ZL Ch. 35 - Midnight Rambles!!!!

Dj2213-17 minutes 28.05.2023

Translator: Dj2203

Editor: Dj2203

“It’s getting late, Your Highnesses should go hunting first.” Shen Lou withdrew his hand, signalling Prince Feng Zhong to go first. Xianchi Autumn Hunting was not an ordinary hunting game, it was a contest between the children of all the aristocratic families, which was much more important than the dispute between their Shen family brother and sister.

The crown prince nodded, “Qiuting is a child, don’t argue with her.”

“Yes.” Shen Lou bowed his head in response.

Lin Xin winked at Feng Zhong, signalling him to go quickly, and the stupid prince flew first.

Zhong Wumo chased for a long distance before catching up with Shen Yingying who was running wildly all the way.

“What are you running here for?” Shen Yingying covered her eyes to hide her crying, then peeking behind Zhong Wumo through her fingers, there was no one there, her brother didn’t have the slightest intention of coming to coax her, thinking this she suddenly started crying even more sadly.

“Brother, let me come.” Zhong Wumo said truthfully.

Shen Yingying let go of her hand and glared at him, “You come when your brother tells you to come, don’t you fight back when your brother slaps you?”

Zhong Wumo, who was innocently scolded, said nothing but listened to Shen Yingying muttering. “It’s not that he doesn’t know my archery skills. He has never said that to me before, woo woo…”

Zhong Wumo was not good at words, and after a long silence, he choked out a sentence, “It’s because you were wrong.”

“You still say it!” Shen Yingying became furious and pushed Zhong Wumo hard, pushing him a foot away and breaking an imperial flag planted on the ground.

“Who?” With a low shout, an overwhelming sword light swept over.

Zhong Wumo slapped the ground with one hand, turned over on the spot, and pulled Shen Yingying behind him quickly.

“Who is so bold, who dares to draw a sword!” Shen Yingying stretched out her hand to touch the Sang Hu bow on her back and found nothing. When she went out to hunt, in order to get more prey, she didn’t bring a spirit sword, but only the big bow. Now after throwing away the bow, it could be said that she was unarmed.

The sword bearer was dressed in the attire of a royal guard, and he didn’t stop on seeing Shen Yingying and said, “Whoever trespasses in the imperial tent will be shot and killed!”

The sharp sword light was about to poke Shen Yingying’s eyes, so she had no choice but to pull out an imperial flag and use her spiritual power to resist the blow.

“Kacha!” The bamboo flagpole couldn’t bear the spirit sword’s sword energy at all, and only slightly blocked the offensive. Zhong Wumo drew his sword and swept it from the ground. The two fought together, and they both used Luli. With the sword energy and the swordsman using deadly moves, Zhong Wumo was obviously at a disadvantage.

“What kind of bad move are you doing!” Shen Yingying said anxiously, seeing that the guard’s sword was about to stab Zhong Wumo’s chest, she had to shout, “Brother! Help!”

“Om—”

The sword light of the Yu Yuan Sword, like a nine-day rainbow, steadily dissected the sword energy of the other party from bottom to top. Shen Lou returned the sword to the scabbard and threw the Sang Hu bow on his back to his sister.

Lin Xin’s small sword was not easy to fly, so he ran all the way, seeing the royal guard holding the sword, his eyes dimmed. He was an old acquaintance, the future commander of the Golden Guard——Zhou Kang.

“This is the imperial tent, you should retreat.” Zhou Kang held his sword in front of him, he didn’t make any more moves because he was afraid of Shen Lou, but his killing intent was still strong.

Several sons of aristocratic families who were hunting nearby ran over to watch the commotion when they heard the noise, and among them was Luo Zhan, the second son of Marquis Wangting who liked to talk: “Yo, Zhou Kang, it’s amazing to win the champion of martial arts. How dare you fight against the son of Duke of Xuan? Has the sword even been drawn?”

“Who is he?”

“The son of a thousand households, the champion of this year’s autumn hunt.” Luo Zhan sneered, as the son of a Marquis, those thousand and ten households were just servants in his eyes. The more his father praised Zhou Kang, the more he looked down on him.

