Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 343: Eagle Guard (Part 1)

The following day, Jiang Shaohua continued to inspect the Personal Guard Camp.

Liu Hengchang led the trusted aides in their drills. Jiang Shaohua watched for half a day, then privately told Liu Hengchang, "The recently recruited aides are indeed a bit inexperienced, they still need much practice."

Liu Hengchang nodded. "The Commandery Princess has a discerning eye. Most of the veterans in the camp have been sent out on assignments. Today in the Martial Arts Training Ground, seventy percent are new recruits. However, even these recruits have been sent out in rotation to ’see the world’, each one dares to wield their swords to kill, none are cowards."

The best training is during real combat. The Personal Guard Camp, under the guise of being the Tang Family’s house servants, has escorted and delivered grain, encountering countless refugees, disaster victims, and rebels along the way. They have engaged in combat numerous times and now have developed courage.

Jiang Shaohua showed approval in her eyes, "This is good. Skill level doesn’t matter much as long as they are loyal and brave. The rest can be learned over time."

Then she casually asked with a smile, "Where is Li Tianxi’s team? I, the Commandery Princess, would like to take a look!"

Li Tianxi, who took a two-month marital leave last year and got married, officially became Liu Hengchang’s son-in-law.

When Liu Hengchang spoke of his son-in-law, his heart was full of pride, but his expression remained calm and composed, "Li Tianxi is leading a team in taming eagles, I will accompany the Commandery Princess to take a look."

After two years, the eaglets found from the mountains have gradually grown. Subsequently, Li Tianxi led his team to find more eaglets. This team of fifty has a total of more than sixty eagles. Currently, only a dozen or so can fly into the sky and be useful.

Li Tianxi, with his ordinary appearance, exuded an aura of a great general when taming eagles. He blew a sharp eagle whistle, and a strong eagle soared from his arm, reaching the sky within a few breaths.

Li Tianxi made the sharp whistle sound again, and the eagle circled a few times mid-air, then spread its wings and flew away, disappearing from sight.

Jiang Shaohua couldn’t help but praise, "This eagle is well-tamed!"

Li Tianxi, flustered by the Commandery Princess’s compliment, blushed with his eyes shining, "This is nothing. The Commandery Princess should wait a moment longer."

Jiang Shaohua, in high spirits, inquired, "What will happen if I wait a little longer? Could it be this eagle will bring back a rabbit?"

Song Yuan and the others beside them laughed.

Li Tianxi chuckled, "The Commandery Princess will know soon enough."

About the time to burn a stick of incense later, a black dot rapidly turned downward from the clouds.

Everyone looked up clearly and saw the eagle flying closer, indeed with prey in its talons. However, it wasn’t a cute little rabbit, but rather...

Seeing the long, dangling prey, Chen Jinyu’s pupils suddenly widened, letting out a sharp scream.

Ma Yaosong felt a bit uneasy but maintained his composure, "Chen Sheren, don’t be afraid, it’s merely a snake."

Jiang Shaohua’s smile was also a bit stiff.

She could kill a tiger and dare to kill a man, the only thing she feared was snakes. This had nothing to do with courage or skill, it was purely an aversion to such long and soft animals by nature.

The eagle with the long snake circled proudly above everyone’s heads. Li Tianxi’s eyes sparkled, he blew another eagle whistle. The eagle released its grip and the long snake fell with a thud to the ground, twitching violently a few times before it stopped moving.

Chen Jinyu almost burst into tears from fright. Because the snake fell just three feet in front of her, of course, even closer to the Commandery Princess...

"The Commandery Princess need not be afraid; the snake is dead from the fall," Li Tianxi laughed and said, "Chen Sheren also need not worry. The snake is non-venomous; at noon today, we can make snake soup, it’s very delicious."

Liu Hengchang twitched at the corners of his mouth, glancing at his simple-minded son-in-law. Thinking if it weren’t in front of everyone, as a father-in-law, I wouldn’t hesitate to give you a beating.

Jiang Shaohua suppressed her revulsion, smiling as she spoke to Li Tianxi, "This eagle is indeed well-trained. The snake is a reward for your team."

Snake soup and the like are certainly not on her menu.

Li Tianxi was about to speak when he saw his father-in-law glaring at him, giving a shiver, he finally realized and responded, "Thank you, Commandery Princess."

He immediately ordered the trusted aides behind him to take away the dead snake.

...

Jiang Shaohua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, continuing to watch Li Tianxi and the others taming eagles.

Generally speaking, taming an eagle takes three to five years. Now, after just two years, there are already a dozen capable of patrolling and hunting, which clearly shows Li Tianxi’s skill and hard work.

For capable and talented people, Jiang Shaohua never hesitates to praise and reward. That day at noon, Jiang Shaohua joined Liu Hengchang and Li Tianxi for lunch.

A large pot of snake soup was shared among the Eagle Guards, it was not brought to the table.

After lunch, Li Tianxi reported in a low voice, "Commandery Princess, I’ve been taming eagles lately and suddenly had an idea."

This foolish boy, don’t speak nonsense in front of the Commandery Princess.

Liu Hengchang subtly signaled his son-in-law with his eyes.

Unfortunately, his son-in-law could be sharp at times, but at others, as dull as a post, he didn’t notice his father-in-law’s hint at all and enthusiastically shared his plan, "Here’s what I’m thinking. There are sixteen trained eagles ready for use."

"One of them can be specifically trained to fly to the Prince Mansion. Typically, it takes a day by fast horse for a round trip to deliver a message. But with an eagle, the message could be delivered within an hour." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Jiang Shaohua was intrigued, "Explain in detail."

Liu Hengchang, who had been worried, relaxed and perked up to listen.

Li Tianxi had clearly thought it through, it wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment idea, "A trained eagle can scout terrain, give early warnings, and obviously deliver messages."

"Setting up the Personal Guard Camp and the Nanyang Prince Mansion as fixed points for the eagle to fly to and fro is feasible. Just station two Eagle Guards at the Prince Mansion long-term."

"Also, for the Fourteen Counties of Nanyang, the distances vary. Some can be reached in a day or two, while the longest distance takes about five or six days. Delivering documents takes much time on the road. If trained eagles are assigned to the fourteen counties, any command from the Commandery Princess could reach the counties in the shortest time."

"Currently, Nanyang County is very peaceful, but if any disasters or wars arise in the future, having eagles deliver messages would allow for swift communication."

As Li Tianxi spoke more fluidly, his eyes shone with determination, "Now there are fifty people in the Eagle Guard team, I’ve trained them for two years, they’ve learned about half of my skills, managing the eagles’ meals and daily taming isn’t an issue. Staying in the Personal Guard Camp all day is quite dull."

"The Commandery Princess could assign them to the fourteen counties to take care of the eagles specifically."

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes lit up, gazing at Li Tianxi like a rare treasure, "Your idea is quite good. Did you think of this on your own?"

Li Tianxi chuckled sheepishly, "Yes, I’ve been mulling it over secretly, haven’t even told my father-in-law."

Liu Hengchang finally seized the opportunity and gave Li Tianxi a not-too-light kick, "You rascal! How dare you hide such important matters from me!"