Being busy all day, Wang Xian had no time to appreciate the changes in the environment. It was not until he left the capital and reached the suburbs that he suddenly discovered that it was already the peak of spring.
The blue sky is as clear as water, and the warm sunshine has temporarily dispersed the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River. Flowers are in full bloom along the roadside, and green willows are caressing the green water. There are water birds playing on the river, fishermen casting nets, and the distant mountains are as dark as spring.
Like wine, it makes people so drunk.
Lingxiao was like a bird escaping from a cage, riding a maroon horse, galloping back and forth on the mountains and fields. From time to time, bursts of crisp laughter could be heard, and the cheerful laughter was so contagious that it actually made the stiff-faced Jin Yiwei,
He also showed a slight smile.
"Is that Sun Zhenren's granddaughter?" Zhang Fu looked back and said.
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded and said, "She is also Xiaguan's sister."
"I heard that Master Sun's grandson is also with you?" Zhang Fu said.
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded.
"Brothers and sisters with such a transcendent status are willing to follow you. It seems that you are indeed extraordinary." Zhang Fu said.
"My lord, please don't put a high hat on your subordinates," Wang Xian said with a wry smile, "If you have anything to say, just say it directly, right?"
"Haha, okay," Zhang Fu smiled, stopped talking nonsense with him, and said in a deep voice: "Let me ask you, what do you think of this case?"
"My father-in-law seems to have asked this question the day before yesterday." Wang Xian touched his nose and said.
"Last time I asked you what you planned to do, this time I'm asking you..." Zhang Fu paused and said: "What do you think of the suspect?" He waved his hand and blocked Wang Xian's perfunctory words: "I might as well
Let me start by talking about my opinions."
"Your Majesty, I am all ears," Wang Xian said.
"I will go back and think about the case carefully," Zhang Fu said, "I believe that the assassin, or the main messenger behind the scenes, must be someone who is very familiar with everything about the King of Han. He knows that the King of Han is going to Xiaoling to investigate, and he knows that the King of Han never rides in a car.
Instead, he rides a horse and knows the search strategies and habits of the King of Han's guards. If any of these three are missing, there is no chance of threatening the King of Han."
"Not bad." Wang Xian nodded in agreement.
"Actually, there is another one, which is archery." Zhang Fu added: "Based on their descriptions, I feel that there are not many people in the world who can hit this arrow."
"Indeed, although it is condescending, the distance of two hundred feet is really too far," Wang Xiandao said: "I am young and ignorant. I have never seen such a magic shot."
"Not only do you have to be good at shooting, you also have to have extraordinary physical strength." Zhang Fu said, lost in thought, as if wondering how many people he knew or heard of who could do this.
Ten miles to the east from Xuanwu Gate is the Purple Mountain. Unknowingly, Zhang Fu, Wang Xian and others came to the place where the King of Han was assassinated. They saw the ups and downs of the surrounding mountains, the beautiful scenery, and it was so close to the capital.
It's unbelievable that the assassin would choose to attack here.
"Are you sure that the King of Han was assassinated here?" Wang Xian asked Zhang Long, the commander of Tiance's right guard who came with him.
"Yes." Zhang Long was the general responsible for the security of the King of Han that day. Although the assassin's ability was incredible, it was not a reason for him to be exempted from liability. In fact, as soon as he returned to the palace, he ate eighty military sticks. If it weren't for the fact that the King of Han had always been considerate of his subordinates,
, he couldn't even save his life. This time the British Duke came to investigate the scene. Although he was still recovering from his injuries on the couch, he still gritted his teeth and followed. As for the eighty army sticks, as long as he didn't intentionally beat them to death, he would not be interested in these coppers.
For a man made of cast iron, it was just a pain in the flesh. The only indecent thing was that he was lying on the back of a horse... his butt was smashed and he couldn't sit on the saddle. After careful identification, Zhang
Long nodded firmly and said: "This is the place, and you can still see the prince's blood on the ground."
Wang Xian turned over and dismounted, and sure enough, he saw sporadic blood stains on the turf that had been trampled into mud.
"Where was the assassin's arrow?"
Zhang Long pointed to a hilltop to the north and said: "On that hilltop, the assassin hid under the rock and avoided our previous search. We have rules. We must search the areas along the way moments before the prince arrives.
If you can threaten the prince's position, you need to send people to guard it. At that time, an experienced team of 100 people under my command had already searched the mountain and found no traces of the assassins. Moreover, the location of the mountain was a bit far away, considering that
It is outside the range of the crossbow. After the search, no one was stationed." He said with an annoyed look on his face: "Who would have thought that the assassin who was supposed to be there could actually be shot from there."
"I'll go up and have a look." The British Duke who had been silent suddenly spoke. Wang Xian was just about to say, "I'm going with you, but I saw the British Duke's entourage with a big bow and a pot of arrows hanging on the horse."
Then he changed his words and said: "Set a target here."
The straight-line distance from where Wang Xian stood to where the assassin shot the arrow was about two hundred feet, which was far beyond the range of bows and arrows. Some heavy crossbows in the army had this range, but that kind of bulky thing couldn't be fired at all.
