Chapter 215 Hunting
The three old ladies were dressed neatly, with longbows on their backs and quivers slung across their shoulders. They each had a scimitar or dagger hanging from their waists and their hair wrapped in scarves. They stared at Su Qianqian who came out of the tent with sharp eyes.
"Mother, two aunts, what are you doing..." Su Qianqian felt scared.
[Fortunately, I didn’t do anything wrong, otherwise I would have thought I would be executed on the spot…]
The three old ladies couldn't help but laugh secretly, and Madam Du softened her expression: "I heard from Yuzhuo that the two princesses forced you to go hunting again? If you don't want to go, you don't have to force yourself for the sake of the Marquis's Mansion. I will explain to the Queen Mother, and you can just stay with your grandmother."
At this time, Madam Qin and the Empress were sitting in a large tent set up in the square. The Empress, the Royal Concubine, several concubines, the eldest princess, Madam Xiao and other ladies of honor were all there, chatting while waiting to see the results of the hunt.
"Mother, Princess Zhaoning has personally invited me as the Crown Princess of Daliang. If I refuse, I will be looked down upon. Although I am not very skilled at riding a horse, it should be fine if I just walk around casually. As for archery, Yu Zhuo has taught me a lot. Besides, I don't hunt at most. Those rabbits and birds can't hurt me, so don't worry."
Su Qianqian comforted Mrs. Du, and she was well prepared. If necessary, she could teach them a lesson, letting them know that if they didn't squeeze the weak ones well, they would get juice splashed all over their faces and blind their eyes.
"In this case, you must be more careful. I'll let Yuzhuo and Jinxi stay with you, as well as Yuping, Yuqi, and Yuqing. You should stay together as much as possible. I'm afraid that we have to go with the elders and may not be able to take care of you. Besides, Hanzhang and the others have to protect the emperor, and they didn't know you entered the hunting ground."
Although Mrs. Du had made arrangements, she was still worried. After all, Su Qianqian was frail. Although she had been stronger in the past two months, she was still not strong enough compared to other girls in the family, so she still frowned.
Su Qianqian saw Du's worried look, and her heart suddenly warmed up. She went up to Du and hugged her arm and whispered, "Mom, don't worry, Qianqian will take good care of herself. You just need to bring back more game."
Although the Marquis's Mansion does not attach much importance to rules, the education their children receive is implicit and tactful. Since they were six or seven years old, the children have hardly been particularly close to their parents. Su Qianqian suddenly spoke like a spoiled child, and Mrs. Du was stunned for a moment, then her whole heart couldn't help but soften like a pool of spring water.
"I'm glad to know. Mother will definitely bring back more game for you." Mrs. Du stroked Su Qianqian's bun hair and adjusted her cloak.
"Qianqian, Third Aunt is also worried about you." The Third Old Lady suddenly pulled Su Qianqian from Mrs. Du's arms, and hugged Su Qianqian with her tall and strong body.
"Don't be silly. You're jealous of everything." The second old lady pushed the third old lady away with red eyes and scolded her with a smile.
The few of them chatted all the way back to Princess Zhaoyang. Madam Du smiled and said to Zhaoyang and Zhaoning, "Although this daughter-in-law of yours does not know martial arts, she is valued by our Qin family as the apple of our eye. I hope the two princesses will show more favor to her."
Madam Du turned around and said to the young ladies of the Qin family: "Take good care of your third sister-in-law. She is the headmistress of our Qin family. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible."
Several girls answered loudly: "Yes!" Indeed, he had the demeanor of a military commander.
Qin Yuzhuo had already chosen a horse, a white dwarf horse. Although it had short legs, it was strong. Qin Yuzhuo had tried it and found it to be very docile.
He handed a mulberry wood and small-horned python skin bow to Su Qianqian and put the quiver on her back. Then Qin Yuzhuo and the other girls went to get their horses.
At this time, the other people entering the hunting ground were also ready. Su Qianqian found that Xue Zhiqing also came on a horse. When she saw Su Qianqian, she nodded in greeting. The confined King Xiang also appeared behind the emperor.
When she was about to look away, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her. It turned out to be Prince Ping. He was following behind Crown Prince Daliang and Prince Ning. Even though he knew that Su Qianqian had noticed his presumptuous gaze, he didn't care.
[I really have no idea how to compete with these Daliang people who are good at hunting...] Su Qianqian muttered to herself and turned around to subdue her mount first.
"Xiaobai, if you listen to me and let me go out happily and return home safely, I promise to feed you the best fodder every day."
"Neigh..." The little white horse raised its head and cried out, then shook its head.
"Are your living conditions so good? Isn't this rare?" Su Qianqian asked in a low voice with her eyes wide open.
"How about this? I'll find you a partner?" Su Qianqian decided, holding the reins with one hand and tentatively stroking the horse's neck with the other...the place she liked to hold the most, so she had to try the feel first.
I don’t know if the little white horse felt comfortable being stroked or if it really wanted to find a mate. It trotted on the ground with its hooves and shook its head with its head lowered.
"We agreed that you are not allowed to go back on your word and do something to me secretly!" Su Qianqian warned in a low voice, not noticing that Dianfeng next to her rolled his eyes.
While the sisters who were leading the horses had not returned yet, she followed Qin Yuzhuo's instructions, put one foot on the stirrup, pulled the reins and held the saddle, turned her right leg around and straddled the horse's back... She actually got on!
However, Su Qianqian instinctively felt unsafe and wanted to hug the horse's neck...
"Third sister-in-law, hold the reins and sit up straight." At this time, Qin Yuqing, the youngest among the girls, came over, discovered Su Qianqian's intention, and reminded her in a low voice.
Su Qianqian had no choice but to do as Qin Yuqing said. She sat up straight and held the reins, silently reciting the key points taught by Qin Yuzhuo in her mind, and used the reins to control the horse to walk a few steps, gradually finding the feeling she had during practice.
The two princesses came over on horseback. Behind them, in addition to the noble ladies and young ladies who were going to enter the hunting grounds, there were a dozen guards and attendants. No one else was allowed to bring horse boys and servants into the hunting grounds.
"Let's go to the hunting ground of the Ding-shaped blue flag. After all, the wife of Marquis Wuning has never hunted before. The hunting ground of the Bing-shaped yellow flag is too dangerous. Guards, lead the way." Princess Zhaoyang said with a chuckle.
"Yes, yes, I'm just here for fun and I don't know how to hunt." Su Qianqian admitted confidently.
Princess Zhaoyang snorted and galloped towards the hunting ground with the guards.
There were no more than twenty noble ladies and young ladies in total who entered the venue, five of whom were from the Qin family. Among the other ten or so, three were nieces of the second and third old ladies. They usually did not interact much with civil officials because they were older than Qin Yuping and her sisters, and they did not interact much with the Marquis' Mansion.
Su Qianqian was not in a hurry either. She slowly steered the horse at a leisurely trot. When the little white horse saw that the other horses were running far away, it became more anxious than Su Qianqian and neighed a few times.
[Don't be anxious. Just wait and see. If they have no other intentions, they will ignore us and will be busy hunting for prizes. If they come to find us again, it means they have bad intentions. 】Su Qianqian said in her heart.
Qin Yuzhuo and several other girls originally wanted to hunt more prey. After hearing what Su Qianqian said, they looked at each other, automatically scattered around Su Qianqian in a protective manner, and walked slowly at Su Qianqian's speed.
Sure enough, the horses that rushed into the woods quickly turned back.
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