Chapter 31: The Black Skirted Maiden

  Night fell, and a small oil lamp had been lit in the tent, casting flickering shadows. Liu Xuan sat cross-legged, carefully examining the golden hairpin in his hand.

  The red-cloaked girl left a deep impression on him, partly because of her clear distinction between love and hate, her thoroughness in eliminating evil, although she was somewhat reckless and impulsive, without considering the consequences. However, for an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, he didn't expect her to have much rationality and calmness either.

  On the other hand, she is ruthless and merciless, all of her victims die with one sword strike, it's also hard to imagine that she is just an eleven or twelve year old girl.

  On the golden hairpin, a character "Ren" was engraved, presumably it was the girl's name, Ren, but her surname is unknown, and whose martial arts she learned from is also unknown. At first glance, it is a killing technique on the battlefield, clean, simple, without any unnecessary moves.

  Moreover, Liu Xuan saw that the girl's sword was forged by a famous family, cutting iron like mud, extremely sharp, and not something an ordinary person could possess. This girl probably has an extraordinary background.

  At this time, Zhao Yun's voice came from outside the door, with a hint of reproach in his tone, "It's time to practice martial arts!"

  Liu Xuan was indeed troubled in his heart due to the incident at Spring Bridge, and he didn't have the mood to practice martial arts. Since Zhao Yun had personally come to call him, he could only get up, pick up his long spear, and leave the camp.

  Outside the big account, Zhao Yun rode on horseback, with a hint of blame for his laziness in his eyes. Next to Zhao Yun was another horse, and Liu Xuan stepped forward with a smile: "Brother, do you know what happened in Wuchang City this afternoon?"

  "Are you referring to the case of Xing Chunqiao?"

  Zhao Yun had already heard about this from the soldiers. He took a glance at Liu Xuan and asked with some doubt, "Does that matter have anything to do with you?"

  Liu Xuan nodded, "Exactly what I'm looking for!"

  Zhao Yun looked at him calmly for a moment, and said lightly: "No matter what you've done, I don't want to ask. I only care about one thing - teaching you martial arts. Now, let's start with horse riding."

  He threw the reins of the horse to Liu Xuan and said, "Mount up!"

  Liu Xuan was both surprised and delighted, finally teaching him to ride a horse. He learned from Zhao Yun's example, stepping on the single stirrup and slowly mounting the horse. Fortunately, the warhorse was very gentle, allowing him to mount successfully.

  Liu Jue once again put his feet into the wooden rope circle, stabilizing his body. Zhao Yun shook the reins, "Follow my posture, first practice your riding skills well, and then practice fighting on horseback."

  Two people, one in front and one behind, slowly made their way through the dark night towards a distant training ground.

  。。。。。。。。。。。。

  Inside Wuchang City, everything was in chaos. Troops of Huang Zu's personal guards were running around the streets, searching every public gathering place such as inns, taverns and brothels, trying to capture a young woman wearing red clothes with two swords at her waist. The city was filled with the sounds of shouting and scolding, causing dogs and chickens to run wildly about.

  Near the Water Gate, there is a large private residence called "Shuǐ Lù Táo Shì". The private residence was also known as an inn later on. Compared to official postal stations and relay stations, privately-run establishments were called "private residences", also known as "inns" or "lodges".

  The private inn provides rooms for lodging, and also provides rice and firewood, but requires guests to cook their own meals, so most travelers who stay in the shop go out to eat at a restaurant outside until evening.

  This private house is a hostel opened by the Tao's business firm in Wuchang County, but it does not do business with outsiders and only provides accommodation for people from the Tao's business firm. It belongs to an internal hostel.

  At this time, in a room in the backyard, a middle-aged man with an angry face slapped the table and scolded the red-cloaked girl, "How did you guarantee me that you would not cause trouble? I believed you and took you out to play, but look what you've done! More than ten lives! How could you do such a thing!"

