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Chapter 44 The Murder of an Elk

Li Chongjiu rode a horse alone on the official road.

Li Chongjiu went to Dongdu this time because Li Hu heard that Su Su and the others had escorted the caravan back from outside the Great Wall, and now they have all arrived in Dongdu, so they wrote a letter asking Li Chongjiu to meet there.

Thinking that in the near future, I could see Li Hu, Su Su, and the brothers from Qiqianzhai.Li Chongjiu felt a little bit of yearning, so he asked Pusheng for leave and went to Dongdu.

When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Liaodong, the world was full of turmoil, and refugees left everywhere. However, the vicinity of the Eastern Capital was still a sign of peace and prosperity because it was at the foot of the emperor.

Li Chongjiu kept on driving for a while, and when he was halfway there, it suddenly encountered heavy rain, and Li Chongjiu had to get off his horse and take shelter in a roadside pavilion.

After tying the horse, Li Chongjiu took out the mustard bread from his rucksack and chewed it. Then he took out the water bag and gave the horse a few sips of water to drink. Then he sat in the pavilion and watched the continuous heavy rain.

While Li Chongjiu was chewing on the mustache, he suddenly saw a group of hussars galloping on horseback in the rain.

Li Chongjiu took a closer look, and found that these knights were all wearing black silk with bright armor, iron outfits, green tassel brushes, and holding suanni flags.The war horse passed by in the heavy rain, and the man on the horse didn't look sideways, and he didn't even look at Li Chongjiu beside him.

Seeing this iron cavalry, Li Chongjiu thought to himself that this is a guard of honor owned by the emperor's forbidden army, and this Sui Yang Emperor is obviously in Liaodong at the moment.

Li Chongjiu was puzzled in his heart, but sat on the sidelines and watched. He only saw this line of hussars for a while before he finished walking on the official road.Seeing outside the pavilion, the rain has become much less.

Li Chongjiu wanted to rush to Luoyang quickly, so he put on a bamboo hat and coir raincoat and rode his horse on the road in the rain.

Halfway through the road, I suddenly saw an elk walking through the forest beside me.Li Chongjiu couldn't help but feel moved when he saw this, he is short of money right now, if he shoots this elk, not to mention the velvet and musk, even this venison can be sold for a few hundred dollars in the market at least, which can solve his current health-preserving skills The urgent need to buy medicinal materials.

Li Chongjiu is shy in his pocket, and has long forgotten about the Five Precepts.When they were in Shaoshi Mountain, Li Chongjiu and Tan Zong would often go down the mountain to sell wine to satisfy their cravings.

At that moment, Li Chongjiu took out his two stone bows from his rucksack. The three stone bows were made in the army. If he took them to the street rashly, it would definitely be a trouble if someone with a discerning eye found them, especially since he was carrying a wanted warrant on his body. Still a hacker.

Li Chongjiu took out three arrows and bit them in his mouth, took one arrow first, aimed and shot.

The elk was grazing, but it didn't know that bad luck was coming. Although it was startled and ran away, Li Chongjiu had already shot it in the rear with an arrow.

Li Chongjiu drew another arrow and scratched the elk's fur. When he was about to shoot the third arrow, the elk went far away. Li Chongjiu immediately urged his horse to chase after seeing it.

At the moment, it is far away from the forest.

Under a big tree, more than ten people took shelter from the rain under this tree.

Even though their bodies were wet, seven or eight of the men stood at a distance from the shade of the big tree, obviously showing enough respect to the few women who were resting under the tree.

One of the women was wearing a fence, and the other three were all dressed as servant girls.

The faces of the three servant girls all showed bored expressions, they have been sheltering from the rain for a long time.

A servant girl picked up a few pieces of animal-shaped animal charcoal with spices sandwiched between charcoal, lit it, put it into a tripod-legged copper basin with exquisite patterns, placed it in front of the woman wearing a fence, and said: " Princess, it's rainy and cold, take care of your body."

The woman wearing the skirt nodded and said: "Fuyi, you said it was so strange, just now there was no cloud in the sky, and the blue was as clear as a wash, but suddenly, it was raining heavily, could it be that there is something unexpected. "

The woman's speech was fresh and pleasant, which made people feel pleasant.

The maid smiled and said: "Princess, there is an unexpected situation today, and there is a sentence behind it that people will have misfortunes and fortunes every day. Princess, maybe you will have great luck this year and meet a nobleman."

For the daughter's family, encountering a nobleman of course has only one meaning. Although this woman is a nobleman of the Tian family, when it comes to this matter, she still has the attitude of a young daughter's family.

Just as the master and servant were joking, there was a sudden movement in the woods, and the guards on the side suddenly became more vigilant.

I saw an elk that was injured and shot by an arrow suddenly jumped out of the forest and came straight towards them.

The guard was about to step forward to make a move, when the woman wearing a fence yelled, "No!"

