16.
When Hailian sent Ding Leshui to Flo's house, the other party was teaching his younger brother Erika to practice shooting in his shooting range. The firecrackers used by the two are the double-fire chasing fire that has been popular recently in Dragon's Rest Castle. When one shot is fired, the recoil is used to fire the second shot in a row. If you are proficient in marksmanship, it is not difficult to hit the target with two shots. But Erika was still young and lacked wrist strength. The boy barely hit the edge of the target with the first shot, but the second shot had already been thrown by the recoil and flew to nowhere. This happened five or six times in a row, which made him angry. Stamped his feet: "I won't practice anymore!"
"Obviously you were the one who asked me to teach you how to practice a gun. You are always so impetuous." Flo shook his head and grabbed his wrist with pain, "Also, don't be so impatient when shooting, first master how to stabilize Hold the recoil... does it hurt?"
Erika puffed her cheeks aggrievedly and disapprovingly. He turned his eyes to the side, only to find Hailian who was watching not far away. The boy's face turned red instantly with the half-smile expression on the other side's arms. He quickly withdrew his hand and stared at Hai Lian: "What are you doing here?"
"Don't be afraid, I'm not here to look for you." Hai Lian said loudly.
"Who's afraid of you!" Erica said, but instinctively shrank back behind her brother. The boy still can't figure out why this big villain who once held him hostage can still come in and out of his house freely. The mansion, and even my brother always went to play with him. Thinking of this, the corners of Erica's mouth fell down again.
On the other hand, Flo's eyes lit up when he saw Hailian. He nodded towards Hailian and gave up a seat by the way: "Would you like to come and try?"
Hailian didn't refuse, and walked straight over to take Flo's gun. After weighing the feel of his hand, he suddenly raised his arm. The moment he pulled the trigger, Hailian's wrist was as firm as cast iron, and he fired two shots in a row. After firing, the bullets shot straight at the target like flying electricity one after another. Although it failed to hit the bullseye, it is definitely a good result.
"Good marksmanship!" exclaimed Flo.
"So-so, not as good as you." Hai Lian pouted and returned the firecracker to him, "Although they all said that the firecracker will be the trend in the future, I still prefer to use a knife."
Flo laughed and said, "In terms of melee combat, then I'm barely capable, far inferior to you."
Hai Lian also smiled, "By the way, I didn't come here to practice shooting with you." He called Ding Leshui over, put his arm around the boy's shoulders and pushed him forward, "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. This child will live with you for a few months, okay?"
"Yes... but..." Flo's blue eyes flashed a rare hesitation, his lips parted and closed, and he finally said, "Is it okay to borrow a step?"
Erica watched her brother pull the baron aside, and then turned her head to look at Ding Leshui who had been silent all along. The young master wrinkled his nose arrogantly and snorted, not to be the good boy who said hello first.
the other side.
"You want to go to Dongzhou together?!" Hailian was surprised.
"Yes." Flo nodded, "I have already convinced my mother, and I am planning to inform His Majesty and His Royal Highness tomorrow."
"If you go with me, what will happen to the Royal Palace Guards? Who will take care of it?" Hai Lian frowned, "Or are you afraid that I won't be able to guarantee the safety of His Royal Highness Longrong?"
Flo quickly waved his hand: "Of course I trust you! It's just me... I do it out of my own selfishness," he looked into Hailian's eyes, biting a certain syllable, "I want to go with you."
Hailian was startled, and then let out a short "ah", he suddenly understood what the other party meant, the young man took a step back uncomfortably, and said softly "ah".
"Helian."
"Stop." Hai Lian immediately stopped him, "One matter is another matter, let's talk about the immediate one first—I don't agree with you going to Dongzhou."
"why?"
"If you leave, the Imperial Guard will lose its leader, and His Majesty the King will be surrounded by people from Simone, so I don't feel at ease." Hailian replied solemnly, "You also know that he wants to get rid of Simone now. If you are in charge of Jiumeng's army, as long as you don't have a knife in your hand, unless the kid is crazy, you shouldn't be forced to fight the tiger in these few months."
