Longtai was going out to camp for hunting in the middle of the night, but before he set off, Sima Lan had already received the news.
In the old Duke's tent, his right-hand men Chen Lanting and Huangfu Zheng were both present. When these two people learned about the situation, they were also very surprised.
"My lord, what is your Majesty going to do?" Huangfu Zheng frowned, thoughtfully: "We can hunt as soon as daybreak, so why do we have to go hunting in the middle of the night?"
Sima Lan sat upright behind the desk, with a calm voice, and said softly: "What the emperor means is that there are too many rules for autumn hunting in the forest, and your hands are tied. In the middle of the night, when no one knows, you can do whatever you want in the forest."
"Oh?" Chen Lanting chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, you feel at a loss? My lord, it seems that Your Majesty has grown up."
"It's true." Huangfu Zheng said with a faint smile: "The emperor is young after all. He stays in the palace all day long and finally comes out. The child's temperament must be relaxed for once." He raised his hand and stroked his beard and said: "But this is the third update in the middle of the night. It’s best if nothing happens.”
"Pinglin has been cleaned several times beforehand, so no one will break in." Chen Lanting said, "He has people by his side. There are no ferocious beasts in Pinglin, so nothing serious will happen." He paused. After a pause, he lowered his voice and said: "It's just that Chu Cangge was also taken by the emperor, which is a bit surprising."
"Why did Mr. Chen say that?" Sima Lan calmed down.
Chen Lanting said: "Everyone knows that Chu Cangge was promoted by the old Duke. Today, the emperor first put Chu Cangge on guard duty, and now he takes him to hunt." After a pause, he whispered: "The Duke , is the emperor deliberately trying to win over Chu Cangge?"
"What Mr. Chen said is absolutely true." Huangfu Zheng said: "My lord, the black sword camp is in the hands of Chu Cangge. Now the emperor has shown kindness to him several times. If this Chu Cangge...!"
"You are worrying too much." Sima Lan smiled lightly and said: "Cang Ge is a loyal and loyal man. I have no doubts about him."
Chen Lanting and Huangfu Zheng immediately laughed and said, "Yes, yes, yes."
"The emperor's intention today seems to be to select generals from the court to go to the front line." Sima Lan stroked his beard and said: "In your opinion, who is the most suitable to go to the front line?"
Huangfu Zhengdao: "My lord, looking at the current situation, Chu Cangge is the best choice. Chu Cangge has outstanding talents. As long as he is assigned to the front line, once the Northern Expedition is over, this person will definitely make contributions. With military merits in hand, he will be able to make great contributions when he arrives." It will not be difficult for us to report to the emperor and ask for promotion."
"What Lord Huangfu said is absolutely true." Chen Lanting said: "The prince is now in the Qinhuai Army. Once Chu Cangge is sent there, he can join hands with the prince. It will not be difficult to seize the military power of the Qinhuai Army. The Duke is in the court, and with our help, as long as the prince and Chu Cangge have made some military exploits, we can ask the emperor to grant them a title."
Huangfu Zheng smiled and said: "As long as Chu Cangge helps the prince to establish a foothold in the Qinhuai Army, given time, it will not be difficult to find a reason to destroy Yue Huanshan."
Sima Lan shook his head and said: "The Great Chu is built with the blood of countless soldiers. All I have to do is to stabilize this country. Although Yue Huanshan is quite talented, his ability to command a hundred thousand troops on the front line is still a little lacking. I know very well Chang Shen's ability. He has no ability to command an army of 100,000 people. Chu Cangge is not only brave and good at fighting, but also has a strategic mind. If we want to protect Chu from danger, Chu Cangge is more suitable to be the commander than Yue Huanshan. Qinhuai Army."
"The old prince is loyal, we know it." Huangfu Zheng sighed: "The emperor is young and has no experience in governing. Now is an extraordinary time. If the emperor is really allowed to govern personally, this country will be in danger. No one can match our achievements in stabilizing our great Chu when the Duke was in danger. On the contrary, some people with treacherous intentions actually slandered the Duke behind his back and usurped power."
Sima Lan smiled lightly and said: "I am loyal to Da Chu, so how can I care about people's opinions? As long as I can keep the territory laid down by Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, I don't care what others say behind my back."
Chen Lanting whispered: "My lord, Chu Cangge is certainly the best candidate, but... it seems that Qining also wants to interfere."
"Qining?" Sima Lanyun said with a light smile: "What do you two think of this person?"
Chen Lanting sneered and said: "They are nothing more than grasshoppers after the autumn. They will not be able to jump around for long. Duke, in order to protect the interests of the Jinyi Qi family, this person ignores the overall situation and makes things difficult for us everywhere. King Huainan's gang of remnants are also shaking behind him. Chao Gang, if this group of people is not eliminated as soon as possible, there will be endless troubles."
"As long as we are ministers of the same dynasty, as long as we serve the dynasty wholeheartedly, there will be no distinction between inside and outside." Sima Lan said calmly: "He is still young and does not do things properly, so naturally I will not argue with him. But if he takes it seriously. If he does something that harms the imperial court, I will not tolerate him."
