LF Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Reviewing the Five Camps (Part 1)

The forest was deep and the trees were dense. The afternoon sunlight scattered through the bustling leaves, dimly shrouding everything in a layer of golden gauze.

Your Majesty half-closed her eyes, watching the flash of lake-blue as it sped away. She chuckled softly and said, “Her temper is growing.”

Jiang Jingche whipped her horse to follow. The guards around her watched the entertaining scene, silently keeping close behind Your Majesty.

Hearing the increasingly clear sound of hoofbeats behind her, Jiang Yinghua lashed her horse even harder, wishing it could sprout wings and fly, to get away from the person behind her as quickly as possible.

Your Majesty’s prized horse was naturally the finest in the entire hunting ground. Before long, it caught up to Jiang Yinghua. “Had enough of your tantrum?” Your Majesty called out from behind, sounding a little weary.

Jiang Yinghua abruptly pulled hard on the reins. Her horse, startled, reared up on its hind legs, nearly throwing Jiang Yinghua off.

Controlling the restless horse, Jiang Yinghua lowered her gaze and asked coldly, “What does Your Majesty mean?”

Jiang Jingche had only intended to tease her, but seeing that this one was truly in a temper, she could only reply seriously, “Testing your skills. Consider it a pass. If you want to stay in the military, then stay.”

Jiang Yinghua’s expression was indifferent, her tone equally so. She lightly patted the horse’s back and, before the horse could start moving, replied, “This subject thanks Your Majesty. This subject is tired, so I will not accompany you any further.” Then, she whipped her horse again, disregarding all rules of etiquette, and rode off in a cloud of dust.

Your Majesty stared at her departing back, sighing softly, “She’s grown up. I can’t control her anymore.”

Yan Wanzhi was idly waiting outside the hunting grounds, bored. Everyone else had returned laden with game, but neither Your Majesty nor Prince Zhao were to be seen. She led her horse in circles, repeatedly looking in the direction they had gone.

In the distance, dust billowed. A familiar figure appeared on the forest path. Yan Wanzhi spurred her horse forward to greet her, but the other person wore a cold expression and, without glancing sideways, sped into the depths of the camp outside the hunting grounds.

Yan Wanzhi was puzzled. When they had set out, the sisters had been talking and laughing. How could Prince Zhao be the first to return with a dark face, while Your Majesty was nowhere to be seen?

Could it be that this little sister had been rebuffed again?

Yan Wanzhi turned back to look, and Your Majesty and a group of guards were approaching in the distance. She quickly rode forward to meet them, bringing them back.

Like the other one, Your Majesty seemed to be in a less-than-pleasant mood.

Your Majesty’s return to camp was a major event. The camp had long been prepared with everything needed, including wine and food. The tables were laden with fruits and vegetables, all waiting for Your Majesty to take her seat and reward meritorious deeds.

Yan Wanzhi led Jiang Jingche to her seat, her eyes glancing at Prince Zhao’s seat, which remained empty.

As Your Majesty sat down, she gave Yan Wanzhi a look while hidden behind the tent drapes. With all the officials present, this was not the place for Jiang Yinghua to act up.

Yan Wanzhi understood and quietly withdrew, beginning to search for the person across the hunting grounds.

The hunting grounds were too vast. Fortunately, the grasslands where the camp was located were dense but had few trees, offering a wide field of vision. Yan Wanzhi ran while looking around, hoping that the lake-blue color would be easy to spot.

Unless, that person had entered the palace buildings behind, with their layered eaves, which would be difficult to search in a short time.

There was no one around. Just as Yan Wanzhi was at a loss, the image of Jiang Yinghua riding away madly appeared in her mind. That’s right, the person might be hard to find, but the horse would always have a place to return to.

Yan Wanzhi sprinted toward the stables. As she approached, panting, she faintly saw a lake-blue silk shirt fluttering in the autumn wind behind a row of neatly arranged horses’ tails.

Jiang Yinghua was leaning against a large wooden post used to tie horses. Judging by her posture, she was crouching on the ground, head buried, doing something.

