hunting
On this day, an urgent report came from eight hundred miles away: Yue Fei had recovered the six counties of Xiangyang. Zhao Gou was in unprecedented high spirits. Since he met Liang Hongyu, he had been chased by the Jin soldiers and was either on the run or on the way to escape. Now, after hearing the report of the great victory on the front line, he felt that he was a dignified emperor.
Ever since the founding of the Southern Song Dynasty in Yingtian Prefecture following the Jingkang Incident, he had lived in constant fear, never finding a moment's peace. Dubbed the "Escaped Emperor," he offered no thought of resistance. Having seen his father and brother captured and taken north, his courage had been completely eroded by the fear of the Jin invaders and the journey of escape. He considered himself fortunate to have been able to hold onto the half of the empire left by Emperor Taizong, and no longer harbored any illusions about recovering lost territory.
Now, he was surrounded by brave generals like Han Yanzhong and Yue Fei, and the Jin army dared not easily penetrate the heart of the Song Dynasty. Perhaps everything was still unknown. He was still the supreme emperor, not to be underestimated. He wanted to share the good news of the victory on the front line with only his beloved concubine.
"Eunuch Gao, send someone to pick up Concubine Xuan and Concubine Lian to go hunting in Deer Park." Eunuch Gao was surprised and asked, "Just you and Concubine Xuan?"
"That's right, why don't you arrange it quickly?" Zhao Gou urged.
Eunuch Gao said hurriedly: "Okay, okay, I will arrange for the Imperial Guards to go and prepare."
After a short pause, the carriage going to pick up Concubine Xuan had stopped outside Qingyi Palace, and the eunuch sent by Eunuch Gao stepped forward to report.
Liang Hongyu didn't know why the emperor had only allowed her to go hunting with him. Although she hadn't been in the palace before, she had heard that hunting was an annual event for the royal family, requiring the participation of all civil and military officials and the royal family. Officials could also bring their families. But the emperor had allowed her to go alone this time, which would surely attract criticism.
Despite thinking so, she still changed into a formal dress, took her bow and arrow, and got on a carriage parked outside the hall, while Mian You and Qiu Feng got on another carriage.
As soon as Liang Hongyu got on the carriage, she saw the emperor looking at her with a smile. She hurriedly bowed. Zhao Gou stepped forward, supported her and let her sit down.
She secretly glanced at the official and saw that he was wearing a green robe with armor on the sleeves and wrists, a golden belt, and his hair was tied up with a jade crown. Although he was dressed in an ordinary way, it made his face look like a jade and his demeanor extraordinary.
She was the first to break the silence in the car and asked, "The emperor seems to be in a good mood today. I wonder if something good has happened?"
Zhao Gou wanted her to ask him, so he said excitedly: "Yue Fei has recovered the six counties of Xiangyang for me. I am naturally very happy. I know that my beloved concubine likes hunting, so I want to go hunting with her in the Deer Park."
Liang Hongyu had already received the news from her own spies. She feigned surprise and said, "Oh? Such good news! Your Majesty, I congratulate you. The current situation is very good. I wonder if you intend to launch a northern expedition to recover the lost territory?"
Zhao Gou didn't expect her to be so direct. He frowned slightly, paused, and said, "Recovering our homeland is no easy task. Yue Fei has repeatedly petitioned for a Northern Expedition, and I don't know how to respond. The national treasury has been emptied by the Jin. In my opinion, we should rest and recuperate for a few years before de-escalating the Northern Expedition."
Liang Jiangyu advised, "The people are all heartbroken over the loss of their homeland. A Northern Expedition now is exactly what they want. If the people have settled in the south, then if we talk about a Northern Expedition then, they will have long since forgotten their homeland and will have no desire to move forward. As for the treasury's deficit, I suggest that we transport our Great Song's tea, silk, and other goods along the coastal routes to Persia and other countries for sale, which will also replenish the treasury!"
Zhao Gou was displeased when he heard this, so he frowned and said, "My beloved concubine, do you mean that I am so happy that I don't miss Shu?"
Liang Jiangyu pretended to be panicked and said, "I dare not, but as the emperor's woman, I should be more considerate of him."
When Zhao Gou heard the words "the official's woman," he couldn't help but feel delighted. The slight unhappiness he had just felt disappeared. "My beloved, this is a great idea. I will send people to transport these items to other countries today. When the national treasury is full, it will be the day for my northern expedition."
Liang Hongyu smiled and said, "I wish you a successful Northern Expedition and the recovery of our homeland."
Zhao Gou's heart surged with excitement upon hearing this. If he could recover his homeland during his reign, what a magnificent achievement that would be. Encouraged by Liang Yu, he, who had never dared to hope for such a thing before, even hoped that day would come sooner rather than later.
The carriage quickly arrived at the Deer Park and stopped in an open area. Eunuch Gao asked several eunuchs accompanying him to lead the horses over.