Lin Xin glanced sideways at Luo Zhan, even if he didn’t touch this man’s palm, sooner or later it would have to be chopped off by someone else, he was really owed a lesson.

“What’s going on?” Emperor Feng Zhuoyi came out of the tent and asked when he saw a group of young people gathered outside. Knowing that it was the Shen brother and sister who had quarrelled and so Shen Yingying strayed into this place, Emperor Yuan Shuo laughed, “You go hunting, this is not a big deal, otherwise you won’t get a good ranking. Let’s see how I deal with you guys then.”

Since this was the restricted area of the imperial family, the children of the aristocratic families laughed and dispersed, and Zhou Kang went to stand in the ranks of the guards again, like a statue.

“My sister has nothing to say and disturbed the Holy Majesty.” Shen Lou did not leave and pulled Shen Yingying to apologize to the emperor.

“You kid, you are always so polite.” Feng Zhuoyi said so, but his face was very satisfied, he waved his hand to signal them to go hunting quickly and turned to wave to Lin Xin.

Shen Lou glanced at Lin Xin, then pulled his sister and Zhong Wumo away.

“Duke of Xuan’s son is a model for other aristocratic families’ children. You have a good relationship with him. If there is anything you don’t know, you can ask him.” The emperor said meaningfully while looking at Shen Lou’s back, which was as vigorous as pine and bamboo.

Lin Xin lowered his eyes, “I haven’t gotten along with Shen Shizi for more than a month, so we can’t be regarded as good friends.”

Feng Zhuoyi was slightly startled, he didn’t expect Lin Xin’s attitude, “Then you must have a playmate.”

“I have a friend. The sixth prince.” Lin Xin raised his head and said frankly. He and Feng Zhong grew up together, and Zhu Xingli was still in the world, so it was impossible for the brothers to turn against each other.

The emperor looked at Lin Xin thoughtfully, then turned and walked towards the hunting platform. Lin Xin kept up with him every step of the way. He was Lord Marquis, and he didn’t belong to the category of aristocratic family’s children, so he didn’t need to participate in the hunt.

From dawn to dusk, the mountains and forests were filled with laughter of young people, and when the sun went down, everyone returned with a full load.

Hunting in Xianchi, the first day was compared with prey, and the second day was compared in swordsmanship.

All the prey were stacked together according to their respective name tags, and the Golden Guards stepped forward to count them.

“Who do you think will win?” the emperor asked, pointing to the mule cart full of prey.

“Shen Shizi is the first, the sixth prince is the second, and the crown prince is the third.” Lin Xin said without looking.

“Huh?” Feng Zhuoyi found it interesting, “Can the sixth child win against the crown prince?”

“Yes,” Lin Xin nodded, looking at Feng Zhong who was in the crowd, “He has heaven-bestowed talent, but he just doesn’t know it.”

Sure enough, after the Golden Guard counted the prey, Shen Lou was the first, Feng Zhong was the second, and the crown prince was the third.

“Do you still say that your aptitude is not good?” Shen Yingying yelled strangely, just now in the forest, she saw Feng Zhong who was working very hard, so she asked about it curiously, and the man said that his aptitude was dull, and he was afraid of embarrassing his master.

Feng Zhong was a little dumbfounded, realizing that he was deceived by Lin Xin.

“Hahaha, my son is a great talent,” Feng Zhuoyi was very happy, and ordered to roast the stag hunted by the sixth prince for himself to eat, “It’s time for him to pick a character.”

A prince could be crowned king if he was bestowed a character. When the crown prince heard this, his face tightened.

Although he was very happy, the emperor was not so confused that he would choose the characters in the hunting ground and said that he would wait to return to the palace before making an official announcement. Then he sent Lin Xin to drink and eat meat with the young people, while he had a few words with the crown prince himself.

The bonfire was lit, and everyone was sitting behind a few tables around the fire. Shen Lou sat in the middle, and the other aristocratic children surrounded him, filling up the seats around him.

“Shen Da, I heard that you killed ninety-nine barbarians overnight on the battlefield. Is it true?”

“Last year I said I wanted to go to the Northern Territory to participate in the war, but my father disagreed. He didn’t let me go to the battlefield, and he thought that us guys who stayed at home were useless, look at that.”

