The sun was scorching at the hunting ground.
To shield themselves from the glaring light, the guards found some poles and set up a canopy in the area.
Eunuchs held ornate umbrellas to shade the nobles from the sun.
Even though she was in a shaded area, Xiao Jin still felt increasingly restless.
There were two reasons for this. Firstly, sitting in an open courtyard on such a hot day seemed like an unhealthy behavior in itself.
Secondly, since this hunting event was ostensibly held to celebrate her and the Fifth Prince’s achievements, she was currently sitting beside the Emperor Qi and Xiao Shuang.
Emperor Qi pretended to be concerned and asked about her leg injury, while Xiao Shuang glanced at her and said in a casual tone, “You seem to have lost weight recently. You look thinner than a few days ago.”
Xiao Jin remained silent for a while.
How did Xiao Shuang notice that she had lost weight in just a few days?
She couldn’t even see it herself.
Facing Xiao Shuang’s indifferent gaze, Xiao Jin took a long time to respond, “Aunt that it’s because of the increasing heat, and I doesn’t have much appetite.”
“Juege, you should advise her to eat more,” Xiao Shuang shifted her gaze away, casually fanning herself with a peacock feather fan, and looked at Ye Juege, who was standing beside Xiao Jin instead of Ye Suyu.
Her hand looked beautiful, with slender fingers like flower branches embroidered on a screen. When she held the fan handle, it seemed like she was writing a strategy.
Upon hearing Xiao Shuang’s words, Ye Juege, who had just arrived at the hunting ground, felt somewhat embarrassed.
As someone who often accompanied Xiao Jin, she knew very well what Xiao Jin ate and what kind of meals she had. Yesterday, didn’t their master eat several plates of seasonal fruits and have dinner with the Princess?
When the servants cleaned up the tent, they seemed to have only seen a few grapes fallen on the ground.
There was nothing left.
However, since Xiao Shuang asked, Ye Juege had no choice but to answer in a low voice, “Yes, Your Highness Zhao Yang.”
Xiao Jin thought that the conversation should end there, but unexpectedly, the Empress
sitting beside Emperor Qi suddenly spoke.
The Empress, dressed in phoenix robes, had an elegant appearance. She looked at Xiao Jin gently and said, “Considering that the Prince Yan grew up under my watchful eyes since childhood and has been fighting outside for so many years, I can see that this child has become more and more beautiful, resembling her mother even more.”
The several distinguished individuals who hadn’t participated in the hunting event and were symbolically hunting wild animals on the other side earlier fell silent upon hearing the Empress’s words.
The chatter and laughter came to an abrupt halt.
They all turned to look at Xiao Jin and the Empress.
Xiao Shuang even stopped fanning, narrowed her eyes, and looked at the Empress with a calm expression, but her eyes were filled with indifference.
The atmosphere in the area suddenly became tense.
Although Xiao Jin didn’t understand what was happening, seeing this situation, she didn’t dare to easily pick up the Empress’s words. She could only wait for a brave warrior to appear.
However, it turned out that under Xiao Shuang’s overwhelming pressure, it was impossible for any brave warrior to emerge.
In the end, Xiao Shuang suddenly laughed and shook her peacock feather fan, saying, “The palace feels that the Prince Yan doesn’t resemble her mother but instead resembles you, Empress.”
Not to mention that the Empress frowned, even Xiao Jin was stunned upon hearing this.
Whether it’s personality or appearance, how does the original owner resemble a Empress?
The Empress furrowed her brows and smiled, “Imperial Sister, you’re joking. The Prince Yan is brave and skilled in battle, often sharing the worries of His Majesty in political affairs. As for me, I can only manage trivial matters in the harem on behalf of His Majesty.”
Implicitly, it meant to politely express that Xiao Jin was nothing like her, so stop talking nonsense.
Xiao Shuang gracefully waved her fan and joined the laughter, “Her Majesty the Empress just mentioned that the Prince Yan grew up under your watchful eyes. It’s reasonable to assume that she has been influenced by your aura and learned a few things.”
Yue Juege stood expressionless by Xiao Jin’s side, struggling to hold back her laughter, finding it quite difficult.
Regarding the matter of the Prince Yan growing up under the Empress’s watchful eyes, everyone knew that the Empress had just casually mentioned it.
Naturally, it wasn’t true.
Moreover, considering the Prince Yan’s rebellious nature, it was because she had been raised by Princess Zhao Yang since childhood, where she could do whatever she pleased, enjoying freedom.
No matter who you threw that blame on, it wouldn’t fall on the Empress, who had never liked Xiao Jin.
The Empress was taken aback, her face turning somewhat unpleasant.
However, since the words had already been spoken, she could only force a smile and say, “Imperial Sister, you flatter me. I am merely a woman. The Prince Yan follows me, but she can’t learn much.”
“No wonder the Prince Yan’s temperament is so bad nowadays,” Xiao Shuang sighed, shaking her head.
There was an underlying meaning in her words, “As a woman of the palace, this is how it is. It seems I didn’t teach her well.”
The person at the center of their conversation actually felt quite wronged deep inside.
After all, she wasn’t the original owner, so she shouldn’t bear this blame.
However, when it came to this sarcastic matter, Xiao Jin definitely stood on Xiao Shuang’s side and calmly said, “I am ashamed, I know my knowledge is shallow and my abilities are lacking. I haven’t been able to learn from the Empress and Auntie.”
Xiao Shuang put down her peacock feather fan and earnestly said to Xiao Jin, “Actually, the Empress is right. You were originally someone with great potential, but unfortunately, this palace woman couldn’t properly guide you… Isn’t that right, Commander Tang?”