"Do you want me to restrain His Majesty?" Flo whispered.
"Yes. After all, you are..." Hai Lian paused when he said this, "Your Royal Highness can trust you."
"Helian," Flo said bitterly, "You don't need to deliberately modify the words, I understand what you mean."
After he lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long time, he turned to Hailian again and raised a smile that could make all the girls in Jiumeng City heartbroken, "Don't worry, I will take good care of that child just like I did with Erika, and I will do my best duty to protect His Majesty the King and Jiumeng City."
Hailian nodded, didn't say anything more, just bowed and saluted the other party.
Three days later, Queen Long Rong boarded the Lady in the Clouds and brought a mission of nearly a hundred people to Taiyan City, the capital of Dongzhou Beihong. The entire Jiumeng City was filled with the aroma of wine and flower petals, as if the stage of the Sea God Festival had been moved from the Amber Square. When they arrived at Yulan Port, celebrities and dignitaries dressed up to welcome them, and countless citizens flocked to the port to watch the giant ship leave. Only Flo did not come to see him off.
17.
Departing from Yulan Port, head east around Jingluo Bay and head straight all the way to the Nymphae Islands and then head north. After two months, the Lady in the Clouds finally saw the horizon of Dongzhou in the distance.
Although Hai Lian had already sent his own people to open the way in advance, he basically steered the helm by himself just in case, and couldn't sleep for two hours a day. The bed fell down, and I slept for a day and a night before I got up and moved. He combed and washed casually, tied up his hair, and walked out the door stepping on the rising sun.
Youji City is a thousand-year-old city. In the past, it was famous all over the world for the fringed shark silk produced here. Later, it became more famous because it was the hometown of Cang Shuo, the founding emperor of the previous dynasty. Today's Youji is just a prosperous trading port connecting the canal and Linhai. Hai Lian's black hair and black eyes blended in the crowd without disobedience, but people frequently looked at his clothes unexpectedly, probably thinking him as a Bolang businessman who hadn't had time to change back to his hometown clothes.
Hailian didn't care about the sight of pedestrians, and went straight to the shipyard at the pier. When he arrived at the destination, he didn't expect that someone was already standing at the door.
"His Royal Highness?"
Long Rong held a paper bag in his hand, and handed it to Hai Lian with a smile: "I got up earlier than you, and I happened to go out for a walk. I saw someone selling Dongzhou snacks, so I bought a copy for you."
Hailian glanced at the mung bean cake in his hand, a little helpless: "Where are the followers?"
Long Rong pointed to the banyan tree on the opposite side, "Here, I brought them all." She took a bite of the mung bean cake herself, and said with a smile, "Once upon a time, Xiaoyu told me that you, as an elder brother, always manage Dong like a nanny." Guan Xi, I still don't believe it, because she hasn't seen how you greeted her after she came to Chuizhi Court. This time, I will come to Dongzhou with you this time, so I believe it."
"Xiaoyu is already a big girl, and she has her own way to go. I will have problems if I care too much like when I was a child." Hailian said lightly, and he glanced at the shipyard, "Which ships are we taking?" ?”
"The ships with sea gods on them." Long Rong pointed and asked again, "By the way, where is the Lady in the Cloud? Are you planning to stop at Youji?"
Hailian shook her head, "I don't want her to stay in Dongzhou people's territory. I sent Ake to Kaqili Bay for maintenance yesterday—just to see if I can install an eighth paddle wheel for her." The eight-connected paddle wheel is half of the research in "Auspicious Light and Yellow Cloud Book". It was only developed in the past two years by the scholars of Chenming Palace and the boatmen of Kaqili Bay. One was put into use. Hai Lian had always wanted to try to speed up the Lady in the Clouds, but he couldn't find time for her to rest. This time the time was just right, and he had already arranged for it when he set off from Yulan Port.
"Are you rich again?" Long Rong knew that the baron had never been able to keep money in his hands, so she blinked, "Could it be that you robbed Nanhong Zhenhai's caravan again?"
"..." Hailian looked at the cunning princess with a smile on her face, silently put the mung bean cake into her mouth, and refused to answer the question.