What else could Gu Jue do? He could only do as she wished and roughly summarize the contents of Cheng Hualin's letter.
Starting from the day after they left the capital, people from Nanhao had been visiting Prince Chen's mansion at night for three consecutive days. Last night, people from Nanhao finally "discovered" the Uhaga Tower.
So, in the middle of the night, the house next to the palace caught fire.
It was discovered by the night watchman. When the gongs and drums were struck, all the mansions on the street were alarmed. Firefighters quickly rushed to put out the fire, and even other mansions on the street came to help.
In the chaos, some people of "unknown origin" sneaked into the house next to the palace and tried to climb over the wall to sneak into the palace. As a result, they were arrested by the Wucheng Bingmasi on charges of arson.
Jingfeng stood quietly by the side, not saying a word, as if he didn't exist at all.
He secretly sighed that his prince's speech was too concise.
The prince could have explained the matter in more detail and with more twists and turns. For example, the reason why the Andaman people were able to successfully sneak into Prince Chen's Mansion was because Cheng Linhua and his men deliberately let them go. For example, Cheng Linhua deliberately kept the other party in suspense for three days, which allowed the Nanhao people to "discover" the trace of Uhaga Tower, and lured the Nanhao people into the trap step by step.
Jingfeng felt that his prince was too bad at coaxing people, and wondered whether he should give the prince a few subtle reminders when the princess was not around.
"What else?" Chu Qianchen asked curiously, his face beaming with joy as if he didn't realize that Gu Jue's story was boring.
"Wait for the next one." Gu Jue said as he casually threw the letter sent by carrier pigeon into the brazier.
The orange-red flame suddenly rose up and quickly devoured the thin silk paper. The flame burned fiercely and burned it to ashes in a short while.
“…” Chu Qianchen was speechless, his heart hanging in the air. It was as if he had listened to a story halfway through but the storyteller kept it in suspense by saying “please wait for the next chapter”. His heart felt as if it was being scratched by a cat.
Cheng Linhua's letter was so poorly written. It was clearly meant to tease her... No, it was meant to tease the prince! Gu Jue smiled softly and ordered, "Tell the capital to hurry up and send a pigeon if there's any news."
Jingfeng was stunned for a moment. He just thought that the prince would not coax the princess, but now he suddenly realized that he was wrong.
Since such a small matter was handed over to Cheng Linhua and Tang Yuchu, the prince usually only looked at the results and seldom took the initiative to ask about it. However, for the sake of the princess, the prince could make appropriate changes to his usual principles.
"Yes, Your Highness." Jingfeng clasped his fists and quickly left the study.
Chu Qianchen was also satisfied. He glanced at the painting of "White Tiger Coming Out of the Mountain" hanging on the wall and smiled happily.
Although she didn't hunt a tiger, she still had a good harvest today. She hunted a lot of prey, and they were all caught by her own hands.
Chu Qianchen, who was originally a bit lazy, seemed to be refreshed as if he had taken some magic medicine. He stood up and said, "It's almost time. I have to go to the kitchen to make delicious food for the prince today!"
The Xiyuan Palace is larger than the Imperial Palace and also has an imperial kitchen. Food for everyone is basically supplied by the imperial kitchen, but some palaces also have small kitchens, such as the Zichen Palace. Gu Jue generally does not touch the food in the imperial kitchen, and the meals he eats are all from the small kitchen in the Zichen Palace.
Chu Qianchen was in high spirits and went out in a hurry.
Outside, the sound of a wailing horn was heard again, ancient and distant, coming from the direction of the hunting platform outside the palace.
The sound of the horn means that the emperor has returned. Next, the emperor will reward people based on their merits and select the winner of the first day of winter hunting.
Chu Qianchen didn't care about these at all. She was preparing to cook soup with great enthusiasm.
The sound of the horn wailed in the air, and in the howling cold wind, it spread very far, all the way to the distant mountains and forests...
Following the sound of the horn, the crowd gathered around the hunting platform like a hundred birds flocking to the phoenix. The entire hunting palace square was noisy and crowded. Everyone gathered in twos and threes, either reminiscing about the past or talking about today's gains.
As the eunuch shouted "The Emperor has arrived", the emperor in a bright yellow dragon robe appeared in high spirits.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and everyone bowed their heads to greet the emperor and shouted "Long live the emperor" in unison.
The sun was already halfway down, and a little afterglow sprinkled on a corner of the hunting platform, casting a blood-red color.
The emperor sat on the golden dragon throne, looking down at the people below. Even though he didn't see Gu Jue show up, it didn't affect his good mood.
The emperor had a great harvest in the hunting ground today. Looking at others, they also had a great harvest. The entire hunting platform was piled with prey like a small mountain, including wild boars, pheasants, deer, hares, roe deer, etc. A strong smell of blood filled the air.
The emperor was in a better mood and praised the bravery and heroism of the men of Da Qi in public, which made everyone excited and they shouted "Long live the emperor" again.
