Chapter 245 Chapter 245 Palace
After walking on the road for three days, everyone was very tired. After arriving at the palace in the Xishan Hunting Ground, they went to the palace to rest.
The palace is divided into several areas. The residence allocated to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion is quite good. Not only is the environment good, but the house is also spacious.
Since the time for the autumn hunting was set, some people at the palace had started to pack up in advance, but many things still had to be prepared by themselves, and the servants accompanying them were busy again.
Yu Li sat outside drinking tea and saw the maids busy packing their luggage. It seemed that it would take some time.
She stood up and prepared to go outside.
Qing Huan thought she was feeling very suffocated after sitting in the carriage for several days, so he did not stop her. Instead, he followed her diligently and introduced her to the palace.
After listening to her clear introduction, Yu Li was a little curious: "Qing Huan, have you been here before?"
"No." Qing Huan smiled, "I heard about it from some maids in the mansion who had been to the palace before. I thought that I should come with Madam this time to learn more about the situation here in case of emergency."
This was the Madam's first time at the Xishan Hunting Ground, so naturally she had to learn more about the palace so that the Madam could live comfortably here.
The palace is huge, with lush flowers and trees, palaces and pavilions, and rolling hills can be seen in the distance.
There were many patrolling soldiers nearby. When they saw Yu Li, they recognized her as the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo. They bowed from a distance and did not come over to disturb her.
Just as I was listening to Qinghuan introducing the palace, I saw someone coming over.
Yu Li looked up and found that it was the third prince, the sixth prince and the seventh prince. They should have just come from the main hall of the palace.
Seeing Yu Li, several princes stopped and put on fake smiles.
The Third Prince asked, "So it's the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo. Why are you here? Aren't you going to take a rest?"
The Sixth Prince glanced at Yu Li, his eyes moving around her abdomen, muttering to himself, her belly is so flat, it doesn't look like she's pregnant, and even if she is pregnant it should be too early, right?
The Seventh Prince also glanced over, his expression unchanged.
"Come out for a walk." Yu Li said calmly.
Feeling that she had no friendship with these princes, she said hello to them, turned around and left, heading to another place.
Qing Huan hurried to follow.
The three princes stood there, watching her leave, with thoughtful looks on their faces.
"The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo doesn't look like she is pregnant." said the Sixth Prince.
The Third Prince's expression was slightly cold, and he snorted, "Father has always been partial. If the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo gives birth to a child in the future, I'm afraid he will want to praise her to the sky."
Thinking back to what they had seen and heard in the main hall, the Third Prince and the Sixth Prince felt very uncomfortable.
They just went to pay their respects to their father, and they didn't expect Fu Wenxiao to be there too. Their father still seemed to trust Fu Wenxiao.
Although many people have been privately saying that Fu Xiao has fallen out of favor recently, the princes have witnessed how much the old emperor doted on Fu Xiao in the past, and they don't quite believe it.
Even though the old emperor's attitude towards Fu Xiao was somewhat ambiguous, seeing that he still valued Fu Xiao, we knew that in the old emperor's heart, he was reluctant to part with Fu Xiao.
The emperor’s mind is hard to predict. Who knows if he did it on purpose for his sons to see?
Just now in the main hall, they saw the old emperor holding Fu Xiao and asking the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo with a diligent look on his face whether there was any good news or something like that.
When the emperor's eldest grandson was born, he didn't look forward to it this much.
This shows how much their father values Fu Xiao. He is already concerned about the Duke Zhenguo's wife even though there is no sign of the baby in her belly.
The princes did not know the old emperor's intention in rewarding Yu Li with the elixir of childbearing, and they all thought that he wanted Fu Xiao to have a child as soon as possible.
Naturally, I feel sad.
The Third Prince and the Sixth Prince were both wondering whether the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo was pregnant now. It has been more than a month since the old emperor rewarded her with the elixir of fertility. There should be news, right?
If there is no news, doesn't it mean that there is something wrong with the fertility pill?
