20demayo Chapter 148 Following the Big Brother, You Won't Go Starve for 9 Meals in 3 Days
Chapter 148 Following the Big Brother, You Won't Go Starve for 9 Meals in 3 Days
When the irritable Prince Zhao returned to the palace with his troublesome younger brothers, he happened to meet his irritable elder brother at the gate. When Yinzhu saw that Yinti was riding a horse, carrying a bow, and accompanied by many guards, he knew that they were going into the forest to hunt, so he immediately spurred his horse to meet them!
"Big brother, are you going hunting in the woods too? Can you take your little brother with you? I just went out with Lao Jiu and Lao Shi and we were so frustrated. Apart from a few pheasants and rabbits, we didn't even see any decent prey."
Yin Tang, Yin Yi, and the fourteenth prince were not far behind Yin Zuo. They had naturally heard what he and Yin Ti had just said. Although they were still angry but dared not speak out about Yin Zuo's words, at this moment the three of them were surprisingly in agreement.
Bah, shameless! You're complaining? What are you complaining about? We're the ones who're really complaining.
After listening to Yinzuo's words, Yinti glanced at the group of people on horseback and found that, just as Yinzuo had said, the animals hanging on their horses were either pheasants or rabbits, and the most interesting one was the roe deer on Yinzuo's guard's horse.
"Taking you along is no problem, but the forest we're going into this time is quite deep, and we might have to spend the night there. Are you sure you're okay with that?"
What could be a problem? At worst, we could just treat it as a picnic in the forest. Yinzhuo felt that as long as he got rid of that troublesome Fourteenth Prince, he could even let him sleep in the woods for a night.
"Don't worry, big brother. Since I'm going with you, I certainly won't hold you back. But you might have to wait for me. I'll go back to my room to get something and come right back. Ninth and Tenth Brothers, you two take Fourteenth Brother back first. The forest is dangerous. If you still want to go in, make sure you bring enough men. Don't go too deep, or you might not be able to handle it if something happens."
After dismissing the three burdensome children, Yinzhi, Yinxi, and the Fourteenth Prince, and with Yinti's nod of agreement to wait for him, Yinzuo immediately led his men toward his residence. The object Yinzuo wanted to retrieve was actually quite familiar to Yinti and the others; it was the bird gun invented by Dai Zi, a brilliant firearms expert who was overlooked and whose talents were buried by Kangxi's jealousy. It was also called the repeating firearm.
Yinzhuo once saw a sentence online that roughly meant that if Emperor Kangxi hadn't buried this genius out of fear, then all the so-called world powers in the late Qing Dynasty would have been nothing but trash. After all, Dai Zi was truly gifted beyond measure, able to replicate the breech-loading cannon in five days and build the mother-and-child cannon in eight days. If it weren't for that, that old foreign devil Ferdinand Verbiest wouldn't have tried so hard to frame him.
However, Yinzhuo felt that all the previous events were no longer important. The most important thing was that it was only the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign, and it was still a long time before Dai Zi died in the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign. Whether he could bring Dai Zi back to the capital from Shengjing this time depended entirely on the musket in his hand.
"Dexi, go to Khan's place later and tell him that I went hunting in the forest with my elder brother. I probably won't be back tonight, so I won't be able to have dinner with him. With my elder brother there, he doesn't need to worry. He can just wait for us to come back with the game to show our respect to him."
Yinti was still waiting at the main gate of the palace. Yinzuo took the musket, gave Dexi a few brief instructions, and then led Akshang, Hatu, and other guards to the gate to meet Yinti.
"A musket? What are you going to do with that? It's all show and no substance, it's not that powerful. A bow and arrow would be much better!"
It's easy to tell from Yinti's words that he disdains muskets. Indeed, modern muskets are cumbersome and not very powerful, making them less convenient for hunting than bows and arrows. Yinzuo certainly knows that the musket in his hand is just for show. What he values is not its current power, but its ability to fire in rapid succession.
"Brother, as you know, I've injured my shoulder and arm twice. Although it doesn't seem to hinder my archery skills, I'm not as good as before. This musket may not be very powerful, but if we encounter any emergencies, it's still better than my old four-strength bow and arrows!"
Although Yinti was very confident in his martial prowess and felt that Yinzuo could not possibly be injured under his protection, he did not stop Yinzuo from taking the thing with him.
"Alright, take it if you want. But if you really encounter danger, don't try to be brave with me even if you have this musket. Just hide behind your big brother and I'll make sure you're safe."
Yinzhi naturally believed what Yinti said. After all, the man had once shot and killed an enraged tiger with a single arrow from a great distance. His martial prowess had been certified by the King of the Mountains with his own life.
"Don't worry, big brother. I value my life the most. If I encounter any danger, I will definitely listen to you and never hold you back or cause you any trouble!"
If it was hunting when Yinzuo led Yintang and the others into the forest, then following Yinti in now was a full-blown hunt. They didn't even bother with the pheasants and rabbits, and immediately led their men deep into the forest. It took almost an hour for their pace to slow down.
“Bayan, take your men and find a suitable place to camp nearby. Anmer, take the rest of the men and come with me to check out the area ahead. Yinzhuo, do you plan to stay here or come with me?”
Need I say more? What is he here for today? How can he test the rapid-fire capability of this musket if he stays in the camp? He has to go with his brother.
"Brother, of course I'll go with you. When I came here, I asked Dexi to tell Father Khan that I would personally hunt some game to take back as a tribute to him. If I can't produce something decent, he'll laugh me to death."
Yinti and his guards were all veterans of the battlefield. Having traversed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, they naturally carried a fierce spirit. Yinzuo and his men only managed to hunt some pheasants and rabbits during their morning stroll in the forest. After wandering around for half an hour, the guards were almost bursting with the load.
"Brother, you're really amazing! It took me ages to hunt a roe deer, its hide was riddled with holes. And look at you, brother, your archery skills are simply unbeatable! That deer hunt was brilliant, a single arrow to the head and it was dead..."
Yinti could easily understand Yinzuo's little scheme; he just wanted the deer Yinzuo had just hunted. But to be fair, Yinzuo's flattery really made Yinti feel incredibly comfortable, and naturally, the elder brother wouldn't hold back when faced with such a eloquent younger brother.
"Alright, Xiao Liu, you don't need to try to sweet-talk me like this. On the way to Rehe, I kept hearing you say that you wanted a deer hide to make boots. Well, I'll give you this deer hide."
OK, deerskin acquired. With his wish fulfilled, Prince Zhao's already sweet lips now seemed even sweeter, as if coated with honey.
"Big brother is indeed magnanimous. It's definitely better to be the younger brother. With you, I'll never have to worry about going hungry. It's much better than following those brats like Ninth and Tenth Brother. I don't want to be the older brother of the younger brothers anymore. I only want to be the younger brother of the older brothers. Big brother, why did I have to be born so early? It would have been so much better if I had been born ten or twenty years later."