The area around the hunting platform was boiling with activity, and people seemed to be unable to feel the cold winter wind.
The emperor continued with a smile on his face: "You are all good men of my Great Qi. Today I will reward you according to your merits and select the champion of today."
As he spoke, he made a gesture and told Eunuch Ni to have someone count the prey.
Eunuch Ni agreed respectfully and asked several young eunuchs to personally count the prey, carefully recording it on several lists, and finally condensing it into one list, which was delivered to Eunuch Ni.
Eunuch Ni glanced at the list indifferently, and his originally nonchalant expression suddenly became very subtle, with his brows raised high.
But he had no other choice, so he gritted his teeth and presented the list to the emperor for review: "Your Majesty, this is the list of the top ten today."
But now there were thousands of eyes watching him, and the emperor could only nod to Eunuch Ni, and he didn't even have the interest to make the announcement himself.
Eunuch Ni could naturally see the emperor's intention. After taking on this task, he felt like he had aged ten years in an instant.
He cleared his throat and announced in a shrill voice: "Today's leader is Su Mubai, the commander-in-chief of the Five Cities Army."
After he finished speaking, there seemed to be silence within a mile.
The only sounds left were the whistling wind and the swaying trees.
Su Mubai, wearing a light blue robe, immediately stepped onto the hunting platform in the gaze of everyone. He was calm and composed, and smiled as he thanked the emperor for his grace.
His expression and movements were still as gentle and elegant as ever, as if he was completely unaware of the unnatural atmosphere around him.
Eunuch Ni, with a fake smile, rewarded him on behalf of the emperor with a dragon robe, a BMW, fertile land and a thousand silver coins.
After Su Mubai received the reward, he retreated.
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The atmosphere on and off the hunting platform was extremely weird, and there was no longer the liveliness of before. After all, everyone knew that Su Mubai was Prince Chen's confidant.
Moreover, the reason why Su Mubai accompanied the emperor on the winter hunt this time was probably because the emperor was worried about leaving him in the capital.
Immediately afterwards, Eunuch Ni announced the second place, Sima Xin, an officer of the Jinwu Guard, and also rewarded him with a BMW, fertile land and a thousand silver coins.
The emperor's face darkened even more.
This Sima Xin is also from Prince Chen’s Mansion.
The next person to receive the reward is the third person, Pei Linye.
The first three were all from Prince Chen’s Mansion. Eunuch Ni’s face was so stiff that he couldn’t smile, and he didn’t dare to look at the Emperor’s expression.
The awarding of rewards was carried out in an orderly manner, but the emperor's face became more and more ugly. He almost crushed the armrests of the dragon throne. He felt disgusted with the children of royal families and nobles in the court for being useless.
Not only the top three, but seven of the top ten are from the Prince Chen’s Palace, or military generals close to the Prince Chen’s Palace.
This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous! The emperor's chest tightened again, and he almost vomited blood.
He didn't want to look at Su Mubai, Pei Linye and the others, so he glanced at the princes with a sharp gaze.
Today, the prince has been with the emperor and has never held the bow, so he gained nothing.
The second prince did have some gains, hunting a stag, a roe deer and several hares.
The third and fourth princes were still young, and they only hunted a few rabbits and pheasants, but nothing worth mentioning.
The emperor was not satisfied with his sons. He felt that they were not ambitious and had no courage, which made him lose face as an emperor! The emperor's chest rose and fell violently. He could not help but vent his anger on the crown prince Gu Nanjin, and scolded him: "Prince, as the crown prince, you should be a role model for your brothers and ministers. Why didn't you try your skills in the hunting ground today? Don't forget that the Great Qi conquered the world on horseback!"
"Autumn hunting and winter hunting are to remember our ancestors!"
The emperor spoke a lot as if to vent his anger.
The surroundings became even quieter, with only the emperor's sharp and angry voice echoing on the hunting platform.
Gu Nanjin bowed his head and listened to the instructions without saying a word. It was not until the emperor had said enough that he said dryly, "Thank you, father, for your teachings."
He didn't say a word to defend himself.
Gu Nanzhao looked up and wanted to say something, but the eunuch behind him gently pulled his sleeves, and he closed his mouth again.
After the emperor vented his anger, his previous high spirits disappeared by half. He was in no mood to have fun with his ministers anymore. He said "That's all for today" and left the hunting platform.
Everyone bowed their heads and saw the emperor off respectfully.
The emperor saw Jinyiwei commander Lu Siji walking towards him at full speed. He saluted the emperor first and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I just received a message from the capital."
The emperor was still annoyed. He walked towards the hunting palace and said in a listless tone, "Go on."
Lu Siji whispered to the emperor, "Last night, there was a fire next door to Prince Chen's mansion. The Five Cities Military Department caught several arsonists. They were from Hao."
(End of this chapter)