Yan Wanzhi cautiously approached, afraid of disturbing her. As she got closer, she heard low, suppressed sobs.

Prince Zhao was crying. That proud little prince was actually hiding in the filthy stables, silently wiping away tears.

Yan Wanzhi was momentarily at a loss. She didn’t know what had happened on the hunting grounds, and she was even more clueless as to why Jiang Yinghua was crying. Without knowing the cause, how could she offer comfort?

But she couldn’t just stand there. She couldn’t delay Your Majesty.

Hesitantly, she took two steps closer and offered a reasonably clean silk handkerchief from her sleeve, calling out in a soft voice, “Your Highness, the autumn wind is strong in the evening. Be careful that the tears dry and harm your face.”

Jiang Yinghua’s head, buried in her sleeves, twitched. Even the slightest sound startled her.

She was sobbing, and although there were no traces of tears on her face when she looked up, her red eyes betrayed her. Her voice was nasal from the sobs, “What is it?”

Yan Wanzhi lowered her head and replied, “Your Majesty is rewarding the ministers based on the hunting results. The banquet has already begun, Your Highness, you…”

Before Yan Wanzhi could finish speaking, Jiang Yinghua abruptly stood up, snatched the handkerchief from her hand, and rubbed her eyes haphazardly. “Am I ugly like this?”

Yan Wanzhi was taken aback and glanced up slightly, like a dragonfly skimming the water, before lowering her eyes again. “Your Highness must have been bothered by the wind. Your eyes are radiant and full of life. How could they be considered ugly?”

Jiang Yinghua was amused by her teasing. She stuffed the used handkerchief back into her hand and said with a chuckle, “Let’s go. I just had a stomachache from the wind. Keep your mouth shut and don’t tell anyone.”

Yan Wanzhi followed closely behind, nodding and bowing in agreement, thinking to herself: *Nobody believes you. Your sobbing clearly shows that you’ve been wronged.*

Back and forth, the two of them were a full quarter of an hour late returning to the banquet. Yan Wanzhi wisely waited a moment after Jiang Yinghua took her seat before going in, to avoid giving people something to talk about.

The late arrival of Prince Zhao attracted everyone’s attention, after all, her seat was too conspicuous, and her identity too special.

Jiang Yinghua walked to the center of the hall, and gave a formal bow, apologizing to Your Majesty: “Your Majesty, please forgive me. I twisted my leg when dismounting, hence the delay.”

Your Majesty knew the truth, so she followed along and asked, “Are you hurt?”

“This subject is fine, thank Your Majesty for your concern,” Jiang Yinghua replied, lowering her gaze.

“Take your seat. We were just waiting for you to begin the banquet,” Your Majesty replied softly, picking up her wine cup.

Jiang Yinghua went to the table, drank wine, and chatted, as if nothing had happened. But tonight, the rich, sweet imperial wine actually got her drunk.

Jiang Yinghua rarely got so drunk that she lost consciousness. This was probably the first time in her life. Before the banquet was over, she was already feeling lightheaded and her eyelids were drooping. Fortunately, she never had the bad habit of saying foolish things when drunk. Usually, she became more and more silent as she drank, and when she was completely drunk, she would be totally quiet.

The delicate, thin golden wine cup slipped from her boneless, slender fingers. Jiang Yinghua’s head fell heavily onto the table, and the cup clattered to the ground, attracting Your Majesty’s attention.

“Someone, Prince Zhao is drunk. Help her back to rest,” Jiang Jingche said, looking at Prince Zhao’s closed eyes. She waved her hand to the eunuch beside her, watching as the eunuch carried the person away to be settled in her bedchamber.

Perhaps because she had also consumed some wine, a hint of haziness crept into Your Majesty’s gaze as she watched the person depart.

Jiang Yinghua, who was visiting the Duke of Zhou in her dreams, slept soundly after her drinking. When she woke up, it was already midday the next day.

The deep sleep did not diminish the effects of the wine. Jiang Yinghua’s head was still heavy, her eyelids extremely heavy. Her eyes were half-open, half-closed, hazily looking at the attendants standing in the bedchamber in the dim light.

