Ambitious Favored Consort: How To Become A Wangfei

Chapter 20: Paddock

Glossary:
[1] Paddock: A hunting venue for the emperor and nobles

Ji Xinxian

"I heard that the paddock [1] is a thousand miles away, with mountains and rivers, lush vegetation, and even the Tianshan mountains is not far away. There are even wolves at night!"

The beauties covered their mouths, and several of them were scared and screamed. A timid beauty panicked, "There are wolves. It's too scary. I'm not going."

"Look at you." Ji Xinxian sneered and made no secret of her disdain. "Wangye and Prince Zhongshun are going hunting. Do you think this is still the capital? Are they going out for an outing at Shangsi Festival? Galloping horses and wielding swords are for the real men."

The woman who was being ridiculed bowed her head, "There are wolves and bears. It's too dangerous."

This woman came from a family full of literati. Her father and brother recited poems to each other and goimg boating in Qinhuai were very common. She had never seen swords before, no wonder she was scared. Other beauties were not as timid as her, but they were also curious and afraid of the paddock at the same time.

Jinling was near the Qinhuai River and the emperor was still young. So, the people in the capital have long been used to the gentle breeze of the water town. There were only a few people riding horses in the capital, let alone go hunting. However, Xiping was quite different from Jinling. It was located in the border area and wars were going on all year round. It was folk custom that local people be extremely agile and brave. Even a child of seven or eight years old could use one or two kinds of sabre techniques.

When Tang Shishi heard about hunting. She was curious and asked, "Are all the prey alive?"

"Of course." Ji Xinxian heard the most news and tried to show off at the moment, "Of course, you must hunt living animals. What's the fun of dead targets? I heard that there are not only deer in the paddock, but also roe deer, lynx, wild boar, and even leopard. Men will hunt on horseback, and whoever shoots the most prey will be the first."

Tang Shishi was fascinated. She lived in the Tang family courtyard since she was born and normally did not go out of her gate. Her only chance of leaving the house was when she went to other people's houses for banquets. She had never seen snow-capped mountains and grasslands, and never knew what it was like to gallop on the grasslands.

The other women were from official families, and their upbringing was only stricter than Tang Shishi. Even though these women did not say it, but they all were extremely looking towards it. The hunting will last for a month, which meant, everyone, will have to live on the grassland for a month. There were no Three Observations and Four Virtues, no rules and regulations, freedom of movement, they could wear whatever they wanted to wear, and they could go whatever they wanted to go.