Jiang Changyang escorted her to the vicinity of the yurt, watched as she entered, and listened for a while before confirming that she was safe and sound. He turned around, gazing at the vast night sky and the mountains in the distance, and let out a soft sigh. This time, he had made progress and achieved the rank of General Mingwei, still directly following the Emperor's instructions. Although he was still far from his goal, one day he would get what he wanted.

  On the second day, early in the morning, Peony vaguely heard some movement outside. He quickly woke up Xue Niang and waited for them to get ready before going out. They saw that everyone had already packed up and was almost ready. After hastily eating breakfast, they mounted their horses, released the dogs and eagles, and headed into the mountains.

  Peony closely followed behind Li Man Niang, occasionally exchanging glances with the lynx crouching on her horseback. Peony plucked up the courage to stretch out the whip and gently scratch its fur, it seemed to know that Peony had no ill intentions, so it just stared at Peony without making any other moves.

  Li Man Niang smiled and said: "Ruhua has a good temper, if you like it, I'll let your eldest brother get one for you to raise and play with, it's quite nice."

  "Like a flower." Peony "Hehe" laughed out loud, then covered her mouth. Li Maniang really knew how to name things. But to be honest, aside from its vigilant and majestic appearance, it was actually quite beautiful, only the name was indeed easy to let people's imagination run wild.

  Li Maniang also smiled along: "You think my name is strange, right?"

  "Others all like to take names like General, Stormwind, Thunderbolt and whatnot."

  Li Maniang smiled and said, "It's not that it has to have a majestic name to be majestic. Wait and see its skills." She turned her head and whispered, "Ruhua is definitely more formidable than Jingfeng."

  Just then, Jiang Ergong's tame leopard, A Ke, rode over on horseback, with Xinfeng sitting behind him, seated on a beautifully patterned thick cushion, eyes narrowed, looking leisurely and elegant, with an air of nobility. As they passed by Peony's side, it seemed to have caught the scent on her body, remembering that this little girl had been pounced upon by it yesterday, so it suddenly opened its eyes wide and turned around to stare at Peony, as if wanting to take some action.

  Ru Hua, who was behind Li Maniang, suddenly fluffed up her fur, stared at the wind with a shocked expression, and let out a low, threatening growl.

  Li Maniang smiled complacently and gave Peony a signal with her eyes. Peony was very surprised, like a flower that really knew who was on its side.

  Jingfeng's fur also exploded, and with a bow of his waist, he half stood up from the horseback. At this time, they couldn't let them fight, so Li Maniang lightly scolded Ruhua. Although Ruhua lowered her head to show submission, she still stared intently, her back tense without relaxing. Ake was even more straightforward, turning his head and whipping it, then looking at Li Maniang and Mudan with an apologetic smile.

  The peony discovered that with this whip, the surprising wind was completely quiet and fully surrendered on the cushion, relaxing its waistline. This is completely different from yesterday's style, which was not afraid of Ak at all, but only feared Jiang Er Gong. What does this mean? Peony couldn't help but frown slightly, looking at Ak in confusion.

  Akke smiled lightly and greeted Peony's gaze with a big smile, then rode his horse forward.

  Li Maniang saw Peony's expression was different and said: "Dan Niang, what are you looking at?"

  Peony then recounted the events of the previous day in detail, and Li Man'niang said in a low voice: "Jiang Er's temper is usually not good, and his subordinates are afraid of him. They deceive him to make him happy. This leopard has been with the leopard trainer since it was young, eating and living together, and only listens to the leopard trainer's words. How could it be possible for Jiang Er to not show up for ten days or half a month, and then go to tease it when he thinks of it, and if it doesn't get happy, whip it and fight with it? It's afraid, maybe it's true, but I'm afraid it's just afraid of the leopard trainer. If the leopard trainer wasn't standing guard, I'm afraid that with two whips, the leopard would have already risen up and hurt people."

  "Is it really so dangerous?"

  Li Maniang smiled and said, "These things are originally dangerous goods. If they weren't dangerous, the young masters of the aristocratic families in the capital would probably not even look at them. With a leopard following him, how impressive! The little girls will definitely take more than two glances."

  "Hey, what about you, Auntie? You're leading this wolf, isn't that impressive?"

