Chapter 148 Warning
Li Jincheng stared at the direction where Xie Tingzhou rode away, and sweat appeared on his hands as he tightened his grip on the reins.
He is the future emperor, how could he be frightened by a weak arrow shot by Xie Tingzhou?
"Don't be angry, brother." There was another sound of horse hooves, and Li Yanchang slowly came out from behind the woods on his horse.
"The whole world belongs to the king. When my elder brother takes the throne, it will be imperative to reduce the power of the vassal states. By then, the entire Beilin will be yours. What does a mere Xie Tingzhou mean to you?"
Li Jincheng's anger subsided a little, and he did not continue the conversation. Instead, he asked in a deep voice, "Seventh Brother, you said that his martial arts skills were not lost, but it was all pretended. What about now?"
"Brother did try." Li Yanchang said calmly, "But since he was pretending, how could he be exposed in public?"
Li Jincheng said: "If you were not so sure that he was pretending, why would I deliberately want to expose him in front of others!"
"It was the guard beside him who caused the trouble. If it weren't for that knife, he would probably have to do it himself," said Li Yanchang.
Li Jincheng rode away on his horse, and his personal guards followed him.
Li Yanchang asked: "Have you confirmed it?"
"Confirmed." A guard stepped forward and said, "The guard next to Xie Tingzhou is indeed the woman I saw that night. Although she was in disguise and looked different, I recognized the move she made when she drew her sword. It was a combination of hardness and softness, a blend of many styles. Ordinary people cannot achieve such a thorough understanding."
Li Yanchang narrowed his eyes, a sinister look flashed across his eyes, "There's a master hiding."
Another team was preparing to enter the forest from the other side of the hunting ground.
Li Jifeng and Xie Tingzhou were riding their horses side by side. When they turned around and saw Li Yanchang, they immediately smiled.
"Seventh brother." Li Jifeng whipped his horsewhip and ran over.
Li Yanchang calmed down and asked warmly, "You and Xie Tingzhou went into the forest together?"
"Yes." Li Jifeng asked: "Seventh Brother, where are you going?"
Li Yanchang did not answer. Li Jifeng said with a smile, "What are you afraid of? There are only Tingzhou and I. We are not competing for the first place and will not steal the prey from you. We can just go to the south to catch a few rabbits. If we are lucky, we can hunt a deer. It won't be so ugly."
After saying that, he shook his whip and said, "Let's go, Seventh Brother."
The group of people were waiting at the edge of the forest. When Li Jifeng caught up with them, they disappeared into the dense forest.
Li Yanchang snorted and laughed: "You say he is useless, but he really knows how to find a backer. You say he is not useless, but he can't do anything."
…
Baishan Hunting Ground is a royal hunting ground for nearly a hundred years. A large area of land outside the forest ground has been cleared for grassland.
Set up camp.
On the first day, ministers could not hunt with the prince, but princes and sons of the king could.
After the princes and sons of noble families entered the forest one after another, competitions in riding and archery began on the grassland.
Emperor Tongxu looked at them for a while and said, "Who do you think will win?"
Li Zhaonian did not enter the forest. He sprained his foot when he mounted the horse this morning, so he accompanied Emperor Tongxu.
"Of course it's the eldest brother."
"Why?" asked Emperor Tongxu.
Li Zhaonian said gently, "Because my eldest brother is the crown prince, he must be the first."
Emperor Tongxu looked at Li Zhaonian, one of his favorite children, a gentleman, gentle as jade.
What a pity, he was born at the wrong time, in such a chaotic world.
In troubled times, we need heroes and courage, but what we don’t need is a gentleman like this.
"Do you have any favorite characters?" Emperor Tongxu asked suddenly.
Li Zhaonian was stunned for a moment, not understanding the meaning. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If I have to pick a favorite character, then I'd choose 'Miao'."
"Why?"
Li Zhaonian said with a smile: "Duke Zhuang once said by the Autumn River: China is like a grain of rice in the granary. I think I am so insignificant that I cannot shake the universe."
Emperor Tongxu nodded in agreement. He also felt the same exhaustion now.
