The Northern Garden hunting competition was limited to one and a half hours, but if the military officials were satisfied with their scores, felt that staying longer would be futile, or if they were unlucky enough to get injured, they could leave early.
After about an hour into the hunt, more and more military officials began to emerge.
A pavilion had been set up to the left of the hunting ground exit. The military officials would hand their game to the palace attendants stationed there, receive their scoring tokens, and then go to another location to collect their reward silver.
Yao Huang, the Grand Princess, and the Second Princess, along with some accompanying young ladies, gathered around to watch the excitement. Meanwhile, Chen Ying, Zheng Yuanzhen, and other dignified, reserved, or timid princesses and young ladies who were afraid of blood remained at their original positions.
Consort Xian was not surprised by her daughter-in-law Chen Ying’s choice. Scanning the area beside the Duke of Zhenguo’s wife, Consort Xian asked in surprise, “Why didn’t Fuwei go?”
Li Fuwei was the beloved legitimate second daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion, sixteen years old.
Unlike her gentle, reserved, and tragically short-lived elder sister, the former Princess Kang, Li Fuwei had loved martial arts since childhood. Her skills with swords, blades, and spears were first-rate, and she often accompanied her brothers on hunting trips to the mountains in the suburbs of the capital.
Li Fuwei’s original name was Fuwei, but when she was about ten years old, she changed it herself.
Two years ago, when Emperor Yongchang issued an edict to select consorts for the three princes, the candidates had to be of age. Li Fuwei, only fourteen at the time, was ineligible to participate. Otherwise, Consort Xian would have very much liked to select the Li family’s second daughter for her son, and she believed the Li family would have been willing as well.
Li Fuwei respectfully replied, “In response to Your Ladyship, Fuwei has seen many hunting scenes before, so I did not wish to join this particular excitement.”
Consort Xian thought nothing more of it.
After Li Fuwei sat back down, the Duke of Zhenguo’s wife quietly patted her daughter’s hand.
Originally, her daughter had also wanted to participate in this hunt. Noble sons could participate, and noble daughters with martial skills could naturally participate as well. However, when her daughter learned that both her brothers would be acting as assistants to Prince Kang, she lost interest. Her reason was that if she competed too hard and accidentally stole Prince Kang’s spotlight, what would happen? Since she couldn’t compete seriously, rather than going on the field half-heartedly, she might as well stay outside to watch.
At the pavilion, the Second Princess covered her nose with a handkerchief while observing the game brought back by the military officials. The Grand Princess, worried that other young ladies might accidentally bump into her second sister-in-law, insisted on holding Yao Huang’s left arm.
Yao Huang was helpless against her.
After watching for a while, the Second Princess suddenly called out, “Second Brother is back!”
Yao Huang immediately looked toward the hunting ground and indeed saw Prince Hui on horseback, followed by his mansion guards Zhang Yue and Wang Dong.
Their eyes met, and Prince Hui seemed to furrow his brow.
Glancing at the crowd of noble ladies beside her, Yao Huang knew Prince Hui was worried about her again. She smiled at him and, with the two princesses, moved to the side closest to the hunting ground exit.
When Prince Hui drew near enough, Yao Huang saw on Wang Dong’s horse a deer still kicking and struggling, while Zhang Yue had a half-grown wild boar about four feet long and a gray rabbit, both killed with a single arrow through the throat.
For prey destined to be killed, this method of death actually spared them some pain and torment.
Sitting on horseback, Prince Hui saw the delight in his princess consort’s bright eyes.
The Second Princess calculated the score from the side: “The deer is ten points, the wild boar five points, the rabbit one point—Second Brother has sixteen points total!”
Among over a hundred young military officials, foxes were difficult to hunt, and there were only thirty wolves and deer combined, not nearly enough to go around. Anyone who managed to kill one of them could be guaranteed a score in the upper-middle range.
Everyone knew that Prince Hui had crippled legs, yet even so, he could still surpass more than half of the young military officials. This was truly impressive.
Zhao Sui explained, “I just picked up what I could find on the mountain’s outskirts. Fortunately, my luck was decent.”
