051 “Drunken Bones (Guyan 1v1 High H)” Hunting

The Yan concubine incident did not cause much turmoil in the autumn palace, and the courtiers and ladies did not ask more questions. After all, most of the people who could come to the autumn palace had their own desires. The ladies were even more happy to see that they had less rivals in the future. How could they gossip under the emperor’s nose.

The three-day autumn ceremony finally officially kicked off today. A group of courtiers and ladies were sitting at the bottom of the palace, and several accompanying concubines were sitting at the top. On the left and right sides of the highest place were the Empress of Dasheng Dynasty and the powerful Regent. However, the emperor who was supposed to be sitting on the dragon throne in the center had not yet appeared.

“The Emperor has arrived——”

The eunuch chanted loudly, and everyone at the banquet saluted, “Greetings to the emperor, may the emperor be blessed and safe.”

The emperor said “flat body” and fell down, and everyone was able to raise their heads and take a look at the holy face. Only then did they realize that the emperor was not alone. Chun concubines, Yan and Zhiyi stood beside the emperor and walked together, receiving the kneeling ceremony of these noble ladies.

For a moment, the faces of the courtiers and ladies had different expressions. Some of them, who were not good at hiding their emotions, showed their dissatisfaction nakedly on their faces. Then they were afraid of being discovered and quickly lowered their heads.

But some people are sad and others are happy.

Seeing this, Prime Minister Yan Huai and his beloved concubine Yuan, who were sitting at a relatively front position, could not hide their joyful expressions. In an instant, their posture became even more upright and majestic, accepting the envious glances cast towards him by his colleagues.Yan Huai patted Aunt Yuan’s hand with satisfaction, “Yuan’er, you are still good at teaching your daughter.”

Aunt Yuan smiled gracefully, her eyes couldn’t help but drift towards the daughter walking beside the emperor, and then she glanced at the queen sitting at the top as if inadvertently, a smile of unknown meaning flashed in her eyes, and it was fleeting.Going to the palace banquet with the emperor and walking by the emperor’s side, these are all the courtesy that a queen can only have, and they are ancestral rules that cannot be violated. Now the emperor is willing to let Yan Zhiyi enjoy these courtesy. Isn’t this a disguised way of telling everyone that her daughter will become a queen?

As long as Yan Zhaozhao is gone, as long as she is gone, Yan Zhiyi will most likely become the next queen, and they will be dependent on each other from then on.

No matter what the courtiers below speculated, the emperor didn’t care much.She led Yan Zhiyi directly to the top position. She was also very sensible. When she reached her position, she paused and saluted him, then stood at her position without any intention of walking up to the throne with him.He glanced at her and secretly praised her for her measured progress and retreat. He couldn’t help but feel a little more satisfied with her. Then he walked straight to the dragon chair without saying anything, lifted up his robe and sat on the dragon chair.

With the arrival of the emperor, the Qiuwei Palace Banquet officially began.

The palace maids filed in with exquisite royal dishes in their hands, setting out meals for the nobles at the banquet.After the emperor took his first bite, everyone moved their chopsticks and chewed the food slowly. They covered their faces with their sleeves while eating and drinking, so as not to lose etiquette in front of the palace.

After eating less than three meals a day, the emperor symbolically took a few bites and then waved his hand to indicate to the eunuch serving the dishes next to him that he didn’t need to take any more food.Seeing that the emperor had stopped eating, everyone naturally did not dare to eat anymore. They all picked up their wine glasses and toasted to the emperor with some flattering words.The emperor was also very flattering and drank the wines that the people respected one by one. After nearly half of the pot of turbid wine was consumed, he waved his hand and said, “Okay, okay, if I drink more, I will be overpowered by the wine. Do you want me to go hunting anymore?”

It seemed like a joke, but it was also a slight warning. The ministers put down their cups one after another, and kept saying words asking the emperor to forgive his sins.

“I’m just joking with you, why are you taking it seriously?” The courtiers laughed a few times after hearing this, but the vigilance in their eyebrows and eyes did not relax at all times.”Okay, since the time is approaching, why not start hunting.”

According to the rules of hunting in the past, the one who hunted the most prey would not only be honored by the emperor’s personal title, but could even go to the imperial court to obtain a request from the emperor. Whether it was for wealth or an official career, the emperor would comply. Therefore, hunting the leader has always been an opportunity for glory that courtiers are trying to win.

After the emperor gave the order, he got up first and went to change into riding clothes. Everyone got up to send the emperor off.The concubines followed closely and went back to change into riding clothes, and finally came the courtiers and ladies.

Autumn hunting is divided into male dependents and female dependents.The courtiers and their sons rode their horses to follow the emperor to the forest on the right to hunt. There were all large beasts there, and according to the emperor’s words, some tigers, black bears and other ferocious beasts were put in. Whoever could hunt such ferocious beasts would be not far away from the leader.

