Chapter 423: A Deer’s Favor

Prince Chun walked out of the kitchen carrying a carved purple clay soup pot. Behind him came the roar of Emperor Xia: “Rebellious son, are you going to give up my Li family’s hundreds of years of foundation?”

Prince Chun stopped, looked back at Emperor Xia, and said softly: “I don’t know my father, but I know Xuan Jing. He won’t be willing to be the emperor.”

Emperor Xia coughed violently, staring at Prince Chun with bloodshot eyes, and said sternly: “Even I have been deceived by him for twenty years. Do you think you know him well?”

“If he really wants to…”

Prince Chun smiled slightly and said, “Just give it to him. The world is better in Xuan Jing’s hands than in my father’s hands.”

The last glimmer of hope was shattered. The veins on the back of Emperor Xia’s skinny hands bulged. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: “Get out! Get out!”

Prince Chun walked out of the vermilion lacquered gate just as the clouds broke and the sun rose.

He looked up at the azure sky. The spring sun warmed the glazed tiles on the eaves of the palace.

Today the breeze is not dry and the sun is shining.

The spring of the thirty-seventh year of the Holy Year came much earlier than seventeen years ago.

……

The fourth day of the first lunar month in the twentieth year of the Holy Emperor.

After the grand court meeting, the emperor was in a good mood and went out of the city hunting with his princes and ministers.

Nanshan Hunting Ground.

The cold wind blew snow particles across the dead branches. Li Chun was riding on his horse, his fingers gripping the iron bow already frozen purple. Suddenly, the shadows of the trees shook, and a snow rabbit jumped out from behind the trees. He hurriedly drew his bow and shot an arrow, which sank deeply into the snow.

Ten feet away, the rabbit pricked up its ears, glanced blankly at the bloated figure riding the horse with its glass-like red eyes, then turned and ran into the bushes.

call out!
Another feather arrow shot from the side. The silver arrow pierced through the clouds and split the rocks, piercing through the body of the snow rabbit and nailing it to the ground. A blood-red plum blossom bloomed on the snowy ground.

The sound of horse hooves came closer and closer. The man on horseback reined in his horse, the golden thread on the collar of his black fox cloak scorching in the sun. He picked up the still twitching prey, smiled at Prince Chun, and said, “Royal brother, it seems that you need to practice your archery more…”

The officials accompanying him also followed the King of Han in making a mocking statement.

“His Royal Highness Prince Chun’s archery skills are not good, but his cooking skills are good. Even the chef in the imperial kitchen has praised him.”

“Haha, if today was not a hunting event but a cooking competition, His Royal Highness Prince Chun would definitely win first place.”

“is not that right……”

……

Although both are princes of Daxia, the status of King Han and King Chun is very different. King Han’s mother’s family is prominent, and he has countless supporters in the court.

Prince Chun’s mother was just a lowly palace maid, and there was no official in the court who supported him.

Your Majesty often rewards the princes, but Prince Chun is never included in any of them. This shows that Prince Chun has no place in Your Majesty’s heart.

This naturally made them have no respect for His Royal Highness Prince Chun.

A deep horn sounded in the distance, signaling the end of the spring hunt.

The King of Han shook the reins and said, “It’s getting late. We should go back to the camp. It’s a pity that we didn’t catch the deer, so we won’t get the reward from our father…”

He glanced at Prince Chun. There was nothing on his horse’s back, which meant that he didn’t catch any prey in this spring hunt. The King of Han curled his lips slightly, turned around and rode away.

Prince Chun looked at the horses of Prince Han and his entourage loaded with prey, sighed softly, and followed them silently towards the direction of the camp.

The four-hour spring hunt is over.

In the spring hunting camp, officials were discussing the matter.

“Your Highness the King of Han has gained a lot this time.”

“King You also gained a lot.”

“Although His Royal Highness Prince Rui is young, he has many officials around him who are proficient in archery, and he has not fallen behind.”

“Prince Gong’s harvest is quite good…”

“I don’t know who hunted the deer. Your Majesty’s reward this time is quite generous…”

His Majesty would set a prize for every spring hunt. If the prey corresponding to the prize was captured, a generous reward would be given. This time, the prize was a deer with a yellow ribbon tied around its neck.

