four tribes that the original schedule was postponed for several months. The hottest month in the capital was almost over. According to Jinxi, this was not a summer escape. He could just rush to Mulan Paddock.
It’s autumn hunting.
On the day of departure, the palace bells rang and drums played to see off. A group of princes and brothers who were listed on the list had to put on the official prince's python robes on a hot day, rode on tall horses, and lined up on both sides of Kangxi's carriage. Even
Ten-year-old Yinzhen also walked at the end in a very decent manner.
In front of them were the imperial guards to clear the way, followed by the palace honor guard, then Kangxi's Luan Jia, Kangxi's close bodyguards, the four concubines in the harem, and the guards of the four concubines.
Then, there are the carriages of the two sisters-in-law Jinxi, Dafujin, and Sanfujin, as well as their respective bodyguards. Since Fujin is accompanying them to serve their respective men, according to previous practice, the prince Fujin has no right to take his personal bodyguard with him.
It belongs to the maids. In addition to carrying them, this carriage is also used by the respective men to relax.
After that, there are the medical team, kitchens, logistics that are indispensable for travel...
Finally, there are the guards holding down the formation from behind.
The entire queue was like a winding dragon, stretching for miles. Even though the number of people accompanying it had been reduced to a minimum, and the ceremonial formation was as low-key as possible, from Jinxi's perspective, it was still huge.
After sticking out his head and admiring the majestic momentum of "Dragon Walking the World", Jinxi retracted his head. He squinted his eyes and leaned in the comfortable and spacious carriage, crossed his hands behind his head, and thought about what was coming next.
How should I spend my time during the long journey? As I was thinking about it, I was shaken by the bumpy carriage and fell into a nap.
She didn't wake up until lunch time came. She was really teased by Yinzhen who got on the bus and changed into court clothes. So, after resting and eating in a beautiful wilderness, she took the food she had prepared.
With snacks and a chess board, the two sisters-in-law were invited to ride in the same carriage. The three of them sat in the carriage chatting and playing chess. When they were tired, they drank tea and had snacks, and the afternoon quickly passed.
Seeing that Jinxi had brought such an interesting chess piece, she was invited by Concubine Yi to ride together on the second day. There were other empresses from the Third Palace on the carriage. Jinxi obediently presented the chess piece that Concubine Yi had requested to play.
, and also spontaneously packed several bags of various snacks that were homemade before leaving the palace. They were both salty, sweet, sour and spicy, and the fourth concubine was full of joy after eating them.
"You're such a thoughtful girl, you prepared so many snacks before going out." Yi Fei twisted a piece of peanut cake and tasted it, then praised with a smile. She glanced at the fancy chess board brought by Jinxi from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly, her eyebrows were raised.
The smiles in the room became even stronger. Not only food, but also things to play were provided. There was nothing to do during this trip.
"Isn't it because Xi'er is greedy? I thought that this way north, and taking the official road, there will not be many shops selling snacks, so I simply made some preparations." Jin Xi explained with a smile.
Who knows that her maids are so capable? As soon as they heard that she was going north with the car, but could not bring the maids with them, they immediately divided the work, making new clothes and making snacks, even if they didn't need to go in and out.
Xizhu and Jiangrui in the kitchen also rolled up their sleeves and joined Hua Sao and Peilan.
No, when she got on the carriage and set off, in addition to the two bags of luggage she had packed by herself, several maids also brought out two large bags of clothing and food, fearing that she and Yinzhen would have no one to serve them along the way and would be wronged.
There was also a tearful farewell.
She was so frightened that she quickly waved goodbye and asked Grandma Xing to lead everyone to look after the home and care for the home. Then she followed Yinzhen to the gathering place of the large army.
However, it was also thanks to these caring maids. If she had prepared the little food herself, the tooth ceremony would have been gone after the first day. Who gave Yinzhen's brothers such good appetites?
Even Huang Ama knows that she has delicious and fun things on her hands.
After Kangxi was born, how could the fourth empress be missing? Moreover, women were several times more interested in snacks than men... So, not even two days had passed, and Jin Xi had brought these snacks to pass the time.
Most of the various snacks and gadgets were donated.
Fortunately, she is not a glutton. She basically taught the snacks made by the maids step by step. It doesn't feel bad for anyone who hasn't tasted them.
The chess set, on the other hand, is very similar to the modern checkers, but it is an authentic foreign product and is different from the imitations currently sold by "Xunfang". The beads on it are all wooden beads made of ebony, not glazed beads, and the texture is quite good.
It was given to her by Locke when he first brought goods from Europe.
Finally, I took advantage of the bustling crowds and the opportunity to have fun with many people outside the palace. I planned to play with the Queen of the Fourth Palace to show her filial piety. However, before I could play for a day, Kangxi took her away under the pretext of research.
