Wu Chengsi and others chased him all the way, because he did not prohibit the guards from taking action just now, and the three guards were eager to try.
One of them shot an arrow from a distance, but unfortunately it missed too far.
Wu Chengsi suddenly said to Feng Wu: "By the way, you can only use bows and arrows to hunt deer, but you can no longer use hidden weapons."
"Why?" Feng Wu asked confused.
"These are the rules of hunting."
Feng Wu nodded, turned her eyes, and looked at the long bow in the hand of one of the guards. The guard muttered: "Why don't you bring your own bow and arrows?"
Although he complained in his mouth, he was really happy in his heart. He not only handed over the bow, but also diligently handed over the quiver.
After a few movements, the two of them were separated by Wu Chengsi and the other two guards, and they quickly drove their horses to catch up.
At this moment, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the distance.
Wu Chengsi tightened the rope, stopped the horse, and looked in the direction of the sound.
One of the guards exclaimed: "Could someone have encountered a pack of wolves?"
This hunting ground covers an extremely large area and contains all kinds of animals, among which the most deadly beasts are wolves.
Another older guard said: "The wolves are very alert and do not dare to provoke others easily. There is such a big battle today, the wolves have already gone into hiding."
First, the guard said: "Is that so? Let's go over and take a look and we'll find out."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "That's right. Let's go and have a look."
After walking southwest for about a tea hour, I suddenly met three men on horseback.
Two of them were dressed as bodyguards, and the middle one was young. He was the man named Zhang whom Wu Chengsi had met at Wei Mansion's birthday banquet.
"I have met His Royal Highness King Zhou." The man named Zhang said with cupped hands.
"Who are you?"
The man said respectfully: "I am Zhang Dong, my father Zhang Xuanyu."
Wu Chengsi nodded and asked: "I heard someone shouting just now, was it you?"
Zhang Dong's face turned slightly red and he said awkwardly: "Uh... it was the scream I made."
Wu Chengsi asked curiously: "Why did you scream?"
Zhang Dong scratched his head and said humbly: "When I was passing through a dense forest just now, I suddenly saw a yellow shadow passing by from a distance, so I called out."
"Yellow? Could it be a fox?"
Zhang Dong said: "It's definitely not a fox. That thing is several times bigger than a fox. It looks like a..." After a pause, he continued: "A leopard!"
Wu Chengsi frowned and said nothing.
A guard behind him said: "How is it possible? I haven't heard that there is a leopard in the Furong Garden?"
A guard behind Zhang Dong said: "We also saw it, it really looks like a leopard!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chengsi suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand up, and there was a feeling of tingling in his heart.
Just then, there was a rustling sound.
That was the sound of animals stepping on the snow. The sound was rapid, which showed how fast the animals were running!
Feng Wu reacted the fastest and quickly turned her head to the left. With her usual calmness, she couldn't help but frown when she saw the animal.
Others even exclaimed in surprise.
I saw a huge beast running towards this side.
Ouch!!
The beast let out a heart-shaking roar.
Wu Chengsi was shocked. Zhang Dong was talking nonsense. Where is the leopard? It was clearly a tiger!
"Be careful!" A shout seemed to come from afar.
The tiger had already rushed three feet in front of everyone. Fengwu let out a clear scolding sound and waved its right hand rapidly, hitting the tiger with several rays of cold light.
There were continuous popping sounds, and the tiger seemed to be hit.
However, its huge figure only slowed down for a moment, and it still pounced, and it actually pounced straight towards Wu Chengsi.
When it was in mid-air, it was entangled by Feng Wu's snake whip.
After Feng Wu entangled the tiger, she realized that she was not strong enough, so she wrapped the other end of the whip around the horse's neck.
The horse suffered a huge force and was knocked to the ground.
The weight of a horse is quite astonishing. The tiger is in mid-air and cannot drag it forward, and its forward momentum stops immediately.
In fact, even if it is not entangled, what is waiting for it is the long swords of two personal guards.
As soon as the tiger landed, the two guards jumped off their horses and slashed at him with their swords, killing the tiger in an instant.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, at this moment, a long arrow roared towards him with a sound of breaking through the air.
The direction of the arrow is actually towards Wu Chengsi!
Feng Wu's reaction was still the quickest, and with another wave of her sleeve, a flying knife shot out.
But the speed of the arrow was too fast. Feng Wu's movement just now was already a little far away from Wu Chengsi, and the flying knife only touched the tail of the arrow.
Just at this moment, the direction of the arrow shifted a little, and it shot past Wu Chengsi, less than one meter away from his head.
He could even feel the strong wind brought by the arrows.
Another guard next to Wu Chengsi roared in the direction of the arrow: "Who shot the arrow?"
Feng Wu had already leapt into the air, but before she could leap over, a man on horseback appeared from behind a tree.
