Chapter 157: Changes in the Dense Forest
"After returning to the court, although Your Majesty has bestowed upon me an official title and a noble title, I have actually only attended a few court meetings! Therefore, among the gentlemen in the court, I can only recognize one or two out of ten ministers!"
"Hahaha!"
As soon as Jia Cong finished speaking, Emperor Longxing and his people burst into laughter again.
"You unfilial little monkey, now that you have become my disciple, don't you know who your master is? He is none other than Wei Qi's master, my Minister of Personnel Fang Yao. Now, do you recognize him?"
Jia Cong was stunned for a long time, then he knelt down and kowtowed.
"Disciple Jia Cong, I am here to meet Master! I have heard of Master's great name for a long time, but I thought that when I passed the imperial examination, I would ask Master to recommend Master so that I could get a high position. However, I never thought that I would be sent to guard the border and have no chance of passing the imperial examination. Therefore, I have been ashamed to visit Master's house!"
If it were any other occasion, Jia Cong 's behavior would be inappropriate, and he might even be accused of being a clique member by the censor. But now that the Longxing Emperor was in person, and it was the Longxing Emperor who started the conversation, no one would say anything when a junior like him kowtowed to his master. At most, they would just treat it as a joke and laugh it off.
Sure enough, Jia Cong’s words made everyone laugh!
"Fang Yao, did you hear that? Your disciple feels that his position is too low, so he complains to you, the Minister of Personnel!" Emperor Longxing teased.
Although Fang Yao was not one of the six ministers, and had never entered the cabinet, he was the highest-ranking official among the ministers in the Longxing Emperor's secret residence, and he held a key position in the Ministry of Personnel . This was enough to show how much importance the Longxing Emperor attached to him. At this moment, the Longxing Emperor did not hide his closeness to this minister in the Longxing Emperor's secret residence.
Fang Yao smiled and bowed to Emperor Longxing before speaking, "Although you have no chance of taking the imperial examination, you have not let down your master's reputation. Now His Majesty has shown great favor by not only conferring a title, but also letting you take charge of the Five Cities Military Department. This shows how much His Majesty values you. You should serve His Majesty wholeheartedly, but you must not neglect your post just because of the size of your position or the different powers and responsibilities!"
Fang Yao obviously also has a caring heart towards this disciple!
Jia Cong hurriedly bowed, "I will follow the teachings of my master and will definitely serve your majesty like our ancestors and master. Although I cannot take the imperial examinations, I can still fight on the battlefield and fight for your majesty on the frontier!"
"Good!" Emperor Longxing nodded and said, "If all the civil and military officials in the court could be as loyal as you, I wouldn't have to work so hard! I have said before in the court that you are my Champion Marquis! I am waiting for the day when I can confer you the title of Marquis! Moreover, as long as you are loyal to me, the title of Champion Marquis will be yours."
After these words came out, the others were in different moods. Jia Cong did not dare to say more and bowed to Emperor Longxing again, "Your Majesty, thank you for your grace!"
After a whole day of hard work, Emperor Longxing was also tired. He asked people to bring some wine and food. After eating some, he let everyone go and rest.
Nothing happened that night. The next day, the emperor ordered Prince Zhongshun, Prince Beijing, Prince Zhongshun's son and the three princes to go into the forest to hunt. At sunset, they would compare the number of prey and the winner would be rewarded handsomely!
Everyone was naturally overjoyed and took their people away. Later, the emperor also said with great interest, "Although I am not a horse emperor, I am also proficient in riding and shooting. My dear ministers, please follow me."
"Your Majesty, we only have less than a thousand soldiers now. If we enter the forest, we may..."
Before Feng Tang could finish his words, he was interrupted by Emperor Longxing. "Don't worry. There are 20,000 soldiers outside and thousands of Dragon Guards nearby. At worst, I still have Jia Cong, the bravest general in the army, to protect me. Who can come in and assassinate me? I finally get out once, don't disturb my interest."
Upon hearing this, Feng Tang had no choice but to lead his troops and follow!
In addition, there were the ministers who were chatting in the Golden Tent yesterday.
Everyone rode on their horses and surrounded Emperor Longxing as they headed into the forest!
The emperor's words turned out to be true. Although he was not as brave as the generals in the army, he was quite good at riding and shooting. It didn't take long before he shot down some wild animals such as pheasants and rabbits!
After shooting another deer, Emperor Longxing said excitedly, "If we can encounter some tigers, bears or the like, this trip will be worthwhile!"
As he was speaking, a tiger roar suddenly came from the depths of the dense forest!
Emperor Longxing's eyes lit up, and he immediately spurred his horse forward. Jia Cong, several of his personal guards, and the emperor's hundred guards hurriedly followed. In order not to disturb the prey, Feng Tang and his nearly a thousand soldiers were three to five hundred steps away from them!
Seeing that the emperor was about to disappear in an instant, Feng Tang was so frightened that he quickly gathered his troops and rode his horse forward to chase after him!
Jia Cong and his group ran forward for at least seven or eight miles. Suddenly, Jia Cong's expression changed drastically. His hearing and eyesight were much sharper than those of ordinary people, especially after he had a close relationship with Keqing, his strength and hearing had increased a lot. Therefore, he could clearly hear the creaking sound of the rope of the Eight-Ox Crossbow coming from the jungle ahead.
"Protect the emperor!"
He only had time to shout once, then gritted his teeth and galloped away. He looked at Emperor Longxing approaching in front of him, and while urging Jueying to sit down, he was ready to save the life!
“Buzz!”
A sound of wind breaking through the air suddenly sounded. Jia Cong didn't have time to think about it. He jumped and pounced Emperor Longxing off his horse. He used his robe to protect Emperor Longxing's cheek. The two of them rolled on the ground until Jia Cong's body hit a big tree and stopped.
The frightened and angry Emperor Longxing and his panicked guards had no time to react before they saw a huge crossbow arrow coming out from the dense forest in front of them and hitting the horse the emperor was sitting on!
"Protect the emperor!"
Jia Cong roared again, then lowered his head hastily, "Is your Majesty alright?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Emperor Longxing's body trembled slightly, not because of fear, but because of anger! This Tiewang Mountain had been searched by the army several times before, and there were also Beijing troops stationed outside. Now there was an assassination, there must be a traitor.
Swish, swish, swish!
At this moment, dense crossbow arrows shot out from the dense forest and enveloped the guards. Although these guards were wearing bright helmets and armor and had considerable combat power, they could only hide subconsciously when they were caught off guard!
Faced with the black rain of arrows, half of the guards fell to the ground screaming.
Fortunately, the remaining guards all dismounted and relied on their horses or the trees beside them to avoid the arrows!
"Lu Feng, call for help immediately!"
"Swoosh! Boom!" A command arrow rose into the air and exploded. At the same time, Lu Feng led several personal guards, including other close guards, and they all came over and surrounded Emperor Longxing and Jia Cong with frightened expressions.
