The camp was set up in a flat and open area, with more than 20 green felt tents lined up in a row. Horses whinnied and people came and went, making it very lively.

  Apart from Huang and others who went on the last outing, I also saw Xingkang County Master, who had thrown Qinghua County Master off her horse. Xingkang County Master was sitting in front of a felt tent with several young men and women dressed in luxurious clothes, laughing and talking without any scruples. Her complexion was very good, and her expression was relaxed and at ease, showing that the incident of Qinghua falling off the horse had little impact on her.

  Xue Niang returned after wandering around, just in time to see Peony looking at Xing Kang and his group. She thought Peony disliked these noble relatives, so she explained: "Originally, I didn't plan to invite her, but since there were many people invited this time and the relationships were complicated, you called me, I called you, and she found out. As soon as she heard it was Mrs. Li who initiated the invitation, she eagerly said she wanted to come. Mrs. Li had no choice but to agree, and as a result, she brought many more people along. Don't worry, I've interacted with her several times since then, and she's not like that at all. She's easy-going and won't cause trouble for us without reason."

  "I'm not worried." Peony knew that since Li Maniang saved the cousin of Xingkang Junzhu, people from Xingkang Junzhu's side had been in intermittent contact with Li Maniang. It was reasonable for Xingkang Junzhu to appear here this time. She wasn't worried that Xingkang Junzhu would find trouble with anyone either, because she didn't have any conflicts with Xingkang Junzhu, and as the leader of Li Maniang's group, Xingkang Junzhu should give face to Li Maniang and wouldn't come looking for their trouble.

  Xue Niang saw Peony's calm expression and smiled: "That's good, let's not worry about these trivial matters. Tonight I'll share a felt tent with you, now let's have someone set it up first, then I'll take you to see the hawks, leopards, and lynxes. There's one leopard that I don't know who it belongs to, but it looks really good."

  The two of them went to another camp set up in a leeward place, which was for lower-ranking people to live and also where they cooked meals, tied horses, raised hawks, kept hunting leopards and lynxes, and trained hunting dogs.

  Xue Niang familiarly scattered a few handfuls of money, and a young servant came to lead them to a felt tent. Inside, a blond-haired, yellow-bearded foreigner who was a leopard tamer stood up to greet them, looking at Mudan and Xue Niang in confusion. The little servant smiled and said: "These two young ladies want to see our family's 'Surprise Wind'."

  The barbarian smiled kindly and stepped aside, making a welcoming gesture. Peony looked over and saw that in the corner was placed a large cage, with a yellow-skinned black-spotted leopard lounging lazily inside. When it saw strangers approaching, it suddenly sprang up, alertly watching Peony and Xue Niang, baring its teeth and emitting a low, menacing growl.

  The Snow Girl playfully charged at the leopard, making funny movements around the cage: "Yo yo yo, you're so fierce, come and bite me if you dare. Come on, come on."

  The leopard, unhappy, bared its teeth and growled, spinning around in circles. Peony laughed: "Xue Niang, stop teasing it, look how you've provoked it. Its temper isn't very good."

  Xue Niang burst out laughing: "The leopard's temper won't be good, but an impatient hunting leopard can't hunt well. I'm helping it train its patience."

  Suddenly, someone at the entrance of the felt tent laughed and said, "Is that so? My hunting skills are not good enough? Let me try it out!" Next, a man wearing a sky-blue round-necked robe with a black rhinoceros leather belt, high-heeled boots, and skin as white as jade, walked in with a golden-inlaid whip, his face full of smiles. He stared intently at Mudan and Xueniang. It was none other than Jiang Ergong.

  The leopard tamers and the young servants all bowed to him: "Your humble servants have seen you, sir."

  Jiang Er Gongli ignored them and looked up at Mudan and Xueniang with a haughty expression: "You two are quite familiar with cheetahs, so you think my sudden movement is not good?"

  "Peony roughly knew his temper and didn't want to provoke him, so she smiled and said: 'Of course it's good, that's why we came to see. What was said earlier was just a joke between women, please don't mind.'"

