Chapter 22 Death: Don't be afraid, I'm still here.
The rallying call sounded, and the troops assembled.
As the wind rustled through the treetops, the Emperor drew his bow and shot an arrow that struck a fleeing deer. The crowd cheered in response to the drumbeats. The sound of horses' hooves pounded the ground, startling the animals in the hunting grounds, who pricked up their ears and fled for their lives.
Chen Liangyu's arrows never missed, and he quickly took the lead by a wide margin.
Suddenly remembering something, she pulled on the reins and slowed her horse down, looking left and right in search of a figure. She spotted one and galloped after it.
Xie Wenjun was chasing a lone wild rabbit when he fired a feint, startling the rabbit into fleeing.
Chen Liangyu's face was very pale.
"Is the princess distracted, or is something on her mind?"
Xie Wenjun shook her head: "No."
Chen Liangyu circled her once, looked down at the horse, glanced at its limbs, and said, "This horse is not strong enough. The stable master was afraid the horse would hurt you, so he just did a shoddy job. This horse is okay in terms of physique, but it is not fast or agile enough. Red Mane is closer to you, so let's switch horses. Red Mane is more stable."
"And what about you?"
"The amount of prey I hunt has nothing to do with which horse I ride."
Zhang Jialing was dressed flamboyantly today, in a flashy riding outfit, with a colorful hair sticking out of his head, as he strolled past them with a grin.
"A top student has two pens, while a poor student has many stationery items." This is a saying that drifts by in the wind.
Stationery? Probably things like pens, ink, paper, inkstones, and the Four Treasures of the Study.
Look at his gear, no one on the hunting ground has more "stationery" than him, even his boots are inlaid with silver tigers and leopards.
After his high-profile mockery, he took an arrow from the quiver on his back, aimed at the eagle circling overhead, and intended to show off his skills.
Chen Liangyu was used to his chatter and didn't bother to reply. But when she saw Xie Wenjun's embarrassed expression and then looked at Zhang Jialing, who was like a runaway mule, she frowned slightly. "Watch, I'll teach you again."
She used the momentum to leap and land steadily on the opposite horse. She stretched out her arms to completely encircle Xie Wenjun, placed her hand on the back of Xie Wenjun's hand to grip the bow and arrow, and the two of them pressed their bodies intimately together.
Her breathing and heartbeat were right beside my ear, as steady and strong as the hand she was holding tightly.
"Hold your elbows straight, look straight ahead, and focus on your prey. Don't get distracted!"
The two eagles sometimes soared upwards, sometimes swooped down, playfully entwined, completely unaware that on the vast earth beneath their wings, two chilling arrows were aimed directly at their bellies.
"Bow your body, bowstring, and arrowhead in a straight line; make sure you aim correctly!"
As they fell again, "whoosh—"
The arrow had already left the bowstring when, with a "whoosh," Zhang Jialing's arrow broke in two, as expected.
The arrow that came from behind pierced the air with deadly force, piercing through both eagles. The eagles didn't even have time to flap their wings before they plummeted in a cascade of blows, landing right in front of Zhang Jialing's horse.
Zhang Jialing craned his neck to look, glanced at the white peacock feather decoration on the arrow's fletching—the mark of Princess Jiangning's arrows—then turned back to the person holding the bow and howled, "Chen Liangyu, you're cheating!"
"I am a student with limited abilities. If you, as my teacher, could offer some guidance on how to define cheating?"
"You, you, you..." Zhang Jialing held up his finger and stammered "you" for a long time before shouting in frustration, "Whose teacher is giving instructions to students in the exam room?"
Chen Liangyu remained expressionless and said, "Me."
"I can't be bothered with you!"
Zhang Jialing didn't engage in further verbal sparring; he turned and dashed off to chase other prey.
