The Yu Mountain Palace.
It was already the afternoon of the second day since Qin Lan had sent out the signal. She had been waiting and waiting in the palace, but still hadn't seen the carrier pigeon from the Qin family.
Could it be that Nie Rong had already gone far away?
Qin Lan propped her head up and watched the sparrows pecking at food not far away listlessly. Suddenly, she felt a bit irritable. She stood up, threw all the remaining corn kernels on the ground, and turned around to enter the house.
The young lady was missing. Nie Rong had chased all the way from the capital and gone so far, but he hadn't sent her any news. This made her a bit worried. And because she couldn't get in touch with anyone from the Qin family, her heart felt like there was a hanging stone, full of uneasiness.
Just as she was in a daze, there came a regular knock on the door.
Qin Lan came back to her senses, walked to the door, and opened it.
Outside the door was a eunuch. Qin Lan knew this eunuch. He was Qing Fu, another chief eunuch who served the emperor. Qing Fu bowed to Qin Lan and said, "Miss, the emperor is going on a spring hunt. We need to make relevant ceremonial preparations. The palace here needs to be decorated. Since the Noble Consort De is not here, if you have nothing to do, would you like to come and help?"
Qin Lan looked at the sky. Thinking that the carrier pigeon probably wouldn't come back for a while, she said, "Okay. Where should I go?"
Qing Fu smiled and said, "Actually, it's not a very tiring job. Just help decorate the palace. " He turned around and led the way. "Miss, please follow me."
Qing Fu took Qin Lan to the main hall. There were already many maids busy there. They needed to decorate this place before the emperor's spring hunt ended, setting up candles and silk, laying carpets and a victory - celebrating platform to congratulate the winner of this spring hunt.
After Qing Fu brought her there, he went to do his own business. Since there were very few maids who had gone out of the palace with the emperor, there was a shortage of manpower. Qin Lan quickly joined the labor. Although it wasn't very tiring, the tasks were complicated. Qin Lan ran around in the main hall with the other maids, squatting and crawling, and soon worked up a sweat.
Just as she had just spread out a section of silk, she suddenly felt someone pat her on the shoulder. Then came the voice of an unfamiliar eunuch, saying, "Miss, could you help send this to Yanliu Palace? I have to carry this box away first."
"Okay."
"Thank you so much."
Qin Lan was tying a knot with her hands, so she didn't have time to turn around. When she finished tying and turned around, she only saw a two - foot - long wooden box, but didn't see the little eunuch.
She sighed, resignedly picked up the wooden box. As she moved, the things inside the box collided, making the sound of porcelain hitting each other.
"What on earth is so heavy?" Qin Lan complained to herself. She stopped a passing maid and asked, "Miss, could you tell me how to get to Yanliu Palace?"
The maid seemed very surprised and said, "Do we need to decorate Yanliu Palace too?"
Qin Lan was stunned for a moment and said, "Yes... probably?"
The maid looked at her suspiciously, but because she was too busy, she didn't ask any more questions. She just said, "Go out of the main hall gate and turn right. Cross the pond and then turn right."
Qin Lan said, "Thank you."
Qin Lan carried the small wooden box and followed the maid's instructions to the door of Yanliu Palace.
This seemed to be a palace that had been abandoned for a long time. It was very empty around, and there was hardly any sign of people. Even the weeds in front of the palace gate were almost up to her ankles.
Qin Lan was a bit puzzled, but still stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Is anyone there?"
There was no answer from inside.
Qin Lan reached out and tried to push the door. Unexpectedly, the heavy palace door was easily pushed open by her. She was startled. After hesitating for a moment, she still leaned in.
Inside the palace, just like outside, the ground was full of weeds. The spider webs under the eaves were already very thick. The whole courtyard was desolate, not looking like a place where someone lived.
Qin Lan suddenly remembered the maid's words "Do we need to decorate Yanliu Palace too?" Her heart skipped a beat, and she became vigilant.
She quickly put the box at her feet, took out a short knife from her waist, and hid it in her sleeve.
"Is anyone there?" she shouted again.
Suddenly, several darts shot out "swish, swish, swish" from the dark door of the main hall. Qin Lan was quick - eyed and quick - handed. She flipped her body, and the short knife in her hand was in front of her to block the darts. But she didn't expect that one of the darts was not aimed at her, but at the wooden box at her feet.
"Crash!" The wooden box was hit. The great impact directly broke the wooden box into several pieces. Before Qin Lan could react, there came the sound of porcelain being broken from inside the box. Then a puff of white powder scattered from the box.
Seeing this, Qin Lan quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hand, but that moment was too fast, and she still inhaled some. The white powder carried a faint smell of musk. It was the cartilage - softening powder well - known to martial artists. She thought it was bad, tapped her foot, and quickly rushed towards the back palace gate.
"Swish!" Another dart.