Already.
She had no choice but to find another deck of traditional playing cards made in France from the luggage that the maids packed for her, and taught the fourth concubine how to play Lao K.
Ahem... You can't say it's a fight against landlords. Nowadays, there are landlords all over the world, and her man is one of them. Maybe it will cause public outrage, but it will be slapped...
The fourth concubine of the Qing Dynasty, who had never seen cards, let alone played Lao K, was fascinated by such an entertainment gadget.
Every day, in addition to saying hello to Lao Kang, taking turns to go to Lao Kang's place to serve Lao Kang for meals, and in the evening taking turns to serve Lao Kang to bed, etc., the rest of the time, he would just throw himself on the card table and refuse to leave.
Seeing this made Jin Xi click her tongue. No matter which country, which dynasty or which generation it goes to, the card of love is always popular. Look at these concubines of the Qing Dynasty. If we put them in modern times, they would be a set of extremely crazy mahjong combinations.
Zi. It doesn’t matter if you have Lao Kang or not...
Kangxi also felt strange. You said that the checkers had been collected by him for study. How could these mother-in-law and daughter-in-law squat in a carriage all day without getting out? What on earth are they doing?
He specially sent the lively Lao Wu to investigate on the spot, and found out that they were actually..."Gathering gambling"?...Ahem...Although he had never seen the props used, they were the ones gambling with.
The silver nuggets and jade beads used as rewards... but... is this ridiculous? After all, they are all high-ranking empress-level figures in the palace... unexpectedly...
Kangxi leaned in the luxurious carriage pulled by eight large horses, holding his forehead weakly, glanced at Yinzhen who was seriously driving the horse outside the carriage, and thought to himself: I didn't know that the daughter of the Fei Yanggu family knew so many strange things.
Weird tricks...Look at how many people have been bribed by her snacks and gadgets along the way? Even the usually dignified and self-disciplined Concubine Hui and the quiet and elegant Concubine De were instigated by her to join the gambling game, not to mention the fact that they loved the excitement.
It goes without saying that Concubine Rong, who already liked Jinxi, and Concubine Yi, who had already called herself "aunt" for a long time, all went into battle...
Kangxi was puzzled, but seeing that the fourth concubine was much more lively and cheerful than when he was in the palace, she lived comfortably during the day, and she became more and more attentive to serving him at night. Kangxi no longer thought about accepting her.
Solitaire.
Starting from the capital, it takes at least seven or eight days to reach the northern area of Mulan Paddock.
According to Jinxi's guess, Kangxi probably had breakfast and lunch in a moving carriage to save time, or to find a place to stay at night. Occasionally, he would choose a beautiful wilderness and stop for an hour or two.
.In this way, you can always arrive at the royal annex or small palace smoothly at night. You can use hot water to wash up, change clothes, and have a good sleep.
Jinxi and Yinzhen were in the same room. They had no chance to talk during the day. At night, after washing, they leaned on the bed and chatted about what they had seen during the day. Finally, they talked about the beautiful scenery along the way.
After summing up the compliments, we hugged each other and slept well.
In this way, we spent seven leisurely and pleasant days on the carriage. After walking for more than half a day, we can enter the royal realm of Mulan Paddock.
Jin Xi held her chin and leaned against the carriage window. Yi Fei's carriage was twice as big as hers, and it must have been specially made. Following Lao Kang on his tour of the south and north, it would be better to have a spacious and comfortable carriage specially customized.
It really doesn’t work.
Look, the concubines of the Fourth Palace are now gathered in a car, surrounding the sandalwood table in the car, swinging cards gracefully. They are talking and laughing, and she is serving tea and snacks to the four of them, and occasionally chatting with them.
More than anything else, she just opened the curtains to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. This was a place she had never been to when she was living in modern times. The pleasant air, the charming scenery... She had not yet seen the beauty inside Mulan Paddock.
The scenery, just the natural scenery open to the public along this road, was enough for her to admire and appreciate.
At noon on this day, the royal procession rumbled to the northern area of Mulan Paddock. After walking for an hour, they could reach the royal annex in Mulan Paddock.
Unexpectedly, after seven or eight days of smooth sailing, at the last moment, the queue encountered a "stumbling block".
"Protect the Emperor!" Following a deep voice and a cheer, the Imperial Guards, Guards, and Guards all surrounded Luan Jia in the center and the carriages of the palace masters, and were waiting in full formation.
A group of princes and elder brothers also quickly drew their swords and imposed martial law. Yinzhen took advantage of the situation and pushed the ninth elder brother Yinzhen beside him into Jinxi's carriage. He told Jinxi not to let him out. Although Yinzhen was precocious, he had just turned ten after all, so he didn't see him
Go through such a scene.