  The girl looked down, but her face was full of discontent. She muttered: "Big brother leads thousands of soldiers and horses, killing people in the wilderness, why can't I just kill a dozen or so?"

  "Shut up!"

  The middle-aged man was even more furious, heavily slapping the table, "Is this a joke? If you think it's too little, you can go out now and kill people as soon as you see them. In one night, you can also kill tens of thousands of people, and you can be as famous as your brother. Why don't you go?"

  The girl had never been scolded like this before, she bit her lip, her eyes reddened, and her voice trembled: "How could I... randomly kill innocent people? The dozen or so people killed today were all evil-doers who bullied the good, they were bad people. My master and brother both said that we must eradicate evil, if we let them go, they will harm even more kind-hearted people. I... I didn't do anything wrong."

  The middle-aged man let out a long sigh in his heart, he didn't know what to say. The young girl idolized her elder brother as if he were a god, imitating his every move, and then there was her master, the infamous old Bhikkhuni of Green Cloud Temple, known for being ruthless and merciless, teaching by example!

  Forget it, I'll just go back and tell her mother, there's nothing I can do about it.

  After a while, he helplessly said: "Now I won't discuss the right or wrong of this matter. We are currently in enemy territory, yet you're causing trouble and stirring up unrest. What if you and your sister get caught by the authorities? How can I explain it to your mother and brother?"

  The girl could accept this blame and said in a low voice: "Uncle, I know I was wrong, and I will never be reckless again."

  At this time, a low voice came from outside the house, "Wu Gong, I have news."

  "Please come in!"

  The door opened and a young man in his thirties walked in. He was called Tao Zheng, the second son of the head of the Tao family, Tao Sheng, who had accompanied them on this trip.

  The middle-aged man then said to the girl, "Go! Learn from your fourth brother. He practices martial arts behind closed doors and never goes out. Who's like you, always going out and causing trouble?"

  The girl forgot her sorrow from just now and became mischievous again, she stuck out her tongue and slipped away on tiptoes. The middle-aged man looked at her mischievous appearance and shook his head helplessly, after all, she's still a child!

  Tao Zheng walked in and sat down, saying: "Let's talk about the matter of the Spring Bridge first! Rong Niang had good luck this time, and it actually involved a major general under Liu Bei..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when a girl's surprised voice came from outside the door, "Is that the young general?"

  Tao Zheng turned back in shock, and the girl was actually hiding outside the door eavesdropping. The middle-aged man's face sank, and he shouted: "Aren, no eavesdropping, go quickly!"

  The girl muttered two sentences outside the door, pouted her mouth and walked away with an unhappy face.

  Tao Zheng waited until her footsteps faded away before continuing, "Now the city is in an uproar, but because it involves a high-ranking general under Liu Bei's command, the military and government officials don't dare to investigate further."

  The middle-aged man frowned and asked again: "What was the background of the person who was killed?"

  "The person killed was Huang Yit, the third son of the Huang family and nephew of Huang Zu. The matter has become quite serious."

  The middle-aged man's heart was tied into a knot, and Huang Zu's nephew didn't count for much in his eyes. The key point was that this was Jingzhou, not Jiangdong. He hesitated for a moment before asking again: "Which of Liu Bei's top generals is it?"

  Tao Zheng shook his head, "I don't know, but I do know that this person is quite meticulous. He took care of the aftermath for Renguniang and even took responsibility for the murder himself. The onlookers said he was a young general."

  A middle-aged man pondered for a moment and muttered to himself, "Could it be Guan Ping, the son of Lord Guan?"

  "This is unknown, maybe it's an unknown young general."

  The middle-aged man nodded and stopped asking about it. At this time, Tao Zheng said again: "Also, regarding Mr. Su's matter, unfortunately, Mr. Su is not in Wuchang, he seems to have gone to Jiangling."

