80. Archery
◎Prince Qi and Princess Qi actually get along like this◎
Chapter 80
The next day, Jiang Qiuye and Princess Anyang slept together until noon. Although Jiang Qiuye was the emperor's aunt, she and Anyang were actually not much different in age. They had been eating and living together for the past few days and soon became friends.
This was the first time since she was a child that a girl other than her childhood sister had been able to get along so closely with her, so she naturally cherished this hard-won opportunity.
As the two of them lazily got up, the women in the other tents had already gone hunting in the small hunting grounds. After lunch, Jiang Qiuye suddenly thought of her husband, whom she hadn't seen in several days. However, under Anyang's coquettish offensive, he finally decided to take her horseback riding first.
Just as the little white horse was being led out, Anyang's eunuch Hu Hai rushed forward in a hurry, "Princess——"
Hu Hai was a handsome young eunuch, reportedly assigned to the princess's care early on, and he always served with undivided attention. During the princess's abduction, Hu Hai was punished with fifty lashes of the cane, nearly killing him. He was bedridden for half a month and then imprisoned. Had the princess not been found, thus dispelling his involvement, Hu Hai might have lost his life in the case.
Anyang: "Stand up straight and talk."
Hu Hai paused for a moment and said, "Princess, Concubine Zheng sent a letter via carrier pigeon, saying that there is something important and she wants you to return to Shengjing immediately!"
Anyang shook himself, "Mother? Did you tell me what happened?"
Hu Hai shook his head.
Concubine Zheng was unable to accompany him this time due to illness. This letter came so suddenly, but without saying anything, it was really worrying.
Seeing Anyang's anxious expression, Jiang Qiuye couldn't help but feel worried too, but she also comforted him, "Anyang, don't worry too much. If there's anything wrong with Concubine Zheng, His Majesty will definitely know. But she only sent you a letter, so it must be about something else. Since you're so anxious, then Anyang, you should set off as soon as possible. After returning to Shengjing, the Empress will teach you how to ride."
Anyang pinched his fingers, and although reluctant, he nodded and immediately left with Hu Hai.
Jiang Qiuye suddenly felt uneasy. The women's hunts were truly uninteresting, with only small chickens and ducklings. She stood there for a moment, until Mingyue called her, and her thoughts gradually returned.
"Since Anyang is gone, let's pack up our things and go back to our tents."
"Yes, Princess."
Many men had already begun their actual hunting in the mountains today, and over the next five days, a competition would be held based on the total amount of prey they had hunted. Jiang Qiuye had assumed Ji Ci must be in the mountains by now, and Anyang had already left, leaving her feeling somewhat empty. However, she hadn't expected that as soon as she opened her tent, she would see him seated before a desk, like a giant Buddha.
"Husband! You didn't go into the mountains?"
After not seeing him for several days, she was so happy when she saw him again that she was overwhelmed with joy.
Ji Ci didn't even glance at her, still flipping through the book in his hand. He just said "hmm" expressionlessly. After a moment, he rolled his eyes and whispered again, "Busy."
Jiang Qiuye keenly noticed that he was in a bad mood, blinked, walked forward, and saw that he was flipping through a policy paper related to salt and iron.
What does this have to do with the spring hunt? Why should I be busy reading when I'm already out hunting?
She first carefully observed his expressionless face, and saw that his lips were slightly pursed, his eyes were indifferent, but he secretly glanced at her.
She smiled secretly and said indifferently: "Oh, then you go ahead and get busy."
Then he turned around and instructed Mingyue, "Mingyue, move all my things in. Yes, just put them in that corner."
Ji Ci stared at the book that he hadn't turned the page on, and the corners of his eyes twitched.
He finally couldn't help it and turned to look at Jiang Qiuye who was instructing Mingyue, and then said to Mingyue: "Okay, Mingyue, you go down."
Mingyue was startled, put down the clothes in her hand, and left the tent. Only Ji Ci and Jiang Qiuye were left in the cramped tent.
After calming down, Ji Ci turned his gaze back to the book in front of him and read it seriously, as if he didn't care about the other woman in the tent.
Jiang Qiuye took a small step forward, sat down beside him, and looked up at him. After a moment, he didn't expect this man to be so angry and ignore him.
"Is my husband so busy? This book is better than Ye'er's?"
He did not answer, but his face looked like he was going to coax me.
Forget it, this weird old guy.
She rubbed her cheek against his arm, sniffed gently, bit her lip, and said coquettishly, "Ye'er hasn't seen my husband for a long time. I miss him so much. Doesn't my husband miss Ye'er too?"
"Heh." Ji Ci sneered and continued to stare at the book in his hand that he had never turned the page of, as if he was not fooled by her sweet words.
This woman misses him? No one would believe it.
Seeing that she was difficult to appease, Jiang Qiuye reached out and took the book from his hand, putting it aside. Then she sat astride him, hooked her arms around his neck and said, "Husband, Ye'er has never had a friend since she was a child. She is very lonely. Although I am the emperor's aunt in Anyang, this is the first time I have been able to play with someone like this, so I couldn't help but spend more time with her. But these days, Ye'er really misses you."
