Lin Qingse slowly recounted: "The desert sand is like snow, and the moon over Yanshan is like a hook. The beauty of the Northwest is different from that of the Central Plains. There, the sand is sand and the green is green, and they are not connected. The edges are clear, and the beauty hides a deadly danger. I have personally witnessed the endless sand swallowing up a prey the size of an ox in less than half an incense stick's time. The prey had no ability to struggle at all."
Listening to his introduction, Tao Su and the others also felt a surge of curiosity and awe for the Northwest.
Qingyin nodded in agreement. It seemed that Lin Qingse had suffered quite a bit over there. Just crossing the desert was dangerous enough, let alone returning to the capital for the imperial examinations.
Qingyin and Lin Qingse chatted happily, but Tao Su and the others, who had just begun to admire and like Lin Qingse, glared at her again. If looks could kill, Lin Qingse would have been dead dozens of times over by now.
The winter hunting season here is also coming to an end.
The princes and the hunting men returned to their encampment with their satisfactory prey, ready to be examined by Emperor Kangxi.
Yinxiang was unlucky and didn't find any large prey. The number of prey he caught was also mediocre. He had originally wanted to catch a small rabbit or a fox as a gift for his younger sister to cheer her up, but after running around so many places, he couldn't find a single pet that looked even remotely good. Apart from half-grown wild boars and plump pheasants, Yinxiang was extremely frustrated.
Riding his horse, he quickly spotted a familiar figure ahead, along with a particularly irritating young man. His mental radar went off automatically, and although he seemed to ride over casually, the speed of his horse betrayed his anxiety.
"Ke'er, what are you doing here?"
Qingyin exclaimed in delight, "Brother, I've come out for a stroll!"
Looking at the snow-white fox in front of his sister, it seemed someone had beaten him to it. He gritted his teeth and said, "Oh, what's Lord Lin doing here? Staying in the outskirts won't get you any prey. This won't do, Lord Lin."
Facing Qingyin's biological brother, Lin Qingse politely bowed first before explaining, "Thirteenth Prince, you are overthinking it. I just followed a fox to this place in the inner circle and happened to meet the princess. My family doesn't have anyone to take care of foxes, so I can only ask the princess to help raise them. I hope this will help the princess resolve some of her doubts."
Yinxiang chuckled, "Really? Thank you very much, Lord Lin."
Despite the undercurrents between the two, Qingyin remained oblivious and decided to return. She had the guard leading her horse slowly lead it back, her movements leisurely and carefree.
Without the main character, the two, who couldn't argue anymore, had no choice but to follow along, no longer continuing their previous undercurrents.
Kangxi was lucky and happened to encounter the largest prey in the group—a bear. It took him a lot of effort to subdue the bear, and its huge shadow immediately enveloped all the prey, big and small. Everyone could tell at a glance that the emperor was the one at the top of the list.
An excited and happy expression appeared on his face, but he froze when he saw several figures approaching from a distance. In the middle was his most beloved daughter, on the other side was Lin Qingse, the Left Vice Minister whom he admired the most, and on the other side was his good-for-nothing son, Yinxiang, who couldn't even stop the two of them from getting close.
A mere vice minister, yet he's allowed to get close to Ke'er; he's utterly useless!
Actually, Yinxiang was wrong to blame. It was indeed easy to stop Lin Qingse from getting close to his sister, but he couldn't stop his sister from contacting Lin Qingse at all. Qingyin's simple expectant look was enough to make him lose his composure, which led to the current situation.
Many people had already returned, and Qingyin's appearance was too obvious, so everyone turned to look at Lin Qingse, who was accompanying Princess Dunke. The envious and jealous looks in their eyes were as if they wanted to pierce him through. Several princes couldn't help but frown.
How did Lin Qingse end up in the same group as Ke'er? Could she be following them? The princes were not stingy with placing any malice on anyone who got close to their incredibly beautiful younger sister, Qingyin.
Nian Gengyao, who had painstakingly hunted a large number of prey, watched this scene as if his heart was broken. "The princess wouldn't like this pretty boy, would she?" he thought. "No, no, no, she definitely wouldn't. She was smiling at me just now; she must like a true, upright man like me." Nian Gengyao silently repeated this to himself several times before dispelling the terrifying thought. He regained his confidence, straightened his back towards Qingyin, and smiled brightly.
Qingyin felt nothing for the burly man who grinned foolishly whenever he saw her. She nodded slightly in response and walked to Kangxi's side.
"Wow, Father Emperor, who hunted this huge black bear? That's amazing!"
Hearing his daughter's adoring gaze and soft, sweet voice, Kangxi couldn't help but smile.
"Ahem, I hunted this bear inside myself. It didn't take much effort. This bear is definitely not as good as your imperial father's."
Upon hearing this, Liang Jiugong, who was following behind Kangxi, raised an eyebrow. The Emperor was not like this when he was hunting this big black bear. He had clearly been circling around for so long, yet he insisted that it was easy. He really... really cares about his image.
Qingyin also praised her father, the Emperor, a few more times, which made Kangxi even happier.
Everyone had returned by then, and Crown Prince Yinreng brought Qingyin a cute little white rabbit, about two months old, whose teeth hadn't fully grown in yet. Qingyin accepted it without worry and couldn't help but linger and kiss it, making the little rabbit look utterly miserable.
Qingyin felt a little guilty, but stopped herself from doing so the next second. What's wrong with petting the cute little rabbit a little more? It's not like it's losing any fur.
Because Emperor Kangxi won first place in the winter hunt, everyone else could only admit defeat. By dinner time...
They ate only the prey they had hunted. The fresh roasted meat was incredibly fragrant. Under the guidance of the imperial physician, Qingyin also ate a few pieces of roasted meat seasoned only with salt. Even so, the natural freshness of the food was brought out in its most original and delicious flavor through simple cooking.
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