Since the emperor established the crown prince, the Duke of Anguo's mansion has gradually withdrawn from the court and rarely interacts with the noble families of the capital.

The reason the heir and princess of the Duke of Anguo's mansion were invited to participate in this autumn hunt was because it coincided with the birthdays of the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess.

However, the couple were very low-key, and even when they came to the palace, they mostly stayed inside.

The day after Ye Jingshu's birthday was the day the autumn hunt ended.

That morning, the ten people who had the most prey during this period would be selected, and the emperor would give them generous rewards.

Each day, the game hunted by each person was recorded by an eunuch and posted in the most conspicuous place on the viewing platform, so that everyone could see it.

Actually, the top ten on this list are quite obvious. Xie Shaoling is far ahead, and the eight names after Xie Shaoling are all familiar to everyone. They are all prominent noble sons in the capital. Only the tenth place is a name that is unfamiliar.

"Who is this Xu Jingjing? Judging from her name, she seems to be a woman?"

"Women can participate in the hunt? And even make it into the top ten? Are you kidding me?! Are you trying to trample the dignity of the men of Dayuan underfoot?!"

The list wasn't only viewed by men, but also by women, such as the wife of the heir apparent to the Duke of Anguo.

They were both heirs of duke's mansions, and even though they didn't have any personal relationship, they were often compared by busybodies in the capital.

The Princess Consort of the Duke of Anguo once had the idea of ​​competing with the Princess Consort of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but after learning about her background and experience, she could only admire her.

She was a sheltered young lady raised in a grand mansion. In terms of background, she might indeed be much better off than the heir apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. But putting aside her background, she felt that she was far inferior to Xu Jingjing.

She only knew how to manage household affairs and do small business. Any woman with her background could do that. But Xu Jingjing was different. As a woman, she had the courage and ability to fight on the battlefield and protect her country. Ninety-nine percent of the women in the world were not as good as her!

The reason she paid attention to this ranking was because she knew that Xu Jingjing was on the list and ranked quite high, so she watched it with the prince as soon as the results came out.

As expected, Xu Jingjing was even more outstanding than she had imagined.

She was happy for Xu Jingjing when she heard others questioning Xu Jingjing. She couldn't stand it, so she spoke up to defend her.

"You don't know the heir apparent of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion? She grew up in the military. If it weren't for the fact that she's a girl, she would probably be a young general with numerous military achievements by now, far superior to most men in this world!"

It would have been better if she hadn't revealed Xu Jingjing's identity; the more she did, the more gossip and ridicule she received.

"Can a woman really be that capable? Maybe it's because of Prince Xie's help? After all, Prince Xie's abilities are obvious to all!"

"That makes sense. Even if a woman dares to hunt, she could only shoot small animals like rabbits at most. How could she possibly get tenth place?!"

"Could this list be rigged? Is someone trying to curry favor with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion because they're currently enjoying the Emperor's favor?"

......

The doubts and speculations are becoming increasingly outrageous.

The Crown Princess grew increasingly angry as she listened, and was about to argue with them—

"Don't be angry, Madam, I'll take care of you—" Lin Hui, the heir of the Duke of Anguo's mansion, patted her hand and comforted her.

"Your doubts are completely unreasonable. If it were a real fight on horseback, you people probably wouldn't even be able to withstand twenty moves from the Crown Princess. What right do you have to question her abilities?" Lin Hui asked sarcastically.

"You're so boring. How can you boost others' morale while putting yourself down?" someone immediately retorted.

"Stop talking! He's the heir of the Duke of Anguo's mansion!" His companion quickly reminded him.

"Young Master—" The person who had just been loudly refuting him suddenly started stammering.

The Duke of Anguo's mansion has kept a low profile in recent years, so not many people know the dignified heir.

But once his identity was revealed, everyone gathered in front of the list quickly bowed and greeted him.

Despite being the same son of a Duke's mansion, Xie Shaoling did not receive such treatment.

After all, although the Duke of Anguo's family had faded from the court, they remained in the Emperor's heart and were still the maternal family of the Crown Prince.

As for the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the emperor's suspicion of it was so obvious. The nobles and court officials were all cunning old foxes; who could not see through it?

"The people in charge of this list were appointed by His Majesty. If you question the authenticity of this list, are you questioning His Majesty?" Lin Hui asked in a calm tone.

"This humble official dares not!"

"Your Highness is too kind!"

Those who had been making those reckless comments were instantly terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat and frantically trying to appease them.

"Hmph! People like you dare to criticize the Crown Princess?!" Crown Princess Liu Lingxuan sneered mockingly.

Some people were indignant, but out of respect for Liu Lingxuan's status, they dared not say anything.

"The Crown Princess is right!" he nodded and bowed.

"Young Master, the other day at the training ground, your young masters from the Duke's Mansion really stole the show. Congratulations, Young Master! With those young masters around, the Duke's Mansion is likely to prosper for another hundred years!" When the atmosphere became awkward, someone smiled and changed the subject.

When Ye Jingchen said he came from the Duke of Anguo's mansion, his voice was not soft, and everyone around heard it, and like Zhang Zhe, they had no doubts.

Moreover, the fact that the Eastern Palace Guards were clearly protecting them made them even more convinced of Ye Jingchen and his companions' identities.

They made such a big splash on the training ground back then, and the reason why His Highness the Crown Prince sent the Eastern Palace Guards to rescue them was probably because of their fame. When those brats returned to their residences, they naturally had to tell their elders about it.

Lin Hui and Liu Lingxuan were both completely confused.

They came to the palace only for the birthdays of the Crown Prince and the Princess, so they did not bring any of their children with them.

"Young Master and Young Mistress, stop hiding it. My son told me that he personally heard those young masters admit that they are sons of your Duke of Anguo's mansion!" The man thought the Young Master and Young Mistress were pretending to be confused, and continued.

He didn't mean any harm by saying that.

His Majesty is very suspicious. If he knew that the Duke of Anguo's family had seemingly faded from the court but had actually cultivated such outstanding descendants, who knows how suspicious he would be?

In that short time, Lin Hui and Liu Lingxuan were able to recover.

In this Western Hill Palace, the only one who would lie and claim to be from the Duke of Anguo's mansion is probably His Highness the Crown Prince.

Since His Highness the Crown Prince has said so, there must be a reason, and they naturally have to cover for him.

"Lord Nanyang, you flatter me. My child is still young. If he becomes famous, it may attract criticism. Please forgive me," Lin Hui said with a smile.

Hearing Lin Hui admit it himself, with a proud expression on his face, the Earl of Nanyang felt both smug and jealous.

He was smug because he could use this incident to sow discord between His Majesty and the Duke of Anguo's family, and jealous because other families had such outstanding children, six of them at that.

Six in total!

Why can't their family have such good luck!