The man was tall and pale, and he turned out to be Wei Bai.
He drove his horse closer, turned over and dismounted, and kowtowed: "His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, I am... I am begging you for your sins!"
Wu Chengsi was silent for a moment and sighed: "General Wei, please get up. That 'be careful' just now was yours, right?"
Wei Daiqi did not stand up, only raised his head and said bitterly: "Yes, the general wanted to shoot the tiger to death, but I didn't expect that the arrow almost hit you."
One of the guards said coldly: "General Wei, your archery skills are too bad!"
The older guard said: "If the tiger had not been caught, it would have pounced on His Highness King Zhou, and the arrow would have been able to hit him."
Xian Na's personal guard asked: "Didn't he look at His Highness's position when he was shooting arrows?"
The older guard also frowned and did not defend Wei's bid.
Wu Chengsi said: "Maybe General Wei was too focused when shooting the tiger. It was just an accident, you don't need to say more."
He got off his horse and personally helped Wei Daiqi up.
Zhang Dong was frightened one after another, and then he came back to his senses. He pointed at the tiger corpse on the ground and said, "Where did this thing come from?"
Wei Daiqi said in a deep voice: "There are absolutely no tigers in the Furong Garden. Someone must have brought them in."
Wu Chengsi said: "Forget it, since the tiger is dead, we don't need to think too much and continue hunting."
Wu Chengsi left a personal guard behind and asked him to transport the tiger carcass to Ziyun Tower. Then he separated from Zhang Dong and Wei Daiqi, and continued hunting with Feng Wu and the other two personal guards.
After Wei Daiqi and Wu Chengsi separated, they rode alone in the dense forest with a gloomy expression.
Not long after, we came to the edge of a hill.
As soon as they got close, several people came out from behind the mountain. They were Xue Hui and Xue Shao, the Marquis of Hedong.
The Marquis of Hedong snorted and said, "Looking at your face, you must have made a mistake, right?"
Wei Daiqi said coldly: "He is protected by experts, so I don't have much confidence."
Hedong Hou was silent for a while and said: "No matter how difficult it is, we can only continue to work. Since the hidden arrow cannot kill him, we can only use the backup plan."
Wei Bai's face was covered with frost and he said nothing.
Marquis Hedong looked at him with squinted eyes and said: "Brother Lao Wei will be here next."
Wei Baiqi looked at the feet of clouds in the sky and remained silent.
Xue Shao said: "General Wei, you have already assassinated King Zhou once. Even if you want to stop, he will never spare you. For this purpose, you will be safe only if he dies!"
Wei Baiqi grinned and sneered: "You want to tell me that if I don't cooperate with you, you will betray me, right?"
Xue Shao hurriedly said: "I have no intention of doing this, I just want to remind you."
Wei Daiqi said coldly: "You don't need to explain. When I went to see Wei Xuanzhen yesterday, I guessed that things would turn out like this. Don't worry, I will continue to cooperate with you."
Hedong Hou smiled and said: "General Wei, we are now in the same boat. We are all prosperous and suffer losses. Only by uniting together can we tide over the difficulties."
"I believe that both will suffer losses, but as for a gain and a gain, humph!" Wei Baiqi sneered a few times and rode away from the hill.
In the middle of noon, when the sun rose to its highest point, a drum sound spread throughout the Hibiscus Garden, which was the sound of the end of the hunt.
When Wu Chengsi arrived outside Ziyun Tower, he saw officials outside the building talking to each other, and many of them had red scarves wrapped around their arms.
The one wearing the most red scarf was Su Dingfang. He stood under a big tree with his hands on his waist and his head held high, looking quite contented with himself.
When Wu Chengsi was about to go over to greet him, a eunuch suddenly came over and said, "His Royal Highness, King Zhou, please come over."
Wu Chengsi nodded and followed the eunuch into Ziyun Tower.
In the hall on the first floor, the tables on both sides were filled with fine wines and delicacies, the most common of which was venison. The aroma of meat wafted in the air.
The seats behind the desk were all empty. The ministers were either waiting outside the building or went back to their temporary residences to rest.
In the top position, Li Zhi and Wu Mei were talking, and the prince, King Yin, Concubine Xue Xian, Princess Chengyang and Princess Taiping were all sitting beside them.
After Wu Chengsi came in, Li Zhi waved to him and motioned for him to come closer.
Wu Chengsi came to sit next to Princess Taiping and heard Li Zhi say with concern on his face:
"Chengsi, I heard that a tiger appeared in the garden. You were attacked by that tiger. Are you okay?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Back to Your Majesty, thanks to the protection of the guards around me, I was not injured."
Princess Taiping smiled and said: "Father, my second cousin has a female bodyguard who is not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also very handsome."