Yes, the corruption of the Great Zhou was deep-rooted. Even with his status as the supreme ruler, he was still unable to repair this ruined empire. The energy he invested was like a grain of millet dropped into the granary of the Great Zhou, without any life.
The truth that he spent more than ten years to figure out was already understood by his son.
"Alas..." Emperor Tongxu sighed, "The word Miao is not suitable. Among Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu, is there a word you like?"
Li Zhaonian suddenly raised his head and looked towards Emperor Tongxu, "Father..."
Emperor Tongxu waved his hand and said, "You can pick one later."
Li Zhaonian lowered his head again. He knew what this meant.
In previous dynasties, princes could be crowned kings when they reached adulthood, but since the generation of Emperor Tongxu, it has been delayed until now.
Now that he is preparing to be crowned king, he is probably lamenting that his time is running out.
Emperor Tongxu raised his eyes and looked, "Is that Anan?"
Li Zhaonian looked over and saw that in the distance, Marquis Xuanping was scolding Pei Chunli. One of them lowered his head and kicked the grass with the toe of his shoe with a defiant look on his face, while the other one raised his eyebrows and glared at him, as if he was about to explode at the next moment.
Tongxudi Haha
He laughed, "It seems that Anan has pissed off his father again. Let's call him over."
The eunuch hurried to invite someone, and soon Pei Chunli came running over, followed by Marquis Xuanping with a sullen face.
Pei Chunli: "Uncle!"
Marquis Xuanping scolded: "How disrespectful of one's parents in front of His Majesty! Kneel down now!"
Pei Chunli's full name is Pei Nan. Before he was given a courtesy name, his family members called him Anan.
At that time, Marquis Xuanping's sister married Emperor Tongxu, who was still a prince, as his imperial concubine and gave birth to the prince Li Jincheng. Therefore, Pei Chunli called Emperor Tongxu his uncle, and Li Jincheng was Pei Chunli's cousin.
"No problem." Emperor Tongxu waved his hand. "I didn't see you yesterday, so I asked about you. Marquis Xuanping said you were not feeling well and didn't come. Why are you here again today?"
Marquis Xuanping looked nervous, as if he was afraid that Pei Chunli would say something wrong.
Pei Chunli glanced at his father and said, "He lied to you. My father detained me at home to memorize the book, and the book was so thick."
Pei Chunli stretched out his arms and gestured with exaggerated thickness, "I ran here secretly by myself. He was just scolding me. Your Majesty, please plead for me."
Pei Chunli has been a happy person since he was young, and Emperor Tongxu laughed.
"Now that you're here, why don't you go hunting?"
Pei Chunli remembered Chen Yu's warning that he could go to the Baishan hunting ground, but he had to stay away from the forest farm.
"My cousin has already gone in. It's pointless for me to go alone. I'll go tomorrow."
There was a burst of cheers from the grassland. Perhaps a general or the son of a minister had won the prize in the competition. Many ministers went to watch, and Pei Chunli also went to join in the fun.
Emperor Tongxu gathered his sleeves and said, "My dear minister, you seem to have something to say."
Minister of War Wen Hongyuan had been waiting for a long time but had no chance to speak. Seeing that Emperor Tongxu was in a very good mood at the moment, he wanted to plead for his nephew Wen Lesheng.
Before he could even open his mouth, Emperor Tongxu asked, "Is it about Wen Lesheng's murder?"
Wen Hongyuan: "I am delighted to see the young man today. I believe that within five years, he will be able to train a group of good generals for the court. However, the matter of suppressing bandits is imminent, but there is no one to lead the troops. I think Wen Lesheng is in custody, so why not let him go to suppress the bandits and make meritorious service."
"If a father fails to teach his children, it is his fault." Emperor Tongxu said, "I will not despise you as my uncle because of this."
Wen Hongyuan quickly lifted his robe and knelt down, his face full of gratitude, but his heart was tense.
"Your Majesty, I am so grateful for your kindness."
Emperor Tongxu was hinting to him that as an uncle he should protect himself and not get involved in this case.
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