Chapter 36: Winter Hunting (I)

Pingyang Hou Mansion, Ningyuan Garden Hall.

Early this morning, someone came to Xiao's fourth room, saying that the Zhuangzi below had come to Xiaojing and thought of sending some wild game to the Marquis' Mansion.

"...It's all things that are not allowed to be used, just for freshness... The Fourth House Mansion couldn't use so much at the moment, so I thought of sending some to the Marquis' Mansion and trying some freshness."

Hu said with a smile.

Gu Xiyan hurriedly said, "What did the Fourth Aunt say?"

"I heard that the meat of this deer is delicious and the most delicious.

The fourth aunt and the fourth uncle have always thought about the Marquis and I. I didn’t have time to thank me, so how could I dislike it?”

Gu Xiyan has been married to the Marquis's mansion for some time.

During this period, Gu Xiyan saw some things every now and then, sometimes some food boxes, snacks and food, and sometimes some food, clothing and supplies.

Although what you send is not a precious item, "a gift from thousands of miles away is light, and the gift is heavy." It is always concerned about it, which is much more sincere than cramming when you are using people.

What's more, Gu Xiyan also asked his mother Gui about the matter of relatives in Xiao's family.

Gui's mother said, "Before the mistress married into the Marquis' Mansion, the fourth house often came to the door to visit and was quite concerned about the Marquis."

It can be seen from this that the fourth aunt was not deliberately trying to get familiar with Gu Xiyan.

Hu was quite embarrassed and hurriedly waved his hand, "The niece-in-law is serious! They are all family members, what do you say about thanks?"

Xiao Honghan, who was eating fruits on the side, heard this and came over to ask, "Mother, is the deer really delicious?"

Xiao Honghan is the eldest son of the fourth wife. He just passed his tenth birthday this year. He has a handsome face and is a handsome boy.

Mrs. Hu gently stroked her son's hair and smiled, "Han'er will find out if she tastes it myself tomorrow."

Xiao Honghan has two younger sisters. Today, Hu came to Pingyang Hou Mansion and only brought Xiao Honghan and his second daughter. The third daughter was still learning to walk, so she did not take her out.

After hearing his mother's words, Xiao Honghan thought seriously about the lively and cute deer in his house, and said, "Mother, I don't want to eat deer..."

Xiao Honghan's sister, Yu Xue, was cute and was holding a piece of osmanthus cake to eat attentively. Suddenly, she heard her brother crying and immediately threw away the cake in her hand and cried, "The deer is so cute... Bing'er... don't... don't eat..."

This is how the little baby is. When one crys, it can be contagious. When it crys, it makes people cry, and they make them one head or two big.

Seeing that the two of them were crying more and more intensely, Hu immediately hugged them in his arms and coaxed them. He waved his hand and called the wet nurse to come forward and took the two children down to rest.

“These children are really noisy and disturbing.

Therefore, I have always been reluctant to take them out."

Mrs. Hu said apologetically.

Gu Xiyan smiled, "Since it's a child, where can there be no trouble?

Han'er, Bing'er's Bingxue is smart, I really like it.

Next time my aunt comes to the Marquis’ Mansion and bring them with her, so that the Marquis’ Mansion will be lively and lively.”

Seeing that Gu Xiyan was not tired of her expression, Hu knew that she really liked these children, so she smiled and agreed.

The two chatted for a while, and a maid came in to report, "Miss Bing's wife, fourth wife, the marquis is back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Rang picked up the curtain and smiled faintly on Jun's face, "Before he entered the door, he heard laughter. It turned out that Aunt Fourth was here."

Gu Xiyan smiled and said, "My aunt came to deliver wild game in the farm."

Xiao Rang lifted his robe and sat down, and took the teacup from the tray in the maid's hand, "Oh?

That's rare.

I've been troubled by my aunt."

Mrs. Hu smiled, "It's just a small fight, just a taste of something new."

A few days later, there will be winter hunting in Fanglin Equinting. At that time, the prey under the Marquis' bow and arrow will definitely be many times more surprising than these small-scale fights!"

Since the founding of the Dayan Dynasty, Emperor Xuan established the tradition of hunting in Fanglin in order to maintain his heroic morale and to sharpen the will of his descendants.

In early winter, the temperature is cold and the earth is withered and yellow, but the prey in the Fanglin Wall has been freed for a whole year, and it is nourished by the essence of the sun and the moon, and is about to be captured.

Therefore, whenever the fierce cold wind blows, the emperor leads princes and ministers to hold autumn clothes in Fanglin yard, practice riding riding and shooting, and entertaining the ministers.

Gu Xiyan has long heard of the grand occasion of the hunting of the fragrant forest.

Unfortunately, most of the people who were qualified to participate in the hunting of Fanglin in all dynasties were military generals and a few important civil officials. Gu’s father Gu Wan had not yet ranked that senior among the potential civil officials, so Gu never participated.

But now that Gu Xiyan has married Xiao Rang, the wife of Marquis of Pingyang, he is naturally qualified to participate in Fanglin hunting.

Thinking of this, Gu Xiyan couldn't help but look at the tall man beside him with hope.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Rang sipped Jinshan Shiyu calmly, put down the teacup and said, "Yes."

The day after tomorrow is the day for a hunting ceremony.

In the morning court, the emperor had already arranged the hunting schedule.

