Although an unhappy thing happened, Emperor Jingren solved the matter at lightning speed, and one sentence established the future of Concubine Lin and Lin Boyuan. Now that the matter is resolved, there is nothing to worry about. The most important thing now is the autumn hunt.
After a bumpy day and the incense burning incident, Emperor Jingren had no mood to be affectionate with the Empress, and soon became tired after bathing. But the Empress was strong enough to help him pat his back and massage his shoulders, which made Emperor Jingren feel comfortable all over and he fell asleep soon. This time he slept soundly.
When Emperor Jingren woke up the next day, he had recovered his strength and began to prepare for the autumn hunt.
Before the autumn hunt, a ceremony was held in the palace. The general meaning was to thank God for the good weather and good harvest in Xiaguo this year. After the autumn hunt, the best prey would be selected to offer sacrifice to the gods. This was the so-called first prize. Whoever or whose guard hunted the prey that was recognized as the strongest and most ferocious prey and used it to offer sacrifice to the gods would be the first prize. The person who got the first prize would be rewarded by Emperor Jingren and win the praise of everyone. There was even a saying in Xiaguo that whoever got the first prize in the autumn hunt would have everything go smoothly in the next year. If the guard was a guard of an official family, he might be directly selected by the emperor to be a palace guard. This was a great opportunity, and everyone would actively perform.
However, as the queen, she could not go. She could only stay with Emperor Jingren during ceremonies and later sacrifices to heaven. The rest of the time she had to hide in the temporary palace or tent and be the dignified queen she was.
But since Emperor Jingren brought the empress with him, he didn't intend to make her a clay doll to be worshipped. So he took the empress's carriage with him when he set out for the autumn hunt, so that people would think that the empress would follow the emperor to the outskirts of the hunting ground and live in the tent. But in fact, there was no one in the empress's carriage, but there was a tall and handsome guard among the guards brought by Emperor Jingren.
With the conservative character of Emperor Jingren, he could do this for the Empress, which could not be described as just respect. The Empress sat on the horse, looking at the little emperor in bright yellow military uniform in front of her, and she couldn't tell what she felt in her heart.
Never mind, no matter what, we must protect Emperor Jingren during this autumn hunt.
The royal hunting ground was very large, and sometimes even prey could not be found in a whole day. Therefore, the hunting time was three days, and they had to camp outside the hunting ground for two days. The environment was very hard for the female family members. However, it would be boring if they did not come to the hunting ground to take a look. Many family members followed, including the four concubines and Lin Guipin. Each of them had a tent. The emperor would go to the tent of the person he wanted to favor, which was quite interesting.
Unfortunately, Emperor Jingren's interest in wildness was not here at all. After entering the hunting ground, he grabbed the queen's hand and asked, "Queen, are you good at riding a horse?"
"Of course." Looking at the blue sky in the refreshing autumn, the queen showed an open-minded smile that was different from the ones in the palace.
"Then I will definitely not be able to catch up with the Queen," Emperor Jingren sighed, but then said, "But what if I want to go hunting with the Queen?"
"I will never leave your Majesty's side," the Queen said with a smile, "and I will win the first prize for your Majesty, so that everything will go smoothly for you next year."
Emperor Jingren loosened the reins, held the empress's hand and said, "Jinyi, you don't need to call yourself a concubine when you are away, so as not to be discovered."
As he spoke, he was very close to the queen, with his lips against her ear, in an ambiguous posture.
To avoid being discovered? The queen looked down at her strong body, and then glanced at the guards who were no match for her. She also approached Emperor Jingren and whispered in his ear: "I am confident that I will not be discovered, but Your Majesty, please do not spread rumors about Long Yang."
After saying this, he gave a teasing smile, waved his whip lightly, and ran out.
Emperor Jingren felt his ears go numb and he urged his horse to catch up and keep pace with the empress.
The emperor had already run into the hunting ground, and the others naturally followed him, while those in the tents were free to move around. Although the hunting ground was heavily guarded, it was much freer than the palace.
