The forest ahead was shrouded in bright moonlight. The layers of towering trees were dim in the winter night, like an ink painting painted with thick ink, cold, quiet, gloomy, and dangerous.
In contrast, the Hunting Palace Square was a bustling scene with bonfires burning and crowds of people.
Chu Qianchen held the sleeve stove in one hand and led the red horse to a bamboo shed nearby with the other. The red horse's fur was shining in the firelight.
Wherever this man and his horse passed, they attracted a lot of attention.
The winter night was bitterly cold, and all the bamboo sheds near the hunting platform were decorated with palace lanterns, charcoal braziers and windproof screens.
Not only Chu Qianchen, but everyone else also came to sit in the bamboo shed, including the emperor, empress, princesses and other female relatives, several Nanhao envoys, and some elderly royal nobles.
People gathered in groups of three or four to talk, drink tea, eat snacks, and the noisy chatter and laughter formed a sharp contrast with the quiet forest in the distance.
One hot and one cold.
One moving and one still.
Chu Qianchen sat alone in a bamboo shed in the northwest corner. There was no one around her, as if she was being excluded.
Others looked at her from time to time.
Chu Qianchen didn't care about this at all.
She glanced around casually and saw a familiar figure in front of her on the right. Shen Wan, wearing a pomegranate red cloak, was talking to Princess Shun, Princess Changning and others.
Judge Zheng went to Yunxiangzhai at dusk and took Gu Zhiyan's pulse. The pulse case was handed over to Chu Qianchen as soon as possible, saying that Gu Zhiyan had wind evil entering the body, causing fever and fatigue, and a floating and slow pulse.
Judging from the pulse, Gu Zhiyan should be fine.
Chu Qianchen withdrew his gaze, slowly brushed away the foam on the tea with the tea lid, and drank the tea leisurely.
When Chu Qianchen finished a cup of tea, Nanny Shan, who was wearing a rust-colored jacket, came over, saluted politely, and said, "Princess, the Queen invites you to come over and sit down."
Nanny Shan pointed in a direction.
The bamboo shed where the empress was located was right in the front, on the right side of the emperor. The two bamboo sheds where the emperor and empress were located were naturally the most spacious and comfortable, and had everything they needed.
At this moment, there were many female relatives surrounding the Queen. Chu Qianchen glanced casually and saw many familiar faces, such as the Crown Princess, the Princess of Li, the Princess of Rui, Princess Jingle... and Yuan Zhitong, etc.
Chu Qianchen stood up, stroked his sleeves slowly, and looked slowly from the queen to the emperor in the bamboo shed next to him, then continued to look to the left without any expression.
In the bamboo shed on the other side of the emperor, several envoys from the Hao Kingdom, led by Prince Andaman, were sitting inside. After the second prince Gu Nanzhao exchanged a few words with Andaman, he went back to report to the emperor.
Chu Qianchen's eyes flashed, and he said to Nanny Shan calmly, "Please lead the way, Nanny."
Nanny Shan was stunned in surprise.
She originally thought that Chu Qianchen would not go, and was thinking about how to persuade him, but in the end, Chu Qianchen agreed so readily.
"Please come in, Princess." Nanny Shan was overjoyed, with a hint of relief in her smile.
Chu Qianchen left her horse behind and went to the Queen's side with Amber. Her every move was elegant and dignified, which attracted many people's gazes, some of which were scrutinizing and some of which were speculative.
As soon as the queen saw her, a friendly smile appeared on her graceful face, and she said, "Ninth brother's sister, please sit down quickly."
"It's cold in the mountains at night, be careful not to catch a cold."
The queen considerately ordered someone to add another screen to block the wind for Chu Qianchen.
Chu Qianchen thanked the Queen for the seat and sat down. He looked in the direction of Andaman again and saw that Andaman was whispering to another Nanhao envoy.
This is a good perspective. Chu Qianchen is very satisfied with his current seat, and he feels that he has gone from being "far apart" to being "close at hand".
