Chapter 252 I’m back
“Oh!”

The sound of a musket startled the birds in the forest and made them fly around in the air.

Li Hu handed the musket to Xiang Ling, picked up the telescope and looked into the distance. The target thirty steps away was pierced by the bullet.

Xiangling looked at the target and said softly, “Missed it again? Don’t be angry, Master. I’ll get closer.”

“You know nothing!”

Li Hu raised his hand and knocked on her forehead, then took the musket and reloaded the ammunition. The loading steps for this muzzle-loading rifle were complicated. First, the gunpowder and bullets had to be loaded into the barrel, then the flint was pushed away to expose the chamber, a small amount of gunpowder was poured into the chamber, and the chamber was closed by covering the flint. Only then could the gun be aimed and the trigger pulled.

There was another blast of musket fire, and the target was pierced by the bullet again.

Xiangling used a telescope to aim at the target and immediately shouted happily, “Hit it! Hit it!”

Li Hu shook his head. This was just a silly girl who knew nothing.

In a blink of an eye, it was the beginning of March in the lunar calendar. Tomorrow was Qingming Festival. After finishing the work in the military camp, Li Hu brought Lin Daiyu to Xiangshan Villa.

During this period of time, many major events happened in the capital, and it was a mess.

Just when everyone thought that the matter had been settled, the emperor launched a major purge of the Forbidden City. He did not kill people, but dismissed a large number of palace maids and eunuchs, many of whom were old people from the royal palace. This imperial edict shocked the entire capital.

First, the Fourth Prince was asked to offer sacrifices to heaven on his behalf, and then the old people in the palace were cleared out. This cannot help but make people think a lot. At this time, the Crown Prince resigned from the job of managing the Ministry of Personnel on the grounds of health.

For a time, the Fourth Prince was the talk of the town and his every word and action attracted everyone’s attention.

If the Fourth Prince is the center of attention, then the Emperor is a complete joke. Since that night, he has been hiding in the palace of the old concubine, under the pretext of chanting sutras and praying for his mother. But everyone knows that he is afraid of dying in the Daming Palace without knowing why. But how long can the old concubine protect him? !

Like the retired emperor, the Yanshenggong Mansion also became a joke. The hat on Kong Laoer’s head was thrown away before it even got warm. Perhaps in order to disgust that group of upright people, the emperor bestowed the title on Kong Xiaoer. Kong Laoer and his eldest son were both demoted to commoners and imprisoned forever.

There was a funny thing that happened that day. Kong Xiaoer was stunned by the pie that fell from the sky and went crazy.

Just when those upright people were shouting “Imperial Physician”, Kong Qingxiang seized the opportunity, rushed up and slapped Kong Xiaoer in the face, waking him up.

Afterwards, Li Hu asked him how he felt, and Kong Qingxiang lay on the bed and said “feel great”.

Although the title of Duke Yansheng had become a joke, it was still the first rank and ranked first among civil officials. Moreover, Kong Qingxiang was beaten in front of a group of upright officials. It was satisfying, but the price was very high. He lost his newly acquired position as the assistant commander of the Southern Pacification Division and was replaced with the clothing of a thousand households, eighty strokes of the cane in the court, and a one-year salary penalty. This was the result of the emperor’s protection.

Xiangling spoke: “Second Master.”

Li Hu came back to his senses: “What’s wrong?”

Xiangling: “It’s a shame to use such fine silk as a target.”

Li Hu sighed. The emperor’s ruthlessness and the second prince’s cruelty made him worried. He couldn’t wear armor to enter the palace. He thought of bulletproof vests and silk. If silk was folded into a certain number of layers, it could withstand the shooting of muskets.

This time, in addition to taking Lin Daiyu out for an outing to relax, the purpose of coming to the villa was also to test the effect.

It is effective, but the effect is limited. It can still be easily broken within thirty steps. Perhaps it can be stacked a little thicker.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the clothes of Li Hu and the other man were blown up.