He made a bet: whoever hunted the fewest prey would have to pay for everyone's tea and music at Yifeng Pavilion for a month. That was a considerable sum of money; if he lost, his father's collection of valuable calligraphy, paintings, and jade artifacts would be reduced by several pieces.
That would be terrible; if they found out, their legs would be broken.
Xie Wenjun spurred his horse forward, broke free from the embrace, dismounted, and pulled the white-feathered arrow from the eagle's body. "He's right, this is cheating."
Chen Liangyu neither stopped her nor said anything, letting her do as she pleased.
Xie Wenjun retrieved the arrows, and Chen Liangyu tilted her head slightly and gave her a wink. Hongzong cleverly ran to Xie Wenjun's side, affectionately rubbed against her clothes, and then bent down on his knees.
She mounted her horse and looked at Chen Liangyu apologetically, saying, "My riding and archery skills are not good enough; I'm afraid I'll humiliate you."
"Ignore him, he's foul-mouthed. He's talking nonsense and doesn't make any sense."
She was referring to Zhang Jialing.
"Princess, you don't need to improve your riding and archery skills. Just learn a little bit and have fun. I'm enough."
"Is having you enough?" Xie Wenjun tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"It means that the princess does not need to handle weapons, and if the princess is in danger, I will be there for her."
Her expression was indifferent, and her tone was flat, not as if she were about to make any promises, but simply recounting an ordinary little thing.
Xie Wenjun's face, which had been gloomy for a while, finally showed signs of brightening, like a child eating a sweet candied fruit.
Chen Liangyu raised his eyelids, taking in the subtle changes in her expression.
He really is quite unpredictable.
Protect her and don't let anyone bully her.
Who could possibly bully her? Leaving aside whether anyone actually bullies her, since she's agreed, it can't be just "one or two," it's all of her. If Xie Wenjun suffers any mishap in the future, even losing a single hair, it will be her failure to fulfill the Imperial Concubine's trust.
She has always kept her promises.
But not now.
She has more important things to do right now.
According to custom, the emperor would grant one request to the person who hunted the most prey. As long as it wasn't too outrageous, it would be granted as a prize and reward for the hunt.
She wanted to take this opportunity to ask Emperor Xuanyuan to grant her a marriage with Prince Shen.
After giving her a final reminder of the hunting techniques, she and Xie Wenjun went off to hunt separately.
The crimson sunset illuminated the hunting grounds where green and yellow met, and hunters dressed in riding and archery attire returned one after another, laden with their prey.
The hall grew dim, and Aunt Jin Ge lit two candles, not too bright, but not so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
The Imperial Concubine slept soundly for an entire afternoon, and as dusk approached, she murmured a few words in her sleep.
"Father, Mother..."
She remained peaceful in her sleep for a while, then suddenly gripped Aunt Jingge's hand tightly and said urgently, "Mother, please take me there..."
Aunt Jin Ge checked the temperature of the hand warmer, then wrapped her palms around the back of the Imperial Concubine's hand. Her nose stung with tears, and she asked with heartache, "Your Highness, where do you wish to go?"
"Send me to a marriage alliance..."
The sound of the death announcement pierced through the vast open fields, rolling hills, and dark forests.
"The Imperial Concubine has passed away!"
"The Imperial Concubine has passed away!"
...
As the death knell tolled, its sound traveling through the towering mountains to every corner of the hunting grounds, torches were already lit to illuminate the area.
When Chen Liangyu arrived, travel-worn and rushing, the palace where the Imperial Concubine was resting was in complete chaos. Xing Rui was on edge, wishing she could see and hear everything around her.
"Ying Rui, have you met Princess Jiangning?"
Xing Rui truthfully replied, "The princess came around noon after you left, but I haven't seen her since."
Chen Liangyu seized a torch and searched around. Amidst increasingly urgent whistles, a red-maned creature came galloping from one direction, neighing. Upon seeing Chen Liangyu, it anxiously circled around once before turning and running into the darkness behind it.
