Chapter 98 (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)
The woods and mounds are uneven, and the trees are arranged in a pleasingly varied manner.
Deep in the dense forest, two chestnut horses were grazing on grass that had not yet turned yellow.
The queen's group of men who had ventured into the forest had already gone far away in pursuit of their prey.
Lin Nianzang looked at the person on horseback beside him and whispered, "There are too many autumn hunters. It's not easy to handle. Why don't we wait until we get back?"
The other party toyed with the whip in his hand, his eyes showing no sign of backing down, but rather a determined gleam. "Wrong, more people are better, after all... it's easier to fish in troubled waters."
Lin Nianzang opened her mouth. There were many people today, but most of them were imperial guards. If she made any move, she would not escape the eyes of so many people, and she would definitely be implicated.
"But what if we're discovered..."
The woman glanced at Lin Nianzang and said disdainfully, "If you don't tell, who will know? You're so timid and cowardly, just like your good-for-nothing father. Let's go, follow him."
Lin Nianzang was interrupted before he could finish speaking, and the other party spurred his horse and followed in the direction the Empress and her entourage had gone.
Lin Nianzang gripped the reins tightly, pursed his lips, and followed.
--
After riding away, Zhao Xian looked back several times, but found nothing amiss, thinking she was just being paranoid.
"I haven't moved for many years, I'm getting old, and I feel tired after riding for a short while. We've gone quite far, so I'll rest for a while."
About half an hour after entering the forest, the Empress gave her speech.
Thinking back to my younger days, I never felt tired riding a horse. Now, I'm not as carefree as I was back then.
Upon hearing this, everyone dismounted.
“Even the mighty horse needs to catch its breath while galloping tirelessly, let alone a phoenix in its body.” Cui Tingyue served tea at the right moment.
Zhao Xian felt a bit disoriented from the jolting. She hadn't ridden a horse for many years and always traveled by carriage. She had only trained for a period of time for the autumn hunt. At home, the roads were always flat, regardless of the speed of the horses, and were nothing like the bumpy roads in the mountains.
The servants quickly arranged the things, and Zhao Xian sat down next to the Empress. Even after sitting down, she could still feel the jolt of the jolting.
Fortunately, we were out hunting and playing, not running for our lives, so we had time to catch our breath.
The servants who followed served tea and snacks, and the scenery in the woods was quite pleasant.
roar--
Suddenly, a roar came, sounding more like a wild beast than a human voice.
The sound was quite far away, so I couldn't tell what animal it was.
Cui Tingyue suddenly looked up, "W-what was that sound?"
The guards became alert.
The Empress handed the cup in her hand to Qi An, who was standing beside her, and stood up. "It seems someone has run into something big. Let's go and join in the fun."
Without lingering, the group climbed back onto their horses and headed in the direction from which the sound came.
The closer we got on horseback, the louder the noise became.
Zhao Xian vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
Woohoo—
roar--
"Over here, over here..."
"Loose the arrows! Loose the arrows, quick..."
...
Besides the shouts, there were also the neighing of horses and human voices, but it was too noisy to understand what was being said.
Zhao Xian frowned slightly. There were many prey released today, and she had taken a quick look at them. The largest one seemed to be a deer, but none of them were ferocious beasts.
The sounds were like the roars of large wild animals, such as bears or tigers.
"Your Majesty, this voice sounds off."
Zhao Xian tried to speak to stop them, but the sound of horses riding around her was too loud and drowned out her voice.
For some reason, she felt very flustered at this moment. Didn't Jiang Liangxu say that there were very few animals to hunt here? There shouldn't be any large wild beasts left, or if there were, they should be in the mountains further inside.
However, the Empress did not hear Zhao Xian's words. Instead, she became even more energetic and whipped the horse to go faster.
The closer you get, the clearer the sound becomes.
roar--
Awooo—
A series of sounds rang out, along with the cacophony of voices.
The horses were fast, and before long, the group climbed a long slope, which led to a hilltop, and then down a slope. The source of the sounds was at the bottom of that slope.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty? Your Majesty, please leave quickly, it's dangerous."
Just as they reached the top of the slope, a group of people suddenly appeared and headed in their direction. The minister in the lead saw the empress and waved his hand in a panic to stop them.
As someone suddenly appeared, the Empress tightened the reins and looked at the two elderly ministers, who were being helped up and panting, and asked, "What happened?"
"Your Majesty, please dismount and do not proceed any further."
Another minister chimed in, "Yes, we must not ride any further."
Once they reached the top of the slope, everyone noticed the horses' restlessness. The Queen didn't say anything, dismounted, and walked forward with her whip in hand, asking as she went, "What prey have you spotted?"
"A bear, a huge bear, it pounces and bites anyone it sees!"
As he spoke, the two ministers and their attendants made way for him.
No one dared to stop the Empress, who was so imposing.
The queen wasn't too surprised to hear about the bear, but her brows furrowed when she saw the scene below.
A group of people were attacking a black bear. Even though they were quite far away, they could still tell that the black bear was tall and strong.
