NFBE Chapter 308 The Cannon Fodder Who Suffered the Massacre of His Family (15)
Chapter 308 The Cannon Fodder Who Suffered the Massacre of His Family (15)
Today, Qi Ning sits in the seat next to the emperor.
In fact, among the concubines present, there were countless concubines with higher ranks than Qi Ning, so logically it shouldn't have been Qi Ning's turn to sit in this position.
But who can blame Qi Ning for being favored now? It was the emperor himself who made her sit next to him.
With no Empress Dowager or Empress in the harem, the other concubines dared not disobey the Emperor's wishes and could only watch helplessly as Qi Ning sat in the seat of honor.
Qi Ning ignored the envious, jealous, and hateful glances that the other concubines occasionally cast her.
Qi Ning glanced at the bow and arrow, his eyes bright, and said, "Your Majesty, this bow and arrow doesn't look like an ordinary item. I wonder where it came from?"
The emperor looked at Qi Ning and said, "My beloved consort has excellent taste. This bow and arrow was given to me by the late emperor when I was young."
Listen to this bow and arrow that the late emperor gave to the current emperor.
An unsuspecting person might just see it as an ordinary imperial bow and arrow, but in the eyes of the princes, the symbolism of this bow and arrow is probably extraordinary.
They can interpret it as the late emperor giving the bow and arrow to the current emperor, who then inherits the throne. So, whichever prince ends up with the bow and arrow can be seen as a good omen.
Of course, it was just a sign and had little to do with who would ultimately inherit the throne; otherwise, the emperor wouldn't have so easily taken out this bow and arrow.
Gao Yan and Gao Yun looked at the bow and arrow, their eyes filled with determination.
Horsemanship and archery are both areas of expertise for Gao Yan, so he naturally wouldn't give them to anyone else; even Gao Yun, who usually prefers to keep a low profile, changed his usual low-key approach to this hunt, all for the sake of this bow and arrow.
Qi Ning smiled and said, "Your Majesty, since the princes and young masters have gone hunting, we can't just sit here and wait. Besides enjoying the singing and dancing, why don't we each put up a bet and see who will win? What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"good idea!"
The emperor clapped his hands and asked her, "Since my beloved concubine has brought up this idea, what kind of prize would you like to add?"
Qi Ning thought for a moment, then pulled a hairpin from her hair: "I will use this hairpin bestowed by His Majesty as a prize."
The emperor was extremely patient with her and asked again, "So, my beloved concubine, who do you want to bet on to win?"
Qi Ning looked in the direction of Gao Yan and Gao Yun. Her gaze first stopped on Gao Yan, and then moved to Gao Yun next to him.
She then slowly said, "This concubine bets that the Fourth Prince will win."
Upon hearing Qi Ning's words, everyone present secretly thought to themselves, "This Consort Qi is indeed worthy of being the adopted daughter of Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Revenue. She's already openly siding with the Fourth Prince in front of His Majesty."
They were all waiting to see His Majesty's reaction, wondering if Consort Qi's words would anger him.
Gao Yun and the Jiang family were both a little apprehensive, waiting for the emperor's reaction.
Gao Yan looked at Qi Ning, who was sitting next to the emperor with a charming smile, and sneered inwardly.
Surprisingly, the emperor did not get angry after hearing Qi Ning's words. Instead, he smiled naturally and said, "Alright, my beloved consort can choose whoever she wants to bet on."
He then looked at the other concubines and officials below: "You may also place your own bets."
The emperor's indulgent attitude toward Qi Ning caused the crowd below the stage to exchange bewildered glances.
It seems His Majesty truly dotes on Consort Qi, even disregarding her blatant behavior.
However, no one dared to raise any objections; they all echoed each other, adding their own stakes and placing bets.
It's unclear whether it was due to Qi Ning's influence, or perhaps because everyone saw the emperor's indulgent attitude towards Qi Ning and wanted to curry favor with him.
In the end, the majority of people naturally bet on Gao Yun to win.
Gao Yan wasn't particularly surprised by the emperor's attitude, but he was very disdainful of Qi Ning's behavior and didn't take her seriously at all.
What's the point of betting so much? In the end, it all comes down to who wins. Only the real winner gets all the prizes.
Before long, the hunt officially began.
The princes and noblemen rode their horses and charged into the forest like arrows released from a bow.
Qi Ning watched Gao Yan's retreating figure and subtly curled her lips into a smile.
In the original storyline, Gao Yan was the one who won the hunt.
This was also a small episode where Gao Yun was disappointed, Jiang Weilan comforted him, and their relationship developed further.
Later, Gao Yun used this incident as evidence to prove that Gao Yan had long harbored ambitions to seize power and usurp the throne.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Gao Yan should win today again.
Qi Ning knew this would be the outcome, but before it started, she deliberately misled most people into betting on Gao Yun.
She's here today to stir up trouble.
While waiting for them to go hunting, everyone enjoyed the song and dance performances, which was a good way to pass the time.
About half an hour later, people finally returned one after another with their prey.
Today's hunt, while the main attraction was the tiger, wasn't limited to just one tiger. There were other prey as well, such as wild deer, wild boar, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, and so on.
These royal relatives and noble scions were all shrewd individuals, and of course they knew the importance of that bow and arrow to the princes. Even if they were capable of competing with the princes for the tiger, they wouldn't be so foolish as to fight over it.
Since they couldn't compete to hunt that tiger, they could only compete to see who could hunt more of the other prey.
With those people returned came strings of prey, which would be the ingredients for their campfire dinner that night.
The emperor was generous in praising those who hunted the most and bestowed upon them other treasures, making the atmosphere exceptionally lively.
Suddenly, the emperor glanced down and asked, "That tiger still hasn't been hunted? Who else hasn't returned?"
Eunuch Wang immediately replied, "Your Majesty, only the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince have not yet returned; they are currently hunting the tiger."
"Hmm." The emperor responded with an ambiguous tone, "In that case, let's wait a little longer."
Qi Ning sat to the side eating chilled fruit, not in a hurry at all.
After an unknown amount of time, a guard ran back first to report the news.
"Your Majesty, the tiger has been shot dead."
"Oh?" the emperor asked, "Who hunted it?"
Everyone present looked at the guard.
The guard bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, it was the Fifth Prince who hunted it."
These words caused a subtle uproar at the banquet.
The Fourth Prince had placed the most bets, but it turned out that the Fifth Prince won.
Upon hearing this news, Jiang Jingzhou, Jiang Weilan, and the others present couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed, though they dared not show it on their faces.
Not long after the guards delivered the message, Gao Yan and Gao Yun returned.
Each of them was followed by a squad of guards who carried their prey.
Both groups were carrying a lot of prey, but the tiger being carried behind Gao Yan was the most eye-catching.
------