Chapter 142
Zhou Li looked confused.
Who did she learn from? Herself? Did she even need to learn from herself?
The dull pain in her jaw made Zhou Li frown. The confusion in her eyes was real. Gong Yinai stared into her eyes, trying to find something familiar in them.
These eyes are so similar to Liu Yingzi's.
Her heart tightened and her sadness became increasingly difficult to suppress.
"What you embroidered looks very much like an old friend of mine." Gong Yinai said lightly.
The corners of her eyes were bloodshot, as if a pool of water flowed into her eyes, reflecting Zhou Li's shadow, a small piece, in the shimmering light.
"Where did you learn your embroidery skills?" Gong Yinai asked again.
She let go, leaving a red mark on Zhou Li's chin.
Zhou Li was thinking of a riddle, but there was still something unclear.
Anyone can do this kind of embroidery? How did Gong Yinai recognize her?
Zhou Li didn't know that she was idle in the palace and was looking for someone to teach her embroidery. The people in the palace did not dare to neglect her. After all, it was the prince's concubine who asked for it, so they directly invited a master from the weaving bureau. The skills used in this seemingly simple embroidery work were not something that ordinary people could learn.
Zhou Li felt a slight pain in her jaw. Reluctantly, she lowered her head to hide the distracted look in her eyes. She lied, "My embroidery skills were passed down from my mother since I was young."
Although Gong Yinai looked very scary now, Zhou Li still didn't feel any fear.
This was wrong, so she had to lower her eyes to cover it.
As Gong Yifu, Zhou Li has seen Gong Yinai's humble appearance. As Liu Yingzi, she has been with Gong Yinai day and night. Although she knows that she is the crown prince, she does not distinguish between superiors and subordinates in front of the two of them. As a result, every time Zhou Li gets along with Gong Yinai, he has to remind himself that this is no longer the case.
"Your mother?" Gong Yinai sneered in his heart.
Not everyone can enter the Weaving Bureau. Those who enter the palace are all weaving masters selected from various prefectures. After all, they are weaving for the royal family. How can the wife of an ordinary county magistrate get along with people from the Weaving Bureau?
"Yes, my mother." Zhou Li bit back.
"Lift your foot." Gong Yinai said suddenly.
Zhou Li raised his left foot blankly.
"Right foot." Gong Yinai said.
Zhou Li raised it carefully and saw Gong Yinai bending down to pick up the embroidery frame that she had stepped on.
One of her footprints was already printed on it.
Gong Yinai brushed off the dust. The peony was not yet finished. This peony was obviously smaller than the half that Liu Yingzi had left. But in the sunlight, the two flowers were exactly the same. Gong Yinai glanced at Zhou Li and said, "I like this one very much. I'll take it first."
Huh? You like this? What's wrong with Gong Yinai?
Zhou Li looked at the unfinished peony and said cautiously, "This one isn't finished yet. I'm afraid it might offend the Crown Prince. Why don't you wait for me to start another one?"
Gong Yinai put it in the sunlight and looked at it carefully. "No need, I like this one."
Zhou Li stopped talking.
Gong Yinai suddenly said, "I came here today to reward you. This epidemic is thanks to you. What reward do you want? Anything within my ability is welcome."
Zhou Li rubbed her chin. She paused, blinked her eyes, and looked innocent.
"Can you really ask for anything?"
Gong Yinai narrowed his eyes, "Of course."
She put her hands behind her back, wondering what Zhou Li would propose?
Zhou Li smiled and said, "Then I'll keep it for now. I don't need anything else for now. I have good food and a good place to stay. I don't need anything else."
Gong Yinai frowned slightly, then relaxed her brows. She looked at Zhou Li deeply.
If you don't ask for anything, you will definitely ask for something greater.
I wanted to see what Zhou Li would reveal, but unexpectedly it made her even more confused.
Gong Yinai said, "I owe you the money first. So, the autumn hunt is coming soon, so you can come with me this time."
Zhou Li's eyes lit up instantly and he nodded repeatedly.
She hasn't ridden a horse in a long time!
Gong Yinai took Zhou Li's half-finished embroidery out of the side hall and returned to her own palace. She immediately asked someone to invite the female official who had taught Liu Yingzi embroidery at that time.
The female official was hurriedly invited, thinking that the prince had some embroidery work to give her. Recently, the weaving bureau was busy embroidering the prince's wedding clothes, and they had to be completed before the twelfth month. The auspicious day predicted by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory was in the twelfth month, and the prince would get married and marry the princess in the twelfth month.
Seeing the prince bow cautiously, the court lady Gong Yinai summoned someone to bring Zhou Li's embroidery over. She said in a deep voice, "Look carefully. Is this the technique you used?"
The female official picked it up and was surprised for a moment. She was panicked, not knowing what had happened. She said in a deep voice, "Reporting to the Crown Prince, it is indeed my sect's technique!"
