"You look really good. So gallant and dashing," Su Wan'er said with a grin.
"Are you complimenting yourself or me?" Si Junlin gave her a sidelong glance. Didn't this woman feel like she was complimenting herself when she said that?
"Of course I'm complimenting you," Su Wan'er said with another grin. She urged her horse forward to come beside him and whispered, "I thought you didn't like riding. I've even prepared a carriage for you..."
"I don't dislike it. It's just that those guys were afraid I'd fall, so they wouldn't let me ride," Si Junlin said helplessly.
"Compared to myself, I'm more curious about how you managed to convince those palace servants who tried to stop you to let you ride?" Back then, every time he wanted to ride a horse, there would always be palace servants led by Fang Xi to stop him, always saying it was the Empress Dowager's order. Gradually, he lost interest in riding.
However, seeing Su Wan'er about to ride today, he thought that since they had switched identities, there wouldn't be too many obstacles if he rode, so he led a horse out.
Su Wan'er also found it strange. "Yeah, I didn't notice anything at first. But now that you mention it, I realize it's true. Why didn't anyone stop me this time when I rode?"
Seeing Su Wan'er frowning in thought, Fang Xi stepped forward to explain. "Your Majesty, the reason we didn't stop you is that we've seen your riding skills. We think you can handle the horse, so there's no need to stop you."
Si Junlin asked boldly, "How did you know His Majesty is good at riding?"
Before Su Wan'er could say anything, Fang Xi answered honestly, "It was the last time Your Majesty went out of the palace. Your Majesty won in the polo field with excellent riding skills."
Si Junlin gave Su Wan'er a sidelong glance and said casually, "I didn't expect Your Majesty's riding skills to be so excellent. I must ask Your Majesty for advice some other day."
Su Wan'er rubbed her forehead helplessly. "If there's a chance, we can exchange ideas about riding. But now, let's focus on the hunting."
To avoid Si Junlin's casual gaze, Su Wan'er thought it was better to set off right away.
The group left the palace in a grand manner.
Riding at the front for the first time, Su Wan'er always felt a bit uncomfortable. She always felt that the gazes behind her were like sharp needles stabbing into her back.
Su Wan'er turned to look at Si Junlin, who was following not too far away. She rolled her eyes and then said, "The Empress has assisted me in governing the country and has made great contributions. Come and ride with me."
Seeing the discomfort on her face, Si Junlin hooked the corner of his mouth, urged his horse forward, and came beside Su Wan'er. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"You're welcome," Su Wan'er said with a sigh of relief.
This way, she wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.
The group soon arrived at the hunting ground.
After taking a short rest, the hunting began. Everyone split up and entered the forest.
Naturally, Su Wan'er went deep into the forest with a group of ministers, while Si Junlin led a few guards and maids to the edge of the forest.
Since this was the royal hunting ground, generally, there were only some gentle prey near the camp. If you wanted to hunt fierce prey, you had to go deep into the forest.
Generally, the concubines and noble ladies only hunted near the camp. This was an unwritten rule in the hunting ground.
Of course, every year, there were some noble ladies who thought highly of their own skills and went deep into the forest. Most of them were rescued.
Concubine Mei came over at this time. "Sister Empress, look, the prey on the outskirts of the forest are all stupid and dull. Sister, you come from a military family. How can these stupid things show your talent? Sister, why don't you try going deep into the forest and compete with those young masters? Firstly, you can show your skills and impress the Emperor. Secondly, you can outshine those young masters and make them feel inferior to you. It will also bring glory to our sisters. What do you think?"
This was actually Concubine Mei's provocation. She knew that since Su Wan'er had grown up in the general's mansion, she always believed that women should not be inferior to men. When she was in the general's mansion, she often challenged the sons of the Su family to competitions.
She was very confident that her provocation would make Su Wan'er go deep into the forest.
If she was eaten by the wild beasts in the forest, that would be the best. Even if she was rescued, in the dense forest, they could fabricate some false charges to ruin her reputation.
By then, no matter how powerful her background was, a woman with a ruined reputation would not be able to hold the position of Empress.
Seeing Concubine Mei's "we're good sisters" expression, Si Junlin couldn't help sneering inside.
How could he not see this woman's intention? However, he really wasn't used to these harmless small animals on the outskirts.
Most importantly, when he thought of Su Wan'er staying with a group of men, he felt depressed and unhappy.
After taking a deep breath to suppress the inexplicable emotions in his heart, Si Junlin said to the women beside him, "Of course I'm going in. But..." His eyes fell on Concubine Mei. "But although Concubine Mei comes from a civil official's family, she once studied martial arts under the Tong family's martial arts master. I'm sure you're not willing to stay idle, right? Then come with me."
Concubine Mei's face froze. She never expected that Si Junlin would turn the tables on her. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
"What? Concubine Mei has the courage to suggest it but not the courage to do it?" Si Junlin sneered.
He was different from Su Wan'er. Although he couldn't say he knew everything about the identities and backgrounds of all the concubines in the harem, he knew most of it.
In this situation, for her to try to coerce him was simply overestimating herself.
"Who, who says I don't have the courage?" Concubine Mei saw Si Junlin's obvious provocative look. In front of everyone, she felt embarrassed.
"Then please," Si Junlin made a gesture of invitation.
"Let's go." She thought she could just go into the forest and then back out. She didn't believe that after entering the forest, the Empress could catch up with her in such a dense forest.
However, although this was a bet between the two of them, since they were both ladies in the palace, the people in the hunting ground still sent a group of people to follow them into the forest.