Chapter 1 Adjusting the Mood

Discussing architecture and engineering before the wedding was indeed helpful in adjusting his mood. Weddings, even with several experiences, were hard to guarantee that there wouldn't be some nervousness, some apprehension, some bewilderment when it came around again.

Despite meticulous preparation, the wedding ceremony was so simple. On the morning of the wedding day, Ye Tao donned his battle armor, mounted Ye Xing, who seemed to sense the special atmosphere and was excitedly prancing, and, accompanied by many elders and important guests who came to observe the ceremony, arrived at a hunting ground near Ningyuan City.

Choosing a grassland wedding ceremony meant choosing some rather troublesome procedures for Ye Tao. According to grassland customs, he needed to hunt a prey on that day, along with a pre-prepared gift, and send it to the bride's home, then have lunch with the bride's parents and obtain their consent. Then, he could take the bride away.

Grassland etiquette was to bring the bride back to one's own tribe and introduce her to the tribesmen at a banquet. After the banquet, the wedding was considered over, and the groom could take the bride into the bridal chamber. Due to the different distances between grassland tribes, both parties could back out before the groom brought the bride back to his tribe for the banquet. In fact, it was common on the grasslands for grooms or brides to "try out" the other party and return them if they were not satisfied. On the grasslands, people valued procreation more than chastity. Naturally, this custom would not appear in weddings with political significance.

The first time Ye Tao led the Blood Kirin Army on an expedition, he relied on a large stone hammer to dominate the city wall at White Stone City, earning himself the title of "Hammer General" among the Western Ling soldiers. Indeed, it wasn't a prestigious title, and it couldn't compare to his official title of "Strategist General," but at least it showed that Ye Tao was capable of fighting in some way.

Ye Tao's armor was naturally meticulously crafted by the Ye Clan Workshop, concentrating the most elite technical expertise. Undoubtedly, it was the most technologically advanced armor of this era, both in terms of aesthetics and protection. The armor consisted of two layers, both stamped as a whole by a press. The inner layer was made entirely of tungsten steel. Because of the dull color of tungsten steel, it didn't look beautiful enough for a celebratory occasion like a wedding. The outer layer was made from the most uniform batch of products since the development of Yun steel's formula. The surface was polished with three different sizes of abrasive grains and deerskin, as smooth as a mirror, and finally coated with a specially formulated maintenance oil with a pine aroma. The part of the inner layer of armor that touched the skin was a double layer of thick cashmere fabric to keep warm. In summer, this layer of cashmere fabric could be removed and replaced with highly breathable linden fiber fabric. Naturally, with Ye Clan Workshop's extremely sophisticated human engineering design philosophy and rich armor design experience, areas where the armor easily chafed the skin had special thickened pads and natural sponge cushioning... Actually, in this time and space, it wasn't possible to make artificial sponges yet.

The overall design of the armor was different from the original cavalry armor and infantry armor. In general, since this armor could spare no expense, had double-layer cushioning, and both layers of stamping made the materials relatively thin, the weight of the armor was about the same as the cavalry armor used by the Blood Kirin Army, but the protection was more comprehensive and reliable. As for the armor's decoration, although not many elements were used, extremely complex and precise carvings were made on the shoulder blades, chest belt, skirt armor, and calf armor. The carved grooves were filled with low-key and luxurious silver material, allowing the armor to exhibit delicate and warm lines under light. Since Ye Tao was a commander, he needed a good field of vision and the opportunity to speak and issue orders to the officers around him more than the soldiers and officers who charged at the front lines. The helmet did not adopt the design of integrating the face guard, but rather a detachable face guard. And Ye Tao's helmet, no matter how one looked at it, felt somewhat like the helmet style of a certain supreme general in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms game.