When the queen saw Chu Qianchen's smiling face, she thought that this was a sign of goodwill towards her, and she felt more at ease.
"Sister-in-law of Ninth Brother," the Queen said to Chu Qianchen with a smile, "This is your first time to come for winter hunting with Ninth Brother. You haven't seen night hunting yet, right?"
Chu Qianchen nodded.
The Queen continued, "Night hunting is dangerous, but the Ninth Prince is certainly no problem."
"My ninth brother has been good at riding and shooting since he was young. When the late emperor was alive, my ninth brother would always accompany him on his autumn and winter hunting trips. Whenever there was a hunting competition, my ninth brother would always be the champion once he entered the hunting grounds."
"I still remember one winter hunt when a black bear accidentally entered the hunting grounds. The black bear was shot by a stray arrow and went mad. It almost killed several noble sons. It was my ninth brother who heard the news and came over. In the chaos, he shot the black bear in the eye with an arrow."
The Princess of Rui, who was standing beside her, also remembered it and nodded in agreement with a smile, "I remember this incident, too. The Prince of Chen's archery skills are truly extraordinary. This 100-step shot should be just like this. If the Prince of Chen had not arrived in time, I'm afraid several lives would have been lost."
"That time we got a good deal. I remember when the late emperor distributed the black bear as a reward, my prince and I got a bear paw."
These are things Chu Qianchen doesn't know.
She listened attentively, the smile between her eyebrows deepened, her eyes were full, and her mood naturally became cheerful.
She liked listening to the prince's past the most. She had also heard many people talk about the prince's youth, such as the empress dowager, Qin Yao, and Cheng Linhua... Each one was firmly engraved in her memory and she had recalled it over and over again.
The Princess of Prince Rui seemed to have noticed that the Queen intended to talk to Chu Qianchen, so she followed up the topic and brought up the last time Gu Jue accompanied the late Emperor on the autumn hunt when he was fifteen.
Finally, she said with emotion: "I remember that it was after the autumn hunt that Prince Chen asked the late emperor for permission to go to the north..." Recalling the past, the Princess of Rui, the Princess of Li and others sighed.
At that time, everyone thought that the Ninth Prince Gu Jue was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. Who would have thought that the young man back then would actually fulfill the oath he made in front of the late emperor.
"..." Chu Qianchen lowered his face slightly, and an image of a bright and vigorous young man emerged in his mind, standing in the sun with a smile on his face.
For some reason, at this moment, in addition to her joy, she felt an indescribable regret in her heart.
If...if she had been born a few years earlier, would she have been able to see with her own eyes how the young prince looked like, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse, and looking so heroic.
The thought only flashed through my mind.
The most important thing is now.
Now she can stay with the prince.
She is already very lucky.
Chu Qianchen bent his lips and took a sip of the fragrant Pu'er tea.
Princess Rui felt that she had said something out of turn. She coughed twice, lowered her eyes to drink tea, and glanced in the direction of the Queen.
The Queen was a little absent-minded and didn't care that Prince Rui's wife mentioned the Northland.
She thought the time was right, and changed the subject with a smile on her face: "Speaking of which, my ninth brother was raised by me. Now that he has started a family and established a career, I feel relieved that you, my ninth brother's wife, are taking care of him."
"Ninth brother's sister, you are young, so if anything happens to you, don't be afraid. Just tell me and I will take care of it for you."
"There was some misunderstanding between you and Zhitong this afternoon, right?" the queen asked with concern.
"Misunderstanding?" Chu Qianchen raised his head and raised his eyebrows slightly. Most of his attention was still on Andaman. He saw a Nanhao man enter the bamboo shed and didn't know what he was saying to Andaman.
What she could see was that Andaman's face looked unhappy and he looked towards the emperor.
The Queen did not notice Chu Qianchen's abnormal behavior. She looked in the direction of Yuan Zhitong and sighed slightly, "I know this girl Zhitong. She is well-educated, simple-minded, and straightforward. I am afraid that my ninth brother's wife has misunderstood her."