  Li Maniang burst out laughing: "I'm just doing this to pass the time, not to get those young masters to take a second look at me. When I was in Youzhou, your uncle and cousins weren't around, if I didn't find something to do for myself, I'd have been bored to death."

  Suddenly hearing a sound in front, Li Maniang hurriedly urged the horse: "Quick, prey has been found ahead." Peony didn't have time to think carefully and quickly followed on horseback.

  On this day, the flowers were in full bloom, and the hawks, eagles, and hunting dogs brought by An Kang Jun Zhu and others were not bad. However, the one that looked the most majestic and had the most reputation, Jing Feng, only achieved mediocre results. Although it was not as terrible as An Kang Jun Zhu said, it still greatly disappointed Jiang Er Gong, who had his heart set on being the first. The deer he wanted to hunt did not even leave a shadow. He felt unhappy in his heart but still remembered Zheng De's words and tried to put on a good face in front of Xiao Xue Xi, so he pretended to smile all along.

  Ankang Junzhu thought he was in a good mood, seeing this situation, he couldn't help but tease him a few times, and also reminded him that his leopard should be trained well. Xiao Xuechi and several other young nobles also followed along with the laughter. Originally, everyone was young, and this kind of friendly teasing didn't count for much, after laughing, they would just drop it. But Jiang Er Gong wasn't someone with a good temper or broad-mindedness, no matter if it was friendly or malicious teasing, he couldn't tolerate any of it. Although there was that lackey who always followed closely behind him, reminding him to be patient and tolerant, only then did he manage to hold back from flipping out, stiffly smiling with his mouth ajar. But anyone with discerning eyes could see that the hand holding his wine cup was trembling, and that smile looked even more painful than crying.

  Everyone saw that the annoying person was even more provocative. Among those imperial brothers, someone intentionally or unintentionally mentioned Jiang Changyang, saying that Jiang Changyang had gone to battle and killed over a dozen enemies at the age of 15; At 17, he led a team of ten people on horseback, charging forward and backward, capturing enemy flags, and hunting was just a trivial matter. They also said how Zhu Guogong was so brave when he was young, and now he was not inferior to young people in any way. The implication was that only Jiang Er Gong was not capable. Jiang Er Gong was furious, almost jumping up, and Zhengde tightly grabbed his collar, he struggled to hold back, his forehead and neck veins bulging out like chopsticks. With a mouthful of roasted meat, he had an expression as if he was eating human flesh.

  Later, it was Xiao Xue Xi who smoothed things over, diverting the crowd with other topics and sparing Jiang Er Gong from an impending outburst. The conversation among the guests was varied and wide-ranging, jumping from one family to another, from someone's hobbies and quirks to someone else's new favorite pastime, or discussing whose wife held the reins at home, whose banquets were the most extravagant, and whose temper was the worst. Peony sat quietly on the side, eating her food while perking up her ears to listen carefully, taking in all the useful information and committing to memory the various people mentioned today - the taboos and preferences of her potential clients.

  Xue Niang wasn't really interested in these things, so she sat for a moment, finished eating the roasted meat in her hand, and then pulled Mudan to go for a walk elsewhere. Mudan didn't want to go, and said softly, "Listen to these, they're also good for you."

  Xue Niang pouted: "I really can't listen to this anymore." She glanced at Jiang Er Gong, who got up quietly and walked away towards the crowd below, immediately becoming interested. She thought to herself that Jiang Er Gong had endured so much just now, probably he would lose his temper as soon as he turned around. So she got up and led her personal maid, pretending to go see Li Man Niang's civet cat, and followed him with a swagger.

  Everyone here ate and drank enough, chatted for a while by the fire, said they were all tired, and because they had to get up early again the next day to hunt, they all dispersed. Peony returned to the felt tent, just finished cleaning up, when Xue Niang rushed in panting, ran to the bed and sat down beside Peony, saying: "Ah, He sister, guess what I saw just now? Ah, I'm dying of thirst."

  The peony saw her running with a red face and handed her a glass of water: "What did you see?"

  Xue Niang took the water in her hand, but didn't hurry to drink it. Instead, she said: "Jiang Er Gong is venting his anger, that whip is being wielded with such force... tsk, tsk..."

