Chapter 50 Great Fortune
Zhu Qizhen was eager to prove himself, so after a brief opening he took the lead and quickly rushed out to hunt wild animals, leaving only a red back behind for everyone.
Xue Huan never expected that Zhu Qizhen could run so fast. Thinking of what Zhu Yuhuan had just said, he hurriedly chased after him.
He has been trying his best to please the emperor along the way and has been inseparable from him. If the emperor makes any mistakes, won't he be the only one responsible?
Zhu Yuhuan saw the two men rushing out one after the other, and the guards who were originally preparing to follow slowly also chased after them. He couldn't help but laugh in his heart.
But Jing Yuan and Guo Xuan were watching nearby, so Zhu Yuhuan couldn't just slack off openly.
Zhu Qizhen rode out on his horse, with only the sound of the wind in his ears, and he felt extremely happy.
Staying in the deep palace every day and dealing with a bunch of boring people, how could I feel as excited as I do now as I do when I gallop on horseback?
Civil governance is important, but military governance is equally important. Although he ascended the throne at a young age, he will never lose to his ancestors!
After all, Zhu Qizhen had practiced riding and archery for several years, so he was naturally good at hunting. Not to mention that these prey had been domesticated for some time and had long lost their original wildness. Zhu Qizhen's arrows never missed their target, and he soon had a lot of gains.
Xue Huan finally caught up with Zhu Qizhen. Seeing that he had a good catch, he immediately praised him, "Your Majesty is truly a master archer. It hasn't been that long, and you've already caught so many prey!"
Zhu Qizhen asked his attendant Jinyiwei to put away his game. He cleared his throat, suppressed his joy, and finally said, "It's just hunting. Such a small matter will not be difficult for me." After he finished speaking, he didn't see Zhu Yuhuan. He couldn't help but ask with some surprise, "Where is the princess?"
Xue Huan then realized that Zhu Yuhuan had not caught up, and hurriedly said, "Perhaps it is because Your Majesty is too fast, so the Princess has not been able to catch up."
Zhu Qizhen uttered an "oh" and said, "Is that so?"
Xue Huan seized the opportunity to pursue his opponent and said, "Your Majesty's wisdom and bravery are beyond the reach of even a heroine like Princess Shunde."
Zhu Qizhen straightened his chest and said to the people around him, "Send someone to look for Princess Shunde. No matter how safe the imperial farm is, it is not as safe as the palace. If the princess gets hurt by wild animals, I will hold you responsible."
The Jinyiwei had followed Zhu Qizhen for such a long time that they had long realized that these animals were domesticated and then released. They had long lost their wildness and naturally would not hurt people. Zhu Qizhen's instructions were purely looking for trouble.
However, the emperor's order could not be disobeyed, so the Jinyiwei could only respond and go to look for Princess Shunde.
Zhu Yuhuan was actually following not far away. Seeing the Jinyiwei coming to look for him, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty is accompanied by the prince consort. I am just hunting alone to relax. There is no need to worry."
The Jinyiwei were surprised to see that there was no prey hanging on Zhu Yuhuan's horse.
Princess Shunde is an expert at riding and hunting, but how come she got nothing today?
Zhu Qizhen learned that Zhu Yuhuan was alright, so he rode over. Naturally, he noticed that Zhu Yuhuan hadn't caught any prey, so he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Big sister, why didn't you catch any prey today?"
Zhu Yuhuan didn't show any embarrassment, but simply explained, "I was just playing around. I just happened to come across a rabbit that was running very fast. I couldn't help but feel a bit competitive, so I chased it all the way, but unfortunately I couldn't catch it."
When Zhu Qizhen heard that there was prey that Zhu Yuhuan couldn't catch, he immediately became interested and asked, "Where is the rabbit?"
Zhu Yuhuan looked around for a moment, sighed, and said, "I could see it just now... Maybe His Majesty brought people here and scared the rabbit away."
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand, signaling the Jinyiwei to move away, and then he and Zhu Yuhuan searched everywhere for the rabbit.
Seeing that Zhu Qizhen was so concerned, Xue Huan couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Isn't it just a rabbit? Your Majesty has already hunted so many things, why bother with this one rabbit?
Although he thought so in his heart, Zhu Qizhen cared so much about this prey that Xue Huan certainly could not sit idly by, so he immediately helped to look for it.
Seeing the two people searching diligently, Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He then pointed to a rabbit not far away and said, "I see it! It's over there!"