Huangfu Zhengdao: "This time for horse training, he and Chu Cangge each got a BMW. If the emperor wants to appoint generals to the front, he should be one of them." He smiled coldly and said: "But the Northern Expedition is no child's play. , but whoever has the highest title is not sent. Chu Cangge is calm and capable, and has trained the Black Blade Battalion into one of the best elite cavalry in our country. On the other hand, Qi Ning, although he comes from the Jinyi Qi family, has never been able to lead an army. Experience alone is enough for us to stop him from going to the Qinhuai Army."
Sima Lan waved his hand and said: "This matter will be discussed later. The emperor is hunting late at night. For safety reasons, why don't you understand that you sent someone to keep an eye on me? Don't make any mistakes."
Huangfu Zhengdao: "My lord, are you really going to let him act like this?"
Sima Lan smiled faintly, but Chen Lanting already chuckled and said: "Master Huangfu, why don't you understand yet. If he wants to make a fool of himself, just let him make a fool of himself. Not only will we not stop him, but we will secretly let the news out."
Huangfu Zheng rolled his eyes, understood, and said with a smile: "Yes, our emperor is willful and willful, letting all the officials know that his stubbornness has not disappeared, and he secretly went into the forest to hunt in the middle of the night regardless of the emperor's safety. Everyone knows, Naturally, we understand that without the support of veterans like the Duke, our emperor will be useless, and our great empire will be ruined in his hands."
Pinglin is a large forest. The moonlight is like water. The entire forest seems like a wild monster lingering on the ground, quietly waiting to devour everything in the world.
There is silence in the woods late at night, but if you listen carefully, you can also find an uneasy desire hidden in this silence.
The woods are like monsters, but the movement in the woods is like the turbulent waves under the calm sea. They can surge out at any time and sweep everything on the sea into the bottom of the sea forever.
Longtai was dressed in light hunting attire, with a short knife on his waist, an arrow box on his back, and a long bow in his hand. Behind him were a dozen people, all of whom were elite warriors carefully selected from the Guards. Chi Fengdian and Chu Cangge followed on the left and right.
Although Pinglin is a royal hunting ground, in order to maintain the most primitive appearance, the woods have been allowed to grow, so there is no clear path to be found, and the dead vines are thick and complicated.
"Chi Fengdian, are there really wild animals in this forest?" Longtai led everyone into the forest for a long time. Not to mention the jackals, not even a hare was seen, looking quite depressed.
Chi Fengdian said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, Pinglin has kept wild animals in it all year round. Without the permission of the palace, even the officers and soldiers guarding the forest are not allowed to step into it." After looking around, he said: "Your Majesty, Dragon Wei Hao**, those wild animals are probably frightened by the emperor's dragon power and dare not come close."
"You do know how to talk." Longtai said depressedly: "According to what you said, all wild animals avoid me, so I can't even catch a single prey tonight?"
"Your Majesty, take another look deep into the forest. The wild nature of the prey deep in the forest is still there. I don't know the power of God. You might be able to encounter it." Chi Fengdian said with an apologetic smile.
Just as he was talking about playing, Chu Cangge suddenly raised his hand, and everyone stopped and lowered their bodies as if reflexively.
"What's wrong?" Longtai asked in shock.
Chu Cangge lowered his voice and said: "Your Majesty, there is movement coming from the northwest corner." As he spoke, he was already hiding behind a big tree, bow and arrow, and everyone looked in the direction Chu Cangge said. In the past, no movement was found, but at this moment, a "swish" sound was heard, and Chu Cangge shot an arrow very decisively. The arrow was like a meteor, hitting the dark place in the northwest corner, and then he heard There was a strange howl, as if a prey had been shot.
Longtai showed excitement and ordered: "Go and see what was shot."
The two guards immediately rushed up and searched for the dark place. Soon, they saw two people carrying an elk out. Longtai led everyone forward, only to see that Chu Cangge's arrow actually crossed the elk. The neck of the elk was not completely dead yet, and it was twitching uncontrollably.
Longtai smiled and said: "Chu Cangge, you are really good at archery." He took off the leather bag from his waist and handed it over, and said with a smile: "Here, I will reward you with this bag of wine!"
Chu Cangge immediately put away his bow and arrow, bowed and took it with both hands, and said respectfully: "I thank the emperor for the reward." He took off the stopper, raised his head and took a sip, then put it away and hung it on his waist.
"You are good at riding and shooting, and you really have the spirit of a brave general." Longtai said with a smile: "When I am in the Northern Expedition of Chu, you can go to the front line and make meritorious service to the country."
Chu Cangge raised his eyebrows and said immediately: "If I can go to the front line, I will fight bravely to kill the enemy to repay the emperor's kindness!"
Longtai raised his hand and patted Chu Cangge's shoulder, and then ordered: "Go deeper into the forest and take another look. When you find prey later, don't move and let me try my archery skills. I have practiced archery for many years, and I can still I have never really shot any prey, so no matter what, I will bring back a few prey tonight."
Chu Cangge immediately said: "Your Majesty, Long Weihao, will surely return with a full load."
"Commander Chu, your ears are very sensitive. These losers can't catch up with you." Long Tai glanced at Chi Fengdian: "Lead the way and help me find my prey!"
"I obey the order!" Chu Cangge thought to himself. If the emperor can't shoot the prey tonight, he really doesn't plan to go back. It would be a good idea to find a few prey himself and let the young emperor try his skills.