Qin Lan listened to the sound to identify the position and turned her head to block it. But due to the strong effect of the cartilage - softening powder, her arm went limp. A dart that she failed to block "thud" into her shoulder.
She groaned. Her white clothes were instantly soaked with blood. She was unsteady on her feet and took several steps back before barely stabilizing herself.
The effect of the cartilage - softening powder was too strong. Although she had only inhaled a little, she already showed signs of weakness. She gritted her teeth, knowing that it was not suitable to stay here for long, and continued to run towards the door.
But before she could reach the door, a black shadow leaped down from the palace wall. Qin Lan wanted to dodge, but her feet had no strength at all. She didn't even have time to raise her hand to block. She felt something hard hit the back of her head, and then she lost consciousness.
———————————————
Si Kongting used a short knife to kill the male deer and hung it on a tall tree to prevent it from being taken by other wild animals.
Qin Huaiqiu stood beside him with his arms crossed, yawning. He wanted to go hunting alone, but Si Kongting didn't allow it, and he had no choice.
Qin Huaiqiu looked at the sky and said, "Your Majesty, it's already past noon, and we've only hunted one deer."
Si Kongting was not in a hurry. He didn't come here to compete for the ranking this time. The imperial spring hunt was a fixed activity every year. Besides the pretext of a spring outing, the main purpose was to select highly - skilled martial artists. So generally speaking, if there was no special need, the emperor would not compete with his officials. Instead, he would hunt while having fun.
When the former emperor was alive, he once hunted five deer and one leopard in a day. In order not to come first, he only brought back one leopard.
"What's the hurry?" Si Kongting said. "Do you want to hunt a leopard?"
Qin Huaiqiu's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
Si Kongting smiled. "I'll take you there."
Si Kongting was very familiar with this imperial hunting ground. When he was still the crown prince, he had come here hunting with the former emperor. At that time, he was very young and got separated from the large group while riding a pony.
He rode his horse around in circles, crossed a small mountain stream, and saw a very hidden cave. There was a den of leopards in that cave at that time. He was too scared to go in at that time, but he went there alone several times during the following spring hunts. He found that sometimes the leopards were there, and sometimes they weren't.
"I know a leopard den," Si Kongting said. "But because of the leopards' nature, they often change their places. It depends on your luck."
Qin Huaiqiu said, "Where is it?"
Si Kongting said, "Not far to the west."
The two quickly packed up their things and set off.
The place Si Kongting mentioned was indeed not far, but because they had to cross a mountain stream and climb up a cliff to get there, many hunters didn't know about it.
Qin Huaiqiu had been following Qin Feng in battles all year round and had lived a hard life. Si Kongting originally thought he would give up halfway, but unexpectedly, Qin Huaiqiu was very excited and walked quickly. Si Kongting couldn't help but smile, put his arm around Qin Huaiqiu's waist, and kissed the top of his head, saying, "Aren't you tired?"
Qin Huaiqiu answered honestly, "Not tired."
He was already used to Si Kongting's occasional physical contact. Anyway, he couldn't get aroused. As a man, he felt quite regretful. With a "pity" mentality, Qin Huaiqiu "granted" Si Kongting's behavior without refusing.
Si Kongting saw that he was in high spirits. Afraid that he would be sad if he didn't see the leopards later, he reminded him, "That cave is a natural shelter. The leopards will choose to live there when they come, but they may migrate because of the clan. So I can't guarantee that we'll see them."
Qin Huaiqiu nodded and said, "I know, but we can't not go just because of this, right?"
Si Kongting laughed and rubbed his head. "You're right."
After walking for a while, they saw the long and narrow mountain stream. After crossing it and walking for a while, they saw the cliff that Si Kongting had mentioned.
The whole cliff seemed to have been split in the middle by the magic axe of nature. Although the cliff was not very high, only about thirty feet, the fracture surface was extremely straight. But because there were vines and several protrusions, it was not a problem to climb.
Qin Huaiqiu looked at the cliff and was already eager to have a try.
Si Kongting hesitated for a while. He looked at Qin Huaiqiu and said, "How about we go around from the other side?"
It seemed that until now, he had forgotten the identity of the Noble Consort De. Regardless of whether her father was Qin Feng or whether she knew martial arts, from the most basic point of view, she was a woman. Would a woman climb such a thing?
It was no wonder Si Kongting. His understanding of women had always been restricted by the fixed image of the women in the south of the Yangtze River. Although Qin Huaiqiu's behavior in the palace had opened Si Kongting's eyes and broken his fixed perception, while being attracted to Qin Huaiqiu, he couldn't escape the imprisonment of the fixed thinking. Subconsciously, he still thought that women shouldn't do such things.
"Ah? Why?" Qin Huaiqiu asked in confusion.
"Is it convenient?" Si Kongting didn't have the heart to dampen his excitement and asked.
"What's inconvenient?" Qin Huaiqiu said. "On the border, my brother and I have climbed this kind of thing many times."