Then, Yinzhen rode his horse to the outside of Luanjia. As soon as he stabilized his body, he saw that the opponent's arrow array had fired in full force. Luanjia's eight horses instantly fell down. Yinzhen was startled and hurriedly picked up the Dragon Roar Sutra.
He waved his sword to block the heavy array of arrows.
Kangxi, who was on duty, also knew that it must be an assassin attack. When he thought about any of his patrols without some man-made accidents, he didn't take it too seriously. He thought they were just thirty or fifty remnants of the previous dynasty, and they would be killed soon.
They were forced to retreat or were killed in full.
Anyway, there are so many imperial guards and bodyguards... What's worse, there are shadow guards and secret guards hiding in the dark. If this little battle scares him, he loves Xinjueluo. Xuan Ye is so
Years of being an emperor have been wasted...
Unexpectedly, bursts of breaking wind sounded outside over and over again, seemingly without interruption. After half an hour of confrontation, he had already lost half of his troops. These were the elites among the carefully selected elites. Kangxi
He frowned and thought about whether he should continue to resist or abandon the car and leave. A few miles ahead is the boundary of Mulan Paddock. As long as you enter the paddock and use the cover of the trees, you will be safe.
But now he is in the carriage, unable to use his fists or kicks, nor can he get out. If he goes out rashly, he might not be able to stand still and become a hornet's nest. As for his personal guard Long Ying, he can't get out at this time.
Standing on the top of Luan Jia, he used his inner strength to roll away the array of arrows shot from all directions.
But it's too passive to spend all this time. The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. It is very likely that the opponent will successfully attack us.
"Your Majesty..." Li Dequan, who raised the curtain of the carriage to check the situation outside, retracted the carriage and glanced at Kangxi for a few times without hesitating to speak.
"Tell me." Kangxi frowned and asked, "How do you see the dragon shadow?"
"The Dragon Guard seems to want the Emperor to evacuate, but... there are enemy troops on all sides, so going out like this is not an option." Li Dequan gritted his teeth and straightened up, "Your Majesty, I will go in front of you to protect you..."
Kangxi pursed his lips, clenched his teeth, pinched the sword on his side, and said: "Let's go. I have been traveling all over the country for more than ten years, but I am really not afraid of these battles."
Li Dequan swallowed more, took the lead in lifting the door curtain, and gestured to the dragon shadow above, asking him to return to his position and personally protect the emperor.
Kangxi also wanted to get out of the carriage, but he heard Yinzhen exclaiming: "Huang Ama, be careful-" Then, Kangxi felt that his whole body was brought back to the carriage by a force. When he fell, he looked up and saw,
It was Yinzhen who threw himself to block the sneak attack from the sharp arrow.
Fortunately, what Yinzhen was wearing today was the cloak that Jinxi had sewn for him. The three copper buttons at the collar blocked the sharp arrows for him, and then he heard a "dinging, clanking" sound, and several sharp arrows.
The arrow has been lying on the ground of the carriage. Not only is the arrow hooked, but it is also glowing with green fluorescence. It is obvious that this arrow is poisonous... It is not just this arrow. In fact, all the sharp arrows used by the enemy in this sneak attack are poisonous.
The poison is aggravated by hook warts...
Who is so bold and cruel as to intercept the royal carriages and horses and set up a formation with poisonous arrows...
If Yinzhen hadn't blocked the arrow with his body, wouldn't he have... Kangxi closed his eyes, and the feeling of fear hit his back again.
Fortunately, Yinzhenfu was lucky and was not hit by the poisonous arrow. He only accidentally hit the carriage rung while fighting and injured his waist. It was considered a great blessing among misfortunes.
"Send the order to thoroughly investigate what happened today. No matter how much it costs, I want the most detailed report." No matter which organization it is, even if it digs three feet, he will clear them out one by one...
"嗻——" The Imperial Guards, bodyguards, and the leader of the escort were ordered to retreat.
"Li Dequan, how is Fourth Brother's injury?" In the Royal Courtyard of Mulan Paddock, Kangxi stared anxiously at the memorials on several cases, but could not read a single word.
Although Yinzhen's injury was still on his mind, he also didn't understand the scene at that time. The sudden surge of the animal army, the sudden reversal of the battle situation... After thinking about it for a long time, I still don't understand...
"Your Majesty, the imperial doctor said after seeing the ointment for activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis that the injury on Si Age's waist can be relieved. No matter how well he is nursed back to health and taken care of, it should be fine... Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. Si Age's auspicious person and heavenly appearance will definitely be fine.
"It's something." Li Dequan replied. He was also full of fear. His casualties were small. If it were the emperor... Fortunately, the copper buckle on the fourth elder brother's cloak blocked the arrow. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable! (To be completed.)