Humans and wild animals attacked each other, and many imperial guards and soldiers were injured due to the bites and attacks of the wild animals.
roar--
"Over there, over there we've spotted another wild animal, a wild boar with long tusks, and it's enormous, no less impressive than this bear."
One of the ministers pointed in a direction; he was from that direction. He could hunt on ordinary days, but the wild beasts that appeared were too ferocious, and his old bones dared not approach them.
The empress lifted her foot and walked in the direction the minister pointed.
The sound wasn't too far away, so the group quickly spotted a wild boar that was no less formidable than a bear. One of its tusks was sharp, while the other was broken in half, making it look exceptionally ferocious.
There are also quite a few people who hunt and kill wild boars.
Zhao Xianxin was on the verge of tears. She had only ever seen bears and wild boars in zoos, and they were always very docile. She had never seen them so aggressive before, and because they had attacked people, there was even red blood on the corner of their mouths.
Cui Tingyue held Zhao Xian's hand, her body trembling slightly: "Mother, these wild beasts are not right."
She had once seen a wild boar that had gone mad. She was very young then and was so frightened that she cried. From then on, she had been afraid of this beast.
Zhao Xian held Cui Tingyue's hand, and although they were far apart, the mother and daughter still tried their best to stand behind the guards.
Zhao Xian had never encountered such a ferocious beast. Even when she was sent out on assignment with Jiang Liangxu, she would occasionally hear about someone hunting wild boars or tigers, but all she ever saw were lifeless corpses.
Cui Tingyue wasn't the only one who noticed something amiss with the wild beasts; all the guards stood protectively in front of the Empress and ministers, maintaining a high level of vigilance.
The Empress glanced around and asked the two ministers, "Where is His Majesty?"
She saw several princes hovering around the wild beast, eager to attack, but the Emperor was nowhere to be seen.
The two ministers looked at each other, and one of them said, "Your Majesty, after I followed His Majesty up the mountain, I fell due to exhaustion and was separated from His Majesty."
Both ministers were old and weak, and when they saw the ferocious beasts come out, they dared not go forward.
Upon hearing this, the Empress's expression darkened slightly, and she immediately ordered someone to find the Emperor.
The surrounding noise was constant, a chaotic mix of the roars of wild beasts, the shouts of soldiers trying to boost morale, and screams of agony.
No sooner had the guards who had gone to investigate left than fireworks suddenly exploded in the sky, the sound of which could be seen even in broad daylight.
"It's a distress signal."
"It's His Majesty, it's His Majesty..."
Everyone recognized the unique signal firework.
"Guards, escort the two gentlemen down the mountain immediately."
Before the two ministers could speak, the Empress continued, "I would like to trouble you two to arrange for people to rush up the mountain to meet everyone after you descend the mountain, and also to arrange for soldiers to protect the women and relatives at the foot of the mountain during their evacuation. We must set up a perimeter around the area and make sure these beasts do not leave Shanglin Garden and harm the people."
Upon hearing this, the two ministers swallowed their words of wanting to stay and protect the emperor, and immediately agreed: "Your subject obeys the decree."
Upon seeing the signal fireworks rise, hunters scattered elsewhere rushed towards them.
The emperor arranged for guards to escort the ministers down the mountain, and the empress, along with the remaining guards, headed towards the place where the fireworks had been set off.
The explosion of the signal fireworks not only startled people, but also the black bears and wild boars below.
Zhao Xian carefully recalled the plot. Could it be that the emperor's accident in the book was due to encountering an unexpected wild beast?
Unfortunately, the matters concerning the autumn hunt were all about emotional entanglements and the suffering of the female protagonist in a tragic novel, with no details about the emperor's misfortune.
At this time, the soldiers should have gone down the mountain, as there were many troops stationed at the training ground, but the Emperor sent out a signal.
During this hunt, those who followed her were only allowed to bring a limited number of guards, and the soldiers would not obey her orders, so staying by the Empress's side was the best option.
--
Lin Niancang's mind wasn't on the group of people in front of her; instead, she wanted to leave as soon as possible. However, the woman beside her held her wrist tightly, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and whisper, "We can't go. There must be something more terrifying than bears and wild boars over there."
The emperor is surrounded by the most people, and if the emperor still needs to send a signal for help, he must be in big trouble.
Moreover, the Empress was surrounded by people, so getting close to Lady Jiang would be extremely difficult.
She came out without any guards; if they encountered wild beasts, they would be the ones to die.
With a slap, Lin Niancang's face was turned to the side, and a handprint immediately appeared on his face.
The woman's eyes were full of disdain for Lin Nianzang. "You good-for-nothing, always so timid and cowardly."
After saying that, he continued walking forward, not forgetting to pull Lin Nianzang along with him.
They had initially followed a distance behind the Empress and others, partly out of fear of being discovered.
But as they walked, the two of them almost caught up with the person in front of them.
"Wait." Lin Nianzang grabbed the person and hid behind the bushes.
She noticed that the group of people ahead of her had slowed down.
After waiting for a while, Lin Nianzang noticed that the Empress and her entourage had stopped.
He wondered, why did they stop walking?
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