"Pfft—!"
Suddenly, one of the noble ladies covered her mouth and chuckled. Realizing her reaction was inappropriate, Feng Xiyao quickly curtsied and added:
"Thank you for your kind invitation, Your Highness. I will definitely visit your residence for a meal another day!"
"Pfft—!"
Several more noble ladies laughed, because Feng Xiyao's words were no different from the previous one about the rash "good".
Feng Xiyao is straightforward and honest. Because of her love for solving cases, she now works as a female official in the Dali Temple.
Investigating a case isn't something you can do just sit in the Dali Temple; you need to personally go to the scene to investigate, ask around about many things, and so on...
Therefore, Feng Xiyao was not like typical noble ladies who kept aloof; she was busy investigating cases and did not often associate with other noble ladies.
Because Feng Xiyao was frequently involved in cases, the noble ladies were somewhat wary of her and didn't particularly like to associate with her.
Shang Changge glanced at the group of noble ladies who were covering their mouths and laughing. Very well, their father and elder brother weren't part of the "beautiful younger brother" faction.
The smile on his face remained unchanged, but the warmth of his casual voice had dropped a few degrees:
"What are you laughing at, my sisters? Is what I said so funny?"
The smiles on the faces of the noble ladies froze instantly, and they hurriedly bowed and apologized.
"Princess, please forgive me! Princess, please forgive me!"
"We women only laughed because we saw two maids and servants chatting and laughing together in the distance, which was quite amusing. We had no other intentions."
Shang Changge: "Is that so?"
The two words, spoken casually, seemed to carry an overwhelming pressure as they were thrown at the noble ladies.
Several noble ladies responded in unison, their teeth clenched tightly, their hearts pounding wildly, some nervous, some frightened.
They were afraid that if the princess's temper flared up, she would embarrass them even more or even hit them directly.
The thought of being beaten made the delicate and pampered young ladies involuntarily shrink back.
I heard that the princess is now skilled in martial arts and kills people without blinking an eye. What will they do if she really attacks them?
However, they were overthinking it. In an occasion like today, with the old emperor, the imperial concubine Shang Rui, and their cronies all present...
Shang Changge wouldn't give anyone cause for gossip, trouble for himself, or for his beautiful younger brother, so he gestured for them to stand up.
After everyone got up, his smile was kind and his voice was very gentle.
"In that case, I have misunderstood you. However, you are not allowed to laugh when I speak with Sister Xiyao next time."
Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if I misunderstood again. You all know I have a bad temper, and if one day I lose patience to listen to your explanations..."
Shang Changge didn't continue speaking, only responding with a smile.
The smile made no attempt to hide anything; it was a blatant warning, threat, and danger.
Several noble ladies repeatedly agreed, admitting their mistake and humble themselves. Only then did Shang Changge stop laughing and turn to chat with Feng Xiyao about other things.
Before today,
Shang Changge had very little contact with Feng Xiyao. Firstly, the original owner of the body was arrogant and never took the initiative to befriend others.
Secondly, Feng Xiyao was busy investigating the case and rarely appeared in high society circles, and she was also hesitant and disliked Princess Shang Changge.
She rarely chatted with Shang Changge, let alone fawned over her like some other noble ladies.
Yun Xiangrong watched the two getting along better and better, and then thought about the princess's changed attitude towards her.
And the invitations she had sent to the princess's residence during this time, which she had repeatedly refused, caused her eyelids to droop quietly.
It seems she was right: the princess did indeed know something, or the crown prince must have said something to the princess.
The hunt did not begin immediately.
We need to rest and recuperate first, and we should also eat lunch before noon.
Emperor Mingde sent several military officers to hunt some game to prepare for lunch.
Several playful princes and princesses volunteered to join in, and Emperor Mingde laughed heartily and agreed.
Shang Rui was among them, and he even warmly invited his elder sister, Shang Changge, to join them.
Shang Changge refused. She figured it would be easy to investigate if something happened to just a few people, and she didn't want to waste her time.
Moreover, her younger siblings clearly didn't welcome her, and she never did anything to make herself look bad or be disliked.
Shang Rui didn't insist and left.
The group returned quickly, and with quite a bit of prey.
One sika deer, two wild boars, and three goats—that's more than enough for a snack.
The sika deer was hunted by Shang Rui, for which he received a great deal of praise from Emperor Mingde and all the officials.
Seven or eight steps away,
Shang Changge and Shang Changze stood together, watching this scene of filial piety between father and son, and the siblings whispered to each other.
Shang Changze spoke first: "Royal sister, guess if General Zhao was hunting in front and third brother picked up the deer behind him?"
It's more of a declarative sentence than a question.
Shang Changge understood why her handsome younger brother would say such things, because Shang Rui had been terrible at riding and archery since childhood, especially his archery skills.
How fast do those deer in the forest run? How could Shang Rui have shot them?
Shang Changge suppressed a laugh, taking in the serious and earnest lecture from her elder sister:
"Don't say that. Maybe they studied hard and achieved success after we siblings all died in our past lives?"
Shang Changze chuckled. His refined and elegant demeanor made his smile incredibly handsome, and yet he humbly accepted the instruction:
"My elder sister's teachings are correct; we must not underestimate our enemy."
Shang Changge took in Shang Changze's smile with mixed feelings, while nodding in approval that he was a promising student.
As for whether Shang Rui actually studied diligently and achieved anything in his previous life, only Shang Rui knows.
Shang Changge only knew that the script she held had never written about or mentioned such a thing.
Soon, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys.
They ate the game that Shang Rui and his companions had hunted, but of course, they ate even more food that the group had brought from the city.
As the general in charge of the hunting grounds' security, Xiao Ji had no right to leisurely sit and eat and laugh with everyone.
Shang Changge knew this, so she didn't go to look or search. She kept whispering with her beautiful younger brother about the upcoming hunt.
The hunt begins at 1-3 PM and ends at 5-7 PM.
The entire hunt lasted two hours, and the prize for today's hunt was a piece of black iron.
Xuan Tie is hard; if it is forged into weapons, it can cut through iron like mud and is extremely sharp.
Shang Changge was very interested; she felt it was time for her to have a suitable weapon.
She didn't plan to do anything on the first day of the hunt; the first day was for familiarizing herself with the terrain and scouting locations.
Although Xiao Ji gave her a detailed map of the hunting grounds, she felt it was still necessary to explore it herself.
Before long, it was already past noon.
The drumbeats, meant to intimidate wild beasts, resonated deeply, echoing throughout the mountains and forests in successive waves.
Rows of horses galloped, their hooves clattering. Emperors, princes, princesses, and ministers all rode on sleek, glossy steeds.
After the last drumbeat subsided, they set off one after another into the mountains and forests.
As Shang Changge had predicted,
On the first day, both the beauty's younger brother and Shang Rui were summoned by the old emperor, along with Xiao Ji, who was responsible for protecting the emperor's safety.
Shang Changge clicked his tongue, pulled on the reins, turned the horse around, raised the whip, and rode off in another direction.
Just as Shang Changge was riding away, Emperor Mingde stopped his horse, turned back, and smiled meaningfully, saying:
“Ge’er has grown up and no longer comes to the hunting grounds with me like she used to. I’m getting old too, alas.”
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