This year's hunting is ready, but the east wind is not available."

"Han'er also wants to go hunting!"

In the flower hall, several people were talking, and Xiao Honghan slipped over from the wet nurse at some point and was lying on Hu's knees and acting coquettishly.

Hu immediately scolded, "Don't make trouble."

Xiao Honghan is handsome and smart, and he was spoiled when he was young. He has always been a monkey-like temperament.

He is even more clever and has been used to seeing the second house members respectfully treating Xiao Rang on weekdays. Now he knows that Xiao Rang is the one who makes the decision. He looks at Xiao Rang with big eyes and can't help but act coquettishly, "Han'er wants to go... Han'er wants to go..."

Seeing this, Xiao Rang said lightly, "If Han'er wants to go, it's not impossible."

Hu said worriedly, "This child is a demon king who has always been disobedient, and is afraid that he will teach him to follow such a solemn occasion and cause trouble for you couples."

Gu Xiyan had never been to Fanglin hunting. He didn't know what the situation was inside, so he couldn't accept Hu's confusion, so he had to drink tea and say nothing.

I heard Xiao Rang say, "It's just an occasion for the king and the minister to have fun together, so it's okay for Han'er to follow the stubborn ones."

Aunt Fourth, please rest assured."

After hearing this, Xiao Honghan knew that he could do it. He immediately jumped off Hu's body with his eyes radiating and ran towards Xiao Rang.

Seeing this, Xiao Rang held Xiao Honghan high, "The ugly words can be said in front of you.

I have to ride a horse and draw a bow when I go, so I won’t cry at that time.”

Xiao Honghan was not afraid when he heard this, and nodded like a chicken pecking at the rice, "Han'er is not afraid! When Han'er grows up, she will also go to the battlefield like a cousin of Marquis!"

Hu was so amused and laughed at the end, "You kid! You are so angry that you have three of you who are so angry that you have left. You want to go into battle to kill the enemy! I'm afraid you won't recognize the military book!"

...

The next day, the hunting ceremony.

Fanglin Waichang starts from Lantian in the east, along Zhongnan Mountain to the west, around Huangshan in the north, and closes to Wei River and breaks east, covering an area of ​​more than 300 miles.

Among them, the mountains are undulating, the rocks are uneven, and the dense forests are spread out.

The yard has salty mountains and rivers and lush forests, which have nurtured all kinds of birds, animals, flowers, birds, fish and insects. It was the hunting place for emperors of all dynasties in the Great Yan Dynasty.

In the ceremony venue, there were bright yellow royal curtains on the north side. On the viewing platform on the other three sides of the venue, there were brocade tents for the families of princes, nobles, and cultural relics to sit upright to watch the ceremony.

In the center of the venue, a sacrificial ceremony for Autumn Hunting is being held.

Emperor Cheng'an slowly walked down from the bright yellow gilded steps. The nine dragon ceremonial guard behind him changed the formation, forming a ceremonial guard formation behind Emperor Cheng'an.

Emperor Cheng An wore a bright yellow dragon robe dressed in a black fox fur coat, and was wearing a big black fox fur coat. He held three sticks of incense sticks in his hand and bowed three times to the incense burner ritual, which was considered to be a commemoration of the ancestors of heaven and earth.

When Emperor Cheng'an slowly stood up, the eunuch Sili dragged his long voice and said, "The Autumn Hunting Ceremony, Li Cheng--"

As soon as the words fell, twelve salutes were set off in the hunting ceremony venue, the sound of the birds shook and smoke soared into the sky.

Everyone shouted long live on the mountain, and saw a horse running out of the side door on the south side of the ceremony venue.

Looking closely, there were dozens of heroic men riding horses and wearing short-drawn costumes.

A group of men were standing on both sides of the venue. Just as they stopped their horses and stood still, a young man in a white silverfish outfit flashed out from the side door, galloping towards the viewing platform.

While everyone on the viewing platform exclaimed, they suddenly found that there were an empty target in the middle of the venue.

The young man in silver sprinted to the front of the royal curtain, turned around, took a small silver bow behind his back, aimed at the target in the distance, and pulled a full bow with force.

The young man in silver tied his hair with a silver belt and sat upright on the horse. His body was thin and not tall and strong, but he felt free and unrestrained and full of energy.

I saw the young man in silver shooting ten shots in a row, and the arrows were empty and hit the red heart.

When everyone present saw this, they clapped their hands and cheered. Among the female relatives on the viewing platform, many unmarried daughters looked at the figure of the young man in silver and blushed in secret.

On that side, Gu Xiyan sat in the tent, looking at the handsome young man in silver clothes from afar, and couldn't help but be stunned.

The young man in silver raised his bow and arrow in his hand, and strikingly gestured to everyone present. Then he turned around and knelt on one knee at the seat, performing a rather strange etiquette.

Gu Xiyan saw the boy's side face and immediately stood there in a daze. There was a slight unruly appearance between the man's beautiful eyebrows, showing red nose and red lips, and deep dimples on his cheeks, as if he was hiding honey.

This...isn't this the Princess of Huainan and Princess Huiru?

On that side, Xiao Honghan was sitting on the little mat and eating dried fruit quietly. Seeing Gu Xiyan standing up in a daze, he came to hold her hand with confusion, "Sister-in-law, why is your sister-in-law blushing?"
To be continued...