These basic designs still couldn't show the Ye Clan Workshop's craftsmanship. Even more astonishing were the auxiliary function designs of the armor. First of all, at the waist on the back of the armor, there was a uniquely designed interface. When not in use, a piece of armor could be installed to cover it. When needed, two different devices could be installed. One was a water bladder, which could be connected to a drinking tube for convenient drinking while riding, in line with the design of heavy infantry armor. The other device was a heater. Metal pieces connected to this interface extended a total of sixteen purple copper tubes between the two layers of armor, which were heat pipes that would be widely used in computer central processor cooling a long time later. They carried heat to various parts of the body, raising the temperature of the entire armor a little. This unique design, coupled with the cashmere lining inside the armor, and the cloak outside the armor, could get through even the harsher winters further north. On this chilly and purposeful morning, this unique design could also ensure that Ye Tao wouldn't shiver and fail to shoot accurately...

Ye Tao certainly wouldn't shiver, but that didn't mean his archery skills were very good. From the moment he began to know the wedding procedure, he tried to improve his archery skills in a short period of time through a lot of training, especially his equestrian archery skills. But after all, he was the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner, and he really couldn't spare that much time for this kind of training, so he had to give up in the end.

"Nephew, now it's up to you." Even Lian Dai Shiheng made a special trip from Ningyuan to see how this Pacification Commissioner Ye would deal with those cunning fellows in the hunting ground.

Naturally, everyone knew Ye Tao quite well. The many friends from the Blood Kirin Army present, as well as Chi Yun, Chi Lei, and almost all the senior officials and senior staff of the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner's office, were not there to admire Ye Tao's heroic posture in obtaining prey. In fact, everyone knew very well and tacitly came with respectful expressions, but did not hide their intention to watch Ye Tao make a fool of himself. And Ye Tao could only shrug at this. This was already good. Back then, when the wedding pranks went on endlessly, even compared to the complicated etiquette when he married Tan Weixin, which almost made him commit countless blunders, today's wedding was really simple and clear. And the protagonist of the wedding, in Ye Tao's impression, seemed to be originally for everyone's entertainment.

The Blood Kirin Army and the Iron Cloud Cavalry did not really let Ye Tao ride his horse all over the hunting ground, but from the beginning surrounded the entire hunting ground, constantly squeezing the space of the prey in the middle of the hunting ground from both wings, and finally converged into a V-shape in the middle of the hunting ground, driving a large pile of prey to a corner of the hunting ground. In a corner of the hunting ground, a team of people had already spread out their formation, assisting in gathering the prey in a triangular space, leaving only a gap in the middle. The first prey that ran out of this gap, or the first prey that Ye Tao could shoot, would become the gift that Ye Tao brought into Ningyuan City and presented to Dai Shikui.

In this hunting ground mixed with woodland and plains grassland, there were indeed many interesting creatures. Among the prey that were driven out, there were naturally relatively gentle animals such as deer, wild ponies, and wild donkeys, but there were also beasts of prey such as wolves and jackals. Even, because the Iron Cloud Cavalry and Blood Kirin Army's search and drive tactics were executed so excellently and thoroughly, there was even a bear inside. No one knew for sure which one would run out of that gap first. According to Yunzhou customs, today, only Ye Tao could shoot the first arrow... Everyone couldn't help but worry, what would happen if that bear ran out?

The situation didn't get that bad, but it wasn't much better either. The first to notice that the cavalrymen shouting and running back and forth, with hot air puffing from their mouths and noses, had deliberately left a gap was a wolf, a wolf extremely sensitive to all kinds of threats, a pack leader with more than a dozen subordinates.

At the moment when this slender, well-built pack leader rushed out of the gap, Ye Xing, who had been standing majestically in the cold wind for a while, comfortably welcoming the eyes of the surrounding people, moved its hooves slightly. And Ye Tao shot the first arrow in an instant, the arrow missed...

As if foreseeing the trajectory of the incoming arrow, the pack leader paused and moved two positions to the side, losing some speed but allowing Ye Tao's arrow to land among a patch of tall grass.

Ye Tao secretly cried out that it was bad. He hadn't expected to encounter such a tricky situation today. Originally, he thought that even if the soldiers helping to drive the prey didn't give him a break, they wouldn't embarrass him too much. He estimated that they would just let a wild pony or a wild donkey come over and let him miss a few arrows and make a fool of himself. What he didn't expect was that the soldiers driving the prey and Ye Tao hadn't prepared thoroughly enough on either side.