Just at this time, the elk was desperate and lost too much blood. When he saw someone intercepting him in front of him, he was powerless and fell down.

The woman wearing a fence on her head stepped forward together with three servant girls to observe the momentum of the elk.

The servant girl who was teasing before saw the serious injury of the elk, she couldn't help but felt a kind of pity in her heart, and said: "Who is so cruel, even this little creature will not be spared."

"Yeah, this person is really too much," the woman wearing a fence also said, "Let's do our best to treat him first, and hope we can do something."

Li Chongjiu knew that the prey was injured, so he rode his horse into the forest to chase him, not daring to go too fast all the way for fear of breaking the horse's hoof.

Following the guidance of the bloodstains, Li Chongjiu zigzags around in the forest. Seeing more and more blood flow on the ground, Li Chongjiu knows that the elk is seriously injured, so he is right in front of his eyes.

At this moment, Li Chongjiu turned around a forest, and suddenly found a dozen people sheltering from the rain under a tree in front of him.

Hearing the sound of the horse's hoofs, the people in the surrounding area showed a look of wariness. Seven or eight people who looked like domestic servants stood in a circle outside, all stretching their hands towards the handle of the knife.

Li Chongjiu reined in his horse immediately, and saw that the elk he had shot was being supported by a woman in purple wearing a fence, and there were three servant girls standing beside him.

Seeing this battle, Li Chongjiu would not rush to conflict, put the bow and arrow on the saddle, got off the horse and clasped his fists, saying: "I am a hunter, I have no intention of passing by, please return my prey, thank you very much."

After finishing speaking, Li Chongjiu turned his head slightly to the woman wearing a fence, and seemed to take a look, but the face of the other party was covered by a veil, so he couldn't see clearly.

Li Chongjiu knew that during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were bold and unrestrained women who dared to ride horses outside wearing fitness clothes, and there were also ladies who kept the etiquette and did not allow anyone to see their appearance clearly when they were outside, and even their body curves were not allowed to be peeped at. This is the result of the mutual impact of Hu and Han cultures.

The woman didn't speak, but the maid at the side said aggressively: "Okay, you are that cruel hunter, such a cute little deer, you actually have the heart to shoot and kill it!"

Li Chongjiu smiled slightly, and asked back: "I am just a hunter. May I ask the hunter not to shoot and kill the prey, but what does he do for a living?"

As soon as Li Chongjiu's words came out, the maid suddenly lost her righteous look, she still wanted to quibble but didn't know how to speak.

But the woman wearing the fence snorted softly, her voice was cold, and she only listened to the other party's dialect: "What a sharp-tongued hunter, then let me ask you, what evidence do you have that you shot this prey?"

Li Chongjiu said: "It's easy, do you see the three characters Li Chongjiu engraved on the shaft of this arrow?"

The other party carefully identified, nodded and said: "Yes, there is."

Li Chongjiu smiled and said, "It's Li Chongjiu."

At this time, the other party chuckled and said: "This does not prove that the prey was shot by you. I can also engrave the name of a cat or a dog on the shaft of the arrow. Could it be that the prey was shot by a cat or a dog?"

Li Chongjiu was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "This little lady is not willing to return the prey, so there is no need to make such sarcastic remarks!"

"What?" The other party seemed to be irritated by Li Chongjiu's words, and only heard her say, "Do you mean that I... I want to be greedy for the elk? I will buy this today if I throw away a few hundred dollars." Moose."

The maid named Fuyi showed a perplexed look on her face and said, "My lord, where did we get the copper coins for our trip?"

Hearing this, Li Chongjiu couldn't help laughing, and shook his head mockingly, as if he wanted to slap his swollen face to look fat.

Seeing Li Chongjiu like this, the woman wearing a fence seemed to be really angry, she took off the jade bracelet on her wrist, threw it on the grass in front of Li Chongjiu, and said: "This thing is enough to buy your elk! "

Before Li Chongjiu could respond, the servant girl flicked her clothes and immediately changed her color, saying: "Your lord, this thing is the Holy One... No, what is given to you is priceless, how can I give it to a person who looks like a thief."

Li Chongjiu had been in the Sui Dynasty for a long time, unknowingly, he was called a little thief at most, Li Zhiwan was like this, and so was this maid in front of her.

Although he didn't mind, but he felt disgusted after being called for a long time. He picked up the jade bracelet under his feet and said deliberately: "I don't think it's a big deal if I throw it on the ground so easily. Valuable things, I heard that there are such fakes in Fengdu (Note [-]), and you can buy ten of them for five dollars."

He glanced away, showing a bit of suspicion on purpose.

But at this moment, the maid and her master almost exploded with anger.

Note [-]: A wide-brimmed hat with a long veil hanging from the brim to cover the whole body to prevent others from peeping.

Note [-]: Fengdu is the largest market in Luoyang, the eastern capital.

(End of this chapter)