Chapter 31 Chapter 31 I’ll fight you!

As autumn deepens and the scenery turns yellow, it is time for the autumn hunt in the palace, which takes place once every three years.

During the autumn hunt, most of the princes and ministers would accompany him, together with their servants, women servants, personal soldiers and guards. There would be thousands of people, with colorful curtains, red banners and flags blocking out the sun, making it a spectacular sight.

After the sacrifices to heaven and the temple were completed, the majestic ceremonial procession, like a long dragon, and the jade carriage and golden palanquin headed towards the Yuquan Palace in the suburbs of Beijing.

"This is my first time to participate in the royal autumn hunt!" Nie Xiangyi was holding Xi Shi in the carriage, looking energetic and with a look of curiosity in her eyes.

She loved the hustle and bustle of life and was a restless person. Being confined to her house for so many days after her marriage was truly boring.

Now that the autumn hunt was approaching, she was like a bird in a cage gazing at the sky, naturally overjoyed, "Finally, I can go out and have some fun!"

Xie Zhi was as quiet as ever inside the carriage, the only one chattering. "Back in Shanzhou! I often went hunting with my grandma and the others!"

Although she was just riding a pony, following her grandfather to pick up prey... and then holding a deer or wolf that was taller than her, she proudly showed off that she had killed it herself.

Every time at this time, Grandpa would always pinch her face with a smile, "Our Ah Si is the best!"

She pouted at Xie Zhi and said, "I'm really awesome!"

Xie Zhi raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "Really?"

His half-smile made Nie Xiangyi feel a little insecure, but she still muttered in disbelief, "You'll know when we get to the hunting ground, Your Highness!"

If you can't hunt jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards, it's always easy to hunt rabbits, foxes or something like that!

After three days of bumpy journey, we finally arrived at Yuquan Palace.

Different from the flying sand and rocks at the Shanzhou border, the terrain here is flat, with abundant water and grass. Mountains can be seen in the distance, creating a magnificent scene of every tree in autumn color and every mountain bathed in the setting sun.

The palace servants set up camp here early, and all the necessary food, clothing and necessities were provided.

Nie Xiangyi was used to the journey, and with such anticipation, she didn't feel tired at all. However, the other concubines and noble ladies all looked pale and listless when they disembarked from the carriage.

"Your Highness! When will the hunting start?" She followed Xie Zhi closely.

"Tomorrow." Xie Zhi led her into the tent. "Father must first hunt the first beast, and then we can hunt the rest."

The first hunting ceremony was held on the morning of the next day. The princes and ministers accompanied the emperor, and female relatives and concubines like Nie Xiangyi waited on the hunting viewing platform.

With the sharp whistle of the animal officer, the horses in the hunting ground rushed out like arrows.

"His Highness the Third Prince's arrows fly like meteors, and even his riding and shooting postures are so handsome and extraordinary!" Zhong Lingyu beside him teased Nie Xiangyi with a smile.

Nie Xiangyi blushed, but couldn't help but pursed her lips and smiled a little.

Today, Xie Zhi was elegantly dressed in white, still looking as cool and noble as ever. Galloping through the hunting grounds, the autumn wind rustled his clothes, and his calm demeanor, as if everything was under control, embodied the youthful spirit of a man determined to win.

Nie Xiangyi seemed to see the past again, when he met him in Shanzhou when he was young, the young general with a ghost face who galloped across the battlefield.

Princess Yang Hui, standing nearby, chimed in, "Of all the princes under His Majesty, only the Crown Prince and the Third Prince stand out. Without the Crown Prince, the Third Prince alone has the limelight! He's truly full of vigor and energy, and he's ready to take charge."

"The Crown Prince now controls the Divine Strategy Division, so why wouldn't he come?" Nie Xiangyi tilted her head and looked at them in confusion. "The Divine Strategy Guards are the Emperor's personal guards!"

"Look! Little Master Pei is here." Princess Yang Hui pointed to a vague figure in the distance on the hunting ground. "The Crown Prince is in poor health. How can he withstand such a bumpy ride?"

