Chapter 77: Refusing Marriage
Not long after they left, the Third Prince Yuan Ying came with a large number of guards. Seeing the seven wild boars on the ground, he was very surprised: "Who hunted these? Why didn't they take them away?"
The winter hunting this year was particularly lively. Moreover, the winner of each day not only won a prize, but also had the opportunity to show off in front of the emperor.
A guard went forward to check and was immediately surprised to see that one of the wild boars had its eyes deeply pierced by two arrows, leaving only the white arrow feathers outside. He came over to report: "Third Prince, judging from the arrow feathers, they are ordinary arrows in our army. Maybe someone hunted them and didn't have time to take them away."
Someone pulled out an arrow and showed it to Yuan Ying. Seeing that the arrow was indeed a common arrow feather used by the capital's army, and the same as the arrow feathers used by the guards he brought with him, he thought nothing more of it and waved his hand, saying, "Take them all back and add them to Second Brother's prey."
The group dragged seven wild boars to join Yuan Lang. Even Yuan Lang was shocked: "Third brother, you are lucky today!"
Yuan Ying felt a little guilty, but was more proud of his good luck: "Isn't my good luck brought by my second brother?"
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After completing the patrol that day, Yuan Jian, with several rabbits and pheasants tied to his horse, excitedly followed Tang Ying back to the camp, asking Tang Ying for advice on archery along the way.
The two were in high spirits, but several colleagues from the Cavalry Department who followed closely behind them were grumbling all the way.
Several people returned to the square in front of the hunting palace, but saw dozens of piles of prey there. It turned out that all the hunting teams had returned.
The prey in the front was a full-grown tiger, sitting at the head of the hunting positions. One of the colleagues said, "That is your Majesty's prey."
Tang Ying asked in surprise: "Your Majesty's archery skills are so great?"
Her colleagues gave her a look that said "experience it yourself". Yuan Jian whispered, "Father...he is surrounded by experts."
The late emperor was a man of both civil and military talents, and he would often exchange skills with the late empress and her husband in their spare time. However, the current emperor is an excellent civil official, and when he lived in the palace, he had never heard that his own father had the habit of getting up early to practice boxing.
"Oh." Tang Ying understood immediately. It turned out to be a face-saving project.
Under the tiger, there are three piles of prey that stand out. The first pile occupies a particularly large area. Tang Ying suddenly feels that some of the prey look familiar. Yuan Jian and the other five colleagues have seen them. The Fourth Prince even pointed at a wild boar whose eyes were pierced and died after it crashed into a tree: "That one, that one..." Isn't that the wild boar that you shot dead, second brother?
The other five colleagues also found it incredible: "Who dragged this here to make up the numbers?"
A nosy colleague went forward to ask the guard who was watching over the prey, and he came back with a strange look on his face: "Fourth Prince, the guard said that it was the Second Prince's prey."
Tang Ying: “…” This person’s vanity is a bit too strong.
She pointed at Yuan Jian's prey and said, "Fourth Prince, why don't you let your prey go?" She felt very regretful and said, "If we had known earlier, we would have dragged these wild boars back. It would be more spectacular to put them together with your prey."
Yuan Jian hunted only rabbits, pheasants and the like. They were on patrol duty and did not hunt anything except to save Yuan Jian. There was no way they could gather a bunch of prey for Yuan Jian that was not too shabby at the moment.
"I won't show off. I'll take a few back for my mother and let her have a taste." When he mentioned this, he remembered what Rongpin had said. He smiled at her, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. He turned the words around and said, "Thank you, second brother, for taking care of my mother."
"We are responsible for the safety of the inner palace, so why are you being so polite?" She rode away: "Empress Rong must have been waiting for a whole day, Your Highness should go back quickly."
Colleagues: ...What?
Zhang Ying went to please Concubine Rong?
They seemed to see the official hat on Commander Fu's head change color, and for a moment they all looked at Zhang Ying's receding back in admiration.