The deer was a highly sought-after ten-point prey. Zhao Sui suspected that the one he shot had been deliberately driven toward him by someone. He appreciated this gesture, but to prevent those inside from continuing to help him, Zhao Sui changed locations. Running into a wild boar that had escaped from the mountain was indeed pure luck.
Zhang Yue and Wang Dong unloaded the game. One took Prince Hui’s scoring token while the other went to collect the silver, also instructing that Prince Hui’s deer should be kept alive and temporarily sent to the Rare Beast Garden for the garden physicians to treat.
Yao Huang followed Prince Hui out of the crowd and asked in confusion, “Where’s my brother?”
Zhao Sui replied, “I let him hunt on his own.”
He could see Yao Lin’s anticipation for this hunt, whether for the reward silver or the glory. Zhao Sui didn’t want to delay him, and he truly didn’t need an assistant.
Yao Huang said, “With so many people and him without even a helper, how could he possibly get anything good? Why don’t you go back first, and I’ll wait a bit longer for him?”
Zhao Sui replied, “…Be careful.”
Yao Huang smiled and nodded, returning to the Grand Princess’s side.
When Prince Kang emerged, he caused quite a commotion because the game he brought back was truly abundant: one white fox, two wolves, two deer, and one full-grown wild boar, totaling one hundred and fifteen points—the highest score among the military officials so far.
The Second Princess whispered, “Why didn’t Eldest Brother go after the red fox? It’s a prize that others wouldn’t dare hunt even if they saw it, but if Eldest Brother found it, he would definitely be able to catch it.”
Since Prince Hui had no intention of competing for first place, Yao Huang didn’t care who took the top three overall scores and hadn’t thought about the red fox’s fate. Only now, hearing the Second Princess’s words, did Yao Huang realize—the Emperor was hosting this hunting competition and providing the reward silver, so naturally the military officials should be tactful enough to show the Emperor respect by leaving the greatest glory for the imperial descendants.
The Grand Princess thought of a possibility: “Could Fourth Brother have found it?”
The fourteen-year-old Fourth Prince had also participated in this hunt.
The Second Princess said, “…His archery skills might not even match my chuiwan playing. Unless the red fox ran headlong into a tree near him and lay there motionless for him to shoot.”
Just as she finished speaking, the Fourth Prince emerged with his two guards and assistant, having killed a three-point roe deer. Better than empty-handed!
As the hunt drew closer to its end, almost all the military officials had emerged. However, since the red fox had not yet appeared, even Emperor Yongchang anticipated whether the last few people would bring a surprise.
Others hadn’t noticed whether Yao Lin, the unremarkable brother-in-law of Prince Hui, was present or not. But Yao Huang knew her brother hadn’t come out yet. She alternated between worrying that her careless brother might have been injured, feeling sorry that her foolish brother might still be chasing some wild chicken or rabbit across the mountains for a few more taels of reward silver, and then…
Suddenly, Yao Huang sensed a gaze. She quickly searched for its source and caught the second son of the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion beside Prince Kang hurriedly turning his head away.
Looking again at Prince Kang’s profile—which showed no joy despite having the current highest score—Yao Huang’s heart began to pound rapidly.
Once more, the sound of hoofbeats came from the hunting ground.
Yao Huang looked up and saw four swift horses. On one steed sat her brother. Looking at his horse’s load, she saw a net bag on the left side holding a small bundle of game, and on the right side, a rope with two wild chickens tied and exposed.
After a moment, Yao Huang saw her brother’s two rows of white teeth showing because he was smiling so broadly, and she finally made out the red-furred fox in the net bag.
Prince Kang also sensed Yao Lin’s sincere and overly honest joy. At this moment, he finally believed Li Guantang’s speculation: this person hunted the red fox purely for the reward silver and had nothing to do with his second brother.
“Your Majesty, look!”
Just as he exited the hunting ground, Yao Lin reined in his horse, then couldn’t wait to pull down the net bag and hold it up high to show Emperor Yongchang across from him his prize.
Emperor Yongchang looked at the young man’s round, bright black eyes so similar to his second daughter-in-law’s, and smiled, “Not bad. Tell me, how did you catch the red fox?”