There are two major schools of embroidery in the palace, namely the Southern School and the Northern School. The female official was the master of the Southern School embroidery, so she was summoned to the palace. At that time, it was she who taught Liu Yingzi because the Southern School's techniques were better at capturing the flowers and plants. The palace people specifically found her. All the apprentices she taught had a characteristic, which was that they would hook the needle on the reverse side when returning the stitch. In this way, even if the embroidery was not good, the reverse side would not look messy after embroidery, but the stitches would be as fine as clouds.
Gong Yinai asked, "Is there a disciple among your disciples named Chai Zhilan?"
Chai Zhilan is the name of Zhou Li's mother.
The female official thought carefully, leaned forward and replied, "No."
"Has anyone taught this to a family with the surname Zhou?" Gong Yinai continued to ask.
The court lady hesitated. Although she didn't know what had happened, she knew it must be something important since the Crown Prince had personally asked about it. She frowned and replied, "No, but I brought three apprentices with me outside the palace before entering. I wonder if they are there."
"Then go back and find out clearly before you tell me anything." Gong Yinai said lightly.
The female official quickly knelt down to greet him and said yes.
Gong Yinai took the handkerchief that Zhou Li had stepped on and left the hall. Her people stood outside the hall for a long time, probably because of something important.
She is very worried.
Generally, this technique will not be passed on to outsiders. For craftsmen, skills are more important than anything else.
Although most people can embroider, they cannot master this technique unless they are taught orally.
Gong Yinai had a feeling that Zhou Li was lying to her, and not just about this one thing.
She looked back at the side hall, her eyes deep and her tall figure slender. Gong Yinai held the handkerchief in her hand and stood quietly for a while until the servant urged her, then she carefully folded it and put it in her sleeve pocket.
The last days of summer are coming to an end, the autumn wind is blowing, and the flags are fluttering.
After getting rid of the plague, Daqing will have another bumper harvest this year. In order to ease the mood of the ministers and to fulfill the friendship between the monarch and his subjects, Emperor Qing took his ministers to the imperial farm to hunt.
As they were almost at the imperial farm, Zhou Li stuck her head out of the carriage and felt the cool autumn breeze, which was different from the cool summer breeze. She looked at Gong Yinai riding a horse in front of her with great envy.
She also wanted to ride a horse in a parade, especially when she saw so many fine horses. Her previous desire to roam around as a Gong Yifu was revived. Unfortunately, she was now a concubine in the harem and was not allowed to act recklessly. There were many rules.
Zhou Li felt regretful.
Finally entered the imperial farm.
The royal manor even encompasses a mountain.
Zhou Li could see the dense forest in the distance. There were many tents set up on the grassland, and guards were patrolling around.
Everyone got off the car one after another to rest. The prince's tent was on the left of Emperor Qing's tent. The tents of the ministers were in a surrounding trend, supporting the prince and Emperor Qing.
This time, Cabinet Minister Xiao and Minister Wen were left behind to act as regents, and Emperor Qing brought his sons with him as well. At this time, Zhou Li was tidying up the tent when she heard a report coming from the prince's tent next door.
"Crown Prince, the Fourth and Fifth Princes, along with the Seventh and Eighth Princes, are here to see you."
The sound gradually became quieter. Zhou Li guessed that someone was being welcomed in. She hurriedly changed into her riding clothes and wanted to take advantage of the time to go to the grassland to ride a horse. Although she could not hunt with them, riding a horse was also a good thing. Zhou Li had asked a long time ago, and some ministers also brought their relatives, and the grassland had prepared mounts for the ladies.
Zhou Li regretted that she couldn't ride those Arabian horses. After all, the noble lady's mount was a little docile and not as good as those fine horses, but she was very happy to be able to ride a horse.
Zhou Li had been waiting in the tent, waiting for Gong Yinai to take his men away so that she could go out and ride a horse. Unfortunately, Gong Yinai never left the tent. Zhou Li sat in the tent and stared at the person next to her, thinking that Gong Yinai was a scum who was not good at riding or shooting. It had been so long and he was still so reluctant to move.
By the time Gong Yinai was called away by Emperor Qing, it was already dark. Zhou Li looked at the sky and had no choice but to take off his riding clothes and wait for the next day.
The hunting started on the second day. Emperor Qing was still strong despite his old age. He personally shot the arrow with his bow and hit the target a hundred meters away, winning cheers. Zhou Li sat with the beauties in the harem and the family members in the back house, watching with depression as the young men rode their horses, bent their bows, and howled to drive their horses away. She was originally one of them, but now she could only sit here and watch.
The noble ladies all looked at the crowd rushing into the woods shyly, guessing who would win the first prize. They guessed several people, but no one mentioned the prince, because everyone knew that the prince was not good at riding or shooting.
Soldiers were reporting hunting movements at any time. Zhou Li knew that her idea of riding in the morning was ruined. She was bored and staring at the blue sky in the distance with her chin in her hand when someone called her.
"Zhou Liangdi, do you want to bet on the prince to win the jackpot?"
Zhou Li came to her senses and saw that everyone was taking off their bracelets, jade pendants, purses and other things as gifts, betting on whose son would win the first prize. As the prince's person, Zhou Li had to show her attitude even though she knew that the prince would lose the bet.