“The wind is blowing! Let’s go back and fly a kite with the girl.” Xiangling shouted in surprise.

Li Hu smiled and said, “Let’s go.” He put the musket on his shoulder, picked up the ox-horn powder barrel and the pellet pot, and when the time was right, he would get out the breech-loading rifle and the fixed paper shell bullets.

Xiangling followed happily with the telescope in her arms.

In the distance, a carriage stopped outside the gate of the villa.

Li Hu: “It looks like the Xue family’s carriage.”

Xiangling: “It’s the Xue family’s carriage.”

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had walked out of the gate of the villa.

At this moment, a figure rushed out from the door and crashed into Li Hu’s arms.

Qingwen fell to the ground and rubbed her head. “What is that? It hurts my head so much!”

Li Hu smiled and said, “Let’s see if you dare to be so reckless next time. It’s good to learn a lesson from your pain.”

Xiangling helped Qingwen up and said with a smile, “Sister bumped into the pellet pot hanging on the shoulder of the Second Master.”

Qingwen curled her lips: “What bad luck.”

Li Hu: “Miss Bao is here?”

Qingwen then remembered: “Miss Bao and Miss Qin are here. The young lady asked the Second Master to go back.”

Li Hu was stunned: “What do you want me to do? Talk to them?”

Qingwen burst out laughing: “Second Master is really good at thinking of good things. Don’t hit her head. Xueyan has been beaten stupid by you.”

Li Hu said unhappily: “She is born stupid.”

“Second Master~” Xiangling quickly pulled Li Hu’s collar and nodded to signal him to look inside the door.

Li Hu looked over and saw Xueyan looking at him pitifully.

Qingwen turned and ran, shouting, “The young lady asked the second master to go back, saying that she wanted to discuss the caravan.”

Li Hu laughed. He had been playing with hawks all day, but he didn’t expect to be pecked in the eye by a sparrow. How could he forget that Xueyan and Qingwen always appeared together?

Xiangling didn’t know what she said to Xueyan, but the little girl smiled again. She bowed slightly towards Li Hu and called him “Second Master”.

Li Hu walked over and asked with a smile: “What are you talking about?”

Xueyan blushed and said, “I’ll go to the kitchen to see if the girl’s medicinal food is ready.” Then she turned around and ran away.

Tsk! I’m not a tiger, why are you all running away?

Li Hu shook his head and asked Xiangling, “What are you talking about?”

Xiangling smiled and said, “I’ll save my portion of steamed cheese with sugar for her to eat in the evening.”

Li Hu: “That’s it?”

Xiangling nodded.

Li Hu shook his head, what a silly girl.

I thought the caravan would not set out until early April at the earliest. It seems that I underestimated Xue Baochai’s ability. This trip should make a lot of money. The conflict between the emperor, the queen and the prince is getting more and more intense. Sooner or later, something bad will happen. I’d better grab some money now to prepare for the future.

Thinking of this, Li Hu strode towards the backyard.

The river breeze made the flags on the official ships rustle.

Shui Rong and Yang Qilong stood on the bow deck and silently looked at the distant capital city.

Yang Qilong: “It’s been almost half a year in a blink of an eye. I thought I would never be able to come back”

Shui Rong smiled faintly. The Huai’an trip had gains and losses, but overall the gains outweighed the losses. Although they had offended the gentry in Jiangnan, they had real armed forces in their hands, which was hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than reputation!
We should thank the Emperor and Li Hu. If they had not wiped out the high-ranking and elite members of the White Lotus Sect, he would not have been able to take down so many branches of the White Lotus Sect with his previous strength.

He now has money and people, and the next step is to prepare weapons and equipment, and then as soon as the east wind arrives, he will be able to soar to the sky!

Thinking of this, the smile on his face became even wider. Looking at the pier getting closer and closer, he said, “I’m back!”

(End of this chapter)