CH 32.1

Chapter 32          Camp (1/2)

“Poem of Qin Feng on Reeds: The large reeds are green, autumn dew turns into frost.”

As the saying goes, “One night is cooler than the previous night on a windy night in autumn.”

After autumn, the weather gradually turned cooler.

The Imperial Observatory Bureau selected based on auspiciousness and held the Autumn Hunting Ceremony in the paddock in the western suburbs.

On the first day of the autumn hunting trip, the Emperor of Hui, dressed in a military robe, drove out of Zhengyang Gate in the imperial carriage, followed by his concubines’ carriages.

The ceremonial soldiers and the Honglu, Taichang, and Guanglu Temples followed the imperial carriage.

In addition to the prince and princess, there were also officials’ family members of civil and military in the entourage.

A carriage was dispatched to report to the world and the ancestral temple.

There were countless people and horses driving hunting carts and hunting flags. The entourage was mighty, and the beginning and the end of the entourage couldn’t be seen.

Thus, the Autumn Hunting Ceremony had officially begun.

——

The paddock in the western suburbs, as a famous hunting ground of the imperial family, covered an extremely wide area.

The tents inside the camp were built like the inner palace, and the outer perimeter was guarded by the Northern and Southern Yamen Imperial Army.

According to the usual practice, the commander of the Longwu Army of Southern Yamen, Lu Chen, would lead most of the Southern Yamen Imperial Army to stay in the capital.

Therefore, the commander-in-chief of the guards in the paddocks in the western suburbs was Xie Changyuan, the commander of the Northern Yamen Imperial Army.

A few days ago, the Southern Yamen Imperial Army submitted to Xie Changyuan a list of personnel to be sent to the western suburbs to guard the safety of the paddock for safe hunting.

When Xie Changyuan saw a name on the list, he was a little stunned, but he was also happy to see it.

There was actually Xie Zhao on this name list.

To Xie Changyuan’s surprise, it was well known that the Southern Yamen Imperial Army belonged to the Taizi.

If the existence of Xie Zhao damaged the prestige of the Princess of Anyang, then it also damaged the prestige of the imperial family. Thus, Taizi should not like Xie Zhao either.

However, the one who proposed to use Xie Zhao was actually the Longwu Army of Southern Yamen under Taizi.

The inscription and seal of this list were Lu Chen, the Commander of the Southern Yamen Imperial Army. If this was not Taizi’s intention, it should be approved by Taizi.

Xie Changyuan was really surprised. His cousin, the Taizi, was always known for his resoluteness and decisiveness actions.

As the heir to the throne, it was impossible to disregard the prestige of the imperial family. However, Taizi disregarded the past and assigned Xie Zhao a real job. Why was this?

And what Xie Changyuan was happy to see was that Xie Zhao actually knocked himself down.

Later, when Xie Changyuan and the deputies of the Northern Yamen Imperial Army were discussing the arrangement of the paddock defense, one of the deputy commanders proposed that Xie Zhao lead a team of people in charge of the Qianyang Ridge.

Qianyang Ridge was well-known for its ferocious beasts in the paddock in the western suburbs.

The task of guarding the land was extremely dangerous, but the risk didn’t come from the ferocious beasts inside.

The paddock in the western suburbs covered an extremely wide area, and the terrain of Qianyang Ridge was dangerous. It was difficult to guarantee that everything was safe to control the ferocious beasts from entering and leaving at will. In almost every hunting activity, there would be tigers, leopards, bears, and other beasts that run out by chance to the hunting ground.

If the nobles who were hunting got hurt, the person would definitely be held accountable.

Therefore, guarding the Qianyang Ridge was a dirty job.

And guarding that position, there was almost no chance of showing his face in front of the imperial family. If Xie Zhao wanted to get recognition from the Emperor or Taizi through this job, his wishful thinking had failed.

There was no doubt that Xie Changyuan’s deputy was well aware of the grudges and entanglements between his superior and Xie Zhao. To make this proposal was to push the boat along the water to curry favor in front of his superior.