Although the princes are not short of rewards, “Zhu Lu” and “Zhu Lu” have extraordinary meanings, and everyone wants to get the prize.

Just when everyone was wondering who would win the prize in this spring hunt, a skinny horse came staggering from the front.

“Prince Chun is back too.”

“Uh…, he didn’t catch any prey, did he?”

“I heard that Prince Chun is proficient in cooking, and hunting is indeed not his forte…” “But after four hours, nothing was gained. It’s too embarrassing…”

……

Although Li Chun, who was riding on a horse, could not hear the voices of the people in front of him, he could guess what they were saying by looking at their pointing and shaking their heads, and he could not help but bury his head even lower.

Because of his background and hobbies, he has been ridiculed since he was a child and has become accustomed to it.

But he still felt extremely ashamed of himself for being so humiliated in front of everyone, his father and all the civil and military officials in the court. His face turned red. This short journey seemed extremely long to him.

boom!
A voice came to his ears, and at the same time, he felt the horse under his crotch tremble, and its movements seemed to slow down.

He looked back and his expression suddenly froze.

A young deer appeared on his horse’s back at some point.

A young deer with a yellow ribbon around its neck.

The golden ribbon around its neck fluttered in the north wind, like a swimming dragon.

He slowly raised his head and saw the handsome and elegant man riding on the horse nodding slightly to him.

……

Li House.

Although the grand court meeting had ended, the discussion about court affairs had just begun.

After hundreds of years, Confucian officials have finally completely taken control of the court and are building a grand blueprint for the future of the mainland.

“Master Li’s reforms in Zhao are worth learning from. In my opinion, we can even emulate them in their entirety.”

“We should continue to accelerate the annexation of Chu and Qi. There are still tens of thousands of suffering people there, waiting for us to rescue them!”

“Yes, since we already have such power, we should also work hard to bring peace to the world and let the people of the entire continent live a prosperous life…”

“The continent is too big. It is already difficult to govern the Wei Kingdom alone. If Qi and Chu are added, I am afraid we will not be able to handle it. One court cannot manage so many places…”

“Should we redivide the country and give local governments a certain degree of autonomy? But I’m afraid new problems will arise in this process…”

……

After the joy of being in power, everyone inevitably fell into confusion.

After all, they are about to take a road that has never been taken before.

No one knows what is at the end of this road, and no one knows what new problems will be encountered in the process of moving towards this road. Everyone’s eyes can’t help but look at a figure in front of the crowd.

Lord Li, who created all this for them, never spoke a word.

The left prime minister stood beside Li Xuanjing and asked, “Are you worried about those strategists?”

Li Xuanjing shook his head slightly: “The world’s trend is no longer something they can stop. Those people can no longer make any waves…”

The left prime minister nodded slightly, and a trace of worry emerged in his heart again.

No one knows to whom His Majesty passed the throne. A young Emperor of Daxia poses a much greater threat to them than His Majesty the old one.

As he shoulders the destiny of Daxia, he will always be the emperor of Daxia as long as he is unwilling to give up.

He and Daxia have a relationship where they prosper together and suffer together.

As Da Xia becomes more prosperous and powerful, his strength will also become stronger. When he crosses that barrier, no one in this world will be his opponent.

What should they do at that time?

At a certain moment, the court officials who were discussing suddenly fell silent.

Several people couldn’t help but sniff, and then their throats moved involuntarily.

“What does it smell like? It smells so good!”

“Who is stewing the soup that has such a fragrant aroma?”

“This is the first time in my life that I have smelled such a fragrance…”

……

The fragrance diffused among the crowd, and countless people’s gluttony was aroused. In the courtyard, their stomachs rumbled like thunder.

A figure holding a soup bowl walked in slowly from outside the door. Prince Chun smiled and waved to Li Xuanjing, saying: “Xuanjing, your soup is ready. Let’s go fishing after you finish drinking it. We haven’t decided the winner last time…”

(End of this chapter)