Ji Ci's eyes relaxed a little and he looked at her who was acting coquettishly, pouting her little mouth and pretending to be cute very well.
Jiang Qiuye struck while the iron was hot and stepped forward to kiss his Adam's apple, which was rolling up and down. "It's Ye'er's fault. My husband is the most important to me. Brother Jian Xi, please don't bear grudges against me. Okay?"
"Hmph, you still remember to come back." He couldn't help but snort. If he hadn't used a fake carrier pigeon to send a letter and get Anyang away, this little wife would probably have been happy there forever.
Jiang Qiuye straightened up, blinking her peach blossom eyes, "Husband, the other women have gone hunting, but Ye'er is the only one who is very clumsy. Please teach Ye'er how to shoot arrows so that I can at least participate in the hunt tomorrow. Tonight, Ye'er will make it up to you, okay?"
He stared at her and swallowed, a fragrant picture flashing through his mind, and said in a low voice: "How...are you going to make it up to me?"
"Whatever compensation my husband wants, I'll do it."
"Humph, you said it, don't regret it."
"Of course I don't regret it." She bit his lip lightly, "Brother Jian Xi is the best."
She watched the lust in his eyes grow stronger, and before it could burn away her mind, she immediately rolled over and got off his legs, reached out and pulled him up, shaking him, "Let's go, Master, teach me archery."
If I stay any longer, I won’t have to leave the tent during the day.
Ji Ci was so shaken by her that he lost his temper. He raised his hand to press his forehead, sighed helplessly, picked up the tea on the table, took a few sips, and then stood up.
He took Jiang Qiuye to a temporary shooting range and selected a light and exquisite bow for her, which was very suitable for women to use.
He first took out an arrow and demonstrated, firing it at the farthest target with a standard posture. With a whoosh, before he could even see the arrow's path, it had already hit the bull's eye, piercing the target and firmly pinning it to the stone wall.
Jiang Qiuye was momentarily stunned. She had only heard that he was renowned for his swordsmanship as a child, shocking the world. But seeing it with her own eyes was another story. This was a light bow for women, not a heavy bow. While hitting the bull's eye was easy, delivering such a powerful shot was extremely difficult, something even she might not be able to do.
After she slowly came to her senses, she looked at him in admiration and jumped up, screaming, "Ah - husband! You are so great!"
She clapped her hands vigorously, this time with completely genuine praise, without any hypocrisy.
Ji Ci raised the corner of his mouth slightly, turned his eyes away, pressed down the corner of his lips and frowned, "What is this? The target is a dead object, a child's thing."
"Really? I heard that when all the nations came to pay tribute, your husband shot a copper coin and broke through five armors, which made our Great Jin proud. Today, I finally saw your husband shoot an arrow in person, and I really think he is amazing."
She walked forward, hugged his waist, and looked up at him.
Ji Ci finally couldn't help laughing. The spring light poured out, and the mountains outside the wilderness were covered with green willows. She was shocked by his smile again.
"Well, if someone comes, you, a chaste lady, should behave properly." He turned around and looked around. Fortunately, there was no one around. He immediately pulled her off him and said, "Come on, try it. Let me see how good you are."
Jiang Qiuye lowered her eyes after letting him go, her expression darkening. Although her archery skills were not as good as his, they were certainly not bad either. However, she certainly could not expose them in front of him.
So she took the light bow from Ji Ci's hand and pretended to shoot an arrow casually.
The arrow had no power at all, and it twisted in an arc and fell not far in front of the two people. Not only did it not hit the bull's eye, it didn't even hit the target.
Ji Ci couldn't help but raise his fist to his mouth and chuckled softly.
She stuck out her tongue, turned her head, squinted her eyes, and said coquettishly: "Husband, you are laughing at me!"
"No!" He immediately smiled and shook his head. "How could I laugh at Ye'er? Come, let me teach you. When it comes to archery, start with the most basic posture: keep your body straight, your feet steady, your arms level, and your body and bow united."
He carefully adjusted her position. "Remember this feeling?"
"I remember." Jiang Qiuye nodded.
Ji Ci pulled out another arrow from the quiver behind him and handed it to her, "Come and try again."
Jiang Qiuye took it, put the bow on it and aimed at the target in front of him. He closed his right eye tightly, tilted his head, and his overall posture was so loose that he couldn't even support the arrow.
Seeing this, Ji Ci walked behind her, wrapped her in his arms, held her hand, and adjusted it. "Stand straight, keep your head straight, open both eyes, pinch your index and middle fingers, press down with your thumb, raise your arms to the same level, start walking again, draw the bowstring to the full extent, and release!"
With a shout of "release", the arrow flew out of his hand sharply and hit the bull's eye in the distance.
"Hit!"
Jiang Qiuye seemed to jump up in surprise, turned around, hugged his neck, and took the opportunity to kiss him on the face.
The sudden intimacy made him laugh and he tapped her forehead with his index finger.
The appearance of the two people caught the eyes of Zhao Wan'er who was behind the tree in the distance. She really didn't expect that Prince Qi and Princess Qi actually got along like this in private and had such a good relationship.
