Chapter 409 Hiring Goose
After the family discussed it, the next day, Lin Changning asked Qi Rong for leave, saying that he was going to the lakeside outside the city to the west to hunt a betrothal goose for Li Mingshu.
After getting up in the morning and leading his horse out, Lin Changning, dressed in short clothes with a bow and arrows on his back and only accompanied by two guards, prepared to head out of the city.
As soon as they stepped out of the mansion gate, they saw Li Mingxiu, who was laughing smugly, waiting outside with Li Mingde and Qi Rong on horseback. Lin Changning took Mo Yun from the servant's hand and raised an eyebrow at Li Mingxiu.
"Your Highness? What's going on here?"
As he spoke, Lin Changning flipped over on his horse and rode Moyun toward the group. Li Mingxiu looked Lin Changning up and down and was quite satisfied with his new brother-in-law.
For betrothal geese, the royal family usually had them prepared in advance. For noble families or other commoners, they would usually use golden geese or carved wooden geese instead. Nowadays, it is rare for anyone to personally hunt betrothal geese to present to the woman as a betrothal gift.
On the contrary, this also shows that Lin Changning cares about his younger sister. Although his second sister is two years older than Lin Changning, he seems to be quite mature and composed.
Early this morning, Lin Changning sent a servant to find his second son, saying that he wanted to ask for leave today. Coincidentally, his father and mother were both there at the time and asked the servant why Lin Changning wanted to ask for leave.
The servant frankly stated that his master had said today that he was going to hunt wild geese by the lake outside the city. His father and mother were extremely pleased at the time. Although a pair of wild geese were not worth much money, at least it proved that Lin Changning valued Shu'er.
He then waved to the three of them and said, "In that case, I'll give you three a day off today. Go with Changning to the lakeside and hunt some wild animals. Also, keep an eye on Changning and make sure he doesn't go into the mountains. Last year, a hunter said there were large, ferocious tigers in the mountains."
Li Mingde and Li Mingxiu were both delighted. In fact, the three of them had just as much work to do as the others, and they were busy every day. Thanks to Lin Changning, they were able to go out for some fresh air today.
However, the king's father allowed them to go hunting with Lin Changning, presumably to see if Lin Changning was truly sincere in wanting to marry Shu'er.
Many aristocratic families would bring guards when hunting, and the young masters would often take the guards' weapons and pass them off as their own.
However, he felt that his father was overthinking things. Changning was very skilled; he could only hunt a pair of geese. Why would he need his personal guards to help?
He was too embarrassed to say that, in terms of actual combat strength, Lin Changning and his personal guards combined might not even be as capable as Changning.
His mother was satisfied with Lin Changning. Firstly, Changning had a clean background, being a commoner whom his second son had personally promoted. Secondly, there were no other forces involved behind him.
The family could only rely on the Prince's Mansion, so they probably wouldn't be disrespectful to his sister. In the end, Lin Changning was highly regarded among the three of them, and their mother naturally trusted the two of them. Considering all this, Lin Changning was indeed a suitable candidate.
Yesterday, her performance in defending Shu'er at the banquet pleased her mother greatly. Moreover, the two are mutually in love, so her mother was naturally happy to grant her sister's wish.
When he pulled Lin Changning upstairs, Lin Changning refused, probably because she felt that she was not good enough for her younger sister. But when she heard the young master Shen speak rudely, she immediately stood up for her sister.
During the meal, he sensed something was amiss between the two. After seeing Lin's mother come in and observing Lin Changning's behavior throughout the day, Li Mingxiu felt that Lin Changning was deeply in love with his younger sister, and he became even more satisfied with Lin Changning.
The more Li Mingxiu thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. He imagined a grand drama where a commoner was in love with a princess, but because of his humble background, he could only bury his love in his heart. After getting engaged by chance, he only wanted to give the princess the best of himself.
Looking into Lin Changning's eyes, he couldn't help but become even more amiable.
Seeing Lin Changning walk over, he patted Lin Changning on the shoulder, looked up and sighed, saying, "You've had a hard time these past few days?"
Changning has always secretly loved her younger sister, but because of their mismatched family backgrounds, she can only hide her feelings in her heart, which is truly difficult for her.
Lin Changning blinked, looking at Li Mingxiu who seemed to understand, but was still a little confused.
He could only politely reply, "It's no trouble at all, it's my duty."
What's so difficult about shooting down a pair of geese? Since you promised the princess that you would get married and help each other out, isn't it only right to put on a show? The young master is acting strangely these days.
Qi Rong, riding his horse at the front, turned to look at Lin Changning and said, "Let's go. Try to get back by evening. The Commandery has a lot of things to do tomorrow, and we'll be busy."
Thinking of this, Lin Changning nodded. Indeed, he had been quite busy lately, and he would return as soon as possible. With that, he rode his horse ahead, following Qi Rong's chariot, preparing to leave the city.
Seeing the two riding off, Li Mingxiu hurriedly followed with Li Mingde, secretly complaining to himself that his second son had no sense of romance at all and was only concerned with official business.
The group spurred their horses and charged straight out of the city gate, heading towards the large lake outside the city. Lin Changning had sent his secret guards out of the city yesterday to scout the area, and they had already received information that there were many wild geese by the lake. Now that autumn was approaching, these geese would fly south when the weather got colder, and they would be harder to find then.
Therefore, Lin Changning took leave the next day so that he could hurry up and borrow a pair of betrothal geese for Li Mingshu before the wedding.
The group rode their horses to the lakeside. Some of the green reeds had already begun to turn slightly yellow, and unknown birds chirped and twittered on both sides of the lake.
The four stopped by the lake. Qi Rong squinted and looked into the distance. After a while, he turned to look at Lin Changning and said, "There should be wild geese in the reeds. I'll at least go over and startle them. Once they fly out, you can shoot an arrow."
Lin Changning nodded: "Okay, thank you, Second Brother."
After saying that, he spurred his horse toward the small earthen mound beside the reeds, trotting over. Qi Rong held his bow in one hand, rode his horse straight toward the reeds, and struck the reeds with his bow along the bank.
In an instant, a flock of unidentified small and large birds fluttered out from the reeds.
Lin Changning looked at the largest, snow-white bird, quickly drew his bow and nocked an arrow. After the arrow was released, there was a whooshing sound, and the snow-white bird fell directly into the reeds.
Two more arrows were fired, one hitting its mark squarely. A gray goose was pierced by the arrow, which pierced its wing and sent it tumbling into the reeds.
"Wow, I got it!"
When Li Mingxiu and Li Mingde saw Lin Changning hit the target, their eyes lit up. They quickly rode their horses towards the reeds. Li Mingxiu pointed to a spot and said to his personal guards, "Go and get that egret and the goose."
The guards received the order and quickly dismounted, wading through the muddy water of the shallows and searching among the reeds. Before long, they emerged carrying a wild goose covered in mud and a white egret, wading through the muddy water.
"Your Highness, we've retrieved it, but Lin Qianshi's arrow pierced right through the goose; it's unlikely to survive."
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