"Because of what happened this afternoon, Zhitong has been feeling guilty and blaming herself. She couldn't eat, not even a few bites of dinner, and she was thinking about apologizing to you, my ninth brother's wife."
The queen waved to Yuan Zhitong affectionately.
Yuan Zhitong immediately stood up and walked over gracefully, her little face slightly lowered. The lilac skirt she wore made her look pretty and charming, with a rather otherworldly temperament, which made the surrounding princes and princesses take a few more glances at her.
"Ninth brother's sister, today I will be the peacemaker between you and Zhitong, and let all grudges be forgotten with a smile." The queen smiled warmly, acting like a queen mother. "Zhitong is your niece, and we are all relatives. You should visit each other more often in the future, and don't be estranged from each other... From now on, you can call each other sisters."
"By the way, Zhitong, I remember that you are two years older than my ninth brother's wife, right?" asked the Queen.
Yuan Zhitong nodded: "The Queen has a good memory."
At the same time, the senior palace maid brought a cup of tea to Yuan Zhitong.
Yuan Zhitong held the teacup in both hands, bowed gracefully, offered tea to Chu Qianchen, and apologized softly, "Sister, it was all my fault this afternoon. I lost my grip and almost bumped into you. It's all my fault."
"I apologized to my sister."
Yuan Zhitong looked pitiful, taking all the blame on herself, but her words were unclear.
At this time, the other women in the bamboo shed also quieted down, with different expressions, some showing sympathy, some suddenly realizing, some waiting to see the show, or some looking at Chu Qianchen with disapproval.
The Crown Princess, the Princess of Rui, and the Princess of Zhuang all frowned in disapproval.
Judging from what Yuan Zhitong said, she didn't offend Princess Chen at all, she just "almost" did.
Yuan Zhitong is the niece of the Queen Mother after all, and Princess Chen insisted that people serve her tea and apologize in public, which was a bit aggressive! The Queen took in the changes in everyone's expressions, curled her lips, and said jokingly: "Ninth brother's sister, you have always been open-minded, you won't be so upset about such a small matter, right?"
The Queen criticized Chu Qianchen in just a few words, meaning that if Chu Qianchen did not accept Yuan Zhitong's cup of tea, he would be petty and would inevitably be criticized in the future.
Yuan Zhitong's action of serving tea with both hands also attracted the attention of other people around. More and more eyes from other bamboo sheds were looking towards the Queen, Chu Qianchen and Yuan Zhitong.
These people didn't know what was going on. They could only see that the girl from the Yuan family was apologizing to Princess Chen, and they couldn't help but speculate.
Princess Li, who was sitting below the Queen, stared at the Queen and knew clearly: no matter what Yuan Zhitong was thinking, the Queen's intention was clear to everyone. She asked Yuan Zhitong to call Princess Chen sister and offered tea in public, which was clearly an attempt to fill the Chen Palace with people.
Princess Li frowned slightly, thinking that what the Queen did was a bit awkward.
The Princess of Chen is undoubtedly the legal wife, but the Queen asked Yuan Zhitong to call her sister. If Yuan Zhitong really enters the Prince of Chen's mansion in the future, won't she be superior to the Princess? !
Princess Li rubbed her temple with a headache.
The problem is, the Queen has already said this, and Princess Chen has no choice but to accept Yuan Zhitong's cup of tea.
Moreover, when the news reaches the ears of Empress Dowager Yin, she will probably be displeased with Princess Chen. After all, Yuan Zhitong is a relative of the Empress Dowager's mother's family, and is not someone that Princess Chen can use to slap her in the face and establish her authority.
Yuan Zhitong was smiling, but the smile was forced, weak and helpless.
Chu Qianchen was also smiling, calm and composed, his every move still as graceful as ever.
"Ninth brother's sister, please answer it quickly." The queen urged as if nothing had happened.
The smile on the queen's face deepened, and there was a sense of oppression in her words, which put pressure on Chu Qianchen again.
The surroundings fell into silence.
At this time, everyone's attention is an invisible pressure that makes people panic and unable to think calmly.
(End of this chapter)