"Ruiqi, Ruilin!" Zhangsun Hong waved at Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin from afar, smiling merrily. His fur was brown, and although it was not as strong as the two small white horses, it was still very robust. However, Zhangsun Hee was still worried about letting him sit on the horse by himself. He tied a rope around his waist, and with the other end of the rope in Zhangsun Hee's hands, it looked extremely fu
y.
Emperor Xiao Hui laughed out loud, and the others could not help but laugh too.
Zhangsun Hong blushed as he let Chen Mufeng carry her off the horse to greet the Emperor Xiao Hui.
"Hong'er, hurry up and rise. This little pony is also not bad." Emperor Xiao Hui patted the small pony's back and praised.
Zhangsun Hong's face became even redder, but Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin did not laugh, causing his good impression of his two good friends to deepen.
When the time was set for the gathering to begin, everyone officially paid their respects to the Emperor Xiao Hui.
With the victory of the Grand Xia Country and the fact that it was soon the new year, Emperor Xiao Hui's mood had always been good. "By the end of the afternoon, whoever has the most prey will be rewarded heavily!"
"Thank you, your majesty!" Everyone happily expressed their thanks.
The Emperor's reward was not necessarily something of great value, but it had a different meaning. It was a special honor that everyone tried their best to seize the top spot in the hunting competition. This was especially true for the young people who didn't have any rank. If this were to enter the eyes of the Emperor, they might even be able to obtain a position of an official and a half.
Emperor Xiao Hui changed into his hunting suit and led the guards away.
The Queen and her three concubines who had followed the Emperor Xiao Hui could only stay in the tent. Even Princess Duan Ning had gone off to hunt. The Emperor Xiao Hui and the Queen cared a lot about their daughter and intended to make use of this opportunity to nurture her relationship with the Divine Martial Marquis' son.
Qin Mian and Lei Tia, together with their two sons, chose a direction and rode their horses into the distance.
Zhangsun Hong wanted to follow them, so Zhangsun Hee and Chen Mufeng protected him on both sides as they followed along. It was just that Qin Ruiqi's and Lei Ruilin's little white horses were much stronger than Zhangsun Hong's pony. There were many hoof prints on the ground, so it was hard to tell which direction they went.
There were no ferocious beasts such as tigers, leopards, wolves, or the like. The most dangerous one was probably a wild boar, but it was not too big, and the rest of the prey were mostly wild sheep, sika deer, hares, pheasants, foxes, and other small sized prey. In order to make people enjoy themselves, there were a lot of prey.
Qin Mian and his family of four ran not long before Qin Mian and Lei Tia discovered a fat hare behind a pile of little grasses covered in snow. The husband and wife tacitly gave the opportunity to their sons.
Qin Mian called out softly, "Ruiqi, Ruilin."
Qin Ruiqi had always taken care of his brother, "Ruilin, come."
Lei Ruilin nodded silently and spurred his horse forward. Unfortunately, because he had no experience, he made too much of a ruckus. When the rabbit heard the sound, it jumped up abruptly and bounced off into the distance.
"Brother!" Lei Ruilin called out anxiously, and together with Qin Ruiqi, they spurred their horses to chase after him.
Qin Mian and Lei Tia had always been standing at a distance of two meters behind the two of them.
At that moment, a sika deer burst out of the sloping woods in a panic.
Qin Ruiqi took out an arrow from his quiver and released it. The arrow shot out like a bolt of lightning and pierced into the deer's stomach.
"Big brother, you're so amazing. You managed to hunt me down so quickly." Lei Ruilin had already ran far away as he enviously said this. He turned around and continued to search for his prey.
"Tia, you keep an eye on Ruiqi." After Qin Mian finished speaking, he followed closely behind his son.
Qin Ruiqi spurred his horse to run in front of the Sika Deer, and presented the treasure to Lei Tia.
"That's right."
Lei Tia's praise was simple, but Qin Ruiqi was still very happy.
Lei Tia picked up the prey, pulled out an arrow and put it back into his eldest son's quiver, then tied the prey to his horse.
"Dad, let's continue."
"Yes."
The father and son duo picked a random direction and ran forward.
In the distance, Lei Ruilin was unwillingly chasing after a wild goat that was around fifty kilograms. Together with Qin Mian, they blocked it.
Lei Ruilin was about to release an arrow, but a red feathered arrow suddenly flew over from far away and struck the wild goat first.
Qin Mian frowned and turned his head around. A twelve year old teenager dressed in purple was sitting on his horse with a haughty expression, slowly putting down the bow in his hands. Beside him was a man dressed in luxurious clothing, around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
"Greetings Madam National Duke and Duke An Ping." The young man clasped his hands on the horse.
Qin Mian said calmly: "There's no need to be so courteous."
Lei Ruilin glared at the teenager and asked unhappily: Who are you? "Why do you want to steal my prey?"
The young man rode closer, picked up the prey and gave it to the young man. He raised his voice and said, "Chen Bo Dong. Your prey? Who can you blame for your inferior skills? "
"Chen Bodong?" Lei Ruilin calmly raised his eyebrows, "Chen Bonan's brother?"