But Concubine Tang in the palace is indeed pregnant, so the fertility pill should be fine.
Not only the princes were paying attention to this matter, but also those who wanted the elixir of fertility.
During this autumn hunt, people who knew that the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo also came to the West Mountain Hunting Ground were a little puzzled. They thought that she shouldn't come. What if she was pregnant? After all the tiring journey to the hunting ground, if she was bumped into...
Someone sighed: "Princess Yuan'an is ill in bed, and there is no elder to help in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. What do these young couples know?"
If there was an elder present, he would definitely not let the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo rashly follow her to the hunting ground, but would let her stay in the mansion.
For a moment, someone sighed for Princess Yuanan.
A few years ago, when she was in power, she was so glorious that even the saints had to respect this imperial sister.
But I didn't expect that she would end up like this. No one knows when she will pass away and go with the old Duke Zhenguo. It is really sad.
Yu Li didn't know all this. He walked around the palace and turned back when it was almost dark.
When they returned to their resting place, the servants had tidied everything up, the house had been cleaned, new utensils had been put in, incense had been burned, and even dinner had been prepared.
Fu Wenxiao also came back and was waiting for her to have dinner together.
The dinner was very rich and was prepared in the small kitchen here.
This time when they came to the Xishan Hunting Ground, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion specially brought a chef with them, and also brought a lot of ingredients with them. Everything was prepared very well, and there were several carriages just for the luggage.
As it was inconvenient to cook on the road, we all ate the big pot meals prepared by the post station, which were tasteless.
At this moment, the meal prepared by the chef was brought over, it was hot and extremely delicious.
Yu Li ate with great relish. While eating, he listened to Fu Wenxiao talking about the Autumn Hunt, and got a general understanding of what the Autumn Hunt was all about.
We just arrived at the palace today, and we will have a day to rest tomorrow before the autumn hunt begins the day after tomorrow.
After arriving at the palace, Fu Wenxiao was still busy. Even though Xuan Huaiqing, the commander of the imperial guards, was there, the old emperor still liked to have him accompany him, as if he couldn't live without him.
The next morning, Fu Wenxiao was called away.
Yu Li only saw him once when he got up and didn't see him for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon, Princess Rui came to talk to her.
For this autumn hunt, except for Concubine Dowager Rui who did not come due to old age, everyone else in the palace came. Not only Prince Rui and his wife and Chu Shaoyu, but also concubines and illegitimate sons came together. There were several horse-drawn carriages alone.
Princess Rui was impatient to deal with those concubines and illegitimate sons, and her son Chu Shaoyu was taken by Prince Rui to build relationships with those royal family members, so she had to come to talk to Yu Li.
Since visitors are guests, Yu Li asked someone to bring tea and snacks to entertain her.
Princess Rui looked around and said with a smile, "It's quiet here, no one comes to disturb you."
Although today was a day for rest, after arriving at the palace, each family had to visit each other and keep in touch with each other. Some lively young men and women even made appointments to go horseback riding nearby early in the morning.
No one came to Yu Li's place, so it seemed particularly quiet.
Needless to say, due to the reputation of Yu Li, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, not many people dared to visit her.
Perhaps because Yu Li saved Chu Shaoyu's life, Princess Rui had a preconceived impression of her, but she didn't think it was a big deal, especially after getting along with Yu Li, she found that she had a simple personality and was a very easy person to get along with.
Princess Rui prefers to get along with people with simple personalities rather than those with serious thoughts.
Princess Rui chatted with Yu Li for a while, and unknowingly they talked about Chu Shaoyu's marriage.
"Every autumn hunting season, in addition to the young men, there are also many women who compete in horseback archery competitions. I came here this time to see these girls and to show them to Brother Yu..."
The last time she went to Yuhua Temple to burn incense, although she encountered something disappointing, Princess Rui did not give up on finding a wife for her eldest son.