  The Mr. Su they were talking about was none other than General Huang Zu's subordinate, Su Fei's uncle, Su Zhen, who was also a wealthy merchant and had a close relationship with the Tao family. The middle-aged man had come to Wuchang this time in hopes of getting to know Su Fei through Mr. Su, but he wasn't there.

  A middle-aged man's face showed disappointment. He had traveled thousands of miles to get here, but Su Zhen was not in Wuchang after all, and his plan had fallen through.

  In this rebellion of Zhang Wu and Chen Sun, Su Zhen also played a dishonorable role, he was the bridge between Zhang Wu, Chen Sun and Eastern Wu.

  A middle-aged man frowned, "Isn't this person very close to Zhang Wu? Why did he run away at this critical moment?"

  Tao Xing sighed, "Or he felt that something was wrong and feared being implicated in Zhang Wu and Chen Sun's rebellion. I heard from his people in the mansion that he left hastily this morning, which should be related to Liu Bei's arrival."

  "This is a bit of trouble." The middle-aged man walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

  Tao Zheng hastily said, "From this evening onwards, the city gate will be strengthened with searches and patrols. Tonight they are only searching inns and taverns, but tomorrow they will search the entire city. I suggest we leave the city immediately and head back to Chaisang to avoid trouble."

  The middle-aged man nodded, considering safety, and there was no other way.

  ．．．．．．．．

  On the training ground, Liu Xuan was practicing horse riding according to Zhao Yun's instructions. The horse he rode was an old horse that was nearly thirty years old. Although its appearance was still relatively robust, the spirit of the warhorse had faded away, looking listless and dull, even Liu Xuan, an outsider, could see its decline.

  Zhoa Yun felt somewhat apologetic, as he really didn't have any spare warhorses, so he had to use this old horse to teach Liu Xuan. However, the old horse was gentle and good at understanding commands, which made it suitable for practicing horsemanship.

  This is also because Jingzhou is a southern water town, and people are used to taking boats when they go out. Unlike the north, which mainly relies on animal power, there are indeed not many horses.

  Liu Jiong was a person full of curiosity about new things in his previous life, and he learned to ride a bicycle by himself when he was in the second grade of primary school. In this life, he still maintains such strong desire for knowledge.

  He was extremely intelligent and learned to ride a horse in just one hour, and he rode very well, able to gallop short distances. Zhao Yun was no longer surprised by his talent, and if Liu Xuan proposed going out of the camp for a fast run at this moment, he would not feel strange either. This little brother had nothing he dared not do.

  Liu Cong rode a horse with great enthusiasm. By the end of the Han Dynasty, there were already stirrups, but they were only single-sided stirrups, mainly used for mounting horses. After getting on the horse, there was another foot cover, a soft sleeve made of cloth wrapped around a wooden stick, used to place feet.

  In addition, the saddle also appeared with a low middle and two high ends, which can prevent people from sliding down from the horse's back. This is the prototype of the later high-bridge saddle.

  In fact, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, there were horse harnesses suitable for marching and fighting, including saddles and stirrups, which came from the Xiongnu and led to the large-scale appearance of cavalry in the Han Dynasty.

  By the Two Jins and Northern and Southern Dynasties, high saddles with stirrups began to be widely used, and heavy armored cavalry appeared.

  At the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, it was a key period for the evolution of horse equipment, inheriting the past and opening up the future. Although it had not yet fully matured, its practicality was already in place, so cavalry troops such as Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Riders and Spear Cavalry emerged one after another.

  Liu Cong certainly knew the advantages of high saddles and stirrups, and even horseshoes which only appeared in the Song Dynasty, while at this time, horse hooves were wrapped with thick animal hides.

  But Liu Jue understood in his heart that some things, even if known, cannot be done. Once done, the real beneficiary would be Cao Cao of the north, not them.

  While practicing, a sudden fire broke out on the side of the big camp, igniting countless torches, and faintly heard were officers loudly commanding, "All soldiers get up."

  。。。。。。。。。。