"Madam, please don't be rude." Xiao Yunchen said in a deep voice, turning his gaze to the Crown Prince, "My wife has a straightforward personality, I hope Your Highness will forgive her."
The prince looked unhappy and was about to say something.
But the Fourth Prince rode over to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, it's almost time. If we don't start now, we'll fall far behind everyone else."
He rode his horse closer to the palace, whispering and laughing, "My royal sister, you must work hard and try to capture your desired prey in one fell swoop."
The prince, who was closer to the two of them, vaguely heard their conversation. He looked at Li Nian with contempt and snorted.
Li Nian rolled her eyes in her heart: This is so confusing!
She jumped on her horse and followed the princess.
Soon after they entered the hunting ground, they encountered their first prey.
A gray rabbit jumped out from the bushes.
"There's prey!" someone whispered.
Li Nian immediately drew his bow and prepared to shoot an arrow, and heard a "whoosh" sound.
A black arrow shot down another golden arrow in mid-air, and then another arrow accurately pierced the gray rabbit's body.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the arrow in Li Nian's hand had not even been shot out.
The last arrow was shot out with a whoosh, but its accuracy was not very good and it hit the tree trunk next to the gray rabbit, and the tail of the arrow trembled.
There was a moment of silence at the scene.
Li Nian: ...She is such a newbie!
The Fourth Prince laughed "Hahaha" and said happily, "I will accept the first prey without hesitation."
The prince put away his longbow and said to the princess slowly and casually, "Thank you for giving in, my sister."
Wei Jiangsheng, who was beside the Crown Prince, glanced at the bow that Li Nian had just drawn and said sneerly, "Madam Crown Prince, you're so fast, I'm afraid it's like a rabbit running back to its nest. You haven't even shot the arrow yet, right?"
The servants who followed beside him ran to pick up the prey, and the silver arrow was still stained with blood.
Li Sisi was just jumping off her horse to retrieve her arrow.
Wei Jiangsheng sneered again, "Since you two ladies don't have the ability to shoot a volley, why not stay at home and embroider? Why come to the hunting ground to show off your skills and only add to the jokes?"
He smiled and looked at the prince: "Your Highness, don't you agree?"
The prince glanced at Xiao Yunchen and smiled, "Master Wei, why bother with two women?"
Li Sisi heard the contempt in his words and said angrily, "My accuracy may not be good, but at least I am honest and upright, unlike some people who stab others in the back."
Wei Jiangsheng: "How dare you! How dare you contradict His Royal Highness the Crown Prince like this!"
The prince laughed instead of getting angry, and pointed his whip at Li Sisi: "Second Madam, your mouth is more eloquent than your arrows."
The princess spoke at the right moment, "I think what the Second Madam said makes sense." She smiled easily and carefreely, "I think we should split up. After all, if too many of us gather together, we might scare off any prey with the sound of our horses' hooves."
The Fourth Prince smiled and continued, "Your Majesty, my sister is absolutely right. How about this? We split into three groups. My brother the Crown Prince and Lord Wei go one way, Lord Xiao and your wife go one way, and I will go with my sister and the Crown Prince's wife. How do you think that is?"
Wei Jiangsheng glanced at the prince.
The latter said with a half-smile, "Fourth brother will make arrangements, but I want to see how the upright Second Madam hunts."
Xiao Yunchen frowned and was about to speak, but Li Sisi spoke first.
"If His Royal Highness wants to see it, I will do my best. However, I am not a good archer, so please don't blame me if I scare the prey away."
Wei Jiangsheng shouted angrily, "Master Xiao should discipline his wife before letting her go. What is the punishment for being so arrogant and disrespectful in front of the Crown Prince and defying the royal majesty?"
Xiao Yunchen said in a deep voice, "Master Wei, you are wrong. My wife was only speaking the truth, how could she be said to be disrespecting the royal family? On the contrary, Master Wei has repeatedly targeted the women in the family. Could it be that he thinks my Xiao family is easy to bully?"
The prince suddenly chuckled, "Why are you so angry, Lord Xiao? Wei Qing is also thinking about me."
He looked at Li Sisi meaningfully. "But Second Madam is quite the talker. That 'backstabbing' thing she just said... I'm very curious, who was she referring to?"
Li Nian calmly approached Li Sisi and said respectfully with a faint smile, "Your Highness, you are overthinking it. Sisi is a straightforward person and what she said was just common sense in hunting."
She pointed at the fallen golden-scale arrow on the ground and said, "Arrows have no sight, so it's easy to accidentally hit someone."
Wei Jiangsheng shouted sternly, "How dare you! Are you hinting at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."
"Wei Jiangsheng!" The princess suddenly interrupted him, whipping her whip. "We're here for hunting today, not to listen to your yelling!"
She turned to look at the prince: "Brother, don't you agree?"
The prince's eyes were filled with coldness.
However, the Fourth Prince also started to persuade her: "My sister is right. The Second Madam speaks her mind directly and has absolutely no other intentions."
The Fourth Prince laughed out loud, "My Royal Brother is a very magnanimous person. How could he bother with a woman?"
The prince was so embarrassed by what the two said that he couldn't pursue the matter any further and snorted coldly.
"I naturally disdain to argue, but..." He changed the subject, "Lord Xiao is an important official of the court, yet your family is so ignorant of the rules. If you manage your family like this, how can I be convinced of your ability as an official?"
Xiao Yunchen's expression didn't change much at his words. He just calmly replied, "Your Highness is right. I do have many shortcomings and need to learn."
Seeing this, Li Sisi clenched her fingers holding the arrow tightly and her face was tense.
Suppressing the resentment in her heart, she said, "It's my fault for speaking without restraint. It has nothing to do with my husband."
The Fourth Prince interrupted loudly: "Alright, it's not a big deal, just talk it out."
The princess echoed, "It's past noon. If we delay any longer, we might not even catch a single pheasant today. Losing isn't shameful, but returning empty-handed would be a laughingstock."
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