Xu Junying's voice was very soft, with a hint of pleading. Meimei felt uncomfortable when she heard it. She lowered her head and said, "I know!"
Xu Junying smiled again and let her go: "Let's go, let's discuss the arrangements with everyone over there, and then we'll go up the mountain!"
The wife of Duke Dingguo felt a little unwell and accompanied the queen, not planning to join in the fun. Meimei then remembered that she was originally here to accompany the queen. It seemed inappropriate for her to just run around and play whenever she wanted, so she went to talk to the queen half-truthfully, to the effect that: the queen doesn't go up the mountain to sightsee, otherwise I won't go either, and I'll stay at the foot of the mountain to talk to the queen. The queen was a very smart woman, and looking at her attire, it was clear what she meant. She smiled and patted her, "Go ahead, go ahead. I don't need anyone to accompany me. Who among the palace maids is not more careful than you? Runan also taught her to follow the King of Qi. When you go up the mountain, just remember to bring me one fun thing, that's all!"
Meimei thanked the Queen and happily left with the Marquis of Changle and the wife of the Marquis of Changxing.
Xu Junying gave her two "equipment", a half-foot long dagger with a black rhinoceros leather scabbard carved with exquisite and complex patterns, and a dazzling emerald inlaid on the hilt. When she pulled out the sword with force, a bright light burst out, almost blinding her eyes, and a lightweight crossbow with a dozen short-tailed feather arrows.
Xu Junying stroked the short sword and said, "This is a trophy. It is extremely sharp and comes from Mobei. It is the sword of the king. We captured it together on the battlefield when the emperor was still the crown prince. He returned to Beijing to inherit the throne and gave it to me. I dare not let you hold it on weekdays. In case of emergency, I let you carry it on your back. You don't have to use it unless it is absolutely necessary... Be careful when drawing the sword, and be sure to pay attention to safety! You also carry this small crossbow on your back. Soldiers usually use it for close-range shooting. Nine out of ten shots hit the target. It is very light. You can lift it. I will teach you and you will be able to do it in a few shots. It doesn't matter if you can't hit the target. Just treat it as practice. Next time you have such an opportunity, you may be able to shoot something!"
Meimei listened to his words and secretly complained: "Maybe he can shoot something down? What kind of talk is that? You are really looking down on me!"
But after she learned how to draw the bow and shoot the arrow, she felt that what they said made sense. This was too difficult. She wanted to shoot at a tree ten steps away, but the arrow flew to the bushes twenty steps away and shot the crown of a flower tree in full bloom. The wife of the Marquis of Changxing standing nearby laughed so hard that she fell down. The wife of the Marquis of Changle rolled her eyes at her and said, "What's so funny? Your aim may not be better than hers. Try shooting at that flower tree. Can you hit it?"
The wife of the Marquis of Changxing wiped away the tears of laughter and said, "It's true. The branch is so thin, and it can be done. The wife of the Marquis of Weiyuan is really amazing!"
Meimei listened to them making fun of herself and raised her chin: "Of course! I'll shoot a rabbit for you guys to watch later!"
This was too proud. The two ladies glared at her. Xu Junying quickly tried to smooth things over: "My wife just loves to joke around. She has only just learned how to do this. How can she be that capable? Please forgive me, ladies!"
Since they were hunting for fun, they wanted to do it themselves, so they arranged troops to detect the whereabouts of the prey, encircle the area along the mountain range, and drive the prey to the valley behind. The Emperor, the Prince of Qi, the Duke of Dingguo, the marquises, and the military officers were divided into two groups, entered the specific area, and the prey they shot became their trophies.
Meimei doesn't care about these things. She only values the process and thinks everything is fresh, interesting and full of fun.
Holding a small crossbow, she really got the hang of shooting here and there along the way and improved her accuracy. Occasionally she could shoot down a bright red wild fruit from the branch. When Xu Junying praised her for it, she blushed and wanted to laugh but held it back - there were too many experts around, and people thought she was just a child playing games.
In her previous life, she had gone shooting with her friends a few times, using pistols and rifles, but the results were not ideal, and it was normal for the bullets to fly. Now, she felt that this bow and arrow was better than a rifle, at least it had no recoil. The short-tailed feather arrows that Xu Junying gave her had long been used up. The first time she told Xu Junying about it, he waved behind him and someone naturally sent them to her. So the second and third time, she did not tell Xu Junying, and waved herself, and the sergeants also sent them to her, and she could not help but feel secretly happy.
Meimei had heard from someone before that one must have one's own space when hunting. She thought that since there were people all around, she wouldn't get lost, so she would hide in the bushes or behind big trees from time to time and search carefully, hoping to catch a dead mouse by accident. The soldiers were chasing them in a hurry, and they would often see pheasants and rabbits flying and jumping in the grass, which made them jealous. Even if they could pounce on one and catch it alive, that would be great!
Xu Junying, however, seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. While he and others were paying close attention to the movements of the large prey in front, he also remembered to run back and accurately pulled her out from behind a bush. He knew what she was thinking:
"Those pheasants and rabbits jumping around are too agile. You can't catch them. Let the soldiers behind you catch them! Let's go to the front. Do you want to see the elk? There is a shadow of a silver leopard. We have to catch it alive! Come on!"
Meimei ran after him helplessly: "As long as I can catch a rabbit, that's enough!"
Xu Junying couldn't help laughing, and looked in the direction of the wife of the Marquis of Changle. Seeing that she didn't pay attention to them, he said:
"No, let the sergeant shoot one for you, don't worry!"