  "Who did he beat?"

  Xue Niang took a sip of water and said vaguely: "Who else can be beaten? Whoever loses face will be beaten. First, they whipped Xing Feng several times, and Xing Feng's temper was indeed bad. While dodging and roaring, I saw that he was revealing his ferocity, fortunately with a muzzle on and being held back by someone. The tamer then came forward to plead for mercy, but he was slapped in the face by Xing Feng, saying that if the tamer and Xing Feng couldn't regain his dignity by tomorrow, he would fire the tamer and skin Xing Feng alive to make a rug. The poor tamer was beaten unjustly, and then had to go comfort Xing Feng.

  Peony couldn't help but think of Li Man Niang's words - the one who was afraid of being startled wasn't Jiang Er Gong, but rather Xun Bao Shi. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this Jiang Er Gong had been spoiled and flattered to the point where he couldn't see the truth clearly. A person like this, even if they were granted a title, would likely be stripped of it sooner or later. Only one's father knows best, so Zhu Guo Gong must have wanted to bring back Jiang Chang Yang, probably due to feelings of guilt and also considering the long-term consequences.

  Xue Niang paused for a moment, then said: "This is not all. He came out and saw me standing outside, looking fierce, loudly asking what I was looking at? Who told me to come and watch him make a fool of himself? That guy with the missing ear kept pulling him, but he kicked that guy instead. I retorted back to him, saying this isn't his home, I can stand wherever I want, no one can control me. He glared at me fiercely, as if he wanted to eat me up. But then Xue Xue called out to him from afar, and immediately his face changed, smiling at her like a flower, speaking softly and gently. Xue Xue asked him what he was saying to me, but he brazenly said I was asking him how to make the leopard more obedient. Ugh! What kind of person is this? Who has such a changeable face, speaking lies as soon as they open their mouth?"

  Xiao Xue Xi took the initiative to show kindness to Jiang Er Gong? What does this mean? Peony doesn't think Xiao Xue Xi would look up to Jiang Er Gong. She furrowed her brow and thought for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, so she advised Xue Niang: "You're not unaware of his temper, why bother provoking him? If you're not careful, you'll end up in trouble, and even if you can find your way back later, you'll still have lost out. No one can take the pain for you. Go to bed early, tomorrow is another early day."

  On the second day, as soon as Peony walked out of his tent, he was surprised to find Jiang Er Gong and Xiao Xue Xi sitting together, chatting and laughing. Jiang Er Gong's spirit was high-flying, without a hint of depression. When everyone was about to get up and go hunting, Peony clearly heard Xiao Xue Xi say to Jiang Er Gong: "Jiang Gong, I wish you the best of luck today."

  Jiang Er Gong smiled and said: "Why borrow good words, why don't we just do it together?"

  Xiao Xue Xi laughed brightly: "I'm clumsy and my riding and shooting skills are not good, if I were to be with you, I'm afraid it would only hold you back." After finishing speaking, she didn't even wait for Jiang Er Gong to ask her to stay, loudly calling out to An Kang Jun Zhu, following behind An Kang Jun Zhu like a fish, leaving Jiang Er Gong standing alone on the spot in a daze.

  Peony subconsciously looked for Ak, the tame leopard trainer from the Jiang family, in the crowd. After searching for a long time, she finally saw Ak riding his horse on the edge of the crowd with Xingfeng by his side. Today, there was no smile on his face, and he looked calm and aloof. On the other hand, Xingfeng seemed irritable, its fur standing on end whenever someone approached it, but only Ak's touch could make it slightly more docile.

  As the sky drew near to dusk, the crowd returned to the campsite in groups, checking their spoils of war with one another. By the time they finished counting their spoils, dinner was also ready, but still there was no sign of Jiang Er Gong and his party. Someone said: "Jiang Er Gong mentioned that today he must hunt deer, perhaps he went deeper into the mountains?"

  Ankang Jun looked at the completely darkened sky and frowned, saying: "The person is someone I brought with me, so I have to go find them. If something goes wrong, I won't be able to explain it to my cousin."

  Xu Er whispered in Peony's ear: "I heard that Madame Zhu, the wife of Duke Zhu, is the only daughter of the late Princess Jinchi."

