Chapter 852, Coma
As the royal hunting ground, Nanyou Enclosure has excellent geographical conditions, a wide variety of wild animals, and a vast area, making it very suitable for large-scale hunting.
September is the season of clear and crisp autumn weather. Most of the women who came along came with the mentality of having an outing, chatting and laughing along the way.
After walking for most of the day, it was almost evening when the team arrived at their destination and began to set up camp.
Daohua liked setting up tents very much. Just as she and Wang Maner and others had packed up the tent, Xiao Yeyang strode in.
"Why are you back so soon? Is everything okay with the Emperor's uncle?"
Xiao Yeyang drank a cup of tea, looked at the rice flowers and said, "During this time in the enclosure, no matter where you go, you must bring plum blossoms, orchids, plum blossoms and chrysanthemums with you."
Seeing his serious expression, Daohua nodded solemnly: "Don't worry about me, I will protect myself."
Xiao Yeyang pulled Daohua to sit down and said, "Lord Cheng'en is here too. Two of the generals in charge of the hunting expedition are from the Jiang family."
Daohua instantly understood the underlying meaning of Xiao Yeyang's words and asked in astonishment, "How dare the Jiang family?"
Xiao Yeyang sneered, "I told you, this is an enclosure, so it's not surprising that something unexpected happens." He then repeated his instructions, "I might be very busy during this period, so try not to go to places with few people."
Daohua nodded quickly.
Everyone rested for a night, and early the next morning, the emperor personally mounted his horse and led the officials into the depths of the enclosure to hunt.
This time the emperor came out with several palace concubines. Because of Xiao Yeyang's reminder, Daohua did not walk around even though she was very bored sitting among the female relatives. She always followed the group of female relatives.
Near noon, the emperor came back first with a group of people, and each of them had a lot of prey on his horse.
It didn't take long before the others came back one after another.
Looking at the abundant prey, the emperor was very happy: "Today is the Double Ninth Festival. Although we are not at home, we can't be careless outside. Let's gather all the prey and roast them all, and have a good time."
After the emperor gave the order, everyone immediately got busy.
The first day of the autumn hunt passed safely and everyone was very happy.
The hunt continued on the second day. Today the emperor joined the competition and would personally reward the top three with the most prey.
At this moment, everyone who followed was excited. The young and strong men who were confident in riding and shooting were all secretly eager to show their skills in front of the emperor.
After the men went out hunting, the women sat in front of the tent and talked about family matters.
Daohua was about to go find Princess Huijia when she saw the third prince's wife walking towards her with the second prince's wife.
"Sister-in-law, my second sister-in-law and I want to go horseback riding. You should come with us."
As the Third Prince's wife walked in, she enthusiastically took Daohua's arm.
Daohua smiled at the Third Prince's Consort and used some strength to pull her arm free. "Second Prince's Consort, Third Prince's Consort, I'm so sorry. I haven't been feeling well these past two days and can't ride. Please find someone else to accompany you."
The Third Prince's wife immediately smiled and asked, "Sister-in-law, your face is so red, you don't look uncomfortable at all. Why, don't you want to accompany me and my second sister-in-law?"
Daohua's smile remained unchanged. "Third Prince Consort, since you are pretending not to understand my euphemisms, I have no choice but to be blunt. I really don't want to ride with you."
The Third Prince's wife's face froze, and she looked at Daohua in astonishment. Then her face turned red, and she glared at Daohua angrily.
Daohua smiled and continued, "Whether people are sincere or not, most of the time you can tell. Not saying it out loud is to save face for both parties, but if you insist on saying it out loud, it's very embarrassing."
After saying that, he nodded to the Second Prince's wife who was also a little dazed, and walked towards Princess Huijia.
Kang Naixin was engaged and did not come this time, so Princess Huijia only brought her two daughters-in-law with her.
Daohua smiled and bowed to Princess Huijia, then nodded and greeted her two daughters-in-law.
Princess Huijia glanced at the Second and Third Prince's wives and asked, "What do they want from you?"
Daohua smiled and said, "He invited me to go horseback riding, but I refused."
Princess Huijia nodded and said, "You're right to refuse. This is an enclosure after all. There are even tigers and bears here. It's best not to run around without Yeyang by your side."
Daohua: "The eldest princess is right. I thought so too." Then she glanced at the women around her and said with a smile, "Nai Xin didn't come, and Xi Rong didn't come either."
Princess Huijia smiled and said, "You may not know yet, but Xirong is also engaged, and Madam Wu is currently making her embroider her wedding gown."
Daohua looked surprised: "Who did you choose?"
Princess Huijia smiled and said, "You know him. He's the eldest grandson of Prince Yong."
Daohua: "Xiao Yexuan?"
Princess Huijia nodded: "Isn't it him?" She originally wanted her daughter to marry Xiao Yexuan, but she never expected that her daughter fell in love with Wu Dingbai and even tried to match Xirong and Xiao Yexuan.
