CH 106.2

Chapter 106.2 – Endless Storm

It was an absurd thought, but the Emperor really felt flustered for an instant.

He was no longer young, and his gray beard trembled slightly. He turned his head and spoke to the crowd, “Send more people, send all the idle royal guards to the hunting ground, as well as those generals who think so highly of their skills. Whoever can find King Wei and bring him before me will be greatly rewarded!”

Everyone acknowledged it in unison, then withdrew one after another.

Needless to say, there were a lot of people who wanted to show their skills in the Autumn Hunt this time. They were temporarily called back in the afternoon, and everyone thought that they had lost the opportunity to show their faces.

Now the Emperor gave them an order, and all these people had become even more eager and fearless.

Soon, there was the sound of rumbling hooves, and you could feel the ground trembling even inside the tent. Another large group of people had entered the hunting ground.

The Crown Prince was feeling a bit depressed staying in the tent, so he bowed to the Emperor and said in a low voice, “I will also send someone to look for him again. Royal Father, please stay assured. Sixth Royal Brother is a fortunate person, nothing will happen to him.”

The Emperor waved his hand, showing a hint of exhaustion on his face, but he did not ask the Crown Prince anything. Or maybe he had already questioned him earlier.

The Crown Prince immediately withdrew from the tent, leaving only Qi Yang and Lu Qipei with the Emperor. However, the two of them didn’t know what to say in this situation. After a while, Qi Yang said, “Royal Father, why don’t I go and search with my prince consort as well?”

The Emperor refused. He seemed to be in a much better mood, and while telling Zhang Jian to serve tea and snacks, he said, “So many people have entered the hunting ground to look for them, don’t go and get yourself involved. You’ve already been spooked by the tiger in the afternoon, and it will soon be dark. What would I do if something happened to you as well? It’s better if you stay here and wait with me.”

Qi Yang had nothing else to say, and pulled Lu Qipei and sat down beside her.

Zhang Jian went out to pass the order, and soon some palace servants brought tea and snacks, but no one in the tent was in the mood to enjoy them. Time slowly passed in a slightly depressing atmosphere, and the hot tea kept being replaced with a new one.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and the lights in the imperial tent gradually lit up, and soon it was as bright as day again.

Qi Yang was so anxious that she waited until she was bored to death, and in the end, she could only secretly hold Lu Qipei’s hand to play with it. Lu Qipei couldn’t resist her, so she had to go along with her whims. Her face remained calm, only looking at Qi Yang with a tender gaze as usual.

This was probably the time when the Emperor had cared about King Wei the most. He waited in the tent without doing anything, just focused on waiting for others to find him and bring him back. But doing nothing but wait for a long time, his attention inevitably got diverted a bit. For example, Qi Yang’s seemingly inconspicuous little actions were all noticed by the Emperor. Similarly, he didn’t miss how Lu Qipei was gazing at Qi Yang.

The Emperor’s mood became temporarily a little complicated, then he withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and continued to wait.

It wasn’t clear if it was a good thing or not, but news quickly came from the hunting ground. But it didn’t say that the person was found – they did find the attendant who brought King Wei into the hunting ground, but he was the only one that was found.

It was said that King Wei’s horse was too fast. In the afternoon, he ran after a deer, and the attendants chased after him for a long time. Unfortunately, they still lost him in the end.

After losing King Wei, these attendants naturally did not dare to return to their camp. They had been deep in the forest, and did not receive the news calling them back in the afternoon. The royal guards spent a lot of effort to look for them, but the missing King Wei was still nowhere to be found.

After listening to the report, the Emperor didn’t know what to say and once again felt powerless about his son.

Qi Yang furrowed her brows and asked the royal guard who came to report, “When King Wei entered the hunting ground in the morning, I saw that he was only riding an ordinary horse. How could it run so fast that none of the attendants could catch up to him?”

The royal guard came to report the Emperor, so he had a clear understanding of everything that happened. He immediately replied, “Your Highness, after entering the hunting ground, His Highness King Wei changed his horse. He rode an exotic breed from the grasslands that ran much faster than an ordinary horse. The attendants only rode ordinary horses, so they couldn’t catch up.”

After hearing this, Qi Yang was dumbfounded and exchanged glances with Lu Qipei. Both of them could see the deep helplessness in each other’s eyes – from the fact that Prince Wei only changed horses after entering the hunting ground, it could be seen that the Crown Prince had indeed intervened and did not allow him to ride the exotic horse sent by the Rong envoy into the hunting ground.

However, King Wei did not listen to his advice. Maybe in his opinion, the Crown Prince’s move was intended to suppress him, so he insisted in following his own opinion.

And in the end, his horse was indeed very fast, so fast that no one could catch up with it!

Qi Yang gritted her teeth in anger, wishing that King Wei would appear in front of her so she could dump out the water filling his head. How could a dignified prince be so desperate!?

The Emperor had the same sense of powerlessness as Qi Yang, but what could he do about his own son? He could only command the royal guards, “Keep the people searching. The hunting ground is so big, we must find King Wei.”

The royal guard received his orders and naturally left, but in fact, the Emperor’s command was not necessary and they were already continuing the search.

No one knew when King Wei would be found. Qi Yang and Lu Qipei looked at each other, then withdrew from the Emperor’s presence. The Emperor was feeling irritable and did not keep them. He watched as the young couple walked out of the royal tent side by side, his face showing a hint of fatigue.

The two of them returned to their tent, but was not in a hurry to rest. They turned around and instructed Zhi Ting to look for a map of the hunting ground.

It was not a rare thing. In fact, before the start of the Autumn Hunt, the attendants of each family would study the terrain of the hunting ground to avoid the embarrassment of getting lost inside. Therefore, the map that the two of them requested was quickly delivered.

Lu Qipei placed it on the table and unfolded it. Her slender fingers explored the lines on the map for a moment, then finally tapped on a spot and said, “Based on what the royal guard said before, the place where King Wei was separated with his attendants should be here.”

Author notes:

Qi Yang (exhausted): My brothers are all useless, the kind that couldn’t be saved.

Emperor (exhausted): My sons are all useless, the kind who seeks death very quickly.

Qi Yang (faintly): Royal Father, aren’t these failures like this because you didn’t teach them well?

The Emperor, the Emperor is speechless…

The Crown Prince (sighing): Things are really not easy for me.