After Zhao Gou and Liang Hongyu got off the car, they carried their bows and crossbows and rode forward. Several guards also followed on horseback, and Eunuch Gao followed in a carriage.
It was early autumn, and the maple forest was dyed red and yellow. The red and yellow leaves looked like burning flames in the breeze. The falling maple leaves were like a thick carpet spread on the road. When the horses' hooves stepped on them, they made rustling sounds, like the humming of autumn insects.
Zhao Gou looked at Liang Jiangyu beside him. She had red lips and white teeth, long hair like a waterfall, and was wearing a river dress. In this autumn day, she was like a blood-red peony in full bloom, making people unable to take their eyes off her.
The thought of this beautiful woman beside him as his woman filled Zhao Gou's heart with joy. With her by his side, the days of fear and anxiety on the road to escape, the times of being criticized and ridiculed by the world, and the humiliation of having to compromise with the Jin people seemed to have all gone away.
At this moment, he suddenly wanted to be an emperor that he could look up to, no, it should be a man that she could look up to, a powerful backer behind her.
They rode side by side along the golden trail strewn with fallen leaves until they reached an open area, reined in their horses, and stopped. Zhao Gou turned to Liang Jiangyu and said, "My dear, let's hunt here!"
Liang Jiangyu nodded and said, "Okay!"
Zhao Gou glanced at her sideways, raised his eyebrows and said, "My beloved, would you like to compete with me?"
"How do we compete?" Liang Jiangyu became interested when he heard that.
"Whoever hunts the most prey today will grant the other person one request."
Zhao Gou thought to himself: If I ask her to make a promise to me in the name of hunting, and then ask her to have physical intimacy, she shouldn't have any objection. Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth rose slightly unconsciously.
Liang Jiangyu watched the corners of Zhao Gou's lips curl slightly as he spoke, momentarily stunned, then immediately understood his thoughts. During the years she spent as a courtesan in Jingkou, she spent all day dealing with all kinds of men. Even if she wasn't a traitor to them, she could still tell from their expressions what they were thinking.
"That depends on whether the emperor can win this competition!" Liang Jiangyun whipped his horse whip and rode away, his horse's hooves stirring up layers of fallen leaves on the ground.
She had been practicing martial arts since she was young, and her archery was particularly impressive, even hitting an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away. She wanted to see if Zhao Gou, who had once bravely entered the Jin camp and shot through a flock of south-flying geese with a single arrow, leaving Wanyan Zongbihan stunned, was as brave now as he was in his youth.
Zhao Gou saw Liang Jiangyu's back, which had already gone far away, and immediately rode his horse to catch up with her, shouting after her: "My beloved concubine, even if you go ahead, you can't defeat me."
Upon hearing this, Liang Jiangyu turned around and said, "Your Majesty, you are looking down on me too much."
The afterglow of the falling wind has poured onto the road, outlining layers of golden edges on the fallen leaves on the road. From a distance, the ground looks like a sea of gold.
As the sun was setting in the west and about to sink behind the mountain, Eunuch Rong paced back and forth anxiously, but he did not see any figure. He sent two groups of guards to accompany the emperor and Concubine Xuan to hunt, and they should have returned by now. He looked into the woods frequently, but did not see any figure.
Jinxiu, who was waiting in the carriage, couldn't help but become anxious.
Jinxiu lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the place where they disappeared, and said anxiously, "Why haven't they returned by this hour? Is there something wrong?"
Qiu Feng, who was resting with her eyes closed in the carriage, slowly opened them and said to Jin Xiu, "You crow's mouth! With that young lady's skills, what could possibly have happened? She must have been having so much fun in there that she forgot the time."
"If that's the case, it doesn't hurt for us to wait a little longer and let the girl have more fun." Jinxiu lowered the curtain and said.
At this time, a pair of people and horses appeared in the woods. The one riding a tall horse and walking in front of the team was the official.
Eunuch Rong hurried forward and said, "My lord, you are finally back. I was so worried about you."
Zhao Gou dismounted, handed the reins to the guards beside him, and asked them to put all the prey on the ground.
Eunuch Rong counted the prey: two hares, a wild boar, and a sika deer. After he finished, he said, "Your Highness has had a good harvest today! I'm sure you'll be able to defeat Concubine Xuan today."
Zhao Gou was delighted when he heard this, "I hope so."
Jinxiu and Qiufeng heard that the emperor had returned from hunting, so they got off the carriage and walked towards this side.
The two men bowed to Zhao Gou, and Jinxiu asked, "Didn't the emperor come with Empress Xuan?"
Zhao Gou looked around and asked Eunuch Rong, "Has Concubine Xuan not returned yet?"
Eunuch Rong shook his head.
Zhao Gou felt something was wrong, so he snatched the reins from the guard next to him, jumped onto the horse's back, and rode away.
Everyone was still in a daze, and Eunuch Rong shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Go and chase them."
The guards who came back with Zhao Gou then mounted their horses and chased after them. Qiu Feng snatched a horse from a guard and also rode after them.