Zhu Qizhen looked in the direction she pointed and saw a rabbit peeking out there. He immediately spurred his horse to chase it.
The rabbit was also very alert. After realizing Zhu Qizhen was approaching, it quickly turned around and ran away, heading straight for where the tenants lived, probably wanting to take this opportunity to get rid of the hunter.
Zhu Qizhen's mind and eyes were filled with prey, so he naturally didn't care where the rabbit went. He just chased after it.
Xue Huan, who had just arrived at the imperial farm, was not familiar with the place. When he saw Zhu Qizhen running out, he followed him.
The tenants of the imperial farm all lived together and each family raised poultry. When Zhu Qizhen rode in on horseback, the chickens and ducks in the yards began to flap their wings, and the yellow dogs guarding the yard barked non-stop. For a moment, the scene became a mess.
Suddenly something unusual happened outside. The tenants who were resting at home because of the emperor's visit came out. When they saw Zhu Qizhen riding a horse, they were stunned at first, and then they were frightened. They started beating dogs, chasing chickens, and driving their unsuspecting children back home to avoid disturbing the emperor.
Only Zhu Qizhen didn't care at all. He only stared at the rabbit. After a lot of effort, he chased the rabbit into a corner. The rabbit turned over and jumped into the yard. It was obvious that it realized that it could use the fence to stop the two hunters on horseback.
Zhu Qizhen watched as the prey he had caught disappeared, and without caring about the little girl feeding chickens in the yard, he bent his bow and drew his arrow nimbly. The arrow flew almost past the girl's wind and hit the rabbit easily.
The white rabbit fell down with one red eye open, and blood gushed out from the wound in its throat.
The little girl screamed at first, then quickly turned her head to look at the two uninvited guests.
Zhu Qizhen paid no attention to the people in the courtyard. He just frowned and said with some regret, "I thought the fur of this little thing was nice. It would be nice to take it back and make a hand mask for my elder sister. It's a pity that it's stained with blood."
Xue Huan followed beside him and said quickly, "I know a skilled skinner. I'll definitely be able to get the skin off this animal intact."
"That's great! We must have this fur cleaned."
"yes."
While the two were talking, the little girl angrily shouted, "What are you two doing! This is my rabbit!"
Zhu Qizhen raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Your rabbit? Don't you raise chickens?"
The little girl immediately retorted, "Who said this rabbit is for eating? I raise it for fun..."
The little boy, who was originally looking out the window, looked at the two people riding tall horses, and suddenly realized something. He hurriedly whispered, "Sister...that's the emperor!"
But his voice was too soft, so his sister couldn't hear him.
Even if she heard it, she would not stop.
Zhu Qizhen looked around and saw that the other tenants had either knelt on the ground or had returned home. It was obvious that they all knew his identity as the emperor. Only the girl in front of him seemed to be unaware of it and accused him righteously.
Zhu Qizhen looked at Xue Huan who was standing beside him and said, "Do you have anything valuable on you? Give it to her quickly, or this girl will not only kick me out but also take away my prey."
This time they were just hunting in the imperial estate, so how could Xue Huan have gold and silver on him? He searched for a long time but couldn't find a single penny.
Fortunately, the rescuers arrived quickly. Zhu Yuhuan reined in his horse, took a breath, and said helplessly, "Your Majesty and the Prince Consort are running too fast. I can't catch up with them."
"Big sister, this girl is so fierce. She insists that this rabbit belongs to her family and won't give it to me." Zhu Qizhen turned around and saw that the little girl who had just been speaking harshly had already knelt on the ground. Puzzled, he asked, "Why are you kneeling down?"
"This humble girl pays homage to His Majesty, and to the Princess..."
Zhu Qizhen then realized that the girl had probably seen his elder sister and heard her call him "Your Majesty", and only then did she know his identity as the emperor.
Zhu Yuhuan glanced at her, revealing a rare bit of dignity. He said, "How dare you be so presumptuous in front of His Majesty? This imperial farm was gifted to Your Majesty by the late Emperor. Every piece of it belongs to Your Majesty, let alone a rabbit."
"I know I was wrong."
Zhu Qizhen saw her kneeling on the ground, no longer as majestic as she was at the beginning, and said, "Big sister, ignorance is not a crime, just forgive her."
Zhu Yuhuan sighed and said, "Your Majesty is kind-hearted and will not argue with you. Get up."
"This humble woman thanks your Majesty for his grace."