  Jiang Er Gong saw Mudan and said some good words, feeling a bit relieved in his heart. He then turned to Xue Niang: "Do you know how to tame leopards? Why don't I invite you to come and replace me?"

  Xue Niang pouted and said, "You're so petty, didn't we just say it was a joke? If I thought it was bad, why would I come all the way to see it?"

  Jiang Er Gong saw Xue Niang's expression was lovely, with a childlike innocence and beauty, and she intentionally said some nice words, so he also smiled: "I was just joking, the two ladies don't need to take it seriously."

  Xue Niang saw his attitude improve and boldly tilted her head towards him: "Can you let it out for me to touch?"

  Jiang Ergong smiled slightly: "What's wrong with that?" He immediately ordered the tame leopard master: "Ake, release Xingfeng."

  When he turned his face, Peony saw that there were several faint red scars on the left side of his face, from the corner of his eye to his chin. She guessed that this was probably where he had been scratched by branches while riding the purple horse. As for Jiang Er Gong's appearance, he looked quite similar to Jiang Changyang, with similar eyebrows, nose and upper facial features, but Jiang Changyang's chin was square, while his was slightly pointed, and with skin as white as jade, he gave a completely different impression from Jiang Changyang.

  "It's got a bad temper, don't you dare touch it. I told you to touch it and you touched it." Jiang Er Gong turned his head to remind the two of them, and with one glance, he noticed that Peony seemed to be staring at his face, and he immediately became uncomfortable, with a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes, he shifted his body forward, changing his angle, turning his good side towards Peony and Xue Niang.

  Peony quickly withdrew her gaze, pretending she hadn't noticed anything, and nodded naturally: "I won't make any reckless moves."

  The leopard trainer opened the cage a crack, slipped inside, and put all the leather straps on the startled wind after which he ordered the little servant to open the door. As soon as the door was opened, the leopard sprang out with a "boom" and almost pulled the leopard trainer into a somersault. The leopard trainer let out a stern cry, the leopard shrank its neck, seeming somewhat afraid, but what followed next greatly increased its prestige.

  Jiang Ergong laughed and said, "What a majestic storm! Come here, good boy." The leopard then ignored the leopard trainer and dragged him to Jiang Ergong's side, rubbing its head against his boots and circling around him.

  Jiang Ergong turned around and said to Mudan and Xueniang with a hint of self-satisfaction: "I am different from others, they require absolute obedience from the leopard, but I think this leopard should still have some wildness."

  Peony and Snowy nodded in courtesy, indicating their agreement. Just then, the leopard accidentally rubbed against Jiang Er Gong's robe, Jiang Er Gong suddenly changed color, kicked it away with one foot, and scolded: "You blind beast, you've gotten your messy fur all over me again." The leopard immediately cowered down, showing submission.

  Xue Niang was astonished and exclaimed, "Ah! It really listens to you! You're amazing. I've often heard people say that leopards are more obedient to leopard trainers, but it's clear that this one listens to you even more. How did you do it?"

  Jiang Ergong burst out laughing, gently grasping the leopard's head, and said with a self-satisfied tone: "No need to do anything, I just have this skill." It turned out that what he called "wildness" was aimed at others, not himself. What he required was for the leopard to only listen to him, while others had to maintain their "wildness".

  Looking at the self-satisfied expression on Jiang Er Gong's face, Mudan thought to herself that he had kicked his foot just now, obviously just to show off in front of them and get this compliment. This person's nature is really...

  Xue Niang also felt that Jiang Er Gong was arrogant, so she quietly pouted and went forward to grab the leopard's head skin twice. Seeing the leopard lying at Jiang Er Gong's feet, not daring to move, she suddenly lost all interest and perfunctorily said a few words before calling Mudan to leave: "We've been out for too long, I'm afraid my mother and the others will be looking for us everywhere."

  "Then let's go back." The two were about to bid farewell to Jiang Er Gong, but Jiang Er Gong looked at Peony with dissatisfaction: "You're not going to touch it? I released the Shengfeng, and you didn't touch it. Don't tell me this Shengfeng doesn't catch your eye?"