The imperial concubine in the distance seemed to have heard their conversation and smiled, pursing her lips. "It would be better for Yuru to stay in the capital to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the emperor's absence and sneaking in."

After he said this, everyone smiled and agreed, and stopped talking.

"Whatever the Third Prince hunts today, he will definitely give to you first." Zhong Lingyu whispered teasingly in Nie Xiangyi's ear, "Have you figured out how to cook it?"

"What?" Nie Xiangyi looked puzzled. "What are you cooking?"

"You didn't know? Didn't the nanny beside you tell you?"

Zhong Lingyu's eyes widened slightly. "In memory of the late Empress's virtue, the Imperial Concubine personally prepares the spoils of the Emperor's first hunt. Since then, the female members of the clan have followed suit, and it's become an unspoken rule."

"But I don't know how to do anything!" Nie Xiangyi exclaimed. She only knew how to make jade cake, and Xie Zhi despised her.

Aunt Wu never told her in advance, she was probably waiting for her to show her weakness!

No, no, she has to go to the kitchen to familiarize herself with it first.

Having said this, she hurriedly left the hunting platform under the pretext of changing clothes.

"Ouch!" I hadn't expected that as soon as I left the hunting platform, I bumped into someone head-on. "It's you again! Nie Xiangyi!"

When Nie Xiangyi saw the newcomer, she snorted and looked at her with her chin raised, "You should call me the Third Prince's Consort now."

Pei Lang's head hurt from being bumped by her. Seeing her feigning an attitude, he became even more furious. "How could you marry the Third Prince and still be so unruly? How reckless!"

"You're the one who's being unruly!" Nie Xiangyi put his hands on his hips and glared at her. "Now that you see me, you have to greet me politely!"

Pei Lang gritted his teeth and bowed to her reluctantly, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth, "Greetings, Third Prince's Consort."

"That's more like it." Nie Xiangyi shook his head proudly and climbed up the pole. "I am a magnanimous person. I won't bother with you about your previous offense."

"you!"

Pei Lang was so angry at her that his teeth itched. He couldn't help but snort coldly, "You don't really think that marrying the Third Prince will make everything fine, do you?"

"It's better than some people who can't get married!" Nie Xiangyi made a face at her.

Pei Lang sneered, "If it weren't for you, how could the Third Prince have lost the Divine Strategy Division? And you're still so complacent?"

"How dare you say that to me! You're putting the blame on someone else!" Nie Xiangyi's eyebrows shot up in anger. "It's all because of your Pei family fanning the flames!"

"Are you a fool?" Pei Lang squinted at her coldly. "From the moment the Emperor granted you two your marriage, Your Highness has no further affiliation with the Divine Strategy Division. How could the Emperor allow Your Highness to hold two military powers simultaneously?"

"If it weren't for the need to quell the palace rumors and protect your reputation for the sake of General Anxi, why would the Third Prince be forced by the Emperor to marry you?"

She looked at Nie Xiangyi's gradually widening eyes and chuckled disdainfully in her ear, "I'm afraid that the Third Prince hates you deeply in his heart."

The word "disgust" seemed to have suddenly hit Nie Xiangyi's sore spot.

"You're talking nonsense!"

Her face flushed with anger as she stepped forward and grabbed Pei Lang's hair.

"I'm going to fight you!"

"ah--"

When Xie Zhi heard that Nie Xiangyi and Miss Pei Liu were fighting, he had just hunted a fawn.

When he hurried over, the scene was almost in chaos.

Miss Pei Liu's hair was disheveled, a strand of it still clutched in Nie Xiangyi's hand, as she sobbed. Nie Xiangyi wasn't feeling much better, with Miss Pei Liu clutching her clothes, leaving several red scratches on her cheeks. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, but she forced herself to hold them back.

Zhong Lingyu was so anxious that she was pacing back and forth, "Ah Si! Let go!"

"No!" Nie Xiangyi was as stubborn as a donkey. "She was the one who humiliated me first!"

Zhong Lingyu saw Xie Zhi from afar, as if she had seen reinforcements, "It's good that the Third Prince has arrived! Go and persuade Ah Si! I don't know what the quarrel between the two of them has led to such a scene! I'm afraid of ruining their reputations, so I dare not make it public, and can only quietly send someone to report to His Highness."