The four concubines and Concubine Lin gathered in a tent, even Eunuch Lian and Xiao Shunzi were there. Among these people, Concubine De had the highest rank. She counted the number of people and frowned, saying, "Doctor Chen stayed in the palace for the autumn hunt this time, but the queen came, didn't she bring Xia He with her?"
Eunuch Lian said, "You ladies may not know that Xia He was beaten to death by the Queen for stealing property."
"Isn't it just... " Concubine Shu was so outspoken that she almost said it out loud. But Concubine Xian pinched her next to her, and then Concubine Shu realized what was happening and changed her words, "Isn't it just death?"
"That's right." Eunuch Lian replied. "Xiao Shunzi found out Xia He's whereabouts yesterday, but he didn't have time to tell you."
As for Xia He's whereabouts, several people knew it very well. Concubine Liang thought for a moment and said, "I have a lot of spies in the palace, but the queen didn't know anything about this. The queen is very capable."
"It's not just Xia He," Lin Guipin sneered, "My stupid brother was sent out to do work after only having a candlelight chat with the emperor once. He won't be back for three to five years. If he doesn't do a good job, he might end up like Xia He."
"Imperial Physician Chen was the emperor's most trusted physician, but now he has been alienated," said Concubine Xian.
Concubine De lowered her eyes in thought and said, "Xia He, Doctor Chen, and Lin Boyuan, we know that three of them are almost out of the game, and we ourselves haven't seen His Majesty for three months."
"Three months..." Xiao Shunzi dared to speak in front of several nobles at this time, and he did not look humble at all. He analyzed, "Three months ago, Your Majesty was hit on the head by Su Huailing."
"Sure enough, she has something to do with it!" Concubine Liang said coldly, "Although none of us have succeeded in all these years, we have been living in peace. But as soon as Su Huailing appeared, His Majesty immediately changed. And the Queen has not taken any action, but now she chose to take action after Su Huailing appeared. She must have taken advantage of Su Huailing!"
"That's right," Concubine Xian guessed, "Su Huailing can't be killed or touched. She was banished to the cold palace and someone had to secretly protect her. All we have done so far is to stay away from her. Who would have thought that the Queen would actually think of using her? Is she really at a different level?"
"We are not as well-informed as Yan Xu. Xiao Shunzi, did Yan Xu tell you Su Huailing's current whereabouts?" asked Concubine De.
"Just like in the original novel, she has arrived at the hunting ground. Commander Yan stood by and watched when she sneaked into the autumn hunting team from the cold palace, and she really relied on herself to sneak into the team. The people around her were like blind and couldn't recognize the difference between her and the original little eunuch." Xiao Shunzi replied.
"Since she's here, something must have happened to the emperor on the hunting grounds." Eunuch Lian suddenly realized, "No wonder the queen hasn't come to the autumn hunt for so many years, and only came this year!"
"So we should also..." Concubine Shu, who had been unable to keep up with the crowd's thoughts, finally understood and asked.
Concubine Xian sighed, "Are you as good at martial arts as the Queen? You are just a fool with a pretty face but no talent, and you are dancing in the square in front of His Majesty. It's really hilarious!"
Concubine Shu said angrily, "You say I only have a face, but what about your talent? In recent years, I am still the one favored by His Majesty. Is your talent useful?"
"I don't know whether the talent of the Concubine Xian is useful, but my talent finally came in handy this time." Eunuch Lian touched his face and smiled proudly, "My skills are even better than the Empress. I don't want to waste time here with the ladies. I have to follow Su Huailing and go to the hunting ground to save His Majesty."
"With that face of yours, it's useless to save you no matter how many times!" Several women and Xiao Shunzi yelled at Eunuch Lian.
Eunuch Lian's body stiffened for a moment, he touched his old face, and walked out of the tent with a grim look on his face.
At this moment in the hunting ground, Emperor Jingren and the Empress were running so fast that they had left the guards far behind. The person closest to them was Su Huailing, who had strayed into the hunting ground from the other side.