Chapter 235 - The Day of the Hunt Meeting (2/2)
He twisted his head aside and c.o.c.ked an inquisitive eyebrow at one of his personal bodyguards, who saw the questioning look in his eyes and explained under his breath, “Last night the King Yu was alarmed by a crazy horse and suffered minor injuries which affected his mobility, so he’s not attending this hunt.”
He was alarmed by a crazy horse and got hurt last night? Wasn’t this too coincidental? The King Hui’s heart jolted. Why was it that stupid Zhou Mingyi who’d got hurt? Had it been a mere coincidence or had he smelled anything?
“Where did that crazy horse come from? And how come it so coincidentally ran into my fifth brother’s carriage?”
The personal bodyguard answered, “Your Highness, that crazy horse escaped from a stud farm. As luck would have it, the King Yu happened to be on his way back home. The wheelers of his carriage were alarmed and went wild, which caused him to b.u.mp his arm against the side board and get his foot jammed in the door as well. Fortunately all those are just superficial injuries. He’ll fully recover after nursing them for a few days.”
A horse from a stud farm? The King Hui was suspicious. How was it possible for a horse of a stud farm to escape and go into the streets? But if it hadn’t been a coincidence…
Even he himself had made arrangements in great haste for this operation in the hunting ground. There was no way his fifth brother had found out about it. Even if it had come to his knowledge, he would never have had enough time to take any precautions.
But he had expected to wipe them out. How come his fifth brother was now going to slip through the net?!
‘f.u.c.k! What makes Zhou Mingyi think he could sit idle and enjoy the fruits of my work? I’m definitely having his little neck snapped immediately after these people are handled. On no account will I give him any chances to compete with me for the final victory.’
As a number of ruthless methods for killing the King Yu flitted across the King Hui’s mind, the emperor had finished his opening speech.
All those that were supposed to go hunting on this occasion stood up, ready to enter the hunting ground, but the King Hui was still sitting in his seat. Everybody else looked at him. The emperor appeared disgruntled, while the Crown Prince sitting to the emperor’s left had a thoughtful expression on his face once again.
His personal bodyguard very quickly nudged the King Hui, reminding him in an undertone, “Time to go, Your Highness.”
It was at this moment that the King Hui jerked out of his trance. Finding that everybody was looking at him, he subconsciously tensed his back and sprang to his feet, too nervous to sneak a glance at his father’s displeased eyes, fearing that his father might become skeptical.
The emperor originally had wanted to reproach him, but refrained from doing so as his eyes fell on Shan Congwen and other members of the diplomatic corps.
The King Hui hurriedly left the stands with the others. Shan Congwen watched his hastily receding back, a flicker of impatience crossing his eyes.
What a moron.
“You’re not going down there to have some fun?” Shan Congwen looked at the Crown Prince.
There were also a lot of courtiers staying in the grandstand, civil and military. All those going down to hunt were those in the prime of life. Most of these high-ranking courtiers were of advanced years, and they felt no need to compete with young officials for anything.
At this moment, all of them looked at him after hearing Shan Congwen’s words.
Zhou Mingtang, the Crown Prince, who hadn’t shown his face in public for a long time, not only had a sickly face but also was more white-skinned than everybody else – it was the ghastly kind of white.
By asking this question the answer to which he clearly knew, Shan Congwen had meant it as a thinly disguised provocation.
“I’m not in a fit state to perform this kind of activity, which I suppose you might find amusing, King Ming’en. Actually you should join the hunt. I heard that you’re widely known as a marksman in the Wan Kingdom. Today, a lot of young talents of the Great Yue are present. Why don’t you go out there and have a compet.i.tion with them? You’re not afraid to lose to any of them, are you?” said the Crown Prince.
Without the slightest change of his countenance, Shan Congwen gave an utterly immodest smile. “I think I’ll spare them the embarra.s.sment of being routed.”
The Crown Prince said, “That figures. You’re a prince of the Wan Kingdom after all, and if you lose to youngsters of the Great Yue, you might have quite some trouble justifying your defeat after returning home. Reputation does mean a lot.”
Originally Shan Congwen had intended to provoke the Crown Prince, but it’d never crossed his mind that his opponent would be able to checkmate him with a counter-attack. The Crown Prince was obviously trying to goad him. He had glossed it over once, but if he refused for the second time and word got out about it, people would no doubt make very unfavorable remarks on him.
Shan Congwen felt that he had made an unwise move, but…
He tossed a glance at the unoccupied seat of the King Hui, feeling totally uninterested in sitting in this explosive-laden place any longer. Who knew whether or not this place would be accidentally blown up ahead of schedule? These people were sitting on explosives but were totally oblivious. They couldn’t blame him for their deaths.
Their beloved prince would be the one they should blame.
“Since you’ve put it this way, I feel obliged to display my skills.” Shan Congwen rose to his feet and really went down into the hunting ground.
The Crown Prince’s brow corrugated in a slight frown. He had thought that this verbal duel between him and Shan Congwen would last a little while longer, but unexpectedly, his opponent admitted defeat so soon.
First it’d been Zhou Mingci, and now Shan Congwen…
A peculiar expression appeared in the Crown Prince’s eyes and with that he stole a glance at his father.
The emperor didn’t notice this. He seemed fairly pleased, a faint smile on his face, as if in a good mood because of something pleasant.
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