She had lost her memory of the previous night. Instinctively, she thought she was sleeping in a small tent in the camp. How could there be so many beautiful and well-mannered servants in the army camp?

Jiang Yinghua blinked in confusion, and sat up in a carp-like flip. She waved her hands with some impatience, “Get out, all of you get out.”

Hearing this, Your Majesty, who was behind the screen in front of the bed, slammed her hand on the table, stood up, turned to the bed, and said in a cold voice, “I think the person who should leave the most is you. Someone, bring ice water to help Prince Zhao wash her face.”

As soon as the words fell, two small maids stepped forward. The clean water in the silver basin still had ice floating in it. One of them held the basin, the other dampened a soft cloth, but neither dared to bring it to Jiang Yinghua’s face.

Jiang Yinghua stared blankly at Your Majesty standing beside her with her hands behind her back. Helplessly, she took the cloth and casually wiped her face, thinking to herself, “Might as well freeze this old lady to death.”

“Are you awake?” Your Majesty asked, looking at her coldly.

Jiang Yinghua got out of bed, replied with her head drooping: “Don’t trouble Your Majesty, this subject is very awake.”

“At three quarters past noon, the Western Camp. If you dare to delay, you will be punished by military law.” Your Majesty said, seeing her stubborn look that feared nothing, a nameless fire rising in her heart. She dropped a sentence and left.

Jiang Yinghua looked at the sky somewhat blankly, and asked the little girl beside her with a tired expression, “What time is it now?”

The little maid replied respectfully, “It will be noon in a quarter of an hour.”

Jiang Yinghua thought for a moment. If she rode to the Western Camp, it would take at least an hour. Your Majesty was deliberately making things difficult, not giving her time to eat.

“Hurry up and change.” Jiang Yinghua stretched out her arms and closed her eyes to rest.

The little girl retreated, and the maids waiting outside came in, putting clothes on Jiang Yinghua one by one. Suddenly, a heavy, cold suit of armor was pressed on her shoulders. Jiang Yinghua opened her eyes in surprise, a little puzzled, “Why wear this?”

This armor was extremely heavy, all over silver white, different from the armor used for daily training in the army. The metal decorations and python patterns on it were only for the use of a commanding prince.

“In reply to Your Highness, this was ordered by Your Majesty early in the morning,” the little maid replied softly, her hands still moving.

Jiang Yinghua’s body was already tired from being drunk, and now she was burdened with a heavy suit of armor, which was very uncomfortable. Since it was ordered by Your Majesty, she naturally didn’t dare to disobey. Thinking about having to ride a horse while carrying this weight later, she frowned.

After changing her clothes, Jiang Yinghua couldn’t care about anything else, and went straight out of the hunting ground, galloping towards the Western Camp. She had never been to the Western Camp, she had only heard people say that there were two camps of the Imperial Guard with 30,000 soldiers, guarding the capital, all elite soldiers and strong generals.

Yan Wanzhi said the day before yesterday on the mountain that Your Majesty had come here for autumn hunting. But the hunting was only half a day, and today she set off to the Western Camp. Now even her armor was prepared early in the morning, so this trip was probably not just autumn hunting, but a tour of inspection, and also to review the Imperial Guard.

When Jiang Yinghua arrived at the Western Camp, the sun was already high in the sky, a little earlier than the time stipulated by Your Majesty.

From a distance, she saw that person in a golden, bright, heavy armor, heroic and high-spirited. Jiang Yinghua had never seen such an older sister. Even though this person was over thirty years old, the aura of authority and majesty under the military uniform was still awe-inspiring.

This was the first time since Your Majesty ascended the throne that she had gone deep into the army. Jiang Yinghua thought in her heart that she was willing to bring herself along, at least proving that her hard work in recent days had not been in vain.

It was only the end of July and she was rushing to inspect the camp. The autumn hunt was nothing more than a formality. She was afraid that the court situation was turbulent and Your Majesty’s worries were even greater.