CH 109.2

Chapter 109.2 – How About Rabbit Meat?

It was almost noon and a bit late to leave for the capital, but no one dared to delay since the Emperor had already spoken.

When time reached around level, the camp that had been hastily built in the last two days were almost all dismantled, and the carriages had also been loaded with their luggage, ready to depart.

As for the aftermath, apart from leaving a team of soldiers to continue searching for the “lost” exotic horse in the hunting ground, the Emperor only left the Head Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to take full charge of the matter.

No one objected to this decision, including King Wei and his people, who all felt that the Emperor’s arrangement was very good.

After all, the Court of Judicial Review’s Head Minister’s selfless image had long been deeply ingrained in everyone’s heart, and King Wei’s people did not need to worry about him being partial towards the Crown Prince. At the same time, his methods were also convincing. If even he couldn’t find any clues, then no one else would be able find anything either.

Before noon, with different thoughts on their mind, the group that went for the Autumn Hunt once again embarked on a journey back to the capital.

In the carriage, Her Royal Highness Qi Yang who had gained the most from this trip wasn’t being as energetic as you’d think. She was leaning against her prince consort’s arm, saying, “Ah Pei, what do you think Royal Father is thinking? With his injuries, Royal Brother Wei should be resting. Why is he so anxious to return to the capital that he couldn’t even wait for a day?”

They suddenly had to leave at noon, and couldn’t even have a good meal. Coming and leaving in a rush, then facing all the surprise and hustle-bustle, this Autumn Hunt had not been fun at all. There was no bonfire party, no reward bestowal by the Emperor, and no free time to play. There was basically nothing to do at all. After all the tossing and turning, she had to immediately go back. It was really boring.

Qi Yang originally had high expectations for the Autumn Hunt, but now she was very disappointed. As for the prize for being the champion? Who are you kidding? Her prince consort was a civil official. Could she still be appointed as a general or get a share of military power like those military officials!?

In the end, at most they would only receive some gold and silver as reward. Was that something they were still lacking on?

Lu Qipei, however, did not feel disappointed. On the contrary, her eyes were full of energy – their trip was not a waste, and they finally found some traces of Rong State’s attack. After this, regardless of whether the Court of Judicial Review’s Head Minister officials could find anything or not, the Emperor had already developed a wariness towards Rong State in his heart!

Rong State was still newly established, while the Great Liang was at its heyday. When the Emperor’s bottom line, his inheritance, was touched and he started fighting back against Rong, it would be much better than what their small-scale fight could do.

Plus, there were only two important figures in Rong nowadays. Other than the Rong Emperor, the most eye-catching one was Xie Yuan. Even if she didn’t mention anything, the Emperor would have a deep suspicion of Xie Yuan and his previous “achievements”.

In the following days, they could sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight, which would be much easier than before. And with them being hidden behind the scene, there was no need to worry about Xie Yuan jumping over the wall and doing anything against them.

Of course, that was all for the future. Right now, it was more important to coax her wife.

Lu Qipei listened to Qi Yang’s complaint and comforted her, “There have been a lot of accidents this time. The hunting ground is not a good place to stay for a long time, it is understandable that His Majesty is in a hurry to return to the capital. But if Your Highness did not have enough fun, let’s find time to go hunt again some other time.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Yang gave her an angry look and said, “Do you think I really enjoy hunting? I’m just annoyed that this wonderful outing was interrupted. If Royal Father continues working after returning to the capital, then you’ll have to go back to work at the Court of Judicial Review. Apart from rest days, where else would you find the time to play?”

Hearing this, Lu Qipei was speechless for a while and thought for a moment before asking tentatively, “How many days should I take a leave for to stay at home with you?”

When she heard this, Qi Yang gave her a blank look and couldn’t help but say, “Have you forgotten that the Head Minister was left in the hunting ground? If you, the Vice Minister also took a leave, then the Court of Judicial Review will be leaderless in the following days. If there’s an urgent matter, they will still have to come and find you anyways.”

After thinking about it, Lu Qipei couldn’t say anything and immediately changed the topic, “It’s noon, Your Highness hasn’t eaten lunch yet, are you hungry?”

They had lunch prepared before setting off, but it was so bumpy in the carriage that she lost her appetite.

Seeing that Qi Yang ignored her, Lu Qipei raised her hand and opened a hidden compartment at the side of the carriage, where she would put some tea and snacks for the road. She also took out tea today, but instead of snacks, she brought out several plates of jerky.

The jerky had been prepared quickly, and was finished just before they departed. When it was served on the table, you could still smell the strong meaty scent.

Lu Qipei twisted off a piece of jerky and brought it to Qi Yang’s mouth. The latter smelled the fragrance and looked at Lu Qipei, then opened her lips and ate it. The jerky tasted pretty good; it was not too greasy nor too sticky, and was quite chewy. It was perfect as a snack.

Qi Yang became a bit interested and sat up, asking, “You prepared this?”

Lu Qipei fed another piece of jerky to Qi Yang and said, “It’s the prey from yesterday. I had people cook it overnight.”

When she hard this, Qi Yang knew that Lu Qipei had guessed that they would be returning to the capital today, so she quickly had the prey turned into jerky. After eating them, Qi Yang’s mood became better. At least, their prey from yesterday was not wasted.

She was enjoying her meal when she suddenly heard Lu Qipei ask, “Your Highness, do you think rabbit meat is delicious cooked like this?”

They hunted a lot of rabbits yesterday, but when Qi Yang heard rabbits mentioned, the first thing that came to mind was those two who were frightened to death by the tiger. After all, they were caught alive and she had planned to take them home to coax the child, but unfortunately, they all died in the end!

At this moment, Qi Yang’s gaze swept over the several plates of meat in front of her, and she suddenly fell silent. They were also rabbits anyway, if she brought these plates of rabbit meat back as a gift for the child, would Lu Sheng be happy?

Author notes:

Lu Sheng (with tears in her eyes): painedsmile.jpg