mynovelweb Chapter 366
Chapter 366
Whose blood is shed makes no difference.If the blood of the common people can be shed, why can't the blood of these privileged nobles and aristocrats be shed?
The system really wanted to say, "You do!"
Otherwise, why would she have pushed past all opposition to give high-yield seeds to the common people? However, thinking of the fate of those who obstructed and opposed this matter...
The system silently shut its mouth again.
The host, who at first verbally claimed that killing too many people from noble families would harm the harmony of heaven, had spent the last two years releasing exposes aimed at uprooting these noble families entirely, without showing the slightest bit of mercy.
In the end, Yue Fuguang still felt that dealing with these people was too exhausting. After getting some fresh air for a while, she returned to her luxurious carriage to sleep.
In her sleep, Yue Fuguang was awakened by voices growing louder and louder. Listening closely, she realized they were almost there.
She leaned against the carriage window and looked out through the lattice, seeing a giant stone three meters high standing by the road not far ahead.
Carved on the stone were several large golden characters: Western Mountain Royal Hunting Ground.
The convoy did not stop, crossing the boundary stone and continuing forward.
According to Xie Zhiyan, the royal hunting ground was divided into three tiers based on the mountain's terrain.
They should now be at the outermost ten-mile mark. Sure enough, the trees in sight slowly began to change. Past the stone monument, both sides of the road were natural barriers formed by tall red pines. Every set distance, a gilded tiger-head plaque was nailed to a tree, engraved with the words: Imperial Restricted Area, Trespassers Will Be Executed.
Walking forward for no more than five miles, they saw the artificially raised deer park and pheasant garden. Streams were channeled into winding waterways made of white jade. Beside the water stood twelve pairs of white marble auspicious beasts. Copper bells hung on the horns of the Xiezhi, ringing sparsely when the wind blew, startling the brightly feathered golden pheasants in the grass.
The core hunting ground was shaped like the Yin-Yang fish of Taiji. The east was Yang, where bright yellow tents were pitched on the flat and broad meadow, the golden dragons on the tent roofs shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
The west was Yin, preserving the primitive dense forest. Among the twisted branches of century-old cypresses hung thirty-six glazed storm lanterns, which would turn into stars in the forest at night.
At the boundary between Yin and Yang stood a nine-zhang high watchtower. The pillars were made of whole ironwood logs painted deep black, while the glazed tiles of the hunting observation pavilion at the top were as green as kingfisher feathers.
Yue Fuguang heard Xie Zhiyan say that it was the Peacock Blue ordered to be fired by the founding emperor when he was alive, and there was not much of it in the entire Great Yan Dynasty.
Because the founding emperor was a ruler on horseback who loved hunting during his lifetime, this royal hunting ground was built with exceptional care.
At the northern end of the hunting ground was a hunting presentation platform made of white stone. When everyone returned from hunting tomorrow, they would bring their prey here to display.
A three-arch stone bridge spanned the stream at the southern end, with the middle arch exclusively for the emperor's carriage.
Beneath it, a crisscrossing network of hidden channels led fresh water to every tent, with the channel openings covered by bluestone slabs carved with openwork cloud patterns.
Yue Fuguang thought to herself, this is the water source for all these people. If someone were to poison the water, wouldn't it be a disaster?
"System, keep an eye out. Don't let anyone tamper with the water."
Although she had antidote pills, with so many people, she was a bit reluctant to save them all.
Then she could only take precautions at the source, in case someone really targeted it.
She had read plenty of novels in her past life. These kinds of events were always high-risk areas for accidents, with assassinations and poisonings being standard tropes, not to mention that the emperor's original purpose for this trip was impure.
Yue Fuguang followed the crowd out of the carriage and walked slowly into her tent, which was located to the left of the emperor's main tent.
Inside the large tent, a beautiful carpet was laid three feet from the entrance, and the faint, crisp scent of mountain morning dew greeted the nose.
The fragrance came from the incense burning in the lotus-patterned bronze censer on the eastern desk.
Yue Fuguang walked straight to the table, sat down, and asked He Jin, who had followed her in, "Are all the people we brought settled in?"
"Rest assured, my lord. Half of our people are in the tent next to yours, and the other half are on guard at the perimeter."
Yue Fuguang nodded but couldn't help instructing, "Send someone to keep a close eye on the water source to prevent poisoning."
The emperor definitely had arrangements, but that didn't stop her from adding another layer of insurance for her own points.
[Host, the emperor is risking so many people as bait this time. Do you think he can catch them all in one fell swoop?]
"Can't you check whether they can be caught in one fell swoop?"
The melon-eating system's data recovery seemed to have hit a bottleneck. Over the past year, the system had spent a lot of merit points, but unfortunately, it still couldn't see the whole picture or know the future. It was a bit useless compared to a real melon-eating system.
If she really forced the system to deduce, she wouldn't even dare to mention the direction of the events it calculated several times because it was too uncertain.
However, Yue Fuguang was also content. After all, the task completion rate was currently going according to plan. If the system was lacking, then so be it. It wasn't like they could unbind anyway.
[I can only see those people deploying their forces right now. Some little mice have already sneaked into the hunting ground. As for the later development of the situation, would you believe me if I told you?]
The system was also helpless. Its melon-eating system was clearly suppressed by an unknown energy and hadn't made any progress for over a year.
It couldn't help but suspect whether its secret restoration of the melon-eating system's data had been discovered by the main system.
"It doesn't matter. For the final strike, I believe the emperor and Huo Ying will be fully prepared."
Emperor Mingxi and Huo Ying, who were mentioned by Yue Fuguang, were currently gathered inside the emperor's dragon tent, discussing this very matter.
"My beloved subject Huo, are you certain those people have come out in full force?"
Emperor Mingxi sat upright behind the yellow rosewood imperial desk, upon which the map of the hunting ground was spread.
Huo Ying bowed and said, "To reply to Your Majesty, according to the scouts' reports, a force of a thousand men has scattered in all directions and is heading toward the hunting ground. I expect they should reach the perimeter of the hunting ground tonight."
Emperor Mingxi nodded. "Make sure to capture them all, and remember to leave them alive."
Otherwise, how could they force them to implicate their mastermind?
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. We will certainly not let them disturb the elegant mood of Your Majesty and the Junior Preceptor."
At the beginning of the hour of Chen the next day, the morning mist in the mountains and forests gradually dispersed, and the hunting ground revealed its most vibrant scene.
Birds flew out from the woods, lowering their heads to sip the flowing spring water, while golden pheasants paced among the Xiezhi statues hung with copper bells.
The flash of a spear tip from an Imperial Guard on duty at the watchtower startled the jackdaws resting in the cypress forest.
The flock of crows swept past the rusted arrowheads on the hunting presentation platform, circled over the stone bridge, and just as they were about to disappear into the depths of the dense forest, two figures suddenly flew out from an angle.
Like two streaks of light and dark gray ink across the sky, they accurately grabbed two lagging jackdaws before they could vanish.
Yue Fuguang, who had come out for a walk, frowned. She decisively stretched out a hand toward the two figures rushing at her, making a stopping gesture.
"Stop! Dirty!"
Taxue and Wuhen, who were still clutching the jackdaws under their sharp claws, saw their master's disgusted expression. They tilted their heads, their eyes darting around wildly.
They were clearly thinking!
They looked at each other and then at their own feet. First, Taxue tentatively used its wing to push the jackdaw at its feet a little further away.
While pushing, it didn't forget to observe Yue Fuguang's expression.
Seeing that Yue Fuguang was still frowning, it turned its head and chirped twice at Wuhen, and Wuhen copied it, pushing its prey further away.
Chirp chirp!