The concubines and a group of noble ladies headed to the forest on the left, led by the queen. Most of the animals there were docile and not very dangerous. If they wanted to win the leader, they had to win with numbers.But most of those aristocratic families would not place their hopes of winning the title on women. The purpose of their coming here is to dress up and look beautiful in the hope of catching the emperor’s eye.

But the strange thing is that the emperor seemed to be unable to see these ladies. He even rode his horse back to the side of Yan Zhiyi’s horse and stretched out his hand to the woman sitting on the horse. The woman seemed stunned for a moment, and then put her hand into the emperor’s palm with a shy look.Immediately, the emperor pulled hard, and Yan Zhiyi was instantly pulled onto the emperor’s horse, leaning against his arms.

When the concubines and ladies saw this, their faces showed unwillingness.Yan Zhiyi ignored these unimportant people and looked directly at the queen who was leading the front. On Yan Zhaozhao’s face, she was quite disappointed that she did not see any strange and unhappy emotions on Yan Zhaozhao’s face. It was as if the emperor’s actions were insignificant in her eyes.

Yan Zhiyi only glanced at her and then looked away, as if the comparison at that moment was all an illusion. In an instant, Yan Zhiyi turned back into the weak and harmless concubine.

When the drums sound and the emperor sits on horseback, draws his bow and shoots the first arrow, the autumn hunt officially begins.

In order to win the title, the courtiers and princes did not dare to delay. After the emperor gave the order, they raised their whips and whipped the horse. The horse raised its head to the sky and roared. In the next second, it quickly kicked off its hooves and galloped deep into the forest.

Compared to the men’s violent actions, the women seemed more leisurely. They found their close friends and galloped together in twos and threes. Their movements were neither fast nor slow, and it was more like they were chatting about everyday things.

After entering the forest, everyone dispersed in a hurry and went to look for prey.The leader, Yan Zhaozhao, did not find a companion, and she was not interested in hunting. She just held the reins and rode swaying in the forest.Looking closely, there is a crimson blush on the drooping cheeks.

Sitting on the horse, she couldn’t help but think of the day before yesterday when she and Xie Ciyan shamelessly performed lewd things on this horse. Now sitting on this horse, she felt like sitting on pins and needles. Every time she moved, the extremely debauched scene of that night would appear in her mind. She even felt her face getting hot even looking at Xie Ciyan.

Yan Zhaozhao has been raised in her boudoir since she was a child. She also asked her husband to teach her riding and shooting when she was a child. She also learned a little bit about it and was not proficient in it, so she didn’t plan to hunt any animals. She just wanted to wander around in the forest and go back when the time was right.

She rode her horse slowly and walked deeper into the forest. During this period, several snow-white rabbits appeared in the jungle nearby. She had no intention of picking up the bow and arrow tied to the horse.She was in a lack of interest, as if she was not interested in everything here. For some reason, Xie Ciyan’s face kept appearing in her mind.

At the palace banquet this morning, she was sitting with her back straight as usual, waiting for the emperor to arrive for the banquet. She inadvertently turned her eyes to the right side where Xie Ciyan was sitting, and found that he was also looking at her. When he noticed her gaze, he curled his lips as if inadvertently. His eyes were full of tenderness, as if the snow melting on the high platform had melted, revealing a hint of warmth in early spring.

Yan Zhaozhao was thinking about something, and the horse under her was walking deeper into the forest without noticing. When she came back to her senses and found that the playful voices of those noble girls were no longer in her ears, she was shocked to realize that she was separated from them.She quickly tightened the reins and looked back. The road behind her was unfamiliar to her. She had never been to Qiuwei before, and she had no idea where she was at this time.

She turned her horse around and planned to retrace her steps to see if she could return to the place where the ladies originally gathered.The further she walked, the more she felt something was wrong. The grass next to her was filled with blooming flowers. The petals were white, but the stamens were purple. They were beautiful but also a little strangely coquettish.

A feeling of uneasiness suddenly arose in my heart, and I couldn’t help but speed up a bit, trying to get back to where the crowd was gathering.

A whistling sound of breaking wind suddenly came from her ears. Yan Zhaozhao followed the sound, and a cold arrow poked out from the leaves and pointed directly at her.

Yan Zhaozhao’s pupils shrank, and her breathing stopped. At that moment, she felt that the blood in her body was freezing.Her mind went blank. She knew she should stay away, but her body and limbs became stiff.The arrow came whistling like lightning, and in the blink of an eye the arrow was less than an inch away from his eyes!

Suddenly, there was a sound of impact, and the silver arrow hit the cold arrow that was coming towards her accurately. A strong force knocked down the arrow that was trying to kill her. The arrow that saved her life was controlled extremely well. Yan Zhaozhao felt a cold wind blowing in front of her eyes, and the next second she saw the two arrows falling to the ground.

The next moment, Xie Ciyan was seen dressed in black riding attire, waving his sleeves and dismounting, and suddenly standing in front of Yan Zhaozhao like a brilliant light breaking through the haze.