Three wolves were following behind the pack leader, and the other members of this small wolf pack had been firmly guarded on the other side by the soldiers who had quickly closed the gap. Because of the brief pause just now, the pack leader's speed had fallen behind the other members of the wolf pack. Two wolves pounced up from the left and right in the nick of time. Ye Tao held the bow in his left hand and slammed it hard at the head of the wolf pouncing from the left. The famous steed Ye Xing under his crotch also reacted in time. Ye Xing was very annoyed that this kind of fellow would challenge him without any sense, and automatically turned halfway, kicking the wolf's head with a hoof. The poor wolf immediately flew out. Although the wolf that pounced at Ye Tao didn't get a solid hit, it took a solid blow to the belly and fell on the grass on the other side.

At this time, Ye Tao had turned his horse around, nocked an arrow on the bow, and pinned the wolf that had just landed to the ground with an arrow. Although his archery skills were indeed problematic, this problematic was also relative. At such a close distance, and with a fixed target, it would be strange if he couldn't hit it again. The wolf immediately let out a shrill wail.

Although slightly embarrassed, Ye Tao's swift reaction in this instant also made the surrounding onlookers secretly cheer. Still because of the custom, everyone couldn't take action at this time, but almost everyone carrying weapons prepared themselves, especially Ye Tao's guard composed of tribal warriors. Everyone was skilled in archery and horsemanship. Everyone drew their bows and nocked their arrows. Once Ye Tao was in any danger, it was conceivable that everyone wouldn't care too much about customs.

Ye Tao's reaction was even faster than everyone expected. The bow he used was also specially made, with pulleys installed at both ends to make the bowstring roll faster, allowing this bow, which didn't have strong pulling force, to make the arrow's initial velocity faster. Although this speed came at the cost of sacrificing power, this bow, which was only used in this special occasion and only for training accuracy, allowed Ye Tao to have more ample reaction opportunities. Precisely because this bow's pulling force was relatively weak, Ye Tao quickly nocked another arrow and turned around to shoot at the pack leader, who had already opened its bloody mouth towards Ye Xing's butt...

The pack leader actually twisted its body in mid-air and fell to the side, landing on the grass and rolling several times before stopping its momentum. Although Ye Tao's arrow missed again, it also made the pack leader's attempt to approach and attack fail. And that last wolf was also sent flying under the hooves of Ye Xing, who seemed to be somewhat unhappy now.

Now only the pack leader was left. Ye Tao's archery proficiency was naturally not enough to achieve continuous shooting. He only barely shot an arrow before the pack leader jumped up. At this time, the pack leader was still curled up on the ground and hadn't had time to get up. Although the pack leader shook its body, it still couldn't avoid the arrow piercing into its spine. But the pack leader only whimpered softly and stood up and pounced at Ye Tao.

Ye Tao knew that there was no time to shoot an arrow. He immediately drew the cavalry sword inserted in the saddle loop. At the moment when he drew the cavalry sword, Ye Xing under his crotch rushed towards the pack leader with a tacit understanding, and Ye Tao's sword thrust at the pack leader while leaning down became a relatively standard cavalry attack on infantry action.

"Good!" Among the people watching this scene from the side, some couldn't help but shout out. Indeed, this small wolf pack was not strong, and this pack leader was not a wolf king who could shock the grasslands. At most, it was just a relatively strong wolf. However, Ye Tao was not a well-known heroic figure, but a young court official with technical expertise who was being waited for to make a fool of himself today.

And after Ye Tao waved the cavalry sword in his hand, leaving a long wound on the pack leader's spine, Ye Tao almost subconsciously showed that the equipment on his saddle was all very useful. He casually drew the new version of the quick-opening and quick-shooting folding hand crossbow and shot an arrow at the back of the pack leader's head... This was too characteristic. The cavalrymen of the Blood Kirin Army and the Iron Cloud Cavalry looked at each other. This was not coming to hunt at all, this was simply demonstrating their entire set of combat methods from ancient to modern for these well-equipped cavalrymen.