During the first two days when Fang Zilan arrived at Tiancheng Mountain, he did not go horse racing or hunting with the others. He still enjoyed the scenery and strolled around as usual, which was quite leisurely.
It wasn't until after the sacrifice ceremony on the third day that the spring hunt officially kicked off. According to the rules, all officials, both civil and military, were required to enter the hunting ground. Fang Zilan followed the crowd on her horse leisurely, looking nonchalant.
Across the crowd, Li Shengxuan glanced back at Fang Zilan. Although he couldn't see anything strange, he felt uneasy for some reason, as if something was going to happen.
Suddenly Li Shengxuan remembered that on the road that day, Fang Zilan had asked him if he had ever visited the Duke of Yue's mansion when she was in a coma. At that time, he nodded, so she said, "Even if it is for this purpose, I will not embarrass Your Majesty."
Do you like it? Li Shengxuan recited this word repeatedly, and an imperceptible bitter smile escaped from his lips. Did Fang Zilan really understand what he meant?
"Your Majesty." Xia Houzhang's voice brought Li Shengxuan back to his thoughts. He respectfully presented the crimson-feathered arrow, "At the beginning of the spring hunt, please let your Majesty shoot the arrow."
Li Shengxuan took the feather arrow, neatly drew the bow and nocked the arrow, and shot the first arrow of Chun Shou amidst the cheers of the crowd.
Then everyone dispersed, each looking for prey. When Li Shengxuan took another closer look, Fang Zilan also disappeared silently.
Xia Houzhang deliberately lowered his voice, "Your Majesty, do you want me to..."
"No need." Li Shengxuan stopped Xia Houzhang's words and said firmly: "I believe her." After saying that, he rode his horse into the forest without looking back.
As for Fang Zilan, she followed Chen Xu from a distance for a while, and she frowned when she saw him riding a horse bumpy and shaky, almost falling off.
"Why is Lord Fang here?" A gentle voice came from Fang Zilan's left side. She subconsciously tightened the horse's reins and looked at the person who walked up to her, seemingly blocking her sight inadvertently - Zhuge Yu.
"Why is A Yu here?" Fang Zilan asked instead without answering, Zhuge Yu said quietly: "I have the same purpose as Mr. Fang."
Fang Zilan's expression became a little colder. Before she could say anything, she heard Zhuge Yu talking to himself: "Isn't Master Fang here for prey?"
The word "prey" came out of Zhuge Yu's mouth, which was quite a pun. Fang Zilan pretended to be confused and said: "I wonder what kind of prey is so rare that it can get into A Yu's eyes?"
"Master Fang is joking." Zhuge Yu said with great interest, "Compared with my prey, I am more curious about the prey that Master Fang can track all the way."
"Ah Yu knows it well, so there is no need to play riddles with me." Fang Zilan was too lazy to talk in circles with him, so after saying these words, she whipped her horse and headed in the direction of Chen Xu.
However, Zhuge Yu stood in front of her and had no intention of giving way. "Sister Lan, the censor may be biased, but speaking out and giving advice has always been the censor's responsibility. You can't..."
"Since Ayu knows that Yushitai is biased, he should not stop me." Fang Zilan interrupted Zhuge Yu's words in a deep voice, without taking into account his sister Shenglan's affection.
"But if it is left to Sister Lan today, I am afraid that no one will dare to speak out in the future." Zhuge Yu refused to back down and argued with reason: "Rumors will eventually be self-defeating, but those who dare to speak will If it disappears, it will be difficult to have it again. Everyone is in danger and keeps silent. If things go on like this, the atmosphere in the court will be worrying."
"When a good person is gone, it's hard to find him again." Fang Zilan snorted coldly, "Ayu thinks I want to kill him?"
Zhuge Yu was stunned for a moment, but he saw Fang Zilan drawing his bow and setting an arrow in one go. The tip of the arrow was cold and pointed directly at Chen Xu, "Then I will kill him for you to see."
Hearing this, Zhuge Yu secretly screamed. Listening to Fang Zilan's words, she had no intention of killing Chen Xu. Maybe she was just threatening, but now that he was so provoking, it seemed that she was really going to take action.
"Sister Lan, no!"
"Sister Lan, save someone from the arrow!"
The voices of Zhuge Yu and Mo Han sounded at the same time. The former was in front of Fang Zilan, but he had nothing to do, and the latter hurried from behind Fang Zilan and had no time to dissuade him.
The two of them watched helplessly as the arrow left the string and headed straight towards Chen Xu. The sound of breaking through the air came suddenly, so fast that Chen Xu had no time to react. He only felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he screamed and fell off the horse.
The birds in the forest were frightened by the scream and flew away, leaving only branches and leaves trembling. Other people participating in the spring hunt in the forest were attracted by the noise and rushed over.
Fang Zilan held a bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right hand. Although the arrow was not strung, there was an aura of danger waiting in her hand.
Everyone surrounded Fang Zilan and did not dare to step forward. Chen Xu covered his shoulders and climbed up in embarrassment. Just as he was about to stand up, he saw Fang Zilan's arrow pointed at him again. He was so frightened that he fell back and sat down again, his buttocks touching the ground. There was a close contact, and he fell and screamed again.
When Li Shengxuan arrived, he happened to hear Chen Xu's second scream. He looked around briefly and saw that the person had no arms or legs. Not only was he full of energy, but he could also scream with such energy. He thought that Fang Zilan really gave him face.
When several censors onlookers saw Li Shengxuan coming, they asked Fang Zilan before Su Yun could speak first: "Master Yue Guo Gong, what are you doing?"
"I haven't practiced for a long time, so my hands are a bit raw." Fang Zilan said, sheathing the bow and arrow lightly, her expression and tone were so arrogant that it was almost provocative.
"Master Yue Guo Gong, you..." Several censors were stunned and choked by her appearance and were speechless for a long time. On the contrary, Su Yun said: "Your Excellency Yue Guo Gong is a man who fights on the battlefield. This kind of That's a poor excuse."
He exposed Fang Zilan mercilessly, but saw her raise the corners of her lips and smile slightly: "If the world is not peaceful, who would be willing to fight on the battlefield? Mr. Su, are you willing?"
The question was asked directly and coldly. Su Yun pursed his lips, "I..." He didn't dare to answer, but he didn't want to see his colleagues around him suffer in vain. As he spoke, he heard Fang Zilan say word by word:
"It is not my original intention to fight on the battlefield, but it is my ability to be inferior to one person and to be superior to ten thousand people. I cannot be criticized just because I am a woman. In the entire dynasty, civil and military wives and concubines were in groups, and I have never seen any emperor. Shi Shen has played a book, but how come I have more poems than the number of people in the house? I just want to protect the Duke of Yue's house, but it turns out that I have lost my virtue. If I really let others manipulate me and obey, it is virtuous. She won’t be the Fang Zilan she is today.”
Her voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone present to hear clearly. His fierce words and expressions all revealed to everyone——
She is the Duke of Yue in Dajing, and she is also Fang Zilan. She is a living person with everything she defends, and she is definitely not a name in their memorials or rumors.
It would never be possible for her to become the person they imagined she would be, bound by rules, like a prey in this hunting ground.