Xie Changyuan agreed to the proposal to let Xie Zhao guard the Qianyang Ridge.

Xie Zhao, this illegitimate son, was valued by Xie An. He was trained under the command of Shen Changshan, the Duke of Zhenguo of the Pingxi Army, and was granted a general after he returned to the capital.

All these things made Xie Changyuan extremely unhappy.

Regardless of whether it was a sham for personal gain or not, Xie Changyuan wanted to see how capable Xie Zhao was?

——

A few days ago, Lu Chen, the Commander of the Southern Yamen Imperial Army, personally went to the General of Mingwei Mansion to visit Xie Zhao.

Xie Zhao was very surprised. Like Xie Changyuan, he thought that Taizi would also disapprove of his existence. His hope to make a name for himself in the capital might be in vain, but Xie Zhao was not reconciled.

However, he never thought that Lu Chen would look to him.

“I admire General Xie very much. If General Xie wants to do something practical, instead of wasting time in the Ministry of War, the autumn hunting is an opportunity.” Lu Chen went straight to the point.

Xie Zhao knew that behind Lu Chen was Taizi. Lu Chen’s words made Xie Zhao very moved, but Taizi… was this a trap?

Xie Zhao climbed up the Pingxi Army step by step from a troop leader. He never thought that a pie would fall from the sky nor did he ever think that he would be a lucky man with excellent luck. He only believed in one step at a time. He only believed that there must be results with causes, and there could only be gains with effort.

Hence, Xie Zhao was very wary of Lu Chen’s statement.

“What does His Highness Taizi thinks of my origin?” Xie Zhao looked directly at Lu Chen and asked what he was thinking.

Lu Chen smiled and admired Xie Zhao’s outspokenness.

“General Xie, please relax. What His Highness Taizi means is that Great Xia needs talents, not just His Highness.”

After Lu Chen left, Xie Zhao sat alone for a long time.

Was it because his own vision too low? He had repeatedly used despicable ideas to speculate the mind of decent people. The previous Qin Yan’s words in the Xiaoguan camp shocked him and affected him for so many years. And today, the meaning of Taizi that Lu Chen conveyed made him feel ashamed again.

Why did Taizi and Qin Yan have such a big outlook? Was it because of their superior background? Or were they so excellent that they were fearless?

A few days later, Xie Changyuan arranged for Xie Zhao to go to the paddock to guard Qianyang Ridge, and Xie Zhao also learned from Lu Chen.

Lu Chen emphasized to Xie Zhao the danger of Qianyang Ridge and the significance of the responsibility.

Xie Zhao had no objection to this assignment. He urgently needed a real job to show himself. It would be great if he could make contributions at that time.

How would strong men who came from the battlefield still be afraid of a few ferocious beasts?

——

Since the beginning of autumn, the court meeting of civil and military officials had been changed back to the imperial city, and Taizi Feng Zhan had returned to the day when he traveled back and forth between Xishan and the imperial city every day.

Song Zhi suggested to Taizi Feng Zhan: “Your Highness, aren’t you too tired from running around like this? Do you want to move back to the Eastern Palace, or live in the Eastern Palace occasionally, so that you can rest better?”

Taizi Feng Zhan frowned and thought, he had considered this issue before.

If there were people with an ulterior motive in the Eastern Palace, he could replace the people in the Eastern Palace and strengthen the defense.

However, in recent days, he seemed to be more accustomed to the Taizi Mansion in Xishan.

Perhaps, was it because the scenery of Xishan was more pleasant and safer than the imperial city? Although occasionally there would be some noises from the neighbor next door.

Therefore, Feng Zhan dismissed the idea of ​​moving back to the Eastern Palace.

However, …

Your Highness, was this the reason?

Looking at the mountain of memorials, Feng Zhan didn’t go to the paddock in the western suburbs on the first day of hunting, and he would make arrangements after he had dealt with official business.