The little girl doesn't know how powerful the commander is, right? !
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The Southern Qi Emperor Yuan Yu had returned a long time ago. He had no intention of competing with his ministers. Everyone knew that the emperor was just making a start and riding a horse in the woods to stretch his muscles. As for your majesty's prey, your majesty need not worry about it.
He ran in the woods for most of the day. After he came back, he washed his face with hot water and chatted with several vassal kings and old ministers who were traveling with him about their children. The King of Nanyue said that his son was giving him a headache: "He is not young anymore, but he has not married yet. I dream of having a grandchild. This kid mentioned two days ago that he met his ideal girl in Beijing and he would marry her. I thought about asking the girl out so that I could propose marriage. I just don't know if this kid is so lucky that he can marry a girl from Beijing."
Everyone present was a shrewd person. After hearing what the King of Nanyue said, they all suspected that he was laying the groundwork, but they just didn't know which girl he had his eyes on.
Several elderly civil officials did not go out. They were not good at riding to begin with, and were afraid that their old arms and legs would not be able to bear the strain. They waited in the tent for a whole day, drinking tea and chatting. Unexpectedly, they heard the news that the King of Nanyue wanted to form an alliance through marriage. Even their old rivals Jing Huai and Weng Xianhe exchanged glances with them.
——But your unmarried daughter has been targeted by the King of Nanyue?
——Is this yours?
The two exchanged glances for several times, but no conclusion was reached.
It was just a casual chat, and the Southern Qi Emperor seemed to be very interested in the Nanyue King's proposal: "Since the Nanyue King wants to marry his son to a lady from the capital, I can still grant the marriage when the time comes. If you want to have a grandchild, you should go back and ask the Crown Prince Zhao."
The King of Nanyue bowed and said, "Thank you very much for your kindness, Your Majesty. The boy had a terrible fever and had not yet woken up when I left this morning. The imperial physician prescribed a prescription, but I don't know if he is better now."
The Southern Qi Emperor waved his hand and said, "Since you are worried about your son, go back early. You are all tired after a day's work, so you should all go home early and gather again in the evening."
There is a banquet in the evening of winter hunting. The food used are all the prey of the day, as well as fresh deer raised in the hunting ground. When the time comes, the deer blood will be released and drunk, which is considered a very nutritious dish.
After everyone dispersed, the King of Nanyue hurried to his son's residence, but found nothing.
His men told him: "The prince said he wanted to find someone in the camp, and he took the person out when he woke up."
"Nonsense!" The King of Nanyue yelled angrily, "He clearly has a cold, why doesn't he stay in the room to rest instead of running out to make trouble? Why can't he wait until he recovers before looking for someone?" He thought of his son's thoughts and wondered if he would take advantage of his illness to go look for the Ninth Princess.
This boy is very well behaved. He has been able to make people happy since he was young. When he grows up, he can make women happy. He has also used illness to show weakness to win the sympathy of girls. "You really want to marry a wife, so you don't even want to give up your life. Why don't you hurry up and find one?"
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The King of Nanyue was concerned about his son's marriage, and the Emperor of Southern Qi was no exception.
After he separated from the ministers, he went straight to the palace of Imperial Concubine Wan. The palace servants had already prepared hot soup and hot water. Imperial Concubine Wan came up to him with a smile and massaged his shoulders: "Your Majesty, you have been running around outside all day, right?"
Yuan Yu took her hand and sat down: "There are palace maids to do this kind of rough work, why would you be needed?" After chatting for a while, he remembered the unfinished business in the morning: "Send someone to the Imperial Cavalry Division to ask if Zhang Ying has returned?"
Imperial Concubine Wan was smart and sent two people, one to the Imperial Cavalry Department to summon "Zhang Ying", and the other to tell the Second Prince: "The Queen said that His Majesty summoned Miss Tang, and asked the Second Prince to come quickly."