“Hahahaha…”

Shen Lou seemed to be naturally likable, even though he was not warm-tempered, there were always many people willing to follow him no matter on the battlefield or in court. When Da Yong was in crisis in his previous life, Shen Qingque raised his arms and shouted, and the already torn apart aristocratic families all obeyed the order and let him command the military power of the four domains. Even the emperor had to give in and make him king.

I am different and will always be a nuisance. Lin Xin sat beside Feng Zhong who was also lonely and poured a glass of wine to drink.

Shen Lou looked over from the crowd and frowned slightly.

“Xinxin, it’s not good,” Feng Zhong sighed, he didn’t understand at the moment, why Lin Xin deliberately wanted him to show off, “I’m not the child of a concubine or a favoured consort, so I didn’t intend to fight for the position of the heir. This is not good.”

“Hey,” Lin Xin swallowed a mouthful of strong wine and laughed, “Do you know how the princes in front died?”

Feng Zhong lowered his head and sliced the roasted rabbit meat into thin slices with a knife, “I know.” After reading the history books and traveling with his master, how could he not know the truth.

“If you don’t perform well, will they treat you nicely? Keeping a low profile is not suitable for your Feng family.” Lin Xin drank another glass, and the red from the alcohol stained the corners of his eyes.

“This is for you.”

A plate of venison was placed in front of Lin Xin with a clang, and when he looked up, he saw Shen Yingying with an awkward expression, scratching her head and wondering if she should sit down. Turning around and seeing Lin Xin with red eyes, she immediately forgot everything, “You…you are so pretty.”

“…” Lin Xin didn’t know what to say. Miss Shen, who could pull out the willows upside down, never knew how to write the word “implicit”. If Shen Qiuting had been a man, she would have become Da Yong’s famous playboy long ago.

“My brother said, you are afraid of arrows. Today was my fault, and I will never point arrows at you again.” Shen Yingying sat down at the table opposite Lin Xin, poured a glass of wine and clinked glasses with him.

Afraid of arrows? Lin Xin looked at Shen Lou in the crowd, how did this person know that he was afraid of arrows?

“Everyone who knows me well knows that I don’t miss when I draw a bow. But if you are afraid of arrows, you will definitely dodge. If you dodge, you may be accidentally injured.” Shen Qiuting thought that Lin Xin didn’t understand, so she explained in a few more words, she was not used to apologizing, but the lines were full of guilt, and she was very sincere.

So that was the case, Lin Xin couldn’t help laughing, thinking that Shen Lou regretted beating his younger sister, so he could only explain it this way, saying that he was afraid that the arrow would cause him to be accidentally injured. However, thinking back on Shen Lou’s reaction today, he still couldn’t help being happy, although he felt a little sorry for Sister Shen. He raised his hand to clink glasses with Shen Yingying, smiling away all grievances.

“Well, this venison is roasted well.” Feng Zhong, who was full of thoughts, had already started eating.

“This is not for you!”

Lin Xin watched the two of them scrambling, shook his head with a smile, poured another glass of wine, and raised it to his mouth, but was suddenly blocked by a big bony hand.

Shen Lou didn’t know when had left the crowd behind, and when he arrived here, he frowned and looked at Lin Xin who had a dishevelled expression, “Don’t drink anymore.”

“What business is this of yours?” Lin Xin waved away Shen Lou’s hand, stood up, and left the scene unsteadily.

The emperor sitting on the stage saw this scene, turned his head and said to the crown prince: “About Lin Xin, what do you think?”

He meant the situation of the sixth prince.

“When the fierce horse is tamed, it is the unique Chollima.” The emperor said with a hint of meaning.

“Hahaha, unlike Lord Marquis, we won’t hesitate to talk to you.” The young masters left behind by Shen Lou laughed.

The moon was in the middle of the sky, when Shen Lou returned to his tent after the entertainment, and saw Lin Xin lying sprawled on the bed but he did not pay attention to him.

The author has something to say:

Small Theater:

Loulou: Did you ignore me?

Xinxin: Yes, ignore you

Loulou: Then what are you doing here?

Xinxin: Sleep with you!

Loulou: …