Daohua smiled and said, "Nai Xin and Xi Rong are indeed sisters. They even got engaged together."
Princess Huijia also laughed and talked about other things with Daohua.
That day, apart from some minor friction when counting the prey, everything was calm.
Nothing happened in the next two days, but on the sixth day of the autumn hunt, an accident occurred.
Someone was attacked by a tiger.
It is not uncommon to encounter tigers in the enclosure. Except for the family attacked by the tiger, no one else cares much.
After the emperor learned that a tiger had appeared, he excitedly took his men to hunt the tiger the next morning.
Princess Huijia told Daohua that during the autumn hunting in the past, the emperor had hunted not only tigers, but also bears and leopards.
"The Emperor's horsemanship and archery are extremely skilled."
Daohua listened absentmindedly to Princess Huijia talking about the emperor's heroic deeds during the autumn hunts in previous years, but her thoughts were wandering to the horizon.
When she went out in the morning, she noticed Xiao Yeyang's solemn expression. When her third brother came to find Xiao Yeyang, his brows were still furrowed.
Something might happen today!
Just as Daohua had expected, at noon that day, everyone else returned one after another, but the team that had followed the emperor out hunting did not return.
By the afternoon, the emperor still hadn't returned, and everyone began to feel uneasy.
At this time, Duke Cheng'en, who had rarely appeared in public, appeared in front of everyone and began to command everyone to find the emperor with an attitude of responsibility.
Towards evening, the emperor returned.
Daohua was shocked when she saw Xiao Yeyang covered in blood rushing into the dragon tent carrying the unconscious emperor on his back. She hurriedly followed him, but when she arrived in front of the dragon tent, she was stopped by the imperial guards.
Looking at the eldest prince and others who were also stopped outside, Daohua had to suppress her anxiety.
"What happened? How did Father get hurt?"
The eldest prince angrily pulled an accompanying official and shouted.
The official's face turned pale and he trembled as he said, "We first encountered a tiger. After the emperor led everyone to hunt the tiger, we had no time to catch our breath before we were surrounded by more than 30 wolves."
The eldest prince's eyes widened. "More than thirty wolves? How could there be so many wolves gathered in the hunting grounds?"
The official shook his head: "I don't know either."
The Third Prince interrupted anxiously, "How is Father injured?"
The official's face turned even paler. "While avoiding the wolf pack's attack, the emperor accidentally fell to the ground and hit his head on a rock. The back of his head is bleeding profusely."
The eldest prince and his companions became anxious and wanted to rush into the tent.
The guards still didn't let them in.
Just as the eldest prince was angrily rebuking the guards, Xiao Yeyang walked out.
"Xiao Yeyang, how is Father?"
Xiao Yeyang frowned and looked at the eldest prince and the others: "The imperial physician is treating the emperor's uncle. Eldest prince, you are leading the quarrel here, what do you want to do?"
The eldest prince paused and said, "I'm just worried about my father's safety."
Xiao Yeyanghuan glanced at the officials who were anxiously looking at the dragon tent and said, "Uncle Emperor is fine. Everyone please disperse first. Don't disturb Uncle Emperor's rest."
Hearing this, the officials looked at each other in confusion, and after a long while they reluctantly dispersed.
As soon as the official left, the eldest prince suddenly grabbed Xiao Yeyang and said, "Xiao Yeyang, tell me honestly, how seriously injured is father?"
Xiao Yeyang waved away the eldest prince, and took in the expressions of the eldest princes. His gaze paused on the third prince before he said, "Uncle Emperor, it's okay. I'm injured and need to go back to get bandaged."
As he said this, he walked towards the rice flowers.
Daohua hurriedly helped Xiao Yeyang back to their tent.
After entering the tent, Daohua quickly checked Xiao Yeyang's injuries.
"Don't worry, they are just superficial injuries." Seeing Daohua's anxious face, Xiao Yeyang hurriedly whispered to comfort her.
Daohua didn't listen. She checked all the wounds and saw that none of them were vital. She finally felt relieved: "I was so scared."
Xiao Yeyang: "Although I'm not seriously injured, you still have to act more serious in front of outsiders."
Daohua looked at Xiao Yeyang and nodded: "Uncle Emperor"
Xiao Yeyang nodded slightly and said nothing.
Seeing this, Daohua didn't ask any more questions, took out the medicine box, and began to help Xiao Yeyang clean the wound.
Over at the dragon tent, the imperial doctors who came with them were busy until late at night before they came out with heavy faces.
The eldest princes who were waiting outside immediately stepped forward to inquire about the emperor's injuries.
Several imperial doctors said that the emperor was not seriously injured, but their eyes were avoiding when they spoke.
Seeing them like this, the eldest prince and the others felt a pang of fear in their hearts, only the third prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
(End of this chapter)
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