  Peony was taken aback, wasn't it obvious that Xue Niang wanted to touch or not? If she didn't touch, wouldn't she offend someone? Alas, forget it, what's the point of provoking him, it's just a matter of touching the leopard. She stepped forward and touched the leopard's back: "I'm sorry, I was too timid..."

  The voice had barely fallen, but Jiang Er Gong suddenly loosened the leather rope in his hand. The leopard suddenly twisted its body and jumped up. In the blink of an eye, its two paws were already on Mudan's shoulders, and its two eyes stared at Mudan fiercely. The leopard's mouth was covered with a muzzle, but its claws were still very sharp. They rested on her shoulders, and through her clothes, Mudan still felt a stinging pain. A bloody wind rushed towards her face, making it hard for her to breathe. Mudan heard Xue Niang let out an ear-piercing scream. She wanted to call out but couldn't. She stared blankly at the leopard, her legs forgetting to tremble.

  Xue Niang patted Jiang Er Gong's arm and pulled him, saying: "Don't scare He Jie Jie, she's not feeling well, please."

  Jiang Ergong looked at Peony's face, which had turned pale, but still didn't move or tremble. He thought it was meaningless and whistled. The leopard then lightly jumped off Peony's body, turned around, and made a gesture to pounce on Xue Niang's shoulder again. Xue Niang was frightened and cried out in panic, letting go of Jiang Ergong's arm and rushing over to hug Peony's shoulder, burying her head in Peony's shoulder. She looked like she was extremely scared. Just in time, Jiang Ergong swiftly lashed the whip in his hand, and the leopard retreated, walking to Jiang Ergong's feet and lying down obediently.

  Peony supported Xue Niang, saying in a low voice: "Don't be afraid. He doesn't dare to do anything to us." Xue Niang finally came back to her senses and looked at her: "He Sister, are you okay?"

  The peony only felt her legs trembling at this time, she squeezed out a smile: "It's okay." She asked herself if she had done anything to offend Jiang Er Gong after coming in, would he be so frightened just because she didn't show enough interest in the leopard? But looking at the leopard's movements and expressions, it was simply familiar, it can be seen that doing this kind of thing is not once or twice.

  Jiang Er Gong pretended to ask if the peony had been hurt, then said: "This damn beast, its wild nature is hard to change. In fact, you scared it. Fortunately, no harm was done, little girl, don't bother with this beast."

  Peony turned her head and looked at him, saying quietly: "I naturally wouldn't treat you like a beast."

  Jiang Er Gong's face changed, and he immediately turned his head, shouting sternly: "Zheng De! Take these two ladies back. Also, bring some of the tangerines we brought to give them as a gift to make amends."

  "Yes." A fat figure flashed in from outside the tent and saluted Peony and Xue Niang with a fist: "Please, two young ladies."

  The peony fixed her eyes on the past, but it was that day in Jiang Changyang's villa outside, staring at her with no manners, asking that earless person. That earless person obviously also recognized her, but did not stare at her like last time, just looked at her for a moment and then lowered his eyes.

  The peony heart returns to electricity, quickly turns around, only to see Jiang Er Gong standing in the shadow with a slanted eye looking at himself, his expression is unpredictable, and his gaze is unclear. She suddenly realized that running into Jiang Er Gong was a coincidence, but being pounced on by this leopard on her shoulder was absolutely not a coincidence. It only scared her, but didn't scare Xue Niang, which means he knew she was easier to bully.

  Although she had not seen Jiang Changyang since they last parted, Jiang Changyang only let Wu send a few small things and bring a few words. However, the fact that she had dealings with Jiang Changyang before, as long as someone was willing to ask around, would inevitably be found out. After all, Jiang Changyang saved her at the festival, which was a public spectacle, so it couldn't be hidden. Jiang Er Gong probably guessed something, but wasn't sure of the facts, otherwise, based on his hatred for Jiang Changyang, he might not have just scared her like that.

