The next day was field-hunting day; no matter what their position was, as long as they were interested, they were free to try their hand and keep the hunt. It could also be presented to His Majesty and if it was agreeable, it would be used as a tribute at the upcoming sacrificial ceremony three days later.
This was a good time to perform. If they were able to achieve His Majesty's appreciation, they may have a good career ahead of them and they might even attain a lifetime's benefits. Therefore, the ministers went all out and brought their best horses, even their attendants were smart and clever, straddling their horses on their respective masters' flanks, waiting to help find suitable prey.
The hunting ground wasn't far from the palace and a tent had been assembled in the clearing yesterday, just between the two was a resting place, the scarlet colour formed a striking and extremely gorgeous embellishment on the grassy ground.
Sitting in the most striking place in the middle was the Emperor of Cang He, Qi Xutian. He was dressed in dark purple robes with narrow sleeves and armaments that guarded his arms. With his movements, the dark dragon totem flashed silver. His long black hair was fastened with a silver crown casually, making him not appear as majestic or inscrutable like in Imperial Court, instead, he appeared like a fierce, unrestrained beast and seemed even more dangerous and unruly.
He casually looked at the ministers in the distance that seemed to be in high spirits to hunt with a smile on his face, it wasn't known what he was thinking. He held a cup of wine in his hand but didn't say anything and occasionally seemed to casually sweep his gaze towards the palace.
Many ministers still hadn't left and were waiting as they sat below the stage and secretly looked at Qi Xutian's expression. They saw that His Majesty seemed to have no intention of leaving, hence, they became cautious. One minister opened his mouth and spoke carefully, "Your Majesty seems to have no interest today, I wonder if this minister can be fortunate enough to serve Your Majesty and present things this minister hunted?"
Qi Xutian didn't comment, he didn't seem to have paid attention to his words. After a while, he nodded and said, "If you want to go, you can take advantage of this time and go early, otherwise, the prey would be taken away by others, I'll see what you can present to me."
The man went away with a happy look. All the other ministers under the seat were busy preparing their bows and arrows, readjusting their clothes, then hurried to the hunting ground after saluting Qi Xutian.
There were still many ministers left. Seeing that Qi Xutian had no intention of getting up to hunt, they also sat on the side until the royal children and concubines arrived to pay their respects, only with their arrival did the tent start to bustle.
Originally, there was a small tent next to the big tent for the concubines and royal children, but it wasn't near, so the concubines were afraid of missing this valuable opportunity and took their sons and daughters to the big tent. The young princesses seldom saw their Father Emperor and when they actually did, it was from afar and they were too reverent and afraid so they didn't dare look at him. Today, however, was a rare chance that he was so close. Timid and curious, they dared to look up at him, but saw that Father Emperor didn't seem concerned about them, he just nodded slightly and took a sip from the cup in his hand before he asked, "All of my children have grown so big already, what do you all do usually?"
Qi Musheng stepped forward first and answered, "Replying to Father Emperor, this child practices calligraphy and martial arts."
"Nothing else?" Qi Xutian asked lightly while looking at the cup of wine in his hand.
"This child practices swordsmanship and learns about the ancestors, this child never had time to do anything else."
"It seems that you often visit your Consort Mother, is she used to living in the Cold Palace now?" Seemingly not knowing what kind of place the Cold Palace was, Qi Xutian asked nonchalantly.
Qi Musheng lowered his eyes and replied in a subdued voice, "Thank you, Father Emperor, for your concern. Consort mother is very good and she misses you."
"I'm afraid she misses her past status." He chuckled softly as if he was just joking casually, but Qi Musheng stiffened and lowered his head.
The people on the side knew that the Eldest Prince was not liked by His Majesty. Seeing this scene, it proved to be true, but if the Eldest Prince was the alien star, then why hadn't His Majesty dealt with him and just ignored him instead?
In contrast, the Second Prince was greatly favoured but was implicated by his Consort Mother's matter. He hadn't been seen by His Majesty's side for many days. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had been put under house arrest for a long time and wasn't even allowed to follow them to the field hunting ground. Thinking back to the road trip yesterday, they didn't see his figure and upon looking at the side, all the princes and princesses came to please His Majesty but the Second Prince alone wasn't present.
This showed that the Second Prince, Qi Mingyue, was indeed out of favour; it was no wonder that the harem appeared so active today.
"Father Emperor, this child has been in his room recently and hasn't been practising martial arts." An abrupt remark caused everyone's attention to focus on one of the princes.
"It seems that I haven't seen Xiao SanEr for quite a few days, what do you always do in your room?" Although there still wasn't a smile on his face, Qi Xutian had a rare pleasant attitude towards this prince.