  Peony only knew then that the current Madame Zhu Guo Gong and Princess An Kang were relatives, and even imperial relatives. But thinking about it, if she could get the emperor to personally intervene, how could she be an ordinary person's daughter? Only the gossip of the year was unknown.

  Although everyone may not have much of a relationship with Jiang Er Gong, they didn't want to see the monk's face but rather the Buddha's face. Everyone went to prepare their own horses, dogs and torches to go find Jiang Er Gong. Just as they were about to set off, someone shouted: "He's back! He's back!"

  As he shouted, Jiang Er Gong led the Jiang family's troops to gradually enter the firelight. He walked proudly at the front of the team, full of joy and satisfaction, seeing everyone getting ready to depart, with a surprised look on his face, loudly joking: "Where are you going? Are you breaking into a tiger's lair here, so you want to change camps overnight?"

  Ankang Jun saw him return and let out a sigh of relief: "Because I didn't see you come back for so long, I was about to go look for you."

  "Thank you all." Jiang Er Gong smiled and bowed to the crowd, saying: "I was just chasing a deer, ran a bit far, and ended up going even further. It's actually made everyone worry about me instead."

  Xiao Xue Xi laughed and said: "Hearing Mr. Jiang say this, today we've hunted a deer?"

  Jiang Ergong smiled but didn't speak, and jumped off his horse to signal the attendants to bring over the horses carrying the hunting spoils for everyone to see. Under the firelight, everyone saw clearly that there were two deer, a roe deer, and several wild chickens and rabbits.

  Xiao Xue Xi laughed and said: "Ah, Jiang Gong is indeed the first today. It was worth running so far."

  Jiang Er Gong raised his eyebrows and smiled, looking at her with a hint of gratitude: "Thanks again for your kind words, Xiao Niang." Then, turning to the crowd, he said warmly: "I don't know if you all have had dinner yet? How about some roasted venison?"

  The Snow Girl said in a low voice, "I really didn't expect it, he actually got the first prize. He's so lucky, among so many people, only he encountered two deer."

  "Perhaps he taught Leopard a lesson yesterday and it really worked."

  It's not just Xue Niang who is muttering to herself, many people have the same idea. Jiang Er Gong sees the shocked expressions of the crowd and becomes even more pleased with himself. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly says: "Today I was able to hunt these two deer thanks to Xiao Niang's auspicious words. To show my gratitude, apart from what we'll eat tonight, I'll give the other one to Xiao Niang. Please don't refuse it."

  Covering his ears to block out the sound, with a look of regret on his face, but alas, the words had already been spoken and it was too late to stop them, he could only stand by anxiously. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Xiao Xue Creek. In the wilderness, there is a dead deer. Everyone knew this poem from the Book of Songs, Jiang Er Gong sending a dead deer head to Xiao Xue Creek, its meaning was indeed worth pondering.

  "In the field, a dead deer is wrapped in white grass. A girl with spring in her heart is tempted by a noble man. In the forest, there are tall trees; in the field, a dead deer. White grass is purely tied up, and a girl is as beautiful as jade."

  When seeking love from everyone, Jiang Er Gong was truly confident, relying on the few good words he had exchanged with someone last night and this morning, he dared to be unreserved.

  Peony Rong watched the scene in front of her with great interest, waiting for the outcome. However, according to her thoughts, Xiao Xue Xi would absolutely not give him this opportunity.

  Xiao Xue Xi smiled naturally: "How many deer did you hunt today, Jiang Er Gong?"

  Jiang Er Gong was unclear: "It's just these two." He heard Xue Xi suddenly change his title from Jiang Gong to Jiang Er Gong, and he slightly disliked it, but still remembered the main issue, temporarily putting aside this small unpleasantness.

  Xiao Xue Xi shook her head with a serious expression: "Then this deer is not enough to be divided."

  Jiang Er Gong furrowed his brow and said: "What did you say?"

  Xiao Xue Xi pointed with her slender hand, pointing to several people in the crowd, and smiled: "I don't dare to monopolize this credit alone. I wish you a happy day today, it's not just me who will be the first prize winner. If you want to give deer, you have to send them together, can't be partial, otherwise everyone will say you are ungrateful."