Chen Bo Dong's face sank and shouted: "How dare you! How dare you call me by my name? "
Lei Ruilin crossed his arms across his chest, laughed, and said slowly: "Why would I not dare? Although you are the eldest son of the First Prince, you have no title. "In the end, who is the one who is bold? Perhaps we can ask the Emperor."
Qin Mian smiled slightly.
"You!" Chen Bo Dong's face changed, the hand holding the reins became green and white due to using too much strength, he gritted his teeth and said, "Lei Ruilin, we will see!"
In the end, he still had some rationality. He turned his horse around and ran away.
Lei Ruilin made a grimace, winked at his father, and leisurely rode his horse to catch up.
Qin Mian guessed his son's plan and snickered.
The young man turned around to take a look, and his gaze swept across Qin Mian, but he could not say anything. It was better for him not to interfere in the dispute between children. Otherwise, a small problem would become a big problem.
Chen Bo Dong quickly realised that Lei Ruilin was following behind him with an ashen face.
At this moment, a beautiful silver black fox entered everyone's line of sight.
Chen Bodong was overjoyed. He quickly pulled out an arrow. Unexpectedly, before he could release the arrow, a sharp arrow whizzed past him and pierced through the Silver Black Fox's frail neck. The Silver Black Fox died.
Chen Bo Dong suddenly turned his head, and saw Lei Ruilin retracting, and became flustered: "Lei Ruilin! You dare to steal my prey! "
"Who are you blaming for not being as skilled?" Lei Ruilin replied calmly as he rode on his pony to pick up the prey and give it to Qin Mian.
Chen Bodong was extremely aggrieved, "You!"
Qin Mian put the prey into his backpack as if there was no one around.
Lei Ruilin stuck out his tongue at Chen Bo Dong, grabbed his horse's belly, and left.
"Humph!" Chen Bodong was enraged. He punched a pine tree, causing snow to fall. He pulled on the reins in an attempt to catch up with Lei Ruilin.
The young man quickly stopped him, "Bo Dong, calm down! Even though that kid was young, he had quite a bit of strength. Didn't you see that the arrow he shot just now actually pierced through the Silver Black Fox's neck? You must have used your i
er force. "
"Uncle, do you really think that the one who shot the arrow just now was Lei Ruilin?" Chen Bo Dong did not think so, "It must be Madam National Duke."
The young man shook his head, "National Duke's wife is twenty feet away from Duke An Ping. It's impossible for his to complete the actions of getting close to Duke An Ping in a few breaths, taking arrows from his quiver, shooting arrows and then returning to the distance of twenty feet in just a few breaths of time."
Chen Bodong was speechless and said, "His father captured my father, so he is my enemy. Don't tell me that he is just going to be let off the hook like that! Also, Royal Grandfather has been very cold to me recently ?? I originally wanted to hunt that Silver Black Fox from before to give it to Royal Grandfather. "
The young man sighed inwardly but didn't say anything. The First Prince's betrayal was a great crime, and it was already a blessing in disguise that the Emperor did not implicate anyone else in the First Prince's residence. If Chen Bo Dong continued to target Lei Ruilin, it would only make the emperor even more unhappy.
Qin Mian and Lei Ruilin did not take this small episode to heart. After ru
ing through the forest for nearly four hours, Lei Ruilin had hunted a Silver Black Fox, five wild rabbits, and a pheasant. Qin Mian mainly stayed with his son, not hunting anything.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." Lei Ruilin was still feeling sorry for the little pony. He jumped down from the horse and rubbed its head.
The colt nuzzled his small chest affectionately.
Qin Mian asked: "Do you want to return to the camp or do you want to eat something here?"
Lei Ruilin said: "Let's return to the camp and let Xiao Ma eat some grass."
Qin Mian then carried him to his own horse and brought him back to the camp with the little pony.
The camp's Precinct Head was cooking, and waves of fragrance drifted out.
Lei Tia and Qin Ruiqi had returned a long time ago, they did not know where they got a pile of firewood, but after clearing out a clean area in a remote corner, they started a fire. On top of the bonfire were four wild chickens, which had been roasted for a long time.
Qin Ruiqi sat opposite to Lei Tia and held onto two sticks that were tied with fish. They were probably taken from the kitchen, but they were a little muddled.
"Dad, I'm hungry!" Lei Ruilin jumped off his horse and ran over.
Qin Mian threw the reins to the guard and followed along leisurely.
"Wait." Lei Tia glanced at his wife and little son, making sure that they were not injured, before retracting his gaze, taking out a bottle of seasoning from his waist pouch and sprinkling it onto the roasted chicken.
Qin Mian sat down beside him with his chin in his hands, looking at him with a smile, waiting to eat.
Lei Ruilin took out two packs of beef jerky and handed one bag to his brother, then fed one to each of his father. The two brothers rested their heads against each other, eating their snacks while talking at the same time.