Yao Lin’s mind turned, and he pointed at Li Guantang beside Prince Kang, saying, “I was just running around in the mountains randomly, hoping to shoot a wolf or deer. By accident, I saw someone driving a red fox toward me. At that moment, I only had eyes for the red fox. I chased after it and shot two arrows in succession, hitting it. Only then did I realize it was Second Master Li who had driven it over. I’d already decided that I would give Second Master Li half of the reward silver. If it weren’t for him, I truly wouldn’t have stumbled upon this good fortune!”
Everyone looked at Li Guantang in unison.
Li Guantang said, “…My skills were inferior. What you shot is what you shot. There’s no need to share the reward silver with me.”
Who cares about those fifty taels!
Yao Lin replied, “If you don’t want it, fine! Later I’ll treat you to drinks!”
Li Guantang: “…”
Yao Lin went to deliver his game, receive his token, and collect his reward silver. One hundred taels of silver weighed about seven catties, which he lifted with ease.
After Yao Lin’s group finished their scoring, the top three places for this hunt were determined. Prince Kang won first place with one hundred and fifteen points, Yao Lin came in second with one hundred and two points, and third place went to a noble son who had caught the other white fox, totaling eighty-seven points with his other game.
When a prince won first place, the glory was what mattered. Emperor Yongchang rewarded Prince Kang with one hundred taels of gold, as was customary for the champion, praised him with “your martial skills have improved,” and left it at that.
When it came to Yao Lin, Emperor Yongchang smiled with particular satisfaction and said, “I organized this hunting competition with great fanfare precisely to select young men who are both brave and skilled in martial arts. Being able to shoot the red fox shows your superior riding and archery skills. Daring to shoot the red fox shows your commendable courage. I told you all to give your full effort, and you were the one who listened to me most obediently. I am very gratified. Besides promoting you two official ranks, I also wish to bestow upon you a good marriage. Are you willing?”
Yao Lin was stunned. Sitting among the female guests, Yao Huang also stared at Emperor Yongchang in a daze.
Emperor Yongchang only stared at Yao Lin: “What, are you unwilling?”
Yao Lin quickly knelt down and said, “Being granted a marriage by Your Majesty is my blessing. It’s just… I don’t know whom Your Majesty wishes to bestow upon me, and I fear the young lady might look down on a crude fellow like me.”
Emperor Yongchang smiled and looked toward Duke of Zhenguo Li Qian, asking, “Guantang’s riding and archery skills fall short of Yao Lin’s by three measures. What does the Duke think of this fellow?”
Li Qian looked Yao Lin up and down and smiled, “With his broad back, strong build, and dignified appearance, he is an excellent choice for a son-in-law.”
Emperor Yongchang said, “Then I shall give him to you as a son-in-law. Is the Duke pleased?”
Li Qian smiled bitterly, “With Your Majesty acting as matchmaker, this subject could not ask for more. However, my youngest daughter has been opinionated since childhood. She even changed the name I gave her. Now when it comes to choosing a husband, I fear I cannot make decisions for her either. I beseech Your Majesty’s understanding.”
He had two sons and two daughters. His eldest daughter had passed away early, making the couple treasure their second daughter even more. Li Qian understood that the Emperor was displeased that today both his sons had gone to strongly support Prince Kang, losing the integrity that military officials should have. Whatever punishment His Majesty wished to impose on their father and sons, he would accept willingly. But when it came to his daughter’s marriage, Li Qian was unwilling to force his beloved daughter.
Emperor Yongchang also knew that Li Qian was telling the absolute truth. He looked toward the female guests and beckoned kindly to Li Fuwei with a smile.
Li Fuwei walked over with a calm expression.
Emperor Yongchang smiled and said, “I like Yao Lin, but you are a young lady I’ve watched grow up. I value your wishes even more. If you feel Yao Lin is not to your liking, I will absolutely not force you.”
Li Fuwei looked at Yao Lin.
Yao Lin’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Wasn’t His Majesty playing matchmaker haphazardly? How could he possibly be worthy of a noble lady from a duke’s mansion, especially such a precious and beautiful young lady?
Li Fuwei finished her assessment and said, “I am honored by Your Majesty’s favor. This subject’s daughter also greatly admires Master Yao’s excellent martial arts skills and is willing to marry him.”
At least among these hundred or so young military officials and noble sons, Yao Lin had the most backbone.