Chen Liangyu followed closely behind Hong Zong and finally found Xie Wenjun.
She sat amidst a pile of stones, staring blankly at the emptiness before her, her eyes vacant, looking like a student weary from memorizing and simply spacing out.
Chen Liangyu called softly, "Princess..."
She must have heard it; the last toll of the death knell had just finished, and the echoes still seemed to reverberate.
In her haste, Chen Liangyu only wanted to find her, but after finding her, she had no idea what to say or do next, and even comforting her seemed difficult.
At this point, anything you say or do will seem too ineffective.
"Mother is gone? So be it." Her voice was barely audible, and the light in her eyes slowly focused on Chen Liangyu. "Ali, I have no mother anymore."
She didn't burst into tears, nor did she shed a single tear; her calmness was all the more unsettling.
As Chen Liangyu approached, he noticed that her thin limbs were trembling slightly.
She does this when she's scared.
She said, "The princess also has His Majesty, her father, and His Highness the Crown Prince."
“He is the Emperor, not my father.” Xie Wenjun easily refuted her words. “My brother, he… he wants to… I’m very scared.”
"The Crown Prince?" She pondered what the Crown Prince was going to do next, but she knew that now was not the time to ask. Even if she did ask, Princess Jiangning would not reveal any useful information.
Xie Wenjun didn't give her a chance to think it over, and asked, "I heard that Mother saw you today. Did she say anything to you?"
"The Empress told me to protect you and not let anyone bully you."
Xie Wenjun turned her face away, refusing to look at her, and returned to her blank state. After a long while, she asked in a trembling voice, "Can you?"
"I can."
A gentleman's promise is as weighty as Mount Tai.
She considered herself to be of upright character and noble virtue, and there was no reason for her to break her word.
She felt something tugging down her sleeve.
Looking down, Xie Wenjun pulled up her sleeve, buried her face in the fabric, and began to sob softly, trying to suppress her sobs.
It gets cold very quickly after the sun sets, and your breath can condense into a thin mist.
Tears fell, landing on her palm; they were warm at first, but quickly turned cold.
She took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Xie Wenjun seemed to be extremely aggrieved and heartbroken. She rushed over and hugged her waist, bursting into tears in her arms.
The riding outfit was a close-fitting garment, and she had no extra clothes to drape over the princess to keep her warm. She could only pull out the red cloth cloak behind her to shield her from the wind that rose from the ground.
Two tears welled up in Chen Liangyu's eyes and rolled into the dust, disappearing without a trace. What had she experienced at such a young age that she dared not let out her natural cries even when she lost a loved one? The indescribable heartache made the guard and vigilance in my heart begin to crumble little by little, like ice melting away.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said, “I’m here for you.”
After she had cried for a while and her emotions had calmed down a bit, she accompanied her to the place where the torches were most concentrated.
People were busy coming and going there, preparing for the funeral of the Imperial Concubine.
The Emperor issued an edict posthumously honoring Consort Gui with the title of Empress Huixian, and ordering her burial according to the funeral rites for an Empress. The noble honor that belonged to her as an Empress was finally bestowed upon her after her death.
This time, no one stood up to object.
Who would waste their energy arguing with a deceased person for honors?
The spring hunt was cancelled due to the sudden passing of Empress Huixian. During the mourning period, marriage and any form of entertainment were prohibited among the common people.
The 20-day spring hunt ended abruptly on the second day.
In such a grand funeral ceremony, one person also died unnoticed: Prince Ning, Xie Xun.
Compared to the grand funeral rites in which white banners were hung throughout the region to mourn Empress Huixian, Prince Ning's funeral was remarkably quiet, with him hastily buried in a small plot of land within the royal mausoleum. This was because Prince Ning was mentally challenged and had always been considered a disgrace to the royal bloodline. He had been raised in the suburbs during his lifetime, and younger officials were largely unaware of his existence.
With his death, the royal bloodline was cleansed of its stain.
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