  She was indeed pretending to be stupid, but this remark was tantamount to a refusal. If Jiang Er Gong knew his place, he shouldn't have continued to pester her. However, Jiang Er Gong was a stubborn one, and he turned around, holding up the head of a dead deer high in front of Xiao Xue Creek's face, saying loudly: "I've already left one for everyone to share, this one, I want to give to Miss Xiao. I think no one will have any objections about that. You won't refuse me this favor, will you?"

  Xiao Xue Xi's expression didn't change: "Then I'm destined to disappoint Mr. Jiang's good intentions. Lately, my body hasn't been feeling well, and I'm afraid of getting a fever, so I don't eat venison. If I accept it, it would be a waste, so I absolutely cannot accept it." She paused for a moment, then bowed apologetically to Mr. Jiang and said worriedly: "Mr. Jiang, you won't blame me for this, will you?"

  Jiang Er Gong's face gradually sank, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. He wanted to say more, but An Kang Jun Zhu had already spoken loudly: "Alright, you've all been busy for a day, come over and eat dinner, after eating, rest early, and hurry back to the capital tomorrow." Que Er Duo also tightly grasped his arm, and Xiao Xue Xi even instantly hid out of sight. Only then did he reluctantly give up.

  Xuěniáng couldn't help it, and buried her head in Mǔdān's shoulder, holding back laughter until her whole body was shaking.

  The brief interlude brought by the impulsive Jiang Er Gong was soon consciously forgotten by everyone, and they continued to drink, eat meat, sing and dance, having a great time. Everyone except Jiang Er Gong was in high spirits. Xiao Xue Xi was still surrounded by a crowd of people, looking relaxed and happy, with a bright smile on her face.

  A night without words.

  Early in the morning, Peony and Snow Daughter had just gotten up for a short while when they heard a commotion outside. Someone was shouting loudly, accompanied by the sound of whips cracking. Peony and Snow Daughter exchanged a glance and walked out of the yurt.

  But by the dying embers of last night's bonfire, two slaves in grey clothes were kneeling on the ground, enduring the furious lashes of Jiang Er Gong, wailing in agony. Several other slaves dressed similarly to the two stood around, daring not to speak out. There were also many slaves from other households standing far away, whispering among themselves.

  At this time, it was still early in the morning. Except for the slaves, most people had not yet gotten up, or they had heard the commotion but were too lazy to pay attention, so naturally no one came forward to stop them. Peony and Xueyan recognized that these two slaves were among the closest followers of a certain Ninth Master, a clansman of Xiao Xuexi, but they did not know what had happened, so they could only beckon someone to go and ask around.

  Before the servant had time to reply, Jiulang sauntered over, yawning and stretching, grabbed Jiang Erlang's whip and said: "Jiang Erlang, what's gotten into you so early in the morning? Did you eat too much venison yesterday? If you've got a fire burning inside you, come at me directly, why take it out on the servant?"

  Jiang Er Gong exerted himself to pull the whip back, glaring: "9th Master! Your subordinate has done a great job! How dare you say such words that ruin my reputation? Today, you must give me an explanation!"

  Jiulang's lips curled up with a lazy smile, his eyes icy cold: "May I ask Erlang, what did they say? Tell me and let me hear?"

  Jiang Er Gong's lips moved twice, his face flushed with anger and shame, and he shouted: "You ask them yourself!"

  Jiulang looked at his family's slave: "What's going on?"

  A slave who had been flogged suddenly rushed forward and said loudly, "Reporting to the young master, someone said that the deer brought back by Jiang Er Gong was bought from a hunter in the mountains, not hunted by himself. The tooth marks on the deer are those of a dog, not a hunting leopard. The little ones didn't say anything else, they just said that Er Gong had good luck and got flogged."

  At this point, the crowd that walked out of the felt tent was at a loss. Some people had already determined that Jiang Er Gong had done this and said with disdain: "I said so, how could he be so lucky? So many good hands are here, but none of them have encountered it, only he has gotten two. It turns out to be for this reason." "Zhu Guo Gong is really clever..."

  Jiang Er Gong saw the disdain on everyone's face, and his face turned red with rage as he glared at them: "Whoever slanders me will be beaten by me! If you want to splash dirty water on me, you'd better come up with evidence!"