Yuan Lang had been in the woods for most of the day and had just finished bathing, changing clothes, and packing up. When he heard about this, he hurried over happily.
Not long after he came in to greet them, Tang Ying came over with the palace maids.
The palace maid who was summoned was the confidant of Consort Wan. Thinking that this person would be the future consort of the Second Prince, she was very enthusiastic towards her along the way. However, after she figured out , she sneered in her heart: I'm afraid that the Second Prince is determined to marry not her, Tang Ying, but Tang Yao's daughter.
What is behind her that is worthy of the Second Prince's plot?
Since her identity had been discovered by Yuan Lang and he had brought her before the emperor, Tang Ying knelt down and saluted after she came in: "Your Majesty, your Majesty!"
The Emperor of Southern Qi and Imperial Noble Consort Wan had been watching her intently since she came in, and they both had the same thought in their minds: This is how the daughter of the Tang family should be!
When Tang Ying entered the capital that day, she also went to the palace to meet the Emperor's concubine. Ah Lian was accompanying her at the time. She was so nervous that she could hardly speak clearly, and she had to pretend to be sick. After she left the palace, the Emperor's concubine mentioned it to her son more than once: "Tang Yao is a rough man. I heard that his mother died early, and I don't know who raised him. He is petty. Being a concubine is already a compliment to her. How can she be the main wife?"
But the son was determined to marry Tang Yao's daughter, and he repeatedly explained to her: "Mother also knows that my grandfather's side is full of civil officials, and we can't win over military generals. The Tang family has been stationed in the northern border for generations, and has brought out many generals. If we marry his daughter, we can win over these military generals from the Tang family. Why not? If we really let the Tang family's daughter be a concubine, what do you think those military generals who followed the Tang family will think?"
Concubine Wan reluctantly agreed to the marriage, but was already looking for a concubine.
When Tang Ying came in, she was still wearing the black round-necked official uniform of the Imperial Cavalry Division. Her hair was tied up, and there was a heroic look between her brows. Her expression was open and calm. Her waist was slender, but with the tenderness of a girl. She was like a bamboo in the wind, and had a dashing demeanor.
"I just heard from the prince that someone has impersonated you and wronged you. Please stand up and take a seat!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat." Tang Ying stood up and sat on the embroidered cushion that the palace maid brought. "It's not that I feel wronged. If I wasn't afraid that others would embarrass the Tang family by using your name, I wouldn't have come all the way to the capital."
The Southern Qi Emperor was very surprised: "So, if no one pretended to be you, you would not have entered the capital?"
Tang Ying lowered her eyes to hide her thoughts and said calmly, "I grew up in a border town. My parents and relatives are all buried in the border town. I have no attachment to the capital. It was completely an accident that I came to the capital."
The Southern Qi Emperor did not expect that Tang Yao's daughter was actually a person who was indifferent to fame and gain. Her temperament was completely different from that of the fake woman, so he smiled and said, "I have already issued an edict to grant you a marriage. After you marry the emperor, you will have someone to care about in the capital."
Yuan Lang's smile grew stronger, and he quickly stood up and said, "Thank you, Father."
Unexpectedly, Tang Ying stood up and knelt down again, bowing her head and saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not accept your kindness! Besides, this marriage was not granted to me in the first place. I cannot replace someone else in marriage. I hope your Majesty will take back your order!"
Her action shocked everyone in the hall.
The emperors of the Southern Qi Dynasty always granted marriages and had never met anyone who refused. When people reach a certain age, they like to see young couples, and the emperor of the Southern Qi Dynasty was no exception.
Concubine Wan was furious - you ungrateful wild girl, is there anything about my son that makes him unworthy of you?
Yuan Lang was dumbfounded. He had experienced Tang Ying's rogue nature and thought that she would restrain herself in front of his father. Unexpectedly, she did not play rogue, but just... disobeyed the emperor's order.