Li Zhi became interested and said with a smile: "Chengsi, ask your female bodyguard to come over and show me."
Wu Chengsi agreed and ordered someone to call Feng Wu in. Feng Wu glanced at everyone and silently walked to stand behind Wu Chengsi.
Wu Chengsi said: "Feng Wu, quickly pay your respects to Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Queen!"
Feng Wu only cupped her hands and said nothing.
Princess Chengyang snorted and said: "His Royal Highness King Zhou, your personal guard is so arrogant. She doesn't even speak in front of His Majesty. Could it be that she is mute?"
Li Zhi waved his hand and said with a smile: "She may be frightened. Why bother with such a trivial matter? The message... By the way, Chengsi, what is the name of your personal guard?"
"Her name is Feng Wu."
"Pass the message, the guards will be rewarded with dancing phoenixes, ten taels of gold, and ten pieces of brocade!"
"Feng Wu, thank you quickly." Wu Chengsi said hurriedly.
Feng Wu arched her hands towards Li Zhi again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Her opening made Li Zhilong look delighted and said with a smile: "That's right. I'm passing on the decree to make the Fengwu guard the king of the village. I hope you can protect King Zhou well in the future."
Feng Wu nodded.
Wu Chengsi cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Wu Mei suddenly said: "I have never heard of a tiger in Furong Garden. Your Majesty, I think this matter should be investigated."
Li Zhi frowned and remained silent.
The prince said: "Maybe he ran in from outside."
Concubine Xue Xian smiled and said: "Yes, Furong Garden is so big after all, and it is connected to the outer mountains. It is normal for a tiger to run into it."
Wu Mei said lightly: "The entire perimeter of the Forbidden Garden is closely guarded by guards. It's not just a kitten, how could it escape so easily?"
Princess Chengyang smiled and said: "Sister-in-law, the perimeter is too wide after all, and it's dark at night, so the guards may not be careful."
Wu Mei said coldly: "As you said, those peripheral guards are all punishable by death!"
Li Zhi was taken aback and said, "Mei Niang, isn't it?"
Wu Mei said sternly: "Your Majesty, today is your winter hunting day. What if the person who comes in is not a tiger, but an assassin who wants to kill you?"
Li Zhi was silent for a while, then said to Wu Mei with a smile: "Let's forget it. I suddenly proposed the winter hunt a few days ago. The guards didn't have time to arrange it carefully. I can't blame them."
Gu Wumei nodded and said no more.
While they were talking, Wu Chengsi kept whispering to Princess Taiping. Princess Taiping kept nodding and her eyes widened.
Li Zhi smiled and said: "Chengsi, what are you talking about? Let me listen."
Princess Taiping looked panicked, and Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I just told a joke to my cousin."
Princess Chengyang glanced at Princess Taiping and said calmly: "I see Taiping's expression, it doesn't look like she was reacting to a joke."
Li Zhi asked: "Chengsi, what joke are you telling? Tell it and make everyone happy."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "That's right. Once upon a time, there was a respected old man who was about to die."
As soon as he spoke, everyone's expressions changed.
Everyone could tell that Li Zhi was about to die, so no one dared to mention anything related to death in front of him recently.
Li Zhi's expression seemed to have changed. Wu Mei glanced at him and asked Wu Chengsi, "What happened next?"
Wu Chengsi continued: "The man was very scared before he died, so he asked the people around him: Will it be a good life after death?"
Li Zhi was stunned and quickly asked: "Then how did others answer?"
"No one around could answer. Only one scholar answered, 'It's better, it's better, it must be better!'. Everyone else asked, 'How do you know it's better?'"
"Then what did the scholar say?" Li Zhi leaned forward.
"He replied: 'If it was not easy, all the people who died would have escaped long ago. Since no one has escaped, it must be better.'"
Li Zhi was startled for a moment, and then he burst into laughter until tears came out of his eyes. Only then did a few people around him start laughing.
After a long while, Li Zhi just stopped laughing and said: "Chengsi, I just found out today that you can tell jokes. If you still have any jokes, tell me."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said with a smile:
"Once upon a time, there was a man named Wang who loved to read. Over time, his temperament became weird and stupid. One day, after he got up, he asked his maid: Did you dream about me last night? The maid said no, and Wang immediately shouted loudly.
Scolding: I clearly dreamed of you last night, how dare you deny it?
He also ran to his mother and complained: "The maid next to you is getting more and more demented. I clearly dreamed of her last night, but she refused to admit that she dreamed of me. It's really unreasonable!"
Li Zhi suddenly laughed again, and several women next to him also covered their mouths and chuckled.
The prince smiled and said: "Cousin, you are very good at telling jokes. I will tell my father a few more when I have time in the future."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said, "Yes."
Seeing that the relationship between the two was harmonious, Li Zhi was in a better mood and said