When Zhao Gou reached a fork in the road, he stopped. He remembered that he and Liang Hongyu had split up here to go hunting, so he rode his horse towards the fork in the road Liang Hongyu had taken.
Not far ahead, he saw Liang Hongyu, dressed in red, resting under a big tree.
Liang Hongyu leaned against a tree, her eyes tightly closed, hoping to relieve the pain from the trap that had caught her ankle while she was chasing prey. As she closed her eyes and concentrated, she heard a voice from above her head: "I am still worried about you, but my beloved concubine is slacking off here."
Liang Hongyu opened her eyes and met Zhao Gou's gaze as he leaned over her. She hurriedly stood up and saluted, but she forgot about her foot injury. The moment she stood up, she felt a piercing pain in her ankle and she staggered and almost fell to the ground.
Zhao Gou then realized that she was injured. He hurried forward to support her body as she was about to fall and asked her, "Where are you hurt?"
Liang Hongyu replied, "My ankle was caught in a trap."
"Animal traps?" Zhao Gou scolded the guards beside him, "Where did these animal traps come from in the Royal Deer Park?"
The guard knelt in fear and said, "There has been war for years, and this royal deer park has been left unattended, so it has naturally become quite derelict. Perhaps it was left there by a nearby hunter."
The guards knew that Concubine Xuan was injured, which made the emperor furious, so they hurriedly said, "I will take people to clean up the Deer Garden right away." After that, they took a few guards to clean up.
Zhao Gou carried Liang Hongyu onto the horse's back, then he climbed onto the horse and rode the same horse with her.
On the way back, Zhao Gou did not ride his horse forward. It was a rare moment of intimacy with her. He just wanted time to pass slowly. The horse's hooves stepped on the thick fallen leaves, and he could only hear the rustling sound of the horse's hooves and the sound of his own heartbeat.
Liang Hongyu rode in front of Zhao Gou, and the sound of Zhao Gou's breathing in her ears was even and long. This action was too ambiguous, and her whole body stiffened unconsciously. She just wanted to reach the destination quickly, but Zhao Gou seemed to be enjoying the present time. She clearly felt that he deliberately slowed down his pace.
Qiu Feng had already caught up, and upon seeing what was happening, she tactfully turned her horse around and rode back. The guards, confused as to what was going on, pulled up their horses and were about to ask when they heard Qiu Feng shout, "The Emperor has found Concubine Xuan. You will return with me."
Upon hearing this, the guards immediately turned their horses around and returned the same way.
Eunuch Rong saw the Emperor and Concubine Xuan riding the same horse from afar, and his heart finally settled down.
Everyone watched as Zhao Gou dismounted from his horse, carried Concubine Xuan off the horse's back, and carried her into the carriage.
Zhao Gou tore off a corner of his robe and bandaged Liang Hongyu's wound himself. Only then did Eunuch Rong shout, "Let's go back to the palace."
Jinxiu asked Qiufeng in the carriage, "When did the young lady become so close to the emperor? They even ride on the same horse. Judging from the situation today, the emperor really cares about our young lady."
"The heart of an emperor is unpredictable, so don't expect too much." Qiu Feng curled the corners of her lips and said lightly.
"But it's impossible for our girl to be with General Han. She is favored by the emperor in the palace, so her life will naturally be easier in the future."
"There are many people in the palace, so don't say too much." Qiu Feng carefully lifted the curtain. Fortunately, no one approached the carriage and the coachman didn't seem to hear it.
Jinxiu knew she had said the wrong thing, so she stuck out her tongue and said no more. The two of them didn't speak again along the way.
When Qiu Feng saw the girl and Zhao Gou riding on the same horse today, she suddenly thought of Asen. She wondered how he was doing now. Since he was the only son of the leader of the Qingcheng Gang, he must be living a good life.
She still remembered that day when Asen said goodbye to them, she chased him for a long distance until she caught up with him.
Asen didn't know why she came, so he asked suspiciously, "Qiu Feng, why are you here? Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
In Asen's heart, there was only the girl, but there was no place for her. When she heard this, she felt bitter in her heart. She knew that this departure might be a farewell forever. Even if he didn't like her, she would tell him what was hidden in her heart.
"Asen, do you know? I...I have liked you for a long time." She finally plucked up the courage to say this. The sentence was short, but it took great courage to say it.
Asen was stunned at first, then he said: "Qiu Feng, you are a good girl, but you know, I like girls. Even if she likes someone else, I still can't let her go. Some people only appear in your life once, and you are destined to never forget her in this life."
Asen seemed to be speaking to himself. Without waiting for Qiu Feng to say anything else, he rode away, leaving behind only one sentence: "I'm leaving. You'll regret it someday!"
What Qiu Feng wanted to say was: "I will never forget you in this life."
But even if she said it, the young man might not even look at him. If he knew that the girl did not marry Han Shizhong, but entered the palace and became the emperor's woman, I wonder what he would think.
While he was thinking, the carriage had already arrived at the palace gate.
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