Lanqin had heard the story of the Nine-Colored Deer since she was a child. When she saw the Fourth Master and his servants surrounding a deer she had never seen before, she really wanted to stop them.
The deer had pale yellow fur that was quite close to white. The spots on its fur were larger and more scattered than those of a typical sika deer. Its antlers were shaped like tree branches, and its eyes, hidden behind long eyelashes, blinked beautifully.
When the Fourth Master raised his bow and shot an ordinary mountain bird, she didn't feel much; she just thought there were so many birds like that that shooting a few wouldn't hurt. But when she saw this mountain deer with beautiful antlers, she immediately felt sorry for it.
They are all life, all living beings, so why do people naturally differentiate between them in their hearts?
"Master, can we keep it?" Lanqin suddenly shouted from across the crowd.
The deer was surrounded by the crowd and clearly couldn't escape. Its adorable deer eyes, hidden beneath long eyelashes, seemed to hold traces of tears.
Upon hearing Lanqin's words, everyone froze, staring intently at Fourth Master's reaction.
Fourth Prince looked at Lanqin with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself: This little princess really knows how to cause trouble.
"We're here to hunt," Fourth Master said, waiting for Lanqin to explain why she had called a halt.
"My lord, this deer looks a bit different from ordinary deer. Perhaps it belongs to a species that is on the verge of extinction. Why don't you capture it and present it to Consort De? I just remembered that Consort De's birthday is coming soon." In her haste, Lanqin suddenly remembered the consort in Yonghe Palace who had pointed her out to her.
After hearing her say that, the Fourth Master's expression changed, and he thought it was a good idea.
In the past, sending birthday gifts always required considerable thought. Gifts were given year after year, and each year had to be different, which truly demanded careful consideration. Now, Consort De, who oversaw the affairs of the palace and had two princes, was no longer the lowly maidservant who served tea and water. Rare treasures no longer moved her. Last year, the Fourth Prince sent a painting of a hundred longevity characters, a single "longevity" character written in over ten different scripts—Han, Manchu, bronze script, seal script, cursive script, and running script—truly a labor of love from the Fourth Prince. Consort De was deeply moved, but when the Fourteenth Prince presented a white jade sculpture of the Eight Immortals, the Fourth Prince's gift instantly paled in comparison. Although the Fourth Prince was now an adult, he still harbored a complex mix of love and resentment towards Consort De.
"I've heard that deer symbolize longevity and good fortune. Moreover, this deer resembles a white deer, which is quite rare. Your Highness, let's capture it and present it to Consort De to express your filial piety and blessings to her," Lanqin quickly continued, seeing that the Fourth Prince was already interested.
The Fourth Prince's lips curled into a smile as he shouted at the servants, "Did you hear me? Capture this deer alive. Don't hurt it."
The servants brought out nets and lassos, circling around the beautiful "white deer," none of them confident they could catch it without harming it. "Whoever catches it will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver," Fourth Master added. The more he thought about it, the better Lanqin's idea seemed, as it solved a problem that had been weighing on his mind.
People die for wealth, birds die for food. Spurred by the bounty, several daring and burly men approached the white deer. Although deer are herbivores, their sharp antlers, when they become aggressive, can pierce a wolf's belly.
Someone started hitting the deer's rump and legs with long sticks. The "white deer" reacted very quickly and excitedly. Whenever someone hit it, it would immediately turn its sharp antlers around to face that direction.
In this situation, it would be really difficult to avoid harming the white deer in the slightest. Therefore, the several burly men simply circled around it, hesitant to make a move.
"Blindfold it with a cloth." Fourth Master snatched a flag from a servant's hand and threw it at the person who reacted the fastest.
The burly man suddenly threw the flag at the head of the "White Deer," and the White Deer, suddenly unable to see anything, immediately lost its footing and began to spin in place.
The group exchanged cooperative glances, and then suddenly more than a dozen people pounced on Bai Lu, some grabbing her head and others her legs, instantly pinning her down so she couldn't move.
"Tie it up quickly, tie it up quickly!" Another flurry of activity ensued.
Lanqin rode her horse to the Fourth Master's side and watched as they tied up the rare "white deer," but she didn't know how to carry such a living creature back.
Fourth Master pondered for a moment and said, "You few, hurry back to the manor and find a cart and a cage. We'll stay here and guard it."
Upon receiving the order, the men immediately rode their horses back to retrieve the carriage.
By this time, Lanqin had already dismounted. She walked up to the "White Deer," removed the foreign flag covering its head, and had someone cut some grass to put near the White Deer's mouth.
Fourth Master raised his hand to look at the pocket watch in his hand. It was already late afternoon, but the cart carrying the deer had not yet arrived.
Just then, the silent forest was suddenly filled with the sound of several alarm flares, followed by several smoke bombs carrying sparks flying into the sky.
Lanqin looked up at the wisps of colored smoke and suddenly had a bad feeling: Had she really encountered some ferocious beast?!
Before she could ask, she saw the hem of the Fourth Master's sapphire blue robe fluttering in the evening breeze, and his slightly gloomy face was now furrowed with worry.
"You all stay here and wait for the car to arrive, and protect Princess Niu's safety." After saying this, Fourth Master pointed to several burly men and said, "You guys come with me to see what's going on over there!" Before Lanqin could react, he turned his horse around and galloped quickly toward the direction where the alarm flare had been fired.
Lanqin couldn't help but stand up and shout at his retreating figure, "Master, be careful!!"
These words drifted on the wind, and it's unknown whether they reached Fourth Master's ears.
About fifteen minutes later, the person who went back to get the car finally arrived.
Lanqin directed them to put the captured white deer into cages and then load them onto the cart. While doing this, Lanqin kept wondering about the situation on Fourth Master's side—who had fired that alarm flare?
At this moment, a burly man who appeared to be the leader respectfully said to Lanqin, "Princess Niu, please come back to the estate with this servant."
Lanqin looked at him, then at the white deer, and said to the man, "The white deer has been captured, so we don't need so many escorts. You should send a few people to escort it to the manor. We should hurry to help Prince Beile!"
The burly man leading the group straightened up, nodded solemnly to Lanqin, and said in a gruff voice, "Yes, Your Highness. However, please go back with the people escorting the white deer first. We servants will go to assist Prince immediately."
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