Even her former husband, the King of Han, had never treated her like this and always treated her with respect.
Just as she gritted her teeth and turned around, she noticed another person not far away. It was Ji Kang, who had just finished hunting and was holding a few hares. He was wearing a gray-green riding uniform and stared directly at the two people in the shooting range, so focused that he didn't even notice her presence.
Zhao Wan'er dodged back again, narrowed her eyes, and tore at the sleeves of her hands.
She saw that if she wanted to win Ji Ci over, she had to first take his heart away from Princess Qi. The best way to do that was to destroy his trust in the princess.
If he knew that his princess had a secret affair with the emperor's nephew, which was so unethical and unclear...
…
On the fourth day of the spring hunt, Ji Ci was no longer lazy. After making arrangements for Jiang Qiuye, he rode directly into the mountains.
Since she had learned archery yesterday, she didn't want to stay in the tent all day. She heard that the women were going to barbecue the game they had caught two days ago. After a few days of eating dry biscuits, she finally couldn't resist the temptation and went to find them to eat a few bites.
After lunch, some women who failed to catch any prey went to the small hunting ground again.
As Jiang Qiuye stood up, Zhao Wan'er came over and said respectfully, "I haven't seen the princess these past few days. I finally get to see her today. I wonder if the princess is enjoying her meal?"
"fine."
"Why doesn't the princess enter the forest?"
"Although I am good at riding horses, I am really not good at archery. Even though the prince taught me yesterday, I still only have a vague understanding. Hunting is really beyond my ability."
Zhao Wan'er smiled gently and said, "This hunting technique is different from ordinary archery. You must personally enter the forest. Unlike a target, this little creature may be small, but it is also a living thing. Not only does it move, but it also requires a lot of courage. But once you can shoot it once, it will be easy to catch it."
Jiang Qiuye said helplessly, "Cousin Wan'er sounds very experienced. I really envy her."
Zhao Wan'er said, "When I was in the south, I often followed the King of Han into the mountains to hunt. My cousin is an excellent rider and archer. Princess, don't blame me for my harsh words. Bitter medicine tastes good, and honest advice is unpleasant to the ears..."
"What are you talking about?" Jiang Qiuye blinked innocently.
"My cousin is the Prince of Qi, and he commands a lot of attention. As a princess, you should be able to match his abilities to avoid being criticized. His archery skills are among the best in the Jin Dynasty. If you, as a princess, can't even shoot a hare, people will inevitably speculate that you and your wife are not on good terms... Princess, please don't blame me for saying this. I didn't mean that, I was just worried."
Jiang Qiuye was stunned at first, not understanding what Zhao Wan'er was doing. He lowered his head and smiled secretly, then raised his head and said, "No wonder the prince always said that cousin Wan'er is no different from other women and is very insightful. Now Ye'er has finally seen it."
Zhao Wan'er didn't expect Ji Ci to mention her to her and even praised her for her insight. She was overjoyed, "Cousin, did you really say that?"
"Of course. Do I look like someone who could deceive people?" Jiang Qiuye covered her mouth with her hands and smiled, then said in a difficult tone, "But cousin Wan'er, the prince is so busy. Even if I want to go into the mountains, he definitely can't accompany me. How can I improve my hunting skills?"
Seeing that she had finally answered her question, Zhao Wan'er immediately followed up, "How difficult is that? I'm proficient in riding and shooting, and I'm familiar with Mount Song. Can't I just take the princess with me?"
"That's great! But, wouldn't that be too much trouble for Cousin Wan'er? After all, you're so busy too..."
"How could that be? I want to spend more time with the princess."
After the two made their decision, Jiang Qiuye returned to the tent and changed into her pink and white riding uniform. Her hair was held up high with a jade crown. She looked petite and cute, yet heroic.
He led out the little white horse, mounted it, and followed Zhao Wan'er into the forest.
As they rode, Zhao Wan'er said, "This small patch of woodland to the east is fenced off for our women to go hunting. The west is the men's area, where they mostly find larger animals like elk and wild boar. Sometimes you might even encounter brown bears or even tigers. Don't enter."
"Well, I'll listen to my cousin Wan'er." Jiang Qiuye nodded with a smile and rode his horse to catch up with Zhao Wan'er.
After entering the East Forest, Jiang Qiuye rode ahead. Strangely, he didn't see any women. The hunting grounds for women were supposed to be small, and after lunch today, most of the women had gone into the forest, so he shouldn't have run into anyone.
She turned around from her perch on horseback and saw that Zhao Wan'er was gone. All around her was silent, as if a wild animal was lurking.
Jiang Qiuye smiled secretly. She had been living in the jungle and wilderness since she was a child. How could she be afraid of this?
She was very curious about what Zhao Wan'er's purpose was in bringing her alone into this uninhabited area?
She dismounted and strolled around leisurely. Behind her, there were small, sporadic noises, not caused by the wind.
She turned around and saw the thing in the bushes suddenly roar and pounce towards her. It was actually a tiger!
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Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2024-07-24 06:00:00 and 2024-07-26 06:00:00~
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