Seeing the playful look in Hongli's eyes, Qian Shengyan guessed that something was definitely interesting. She asked her son to sit down and served him some snacks and melon seeds before letting him continue.
Hongli: ...
Alright, if Mother treats him like a storyteller, then he'll tell his story properly. He's never done anything like entertaining his mother with colorful clothes before.
Hongli then solemnly patted the armrest and began to speak: "Speaking of today! We had just finished lunch in the woods when we heard a rustling sound not far away..."
The group encountered a wolf. Hongli had already killed one the day before and thought it was nothing serious, but this wolf had unexpectedly slipped and, having eaten its fill on the first day of the hunt, was now strong. Its eyes were sinister, and saliva was dripping from its bared teeth as it stared at the group without flinching.
Everyone could see that this wolf was not easy to deal with. The guards were the first to stand up and protect Hongli and Foerguochun, but Erong'an was pulled back by Foerguochun because of the injury on his arm and was left behind by her.
E Rong'an was at a loss. He stepped forward and whispered to Folgochun, "Princess, I am a guard. How can I allow the princess to protect me?"
"Stand back properly and don't move!" Folgochun impatiently pushed away his face, then thought for a moment and lowered his voice, "I saw you riding a horse with one hand when we came. Is your injury still not healed? You better stand back properly, or I won't be able to explain it to Lord E next time I see him!"
E Rong'an chuckled softly: "Why does the princess need to explain to my father? Could it be..."
Foerguchun pursed his lips, not daring to let him finish speaking, and immediately drew his bow and followed Hongli to deal with the wolf.
With someone protecting him, E Rong'an was naturally not in a hurry. He actually followed behind Folgochun and waited. However, the wolf, having eaten and drunk its fill, seemed to be very unfriendly to humans. It moved quickly, leaping and dodging arrows, and even managed to bite a guard's calf.
For a moment, the dozen or so guards were unable to withstand the wolves. They also had a limited number of arrows, and they dared not fire randomly if they could not aim accurately. They could only protect the prince and princess and retreat. However, the horses they were riding were intimidated by the wolves and gradually became restless and unruly.
Hongli felt this wouldn't do, so he drew his bowstring, aimed at the wolf, and fired five arrows in quick succession as he moved. The wolf was very fast, but it still couldn't dodge one arrow, which pierced its ear and caused it to bleed. The wolf howled, its ferocity aroused by the pain. It pushed off a tree trunk with its hind legs and used the momentum of its leap to pounce on Hongli high in the air.
The guards bravely blocked their way, and Folgochun became anxious. She raised her bow and arrow to shoot the wolf, but she was too weak. The arrow grazed the wolf's leg, not hurting it, but causing it to turn its hatred towards the wolf.
Because Hongli had just been in danger, all the guards had rushed to his side, leaving only two or three people around Foerguochun. The wolf, however, did not stop and attacked again with a leap.
Folgochun hurriedly spurred his horse backward, but the horse neighed restlessly and refused to move, which frightened Folgochun so much that his face turned pale. Just then, Erong'an suddenly kicked the stirrup and flipped himself up behind Folgochun, and without hesitation reached out his hand to block the attack for him.
Strangely enough, Folgour was quite afraid of her own words, but when there was someone behind her, someone she had promised to protect, she suddenly wasn't so afraid anymore.
She even drew an arrow with her bare hands and swung it fiercely the moment the wolf pounced. The arrowhead pierced the wolf's neck, but the gushing blood was blocked by the quick-thinking E Rong'an, and none of it hit Ferguchun.
"...That's how it is, Mother." Hongli looked apologetically at Qian Shengyan, whose face had turned pale with fright. He knew it; he wasn't suited to doing things like entertaining his mother in colorful clothes.
Qian Shengyan felt she couldn't take it anymore after hearing just the beginning. They had actually encountered wolves! And not weak, powerless wolves, but wolves with super strong mobility!
Belatedly, she realized her hands were trembling and her lips were shaking. She couldn't utter a single word. She got up and tried to rush out to find Folgochun.
She couldn't rest easy until she saw with her own eyes that her daughter was alright!
"...What's going on?" Qian Shengyan bumped straight into Yinzhen, who had just lifted the curtain to enter. Yinzhen put an arm around her and frowned as he looked at the person in the room, "Hongli?"
Hongli said somewhat awkwardly, "Father... I think I frightened Mother."
After briefly hearing the whole story, Yinzhen couldn't help but glare at Hongli: "I didn't know you were such a good storyteller. How about you give me another performance tomorrow when you have time?"
Hongli touched his nose sheepishly.
Yinzhen's tone changed, and he gently and patiently comforted Qian Shengyan: "I already know about this matter. Only one guard was bitten on the leg by a wolf, but the others are fine. Ferguchun is also alright. Haven't you seen him these past few days? I came to see you intending to tell you about this slowly, but who knew..."
As he spoke, he glared at Hongli again, but then gently patted Qian Shengyan's back, saying, "Don't worry."
After thinking for a moment, Yinzhen looked at Hongli again and said coldly, "Go and call Foerguochun over so that you can apologize to your mother together."
Hongli: ...?
His son left with a head full of questions. Yinzhen put his arm around Qian Shengyan and sat on the small couch. His hand was still on her back, and he could feel the speed of her heartbeat through her thin clothes.
For a moment, Yinzhen was both amused and exasperated, and even couldn't help but rebuke Hongli: "Hongli, why did you speak so frankly to me like that..."
Qian Shengyan grasped his hand and held it tightly, barely managing to calm herself: "Hongli probably really doesn't think it's a big deal. After all, there were more than a dozen guards back then; they could have dragged that wolf to death even if they had just dragged it. And they were the ones who won. He probably thinks that I would admire their bravery." She smiled helplessly, "Your Majesty, I'm just too timid."
“What cowardice! It’s Hongli’s fault!” Yinzhen said. “It’s alright, he and Ferguchun will have a proper self-criticism later.”
Qian Shengyan: ...
The idea of making self-criticisms originated from her. Those who heard it probably found it very useful. Nowadays, both Hongli and Yinzhen like to make people make self-criticisms.
Soon after, Hongli and Foerguochun arrived. Qian Shengyan was relieved to see that Foerguochun was not injured and had no missing limbs.
However, Fuerguochun's face was still full of doubts, such as "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?", unlike Hongli who faced reality directly.
As soon as Hongli entered, he quickly lifted his robe and knelt on the ground, saying to Qian Shengyan, "Mother, Hongli knows he was wrong."
Folgolchun, bewildered, followed suit: "...Follgolchun knows he was wrong."
Qian Shengyan was about to say forget it when she heard Yinzhen snort coldly: "Do you know where you went wrong?"
The brother and sister exchanged a glance, and then Folgochun spoke up: "The mistake was... the mistake was putting themselves in danger..."
"No, you were hunting, so naturally you encountered all sorts of dangers. We, the children of the Eight Banners, are here to conquer the world on horseback; we shouldn't be afraid of anything, not danger!" Yinzhen said calmly. "Your mistake was frightening your mother."
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