This was the Third Prince, Qi Lianshuo, who rarely appeared. He took a step forward and stood in front of the rest of his siblings, and with his eyes widened, he answered Qi Xutian, "This child is occupied with reading books. Concubine Mother said that she would not let me out until the books in the entire room were finished." His words didn't hold any grievances, instead, seemed a bit ostentatious.
Concubine Xiao quickly approached him, took his hand and said, "Your Majesty, this concubine feels that HuangEr[1] is still young and his mind is moldable. If at this time, he learns the truths of the world, it would be very good for him and in the future, he would be able to share Your Majesty's worries."
[1] Literally translates to "Emperor's son", can be understood as Prince.
"It seems that Xiao SanEr is fond of reading, I wonder how much you have read?" Seeing His Majesty seemed interested, Concubine Xiao quickly replied with a smile, "He has read half of all the books in the study."
"Father Emperor, aren't I very powerful?" Qi Lianshuo's small face was full of pride, he seemed to want to be praised. Qi Xutian slightly curved his lips and said, "Indeed. Since Xiao SanEr is so diligent, how about I reward you with a roomful of books?"
Qi Lianshuo shook his head hastily, "No, no! If Father sends some again, I won't be able to go out! If I miss you and you don't come to visit me, wouldn't that be bad!"
The princes and princesses on the side looked at this Third Imperial Brother whom they seldom met and all felt envious. It was rare for Father to have such a pleasant look.
Seeing this, all the ministers remembered that the Third Prince was the most loved prince before Qi Mingyue. It seemed that only he could attract His Majesty's attention, conceivably, the drama in the harem finally had a winner. Consort An was convicted and Concubine Xiao had this prince, in addition, the Empress was also confined in the Ranxin Pavilion; it seemed that she would be the head of the harem now.
While Qi Lianshuo had a naive smile on his face and wanted to act coquettish towards Qi Xutian, a figure slowly approached Qi Xutian's side.
How could anyone be allowed to get so close to the throne?! And Chief Liu didn't even block him! Everyone was a little stunned.
However, they suddenly discovered to their astonishment that the person was the Second Prince, Qi Mingyue, who was dressed in a loose, pale-blue robe with his long hair tied up slackly, appearing a bit dishevelled and untidy. He approached the throne unobtrusively without hesitation, looked at His Majesty and spoke lightly, "Father, you got up early and didn't call me." There was a sense of complaint in his words.
A low intake of breath sounded, the ministers did not expect the disgraced Second Prince to appear here, he even dared to use such an attitude to speak to His Majesty.
Unexpectedly, His Majesty didn't get angry, instead, he smiled and hugged the Second Prince, "I shouldn't have left without telling you, I was just worried about your body and wanted to let you sleep a little longer."
They had never seen His Majesty look so pleased and cheerful, he even spoke to someone with such an attitude, everyone was struck dumb. The princes and princesses were even more envious, even felt some jealousy towards him because of his ability to speak to Father Emperor like that, it was something they couldn't even imagine doing.
Then, however, something even more unexpected happened. In front of everyone, His Majesty took the Second Prince in his arms, frowned at his uncombed hair, and took care of his messy hair with his own hands. He took off the Imperial Knot hanging on his waist, threw away the valuable jade ornaments hanging on it, then fastened the two threads woven with silk, silver-coloured threads on the side of the Second Prince's hair.
The pair of silver-coloured silk threads fastening Qi Mingyue's hair lay on his dark, smooth hair making a clear contrast and added a sense of grace and nobility, his wide-sleeved and light-coloured robe blew lightly with the breeze, making him seem like an immortal.
Father Emperor didn't simply like him, he regarded the Second Prince like a precious treasure that had to be spoiled. As they looked at this scene, all the princes and princesses revealed expressions of surprise, admiration and envy one after another. When had they ever been treated like this by Father? Let alone hug and comb their hair, it was hard to even get a word of concern from him.
As soon as Qi Mingyue appeared, the atmosphere inside the tent changed somewhat. Except for the little prince Yun, who was only three years old and held in the arms of his Concubine Mother, the rest of the princes and princesses saw the Second Prince who was rumoured to be put under house arrest by their Father; some were surprised and others showed joy. If they were previously envious of Qi Lianshuo, then they now felt envious towards Qi Mingyue.
The group of ministers looked at him, then turned to look at the Third Prince, Qi Lianshuo, who stupidly stood in the same place, then shook their heads internally; a monarch's heart was indeed unpredictable. Who knew that the disgraced Second Prince who had been rumoured to have lost His Majesty's affection hadn't actually lost favour and was still loved? This time, it seemed that Concubine Xiao's plan would fall through.
Looking at his brothers and sisters standing in a row underneath, Qi Mingyue looked at Qi Xutian obliquely, "Father came here to hunt, I wonder where the prey is? Why do I only see a flock of lambs?"
"Rest assured, MingEr, the bait has been prepared long before, we're just waiting for the prey to be hooked."
As the two spoke these words, they were very close to each other and except for Liu Yi on the side, almost no one heard them. However, everyone saw His Majesty's act of being so close to the Second Prince, they couldn't help but wonder why His Majesty still loved and indulged the Second Prince to such an extent after Consort An was found guilty of attempted regicide?
Qi Mingyue didn't care about the various pairs of eyes that fell on him, instead, he looked at the Third Prince with great interest, "I remember that I seldom see Third Imperial Brother, however, today, I am able to see you on this rare occasion."
He sat in Qi Xutian's arms with a calm demeanour and his manner of speech held quite a bit of the authority of a superior. Qi Lianshuo suddenly had the illusion of ostensibly facing Father Emperor, however, in reality, it was his elder brother who stole Father Emperor's favour. Thus, he flattened his mouth and looked aggrieved. He bowed his head and called out, "Second Imperial Brother."
Seeing that her son was robbed of his spotlight, Concubine Xiao smiled and said to Qi Xutian, "This concubine also hasn't seen the Second Prince for a long time, I didn't expect him to be held by His Majesty when he is already at this age. Unfortunately, my ShuoEr has to read and write all day long, so he couldn't be with Your Majesty." Her words seemed to be quite regretful and apologetic.
Still, the sarcasm in her words could be heard by everyone. Qi Mingyue raised his eyebrows at her words, he had long grown accustomed to the embrace of his Father Emperor and didn't feel anything wrong, though, his mouth had other plans. He said to Qi Xutian, "Since Concubine Xiao has said so, Father must let go of me." As he said this, his eyes brimmed with a cunning smile.
Qi Xutian faintly glanced at Concubine Xiao, "If someone can't stand it, I will take her sight and make her view clear. If she can't see anything, she naturally won't talk so much." His arms didn't loosen at all and he still held Qi Mingyue, evidently, he was already displeased.
Concubine Xiao's face suddenly changed as she heard the meaning of his words. She hastily knelt down in tears and said while trembling, "Your Majesty, this concubine had a momentary slip of the tongue, begging Your Majesty for forgiveness!"
The ministers who wanted to reprove His Majesty that he shouldn't favour the son of Consort An so much, at this moment, couldn't help but feel fortunate that they hadn't had the chance to speak up before, otherwise, it would be them kneeling there to beg for mercy.
The rest of the princes and princesses stood on the side, too scared to interrupt, and while the atmosphere was tense, Liu Yi suddenly received a message from a shadow guard, so he walked to Qi Xutian and said a few words in a low voice.
All the people only saw His Majesty sneer, pick up the Second Prince and leave his seat, "Let her kneel until I return." After throwing this sentence, he left towards the palace.
Along the way, Qi Xutian asked Liu Yi, "Is it really Han Ziqi who broke into the dungeon?"
Liu Yi recalled the shadow guard's report and replied, “Someone did break into the dungeon, that person was masked and his face couldn't be seen clearly, but Han Ji was imprisoned there and the opposite cell was An Ruolan's. The door of her cell was broken by a sharp weapon, it can be seen that it was directed towards her, so I inferred that this person was Han Ziqi."
However, Han Ziqi was not a reckless man. He was bold and ruminative. He must have realised that he was intentionally being lured through the captives in the dungeon. If he was caught so easily, he wouldn't be Han Ziqi.
"Presumably that man escaped? Are the people in the dungeon unharmed?" Qi Mingyue asked from the side.
Liu Yi nodded, "Your Highness' guess is right. Han Ji is unharmed but An Ruolan is unconscious."
It must be because Han Ziqi hadn't had enough time to hurt others.
While making their way to the dungeon, Qi Mingyue suddenly felt that there was something odd about it. If Father Emperor really intended to use An Ruolan and Han Ji as bait, how could Han Ziqi escape so easily?
Tugging at the lapels over his chest, Qi Mingyue looked into Qi Xutian's eyes and said, "Since you want me to trust you, why don't you trust me?" Then frowned, the displeasure in his eyes was very obvious, "You are hiding something from me, Father."
Qi Xutian patted his back soothingly, "MingEr must remember that I won't lie to you."
Qi Mingyue continued to frown and just as he was about to speak, suddenly, there was a loud explosion and even the ground began to quake. Seeing Qi Xutian's eyes flash with surprise, Qi Mingyue was even more surprised to know that it wasn't Father Emperor's arrangement. Could it be Han Ziqi again?
Suddenly, the figure of a shadow guard appeared, "Your Majesty, there is a fire in the tent."
Indus: Leave a ❤~
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