After the emperor shot a moose, everyone surrounded and chased the silver leopard. Xu Junying wanted to follow the emperor to the front and could not take care of Meimei. Baoju and Baizhan each led people to surround the silver leopard, and entrusted her to the wife of Changle Hou, and told Meimei:
"You must follow the crowd closely and don't fall behind. There are poisonous insects in the woods and bushes. You can't handle it alone!"
Meimei nodded and agreed: "I understand, I will follow you all!"
The wife of Marquis Changle was originally from a family of military generals. Her father and brother were both military officers in the court. She was the laziest one to practice martial arts, and she also learned some boxing and kicking, just to strengthen her body. She knew a little about sword and spear techniques, but she was not proficient in them. This is what she told Meimei. Of course, Meimei did not believe it, thinking that she was too modest. Looking at her skillful archery posture, the arrow flew like a meteor, and the flying pheasant fell to the ground. Meimei was full of admiration.
Maybe it was because of good luck or the encouragement from the wife of Marquis Changle, but Meimei held her breath, aimed at a motionless hare in the grass, and with a bang, she shot an arrow and actually hit it!
Meimei was stunned and asked Mrs. Changlehou: "Why doesn't it run away?"
Madam Changlehou smiled and said, "Who knows? Maybe he was frightened silly by the people driving him away from the mountain!"
Meimei ran to catch the gray rabbit that was shot in the thigh. After checking it carefully, she really couldn't see anything wrong with it. It should not have been shot by anyone. She couldn't help but be overjoyed: "So I really shot a rabbit!"
The wife of Marquis Changle said, "It's not surprising. Some prey are timid and can't stand being driven away or frightened. Have you ever heard of a rabbit being scared to death? The one you shot has already had weak legs and can't run away. Maybe you don't even need to waste the arrow. You can just walk straight ahead and catch it!"
Hearing her say this, Meimei recalled the story of "Waiting for the Rabbit by the Tree", in which a stupid rabbit actually bumped itself to death. Her sense of joy was immediately reduced by half.
Turning a small hill, the wife of Changle Hou chased a pheasant with particularly bright colors, shouting: "Meimei, run! We must catch it alive and take it home to raise!" Then she plunged into the dense grass. Meimei followed her but still couldn't catch up. She fell behind and couldn't find the way. She had to stop where she was, thinking of waiting for her to come back, or following the people behind. Because she saw a few low bushes on the left, with lush green leaves and unknown white flowers blooming among them, she walked in, picked a flower and smelled it, and felt the fragrance was refreshing and refreshing. She liked this fragrance very much, so she picked a few and stuffed them into the small purse she carried with her.
After picking the flowers and walking out of the bushes, I still hadn't seen Madam Changle coming back. I couldn't help but get anxious. Were the others not coming? Could they have really fallen behind
Just as she was wondering, she heard a noisy voice in the woods in front of her left. She went to find the sound and found that it was another group of people led by the King of Qi. They had killed deer and wild boars, as well as many rabbits and pheasants. Listening to their discussion, Meimei knew that the group led by the Emperor had captured the silver leopard.
Zhang Jingyun followed the group led by the King of Qi. When he looked up, he suddenly saw Meimei pulling aside the tall and dense bamboo grass to reveal half of her body. He shouted in disbelief:
"Madam Weiyuan?!"
King Qi, who was checking the deer and wild boars, looked up when he heard the sound. Meimei hesitated for a moment and did not go forward. She thought it would be better to wait where she was. The wife of Marquis Changle would send someone back to pick her up. If she followed King Qi and the others, it would not be a good idea. So she promised Xu Junying that she would at least consider him for once since he was such a face-conscious person.
The King of Qi stared at her for a while, and when she didn't come out, he wanted to go back. He walked closer and waved his hand. Meimei felt a flash of cold light in front of her eyes, and quickly closed her eyes. She heard Lin Runan's exclamation in her ears:
"Be careful!"
There was a rustling sound, and when she opened her eyes, the Baman grass in front of her had fallen to the ground with its roots. She was holding a handful of Baman grass with its roots cut off in each hand. Zhang Jingyun also came closer, stood beside the Queen of Qi, and said to her with a smile:
"His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi is clearing the way for you, come over here!"
Meimei looked at the King of Qi. He was looking at her coldly with his thin lips tightly pursed. He looked like he had a grudge against her. Meimei couldn't help but get annoyed: What's the matter? Where did I offend you? It's fine if I didn't invite you to the wedding, but when your girlfriend married you, she also became a stranger! You don't know me, right? Okay, then I don't know you! Damn it, there's no need to get so close to me and use a knife. Do you want to kill me
She threw the two handfuls of bamboo grass in her hands to the ground, glanced at Lin Runan who was walking slowly, and sneered:
"Your Highness Prince Qi is indeed a master swordsman. This method of clearing the way is unprecedented and has never been seen before! People who don't know would think that Your Highness is killing someone. Fortunately, Your Highness and I have no grudge against each other. I am lucky to have saved my life!"
After saying that, he turned around and went back along the same path. The King of Qi followed him and asked, "Where are you going?"
"there!"
"There's no one over there, you're lost!"
"Someone will come to pick me up. I'll be waiting!"
The King of Qi said in hatred: "Let the tigers and leopards eat you!"
"… "
It’s better not to answer him. You have chased away the tigers and leopards so far that it’s hard to even see them.
Zhang Jingyun called Meimei: "The emperor led Junying and the others to catch the silver leopard and went down the mountain from the road over there. You should follow us!"
The King of Qi summoned two followers and said, "Follow their path down the mountain. If you see anyone looking back, tell them that the wife of Marquis Weiyuan has gone down with us, so that they don't have to come up again!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)