  Peony fell silent for a moment, then a smile spread across his face as he looked at Jiang Ergong and said, "No need to, it's also my fault. The leopard is hard to tame, I shouldn't have rashly reached out. Your leopard is well-trained, although it was startled by me, it only perched on my shoulder and didn't hurt anyone. You don't need to send oranges or send someone to escort us, I'm fine and can walk back myself."

  Jiang Er Gong crooked the corner of his lips and smiled faintly: "It doesn't matter, sending you back is what I should do, consider it my apology. You two can just decline."

  Peony saw that he was determined to do so, and did not say much more, but only nodded, took Snow Girl's hand and walked out.

  As soon as they came out of the felt tent, they ran into a small servant from Li Maniang's house. At a glance, he saw that Mudan and Xue Niang were not quite right, and then he saw the one with missing ears behind them, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "What's wrong with you two?"

  Xuě Niáng was about to complain, but Mǔ Dān interrupted her and said: "We came to see my aunt's raccoon dog. I heard there's a leopard here, so we came to take a look. Where is the raccoon dog?"

  That little fellow heard that they were going to see the raccoon dog and hastily smiled saying: "It's over here, please follow me, two ladies."

  The peony looked at the one with missing ears and said, "I'm really sorry, we still have to go see the owlet and the hawk, you're busy, don't bother about us."

  He, lacking an ear, smiled and raised his eyebrows, with a ferocious grin: "Don't be polite, young lady. Since I've received the orders from my master, I'll naturally escort you two all the way. You just do what you need to do, don't mind me."

  Since you love to follow, just follow then. Peony nodded and ignored him, following Li Maniang's little servant to another felt tent. Peony had never seen a lynx before, but now she knew that it looked very much like a cat, only much bigger, about four feet long, with short ears. Its two big ears stood upright, with two bunches of long hair on the ear tips, and a circle of beautiful long hair around its cheeks. Its eyes were especially beautiful, like golden frames with green gemstones. It lay quietly on the ground, alertly watching Peony and Xue Niang, without any extra expression or movement, very calm.

  Xuěniáng and Mǔdān, with the permission of the person raising the lynx, both touched its head. It didn't react much, lazily looking at them sideways with a face full of indifference. Mǔdān felt that it had more of an air of royalty than Jiang Er Gong's leopard, apparently what kind of person you are determines what kind of animal you raise.

  Xue Niang came out of the yurt and saw that the man with the missing ear was still waiting outside, she couldn't help but feel a bit impatient. She forced herself to ask him: "After watching us for half a day, we still don't know your family's honorable surname?"

  Qian Er said faintly: "My family name is Jiang, and I am the eldest son of the Zhu Guo Gong Fu."

  Xue Niang and Mu Dan were both stunned. Xue Niang hadn't expected that the unpleasant person from earlier was actually the eldest son of the renowned Zhu Guo Gong, and her expression became somewhat complicated for a moment. Mu Dan, on the other hand, hadn't expected that they would introduce Jiang Er Gong in such a way outside. It's really interesting, this method of introduction. Which true-born eldest son would deliberately introduce himself as the eldest son to others outside? She secretly smiled to herself, her expression passing quickly, and followed Xue Niang with her head bowed to look at other falcons, eagles, hawks, and hunting dogs, etc., until they had walked for so long that their ears were somewhat tired, before returning to the campsite.

  Upon arriving at the campsite, Li Man Niang and Dong's wife came up to them and said: "Where have you all been? We just looked everywhere for you."

  Xue Niang said: "I'll take He sister to see the cheetah and lynx."

  Li Maniang said: "Don't run around randomly, animals don't have eyes." Today's visitors are a bit complicated, so be careful.

  Xue Niang almost blurted out that it was not the animal that lacked eyes, but rather humans who did. She then turned around to look at the person behind her, only to find that the one with missing ears had already disappeared without a trace. She complained: "The prince of Zhu Guo's household has also arrived, and that person is extremely detestable, actually releasing leopards to scare us."

  "Where did you get hurt?" asked Lady Duan with a frown.