The traces cannot be hidden. Moreover, judging from the arrows struck by the King of Han, they were bow arrows and not crossbow arrows.
After a while of tea, the British prince stood on the big rock where the assassin stood on the top of the mountain. Wang Xian and others also set up targets at the place where the King of Han was assassinated, and then hurriedly found a bunker to hide and joke. At such a long distance,
There is no way to be sure. Who knows where this arrow will hit?
Hiding behind a rock, Wang Xian watched the British Duke take the big bow and pull it a few times. After adjusting the condition, he took a long arrow, put the arrow on the bow, and buckled the tail of the arrow on the bow string.
There was a moment of silence. People watched from a distance as the British male on the mountain drew the string and drew the bow as steadily as the full moon. Finally, he took aim and took off the string. The three fingers of his right hand that held the string quickly opened and shot.
That overbearing and fierce arrow, the long arrow was like a black lightning, whizzing from the top of the mountain in the blink of an eye, hitting the wooden target in full view of everyone
"Okay" cheers arose, and everyone couldn't help but fall to the ground in admiration. The British Duke's shooting skills were really amazing. Looking at the British Duke standing on the mountain holding a bow and arrow, it was like a god descending to earth.
When everyone got up from the shelter, the British Duke on the top of the mountain shot a second arrow. Different from the first arrow that had been brewing for a long time, this second arrow was completed in one go from opening the bow and setting the arrow to pulling the string and shooting the arrow. The action was much faster.
Seeing the arrow flying down like a meteor, it passed a foot above the top of the wooden target and was nailed to the rock beside the road. It was only half a foot away from a Jin Yiwei who had just stood up. The Jin Yiwei immediately turned pale with fear...
…
The cheers suddenly stopped, and everyone did not expect that the arrow they thought was the god of war would miss the target... However, there were all practitioners present, and they knew that if it were them, it would be absolutely impossible to hit the target at this distance. In fact,
, even the most elite Jin Yiwei is only required to fire a stone bow and hit within a hundred steps. Such a range of a hundred feet is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
"My father is good at archery." Seeing Zhang Fu coming down from the mountain, Wang Xian hurriedly went up to greet him and praised: "I never thought before that he could hit a hundred feet."
"What's unexpected about this?" Zhang Fu glanced at him lightly and said, "Then the assassin did it?"
"Seeing is believing and hearing is false." Wang Xian pretended not to understand what Zhang Fu meant and said with a smile, "I wonder what my uncle felt after shooting those two arrows?"
"First, I'm not as good as that assassin," Zhang Fu said frankly: "Although I can barely hit the target, it takes too long to prepare. If I had to prepare for that long that time, I would definitely have to shoot the arrow before
, it was seen by countless pairs of eyes.”
Wang Xian nodded, agreeing with Zhang Fu's words, and heard him continue: "After the first arrow hit, my whole body's energy and spirit reached its peak state, and then I tried to shoot the second arrow quickly, but it did not create a miracle.
, and sure enough, the shot missed. But the assassin was able to hit the target with rapid fire, which shows that the gap between us is all-round, from shooting skills to strength, I am not as good as him."
"Young Master is too modest." Wang Xian said with a smile.
"No, I'm not being modest with you." Zhang Fu said calmly: "There are no more than five people in the world who are better at shooting than me..."
"That means the range of assassins can be reduced to five people?" Wang Xian said in surprise.
"To be precise, there are three people." Zhang Fu looked at Wang Xian. Since he was the governor of Beizhen Fusi, there were few secrets in the world for him, so he finally broke the news: "Because among the five people, one
One is the King of Han, and the other is the shadow that never leaves the Emperor's side."
"..." Wang Xian nodded and did not ask further questions. He was not surprised at all that the King of Han's archery skills were better than Zhang Fu. Just as Zhang Fu thought, after becoming the governor of Fusi in Shangbei Town, Wang Xian learned a lot.
Secrets, I know many truths that have been distorted. For example, in the Battle of Jingnan, the King of Han Dynasty performed so bravely. It is not surprising that a fierce general like Zhao Zilong, who is full of courage, can shoot well with arrows.
As for the latter, Wang Xian also knew something about it. As an emperor, Yongle was also a master who killed many people. Naturally, he took his own safety as seriously as Mount Tai. In addition to the public guards with swords, there were also secretive ones around him.
The origins of the shadow guards are mysterious, but they are highly skilled in martial arts and will not hesitate to sacrifice their lives to protect Zhu Di.
To put it bluntly, these so-called shadow guards are the masters Yongle secretly found from the military and civilians. After gaining their absolute loyalty, he made them his shadows. Most of the time, the shadows are hidden in the darkness.
Only when the emperor's safety is threatened, they will step forward without hesitation and sacrifice themselves in exchange for the emperor's escape.
In fact, the shadows may never encounter an opportunity that requires them to perform in their lifetime, but once they encounter it, it will be a shocking case of assassinating the emperor, which requires them not only to have courage and determination, but also to have extraordinary martial arts. So listen
The British Duke said that Wang Xian was not surprised, but smiled and asked: