Chapter 225 Meritorious Service in Saving the Emperor
"Your Majesty is very busy. As the Empress, I can only be considerate of Your Majesty's health. I can't think of anything else."
Empress Zhang's voice sounded somewhat forlorn.
She became pregnant within six months of entering the palace; this was His Majesty's first child.
Although His Majesty is busy, he can only visit her occasionally.
But she was still full of hope, because having a child would give her someone to rely on.
But unexpectedly, the child was lost.
Without any warning.
With few women in the harem, she exempted herself from all greetings after becoming pregnant, allowing her to focus on her pregnancy.
She was already being so careful.
She still couldn't keep her child.
Seeing her looking so sad, Madam Zhang couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.
She stepped forward and took her daughter's hand. "Your Majesty, don't worry. Your grandmother specially invited a Guanyin statue that grants children and chants sutras for Your Majesty every day to pray for your well-being."
As she spoke, she quietly slipped a small porcelain bottle, about the size of a snuff bottle, into her palm.
Madam Zhang held her daughter's hand tightly in her palm.
Empress Zhang's palms felt cool and smooth to the touch, and her fingers suddenly tightened.
"mother……"
"Your Highness, the ladies of the various households are all waiting outside to pay their respects."
The lady-in-waiting lifted the tent flap, and Empress Zhang immediately tucked the small porcelain bottle into her sleeve.
"Come in."
These ladies who came to pay their respects would all bring their own daughters of marriageable age.
His Majesty has cancelled the general election three times in a row, so this autumn hunt is a rare opportunity to see His Majesty.
If His Majesty really takes a fancy to a few, he can bring them back to the palace.
Wouldn't her chances be even slimmer?
Empress Zhang unconsciously clenched her sleeves. She glanced at her mother, then slowly straightened her back.
Meng Shilan had no official rank, so she didn't need to come, but she was the only one in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Therefore, the Meng family, who were closest to the imperial tent, were the last to be received by the Empress.
"Sister Meng."
Huang Qiuning spotted her immediately.
"What are you doing here? Where's Sister Yu Ning?"
Meng Shilan only saw that she was alone.
"My sister and aunt are ahead; I'll wait for her outside."
The Huang family held no official positions and were merely commoners. The fact that they were able to come to the hunting grounds to broaden their horizons was already thanks to the Dong family.
My elder sister, Huang Yuning, is the daughter-in-law of the Dong family. Grand Tutor Dong was His Majesty's teacher when he was young, and Madam Dong, as a lady of the house, naturally stands in front.
Meng Shilan glanced at the large group ahead of her, whose progress was slow.
The Empress must be exhausted; waiting for all these people to finish their audience would probably take up an entire morning.
"Looks like we'll have to wait a while. Why don't you come sit at my place first?"
"OK!"
The two had just turned around when they bumped into Song Jiyun, who was still holding Old Madam Zhou's handkerchief.
Huang Qiuning recognized her at a glance as the girl from the Ni Chang Embroidery Shop who was using her position to bully others.
With her there, that unreasonable old lady was also there.
This is the royal hunting grounds; we shouldn't let them get entangled with us.
She thought this way, and so did Meng Shilan.
The two moved aside in unison.
Song Jiyun merely glanced at the two of them; Old Madam Zhou was still waiting for her ahead.
As soon as I passed the two people, I heard their laughter.
She paused, a sharp pain shooting through her heart as if pierced by needles.
The cloth in her hand seemed to have become heavier.
These were originally done by the maids, but now she's the one running around doing all the work.
They said they would treat her like their own granddaughter, but in the end she still became a maidservant who was ridiculed by others.
Song Jiyun's eyes changed, and a flash of hatred crossed his eyes.
Zhou Congxian rose to prominence by stepping on her older brother, but now he avoids her like the plague.
Her elder brother was a corrupt official; who in the entire court wasn't corrupt?
Who can remain unscathed?
It's just that her older brother followed the wrong person.
As Song Jiyun helped Old Madam Zhou to meet the Empress, war drums sounded in the hunting grounds.
Empress Zhang turned her head and looked over, "Who hunted a giant beast?"
There are rules in the hunting grounds: whoever hunts the first giant beast must beat a drum to signal the hunt.