Zhou Li smiled, took off the jade bracelet and put it on the plate, saying, "Of course, I believe the prince."
Everyone laughed and started gossiping about other people.
Zhou Li didn't like this situation, so she sneaked away when no one paid attention to her.
As the Crown Prince's Consort, her status was not high. The concubines brought by Emperor Qing looked down on her low status, and people from other families couldn't talk to her. In this case, she might as well go out and play by herself. Zhou Li had been coveting the fine horses on the pasture for a long time, and now she finally found time to go out and ride.
She changed into her riding clothes and asked the horse trainer at the pasture to lead the horse out.
These were a group of docile little mares, not very tall. The horse trainer led Zhou Li for a walk on the reins, but Zhou Li felt unsatisfied and asked for the reins to be passed around for a few laps. Then she set her eyes on the fine horses in the stable and said with envy, "Can I try that one?"
The horse trainer had long recognized that the nobleman was a skilled rider and archer, but the horse had a fierce temperament and was untameable. How could he dare let the nobleman ride it? What if he got hurt?
Seeing that Zhou Li wasn't the kind of noblewoman who wouldn't listen to reason, he explained it to her. Zhou Li then said with regret, "How can I get close to it? If it kicks me, I'll leave."
Seeing Zhou Li's insistence, the horse trainer hesitantly agreed and led the horse out.
Zhou Li took a little grass in her hand and tried to touch it. Unexpectedly, the horse looked at her and lowered its head to eat. Zhou Li touched the horse's head happily.
"Hey, little guy, don't you have a good personality?"
The horse trainer was also shocked.
Zhou Li finished feeding the horse the hay, but it didn't run away. She tentatively tugged on the reins, and the horse neighed but didn't kick. She was itching to get on with it. Wouldn't it be a shame to miss out on such a fine horse? Before the trainer could react, she stepped into the stirrup and scrambled onto the horse.
The horse seemed to sense the pull of the reins, and with a long neigh, it began to run like the wind, carrying Zhou Li.
"Zhou Liangdi!!!"
“My dear lord!!!”
Everyone was shocked!
A strong wind blew past Zhou Li's ears. She felt a joy she had never felt before. She forgot everything and was so happy that she couldn't help laughing. She followed the horse and ran for a long time. The horse slowed down. Zhou Li tightened the reins, squeezed the horse's back and sighed. The horse stopped smartly. Zhou Li had time to identify the direction. When she saw this, she thought to herself, "Oh no, she actually ran into the dense hunting forest."
Zhou Li scratched her head, looked at the sun in the sky, identified the direction, turned her horse around and went back the way she came. When she was a Gong Yifu, she won the first place in the imperial hunting every year and was very familiar with this place.
Zhou Li was not in a hurry to go back. He looked at the scenery in the forest slowly and leisurely. Sometimes when he saw a young deer jumping out of the forest, he would just smile knowingly.
Looking at the sparse vegetation, how could there still be so many animals if they had to hunt every year? In fact, the animals hunted were all raised by the people in the imperial farm for the purpose of this once-a-year hunt, to entertain their masters. Later, Zhou Li lost interest in hunting, because she had seen what real animals running in the desert looked like.
There would not be any dangerous animals in the imperial farm, so Zhou Li was not nervous about being alone. She rode her horse slowly and enjoyed the time alone. As she was looking at the scenery, suddenly a fishy wind blew over from the upwind. Zhou Li sniffed it and frowned. Before she could identify what animal it was, she heard a tiger roar!
The birds in the dense forest were startled and flew away! The horse under me was also restless and uneasy!
"Prince! Danger!" The people around him shouted angrily. Gong Yinai turned around and saw a white tiger with drooping eyes pouncing on her. She was so frightened that she tightened the reins of her horse, raised the horse's hooves high, and fell to the ground powerlessly!
Gong Yinai rolled on the ground and instantly drew her sword and stabbed it out. The white tiger flew over her head and jumped to the opposite side. Gong Yinai's heart exploded and she felt death passing by her!
The people around her quickly gathered around, and before Gong Yinai could catch her breath, a fishy wind blew towards her again!
"Prince, run away!" The guards shouted miserably. Some of them stayed to fight with the white tiger, while some escorted Gong Yinai forward!
But the white tiger bit anyone who tried to stop it, and for some reason it chased Gong Yinai. Seeing that everyone around her was bitten, it was her turn next. Gong Yinai raised her sword weakly to try to resist, but the white tiger opened its bloody mouth and was about to bite Gong Yinai!
With a swish, an arrow cut through the air and shot from a distance straight into the white tiger's eyes. It had to dodge!
Gong Yinai fell to the ground, rolled over and escaped!
Before she could react, the sound of horse hooves approached. She turned her head and saw a Ferghana horse flying out. Zhou Li was riding on the horse and shot three arrows in a row!
"Gong Yinai! Take off your clothes! Run!"
At that moment, Gong Yinai seemed to see Gong Yifu on horseback.
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