  Xue Niang pouted and said, "I'm fine, but He sister is in a tough spot, with that leopard on her shoulder, it's amazing she didn't scream or tremble, what guts!"

  "Are you all right?" Li Maniang hastily pulled Mu Dan to check, and said in surprise: "He came with the Xingkang princess, I saw him before and he was fine, and he was still polite to us. How could Dan Niang have offended him?"

  The peony couldn't explain, so she touched her face and smiled: "Probably because I have a face that provokes trouble." If she didn't guess wrong, Jiang Er Gong indeed knew who she was. Whether Xue Niang took her to see the leopard or not, Jiang Er Gong would probably come to tease her once, provoke her once.

  Mrs. Dòu smiled: "You're really open-minded. This must be another thing Snow Girl has stirred up. Without even asking whose house it is, you just barge in without a care, this temper of yours will get you into big trouble sooner or later."

  Xue Niang said with a sense of grievance: "I had taken a look around first and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, that's why I took He sister to take a look. Who knew he would suddenly run over? And be so petty? Just taking a look and it's already causing trouble, you might as well lock me up. I've also gone to take a look at other people's things, how come I didn't cause any trouble? It's clear that the problem isn't with us."

  Li Man'niang sighed and was about to speak, but saw that the earless man suddenly appeared, holding up a basket of golden oranges, bowing neatly to Lady Duan and Li Man'niang, saying: "Just now my master's leopard didn't understand etiquette, startling the two young ladies. This is what he asked me to bring over to calm your nerves. He has something on his hands right now, but will come personally later to apologize."

  Li Maniang thought for a moment and ordered someone to take over the tangerine. She politely said, "It's just a misunderstanding, please don't mind it."

  Qian Er smiled and didn't say much more. He took another glance at Mudan, clasped his fists together in a farewell gesture, and left.

  Li Maniang turned around and said to Peony and Xue Niang, "Since you've already come, go and greet the Princess of Xingkang and bring this basket of tangerines along."

  Peony immediately understood Li Man Niang's meaning, took the tangerine over to show Xing Kang Gong Zhu and others, which was equivalent to indirectly telling Xing Kang Gong Zhu. Jiang Er Gong followed Xing Kang Gong Zhu, so she naturally knew what to do. At this time, she didn't decline either, holding Snow Niang's hand and following Li Man Niang and Dou Fu Ren towards the group of people with Xing Kang Gong Zhu.

  But then he looked at Li Man Niang from afar, who was carrying a basket of tangerines, leading Peony and Xue Niang to meet the Princess of Xing Kang. He stared for a while before turning around and walking towards another yurt, where he whispered a few words to a man in brocade clothes standing outside, then loudly said: "Zheng De has seen you, sir."

  Jiang Er sat on the couch with his legs crossed, polishing a golden-inlaid jade dagger in the sunlight. Upon hearing the voice, he lazily said: "Come in!"

  As soon as Zhengde lifted the curtain and walked in, he heard a whizzing sound beside his ear. He subconsciously tilted his head to one side, only to see a gleaming dagger stuck into the door frame of the felt tent. If he had been any slower, he might have gotten hit. His face stern, Zhengde looked at Jiang Ergong, who was sitting on the couch, laughing heartily: "Zhengde, how's this? Getting better and better, right? Your master almost didn't dodge in time!"

  Zhengde silently stepped aside and took out the dagger, wiping it with his sleeve. He then walked forward and handed it over with both hands, saying: "Your skills are impressive, Zhengde is willing to admit defeat."

  Jiang Er Gong hummed and didn't take the spoon, lightly stroking the scars on his face: "If it weren't for you not taking me seriously and leaving so late, I wouldn't have ended up like this. Not to mention being disfigured, but also being ridiculed."

  Zhengde hastily said: "It is the fault of a minor official."

  Jiang Er Gong said sarcastically: "I know, you think you're ugly enough, and you wish I was the same as you, don't you?"

  Zheng De did not dare to speak, and just lowered his head in silence.

  Jiang Er Gong suddenly changed the subject: "You say, is that woman with the surname He really his mistress?"