Facing Su Mingyu's whimsical behavior, Gu Ruobai had already gotten used to it.
So he just nodded dotingly: "Alright, let's go back to the mansion first to change our clothes."
Su Mingyu beamed. So this was what it felt like to be doted on. It felt pretty good.
The autumn sun wasn't as scorching as that in summer, but it was still quite hot.
Su Mingyu casually wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve, then happily held up the rabbit in her hand: "Look! I shot a rabbit."
For Su Mingyu, it was actually quite easy to shoot an animal. But the difficult part was that horse - riding wasn't her forte.
In the past, she only went horse - riding to relax and relieve stress.
She could ride a horse, but she wasn't proficient. It was actually quite difficult to shoot an animal while on horseback.
On the opposite side, on a pitch - black horse, sat Gu Ruobai, who exuded an air of coldness all over. Seeing Su Mingyu smiling so happily just because she'd shot a rabbit, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. Then, under Su Mingyu's envious gaze, he patted a deer on the horse's back.
Su Mingyu pouted: "How on earth did you manage to shoot it?"
She'd also wandered in the woods for a long time. She'd only come across a few rabbits and some birds. She hadn't seen a single large animal like a deer.
Gu Ruobai rode his horse up to Su Mingyu's side, then looked at the scrawny rabbit in her hand with a smile: "If you just barge around like this, you won't be able to shoot anything."
"Is there a trick to it?" Wasn't it just shoot when you saw something?
"I didn't expect there to be something you don't know." The arc of Gu Ruobai's mouth grew wider: "When hunting, you first have to find the prey. And the way to find the prey is very simple. It's to observe the feces in the woods."
Su Mingyu, who was from the 21st century, absorbed such knowledge very quickly. She immediately reacted: "There's also a simple but luck - based method, which is to wait for the prey by the water source."
Gu Ruobai raised an eyebrow: "Correct."
Su Mingyu hooked her lips into a smile at him: "Let's take this deer back and roast it."
There were more seasonings in the mansion after all, so it would surely taste better when roasted.
Just as they returned to the mansion, they saw a young servant nervously approaching: "My lord... Mei Qing wants to see you."
Su Mingyu's eyes turned cold: "What's wrong with her?"
The young servant lowered his head: "Miss Mei Qing said that she wants to leave the Prince Ruixian's Mansion."
After hearing this, Su Mingyu blinked at Gu Ruobai: "You go. I'll ask someone to take the things to the kitchen."
"You go." Gu Ruobai casually threw the deer to the young servant: "I'll go take a bath and change clothes."
Hey, was he just pushing the trouble onto her?
Su Mingyu pursed her lips: "Is she your subordinate or mine?"
But all she got in reply was Gu Ruobai's back.
Su Mingyu sighed helplessly, patted the dust off her hands, and strode towards Mei Qing's room.
As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Mei Qing leaning on a crutch and packing her things.
Su Mingyu stepped forward and coughed lightly: "Miss Mei Qing is leaving?"
Mei Qing was a bit surprised to see Su Mingyu: "Miss Su..."
But she quickly reacted. It must be that Gu Ruobai didn't want to see her, so he'd sent Su Mingyu instead.
"I didn't expect... I've offended the lord to such an extent."
Mei Qing's complexion wasn't very good, but with the support of the crutch, she could still barely stand.
"Miss Su, after I leave, I'll have to trouble you with the lord's matters."
Su Mingyu was quite confused by this entrustment: "Gu Ruobai is my future husband. Naturally, I'll take good care of him."
"Mei Qing knows that she's let the lord down. So she's going to leave the lord's side and go to a more distant place to work for the lord."
Su Mingyu narrowed her eyes and looked at Mei Qing. Suddenly, she let out a soft laugh: "You still can't let go of Mo Wenyuan, right? You want to go find him?"
Surprised that her thoughts had been seen through so quickly, Mei Qing didn't feel embarrassed. She nodded slightly: "Yes..."
Seeing how determined she was, Su Mingyu didn't try to stop her. Anyway, she was handling things on King Yu's side now, and Xia Mian's facial injury had almost healed. Letting Mei Qing leave Gu Ruobai was also a good choice.
"I'll tell Gu Ruobai."
After hearing Su Mingyu's words, Mei Qing was stunned for a moment, then looked at her in surprise: "Aren't you going to try to persuade me? Mu Yi tried to persuade me for a long time when he knew I was leaving."
"Why should I persuade you?" Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow: "This is your own choice. All I need to do is respect it."
Mei Qing looked into Su Mingyu's clear eyes and suddenly smiled: "I think I understand now why the lord likes you so much."
Su Mingyu frowned and looked at her: "I don't feel like you're complimenting me."
Mei Qing's eyes narrowed with laughter: "I am complimenting you. You're really different from others."
Su Mingyu hooked the corners of her lips: "Since you're so determined to leave, I won't bother you anymore. If you want to see Gu Ruobai one last time after you've packed up, go to the tea garden."
When Su Mingyu returned to the tea garden, the rabbit was already roasted, and Gu Ruobai was using a small knife to divide the meat for her.
Sniffing the aroma, Su Mingyu licked her lips: "I didn't try to persuade her to stay."
Gu Ruobai didn't even raise his head or blink his eyes: "Okay."
Seeing that he seemed to have known it all along, Su Mingyu tightened her lips: "Did you know she'd leave sooner or later?"
"Mei Qing wants to regain my trust." Gu Ruobai said as he handed a rabbit leg to Su Mingyu: "Then she has to pay some price. What's so hard to guess about that?"
Taking a bite of the fragrant roasted rabbit leg, Su Mingyu closed her eyes in satisfaction and didn't say anything more about this topic.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the autumn hunting.
On this day, Su Mingyu deliberately wore a valiant men's outfit. When Su Zhengyi, Wang Manwen, and Su Yueyue saw her in this attire, they couldn't help but be stunned.
Those who could come to the autumn hunting were all high - ranking officials and their children. Every year, the women would compete to outshine each other in beauty, while the men would secretly compete to be the first.
Although Su Mingyu was already engaged to the Prince Ruixian, it seemed a bit inappropriate to dress like this on such an important occasion.
"Sister... All the people going today are high - ranking officials and nobles. Won't it seem a bit impolite for you to wear men's clothes?"
Although Su Yueyue seemed to be reminding Su Mingyu, there was a hint of schadenfreude in her eyes.
Su Mingyu bowed to Su Zhengyi: "Since it's autumn hunting today, it's natural to wear more convenient clothes. I've already reported this to the Prince Ruixian. Father, you go first. Daughter will wait for the Prince Ruixian to come and pick me up."
Hearing that even Gu Ruobai had agreed, Su Zhengyi naturally didn't say anything more. So he nodded: "In that case, we'll leave first."