Zhu Qizhen saw her stand up, her eyes sparkling and a bit stubborn. Although she was a little frightened, she dared to look directly at him. His heart was moved slightly, and he asked, "What's your name?"
Seeing this, Zhu Yuhuan said, "How can you say a girl's name in public? If Your Majesty has anything to ask this girl, just let her come before you." After saying that, Zhu Yuhuan looked at Xue Huan who was standing beside him.
Xue Huan immediately understood what was going on, laughed out loud, and said, "I will inform Marquis Wu Ding right away." After that, he slipped away.
"My name is Zhou Yingying, the Yingying of 'Yingying across the water, her heart still lingering in words'."
“Yingying…”
Zhu Yuhuan saw Zhu Qizhen scratching his head and saw the subtle discomfort in his expression. He said to Zhou Yingying, "Your Majesty accidentally shot your rabbit. Come with me and I'll have the steward compensate you with a new one."
Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Yuhuan exchanged a glance. Seeing her smile at them, they cleared their throats and said, "Since Your Majesty has said so, please follow me."
Zhou Yingying cautiously raised her eyes to look at Zhu Yuhuan. The two exchanged a simple glance before Zhou Yingying quickly looked away and replied, "Yes."
Zhu Yuhuan herself knew the whole story very well. The rabbit was originally a domestic rabbit, but she had someone release it on purpose.
Anyway, the tenant's residence is only so big, and with Zhu Qizhen's reckless personality, he will always run into Zhou Yingying. As for whether she can attract Zhu Qizhen's attention, it all depends on Zhou Yingying's own efforts.
Zhu Qizhen's hunting this time was quite fruitful, which was completely different from Zhu Yuhuan and Zhu Qiuyu who were trying to take advantage of the situation. Naturally, he received a lot of praise again.
Zhu Youtong's attention was drawn to Zhou Yingying standing beside him. Curious, he came over and asked, "Whose little girl is this? Why did you come back with your sister?"
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty brought it back from hunting. His surname is Zhou." She raised her hand and pinched her sister's cheek, saying, "Why are you asking so many questions? This matter is insignificant."
"That's true..." Zhu Youtong glanced at Zhou Yingying and continued, "She looks about the same age as the girls around the Empress Dowager."
When Zhu Hanjia heard Zhu Youtong mention this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
She knew very well what her mother was thinking, but the gap between them was too deep. Zhu Qizhen didn't even trust his mother, so how could he trust the person her mother sent?
Zhu Yuhuan just smiled and said nothing.
Empress Dowager Sun believed that her son was no longer reliable and she could only rely on raising her grandson. Even if she couldn't become Empress Dowager Zhang now, everything would be very different if she had a grandson who was close to her.
After all, Zhu Qizhen is now the eldest son who has succeeded to the throne, so there is no need for Empress Dowager Sun to waste her energy on the queen who has not yet appeared. It would be better to have a ready-made grandson as soon as possible.
For Zhu Yuhuan, Zhu Qizhen’s marriage and children were not extremely important matters, but if Empress Dowager Sun had her eyes set on this, Zhu Yuhuan would have to take action.
Zhu Qiyu, who was standing by, said, "I think His Majesty seems to like Miss Zhou very much."
Zhu Youtong uttered an "eh" and asked curiously, "Xiaoyu, how did you figure that out?"
Zhu Qizhen has always had a high opinion of himself and looked down on everyone, so how could he actually have someone he liked?
Zhu Qiyu analyzed seriously, "Your Majesty appears to be talking to someone else, but his eyes look over here from time to time. However, it doesn't look like he's looking at us."
Upon hearing what he said, Zhu Youtong immediately looked back and forth between Zhu Qizhen and Zhou Yingying. Her eyes grew tired, but she couldn't see anything special. She sighed and said, "Forget it, forget it. I won't look anymore. I can't see anything..." When she saw Zhu Qiyu burst out laughing, she asked suspiciously, "Xiaoyu, you are not deliberately lying to me, are you?"
Zhu Qiyu suppressed a laugh and said, "Of course not. When have I ever lied to my second sister?"
Seeing his smile, Zhu Youtong was almost certain of his guess and immediately protested dissatisfiedly: "Xiaoyu, you really have learned bad habits!"
Zhu Yuhuan had no choice but to say, "Alright, alright, both of you, calm down."
She looked at Zhou Yingying beside her. Although she seemed out of place here, she still stood there firmly, her eyes quietly looking at Zhu Qizhen, confirming her persistence.
Zhu Yuhuan smiled slightly and said, "She is very lucky."
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