Tang Ling, who had been drinking wine and watching the play, was suddenly singled out by Xiao Shuang.
He could only swallow a mouthful of wine and bow, “This humble official is ashamed. This humble official is nothing more than an ordinary individual and wouldn’t dare to comment on the Prince Yan.”
Seeing these three people teaming up and mocking her, the current Empress felt her face turning pale.
However, she had indeed underestimated the situation earlier.
She had only intended to be modest but accidentally allowed Xiao Shuang to take advantage of it.
Now she couldn’t argue back and could only swallow her anger.
On the other hand, Xiao Jin felt that the Empress was truly foolish.
In front of Xiao Shuang and Tang Ling, she humbly claimed to be just a woman, implying that she couldn’t learn anything from them.
It was like digging a pit and jumping into it herself.
According to the Empress’s statement, Xiao Shuang was also a woman, yet she still controlled seven cities.
Tang Ling was ordinary individual, yet she was an influential minister.
Why did it have to be a man to be impressive?
In the face of the Empress’s ignorant remarks, Xiao Jin could only console herself that this was an ancient melodramatic novel, where the characters possessed ancient attributes.
This way, she could lower her blood pressure on this hot day and restrain her desire to confront the Empress.
The Empress, who was being ridiculed by everyone, couldn’t easily lose face.
Unfortunately, it was Xiao Shuang who mocked her, and even the important ministers on the Crown Prince’s side didn’t dare to utter a word.
In the end, it was Prince Shen who looked outside the field, smiling as he stood up and said to the Emperor Qi, “Brother Emperor, I heard the sound of horse hooves outside just now, and it was very heavy! I think the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince must have hunted a lot of game. They must have filled several carriages and exhausted the horses.”
After being an idle prince for so many years, Prince Shen finally said something good.
It wasn’t particularly pleasant, but at least it was normal.
Emperor Qi seemed to appreciate this rare moment of normalcy, and his face showed great satisfaction. “Bring all the carriages with the hunted animals here. Let me see.”
The guards brought in the carriages filled with animals, either alive or dead.
As the scent of blood filled the arena, Xiao Jin frowned and took the embroidered handkerchief handed to her by Ye Juege, intending to cover her nose and mouth.
But then she thought that the original owner must have smelled a lot of blood over the years from battling against Yao Country.
This action would definitely shatter her character.
So she abandoned the idea, wiped the thin sweat on her forehead with the handkerchief, and temporarily ignored it.
Emperor Qi looked at the animals, alive or dead, packed in wooden carriages as if it were a military parade.
His eyes showed a satisfaction that Xiao Jin couldn’t understand.
As a modern person, she truly couldn’t understand.
She didn’t understand what was so satisfying about gathering a bunch of dying animals in cages.
And most of them were just wild rabbits, pheasants, and foxes, small animals. It was extremely difficult to hunt fierce beasts like tigers and wolves.
However, Xiao Jin could understand.
After all, the grassland didn’t seem to be very large, unlike a place where many large animals gathered.
So when she used her gaze to find Chu Shao, she unexpectedly saw an angry roaring tiger trapped in an iron cage.
This sight somewhat stunned her.
Moreover, it was a white tiger with a black pattern.Â
This made Xiao Jin even more shocked.
A white tiger, it seemed to be a descendant of the Bengal tiger.
It seemed that there were only a few hundred of them in the zoo, right?
Although Xiao Jin couldn’t understand it, she was greatly shocked.
Could ancient melodramatic novels be written in such a chaotic manner now?
Even the Bengal tiger was mentioned.
This must be praising the wise emperor, with divine beasts appearing in the world.
As expected, the returning hunters were also shocked, staring with wide eyes and exclaiming, “Such a large creature with white fur, it’s truly unheard of and unseen!”
“Yes, yes, this white tiger with hanging eyes and white forehead, its body is usually golden with several layers of black spots. When did it become so snowy white, as if it were dyed?”
Emperor Qi stood up, fixed his gaze on the white tiger in the cage, clapped his hands, and laughed, “With the white tiger appearing, it seems that Qi Country is blessed by the heavens, allowing us to hunt such an auspicious creature.”
“… ” Xiao Jin fell silent.
When did this white tiger become something Emperor Qi hunted?
She couldn’t say anything about Emperor Qi’s shamelessness.
She couldn’t scold him at all, so she could only choose to quietly drink tea and silently search for the figure of her own Princess.
And the Fifth Prince also cooperated with Emperor Qi’s performance.
He immediately dismounted and walked to Emperor Qi, smiling and bowing to him, “Father Emperor, your wise rule, your son has hunted a great creature for you!”
Emperor Qi was overjoyed and laughed heartily, “Good! You truly are my good son.”
The courtiers who had just sat down stood up at this moment and congratulated, “Fifth Prince, your martial prowess is extraordinary, truly a great general of our Qi Country.”
“Good, good! Bring this great creature to the center so that all the ministers can have a good look.”
Emperor Qi laughed heartily and instructed the guards by his side.
The people in the audience had never seen a white tiger, so they put down their wine glasses and stood up to take a look.
However, the joys and sorrows of the crowd had nothing to do with Xiao Jin.
She was just using her gaze to capture the distant corner of that snowy white dress and felt that the fur of the white tiger, no matter how pure and dazzling, could never compare to the radiance reflected by the silver armor.
Among the crowd, Xiao Jin met Chu Shao’s slightly stunned eyes.
Then, while everyone was focused on watching the white tiger, she gently extended her hand and beckoned.
Her lips moved silently, forming words without sound.Â
Come here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Right! Who cares about that white tiger? The wife is the number one priority! 😆
TO BE CONTINUE…
Comment