Xie Zhi frowned upon seeing this, "Ah Si, let go." Seeing Xie Zhi, Nie Xiangyi felt a little guilty. But then she realized she had done nothing wrong, and she stiffened her neck and said stubbornly, "I won't! If anyone wants to let go, she should let go first!"

"You're so unrestrained even now that His Highness is here." Pei Lang, whose hair was being grabbed by her, continued to harass her. "Nie Xiangyi, you only cause trouble for His Highness!"

Nie Xiangyi was so angry at her words, "Don't stop me! I want to fight her!"

"Nie Xiangyi." Xie Zhi's voice was already a little serious, "Let go first."

Although it was not visible on his face, Nie Xiangyi could hear the rebuke in his tone and felt aggrieved.

She pursed her lips and used a loud voice to hide the grievance in her heart, "It was obviously her who started it...!"

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly heard a gentle voice.

"Zheng Zheng! What are you doing!"

When Pei Lang heard the sound, he was as frightened as a mouse seeing a cat, and suddenly let go of his hand.

Nie Xiangyi felt the force on his chest suddenly loosen, and he unconsciously loosened his grip.

Xie Zhi frowned, his dark eyes like a pool of cold spring water, filled with deep displeasure, "You are the Third Prince's consort! How dare you act so foolishly! How disrespectful!"

Nie Xiangyi had tried hard not to cry even though her face was scratched so hard just now. But after being scolded so harshly by him, the grievances rushed towards her like an endless tide, almost drowning her.

Her eyebrows were drooping, her mouth was turned down, and tears as big as beans rolled down silently from the corners of her eyes.

But she didn't want to show such aggrieved look in front of others, so she wiped her cheeks with her sleeves, making them a mess.

"It was obviously she who humiliated me first!" Her voice was filled with tears, but she turned her eyes away stubbornly, refusing to look at Xie Zhi.

I feel so wronged.

Xie Zhi realized that he seemed to have spoken too harshly.

When he saw Nie Xiangyi with disheveled clothes and arguing with someone, he inexplicably lost his composure.

She is now the consort of the Third Prince. If someone were to see her like this, I'm afraid there would be a lot of trouble.

He had been walking around the Shen Ce Division for many years, and he felt that his tone was normal, but he didn't realize that it still carried a cold and reprimanding tone.

Pei Lang sobbed as he looked at the newcomer, feeling rather insecure. "Brother... Brother... She provoked me first..."

Pei Jue naturally heard what Nie Xiangyi said just now. He just bowed to Nie Xiangyi and smiled gently.

"My name is Pei Jue, and I want to apologize to you on behalf of my younger sister. Just now, you said that it was my younger sister who humiliated you. There might be a misunderstanding. It would be better if you could talk it out."

Xie Zhi frowned unhappily when he heard his address, "This is my legal wife, the Third Prince's Consort Nie Xiangyi."

"I'm being abrupt. I've met the Third Prince's wife."

Nie Xiangyi took a look at him. Pei Jue had gentle features and a light, approachable smile. He looked like a gentleman from a different world, but as beautiful as jade.

She was about to open her mouth, but she caught a glimpse of Xie Zhi out of the corner of her eye and suddenly choked. She just pursed her lips, looked stubborn, and stopped talking.

Pei Jue's eyes seemed to carry some vague doubt, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and he looked at Nie Xiangyi again.

Xie Zhi's eyes grew colder and deeper. He calmly blocked Nie Xiangyi behind him and said, "Get your clothes in order."

Nie Xiangyi still had a pout on her face, tidying up her messy clothes on her chest with a wronged look on her face.

Then he came out from behind Xie Zhi, like a kitten caught in the rain, and went to pick up the shoes that he had just kicked away with a sad look on his face.

Just as she leaned over to put on her shoes, she heard a gentle voice behind her, with some doubtful tentativeness.

"Sister Ah Si?"

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Author has something to say: Xiao Xie: Why is there another one (pounding the ground [angry])