The laughter stopped abruptly. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory was trembling as he stood up, his reading glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose. "This, this." He leaned in to take a closer look at the chicken's butt, and suddenly the golden pheasant pecked at the back of his hand. "Ouch! This evil creature!"
The green parrot fluttered its wings and imitated: "Evil beast! Evil beast!" The prince coughed lightly, and the parrot immediately changed its tone: "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!" The emperor clapped his hands and laughed, and the tent became lively again.
Jiang Songyi presented the carved deer antlers: "Your servant borrows flowers to offer to the Buddha." The tip of the antler was engraved with "Mountains and Rivers Forever Solid," and the gaps were filled with gold powder. The emperor stroked the patterns and suddenly untied the jade pendant from his waist: "Reward!"
"Father!" Xin Yiwei was about to argue, but the Marquis of Yongding grabbed his shoulder and said, "Your Highness, try this deer penis soup!" The greasy earthenware bowl was thrust against his lips, choking him and causing him to step back. Qi Yingxiong tried to save the emperor, but Jiang Yihuan accidentally spilled hot wine on him.
Suddenly, thunder roared outside the tent, and torrential rain poured down. The emperor gazed at the gold dust on the deer's antlers and suddenly remembered the great victory in the northern border ten years ago. On that day, it was also raining heavily. Jiang Dinglian, covered in blood, brought back the enemy general's head and said, "I will earn my daughter a county lady!"
The green parrot jumped onto the antler rack and tilted its head to glance at the inscription: "Princess! Princess!" The emperor narrowed his eyes and said: "Issue an order to promote Princess Jiaqing to Princess, and grant her gold silk soft armor!"
The Marquis of Yongding's wine cup clanged to the ground. As Jiang Songyi prostrated herself in gratitude, she caught a glimpse of a blood-stained bandage peeking from the Crown Prince's sleeve. She suddenly remembered how that soft armor had shielded him from three poisonous arrows during the fall of the city in her previous life.
Xin Yiwei stumbled and fell to the table, the chicken neck in his hand already cold. Prince Feng came over, teasing the parrot: "Second brother, you phoenix." The pheasant suddenly twitched and kicked, spraying his face with chicken feathers.
The crackling bonfire inside the tent couldn't dispel the damp, cold, and sticky air brought by the sudden downpour. Xin Yiwei sat upright at the table, his face gloomy enough to drip with water in the flickering firelight. His knuckles gripped the wine glass, white as if he were about to shatter the thin porcelain.
Yang Weimin glanced at him sideways, with a hint of undisguised sarcasm on the corner of his mouth. His voice was neither too loud nor too low, just loud enough for the emperor on the throne to hear: "Calling a chicken a phoenix? Tsk tsk, you really are blind. Even if the Second Prince failed to hunt down the birds of prey and auspicious beasts, why bother to save face and just make people laugh?" These words were like a poisoned needle, piercing Xin Yiwei's chest and making it heave.
The emperor felt ashamed, with impatience on his brows. He waved his hand to signal the old eunuch beside him: "That's enough! I understand what the waiter is thinking." The old eunuch bent over and held a plate of steaming and fragrant venison, and quickly brought it to Xin Yiwei's table.
"Uncle Emperor!" A cheerful voice rang out, breaking the awkward silence. Su Sheng jumped up from his seat with a grin, clapping his hands twice. The curtains were immediately drawn back, and two guards, panting, carried in a sturdy sika deer, its antlers prominent and its body still stained with fresh blood and rain. "Although my nephew didn't get lucky like the younger sister of the Jiang family and hunt an auspicious elk, I did get you a beautiful one! Just look at its appearance!"
The emperor's frown relaxed instantly. He had always doted on the only son left by his elder sister. At this moment, he was even more delighted. He pointed at Su Sheng and scolded him with a smile: "You little bastard! With your archery skills, you deserve this! If you come back empty-handed, I will punish you with a good beating!" The atmosphere in the tent eased a little because of the emperor's joy.
Immediately afterwards, Jiang Yihuan stepped forward to present his gift. He had hunted a fierce boar, its tusks long and thick. Even in death, its massive body and grimacing wounds still exuded a savage ferocity. He had originally intended to hunt a phoenix, but after failing to do so, he had planned to return to search for Jiang Jinzhao and Jiang Songyi. However, he encountered Bai Linxi being pursued by the beast and dispatched him. After presenting his gift, he silently returned to his seat beside his father, Jiang Dinglian.
As a prominent official, Jiang Dinglian never left the emperor's side. Only now did he lower his voice and ask his second son, "Where are your elder brother and younger sister? Why aren't they there?" His tone was perceptibly anxious. It was summer in Mount Li, and the emperor was going hunting. He was supposed to take Jiang Songyi with him, but his attendants reported that she had gone into the mountains with Su Sheng, Jiang Jinzhao, and Jiang Yihuan. Thinking there was safety in numbers, he didn't send additional guards.
Jiang Yihuan was stunned upon hearing this, his sharp eyes quickly sweeping across the crowded tent. Sure enough, there was no Jiang Jinzhao's signature silver-streaked suit, nor Jiang Songyi's elegant skirt! A sense of foreboding gripped him. "They... haven't come back yet?" His voice betrayed a tension he wasn't even aware of.
Meanwhile, Su Sheng was craning his neck to search the banquet room when his heart suddenly sank—Where was Crown Prince Xinyi Daoyi?! His cousin, the prince who would collapse at the slightest whim and always had his medicine jar by his side, hadn't even returned! Outside, the rain was pouring down, the cold biting...
Su Sheng felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight up to his head! Although he was arrogant and domineering, and dared to be scornful to the princes and princesses, he was the only one who treated his cousin, the Crown Prince, like a man who was afraid of dropping him and holding him in his arms for fear of melting him! If anything happened to the Crown Prince... he couldn't even think about it! And Jiang Songyi, he had forced her to be under the Crown Prince's care!
Su Sheng's face turned pale and he quietly stood up, wanting to take advantage of the chaos to sneak out of the tent to look for someone.
"Cousin Su Sheng," a feminine and smiling voice entangled his steps like a poisonous snake, "where are you in such a hurry to go?" Xin Yiwei leaned against the table, looking at him leisurely, the candlelight casting dark shadows in his eyes.
Su Sheng suppressed his fear, stiffened his neck, and tried to appear relaxed: "Second cousin is so nosy! People have urgent needs, and you can't even let me go to the bathroom?"
"Oh?" Xin Yiwei drew out his tone, his smile deepened, with a hint of malice, "This prince thought that my cousin was in a hurry to find my brother the Crown Prince. After all, my cousin and the Crown Prince seemed to be on the same path in the forest today? Now my cousin has returned safely, but he didn't know that my brother the Crown Prince..." He paused deliberately, leaving endless reverie.
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