Grandpa Tian appeared at the tent entrance with a joyful expression.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has returned! He has hunted a giant beast!"
Empress Zhang immediately got up and went out to greet her.
His Majesty rode out of the woods on horseback.
His armor was torn in two places, and his hair was a little disheveled.
There seemed to be traces of blood at the corner of her lips.
Zhou Congxian and the Imperial Guards who followed behind suffered an even more tragic fate.
The black bear they hunted was still alive!
The black bear roared to the sky, its howl startling the birds into flight once more.
Empress Zhang stood before the tent with her ladies-in-waiting, her eyes filled with heartache as she looked at the man she had always cared for.
She only rushed forward after the guards put the big black bear in its cage.
"How did you protect His Majesty?!"
Your Majesty has been exhausted from the affairs of the country these past few years, and the slightest disturbance will cause your cough to relapse.
We're still fighting ferocious beasts; if something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?
His Majesty, with Empress Zhang's hand in hand, dismounted. "It's alright, I'm perfectly fine."
"Your Majesty, please don't blame them. If they hadn't been so diligent, I would have been ambushed by this big black bear."
Lin Zi was the place he wanted to go.
In his previous life, he was unwittingly forced to this place.
Deep in the jungle lurks a ferocious beast, and behind him are pursuers intent on capturing him alive.
He killed his young son with his own hands under a twin tree, and then committed suicide.
He rode deep into the place of his previous life.
The twin trees are gone now.
Just as he was stunned, the bear silently attacked from behind.
Zhou Congxian's timely reminder was timely.
They finally managed to surround and capture the bear alive.
Huang Qiuning and Meng Shilan watched the commotion from afar.
"It really is still alive!"
Huang Qiuning has never seen a live black bear.
A wealthy merchant once wanted his son to study at Gongqiu Academy, so he sent her father a bearskin. Her father refused it and had the bearskin and the merchant taken down the mountain together.
That was the first time she had ever seen what a bear looked like.
Now, seeing a live bear, fiercely pounding on its cage as if it were about to break free at any moment.
Meng Shilan: "There is also a zoo in the palace, where all kinds of ferocious beasts can be found."
Huang Qiuning exclaimed in surprise, "You're keeping them all?"
"Probably."
"If they all run out, won't they hurt people?"
She couldn't imagine how to raise such a ferocious beast.
"Bang!"
A loud bang.
"careful!"
The big black bear in the cage actually broke the cage!
The hunting grounds instantly descended into chaos.
As if he knew who his enemy was, the big black bear brandished his heavy claws and walked step by step toward His Majesty.
"Protect the Emperor!"
The Imperial Guards charged at the black bear with their swords, only to be swatted away by the enraged bear.
"Your Majesty!" Zhou Congxian scooped the emperor up onto his horse.
"Empress!"
Empress Zhang's hand, which was holding His Majesty's, suddenly came to a stop. She hurriedly turned around and saw that His Majesty had already been rescued.
She didn't see where she was going and tripped over a protruding stone!
"Help! Help!"
The black bear, with multiple sword stabs in its belly, suddenly leaped up, resembling a black mountain that blots out the sky.
Empress Zhang stared in horror at the large black bear that was roaring, its mouth agape, revealing sharp fangs.
"careful!"
A figure in blue lunged forward.
He picked up the Empress and rolled out.
With a loud crash, the black bear landed right where Empress Zhang had just fallen!
With a swift movement, Zhou Congxian leaped into the air and stabbed the black bear in the neck.
It pierced through, spraying blood all over his body and face.
The black bear did not fall to the ground immediately, but it also lost its previous lethality.
"Your Majesty!"
The guards hurriedly led Empress Zhang and the woman in the green dress out of the danger zone.
Empress Zhang looked at His Majesty with trembling hands, her face deathly pale with fright.
The terrifying scene just now almost caused her to lose six of her three souls and seven spirits.
"Your Majesty, I am so afraid."
His Majesty embraced the Empress and comforted her, saying, "You said the winter was cold and hard to bear, so you wanted to capture this bear alive and skin it whole to make a cloak for you."
"It was my mistake that almost injured the Empress."
Then he looked at the woman who had saved the empress at the critical moment of life and death.
"Which woman has saved the emperor? She will be richly rewarded!"
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