It's a pity that Chu Shaoyu didn't understand and didn't care about this kind of thing at all. What can Princess Rui do as a mother? She can only pay more attention to it herself.
Yu Li suddenly realized that she had never expected that Princess Rui would have such an idea and wanted to meet her daughter-in-law during the autumn hunt.
At this time, Princess Rui said again: "Mother Li, if you meet a girl you like, remember to tell me." She felt that Yu Li was capable, and a girl she liked must be very good, so she had high hopes for her.
Yu Li: “…Okay.”
In the evening, Fu Wenxiao came back and Yu Li told him about this.
She said with a distressed look: "Princess Rui asked me to help her, but I don't know many people in the capital, so I may not be able to help."
Fu Wenxiao didn't expect that she would be troubled by such a thing. For a moment, he found it interesting and cute.
"Don't worry, she probably just wants you to help take a look." He smiled, "It doesn't matter if she doesn't like it. Chu Shaoyu is still young anyway."
After hearing him say this, Yu Li finally felt relieved.
After a day's rest, the autumn hunt finally officially began.
Early in the morning, Yu Li changed into the riding clothes that were custom-made for her by the embroiderer at the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. The slim red riding clothes set off her graceful figure and lively eyes. Her thick black hair was tied up, making her look even more heroic.
Qing Huan secretly admired, she had known for a long time that the lady was beautiful, and after dressing up, she looked even more beautiful.
Fu Wenxiao also changed into riding clothes. His riding clothes were the same style as hers. They were particularly dazzling against his handsome face, making people stop to look at him subconsciously.
When the couple went to the hunting ground together, they really attracted a lot of attention.
Especially when people saw that Yu Li, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, was actually riding a horse, many people's attention was focused on the black horse. Some people had already recognized that this black horse was the king horse that was tributed from the northwest.
This horse king has a very fierce temper. Once, someone didn't believe it and wanted to tame it, but he almost became paralyzed in the fall. Gradually, people gave up the idea.
However, at this time, the horse king became the mount of the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, carrying her here obediently. One can't help but sigh that only someone like the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, who can intimidate wild beasts, can tame such a fierce horse.
Of course, some people are very confused.
"Isn't it said that fierce beasts will collapse to the ground in front of the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo? Why is this black horse not afraid of her?"
"Maybe this black horse has a fierce temper and is not afraid of her?"
"impossible……"
Perhaps there were too many suspicious people, even the old emperor heard the news and sent someone to call them over.
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao rode over on horseback.
Many tents have been set up in the hunting ground for the nobles to rest. The imperial tent where the old emperor rests is in the center, shining brightly and eye-catching.
There were quite a few people in the imperial tent, including the old emperor, concubines, princes, and royal relatives and ministers.
The people in the imperial tent saw two people riding horses towards them. Just as the two horses stopped, the black horse's four hooves suddenly went weak and it knelt down. The girl on its back dismounted calmly, with a graceful posture like a flying butterfly, without looking at all embarrassed.
Everyone was stunned.
Especially on the day of the Queen's birthday, those who happened to see how the ferocious beasts in the palace collapsed in front of Yu Li all felt that this scene was quite familiar.
This horse king doesn’t seem to be very powerful. Isn’t he kneeling down because he is scared?
When the two entered the imperial tent, the old emperor asked with a smile, "Daughter-in-law Xiao'er, is this horse king afraid of you?"
Yu Li nodded.
When the old emperor learned how she trained the black horse and the big tiger in order to get the Horse King to serve as his mount, he couldn't help laughing. He even said that when she tamed them, she should remember to tell him, because he also wanted to see how the tiger carried her.
"It may take a long time." Yu Li said helplessly, "They can only carry me for a few laps at most now. They can't run more than that. Besides, they don't run fast and they are weak, as if they are not full."
Hearing her complaints, the old emperor laughed again.
The people around couldn't help laughing.
Others were afraid that the horse was too strong to train, but she was the opposite. She was worried that the horse was not strong enough to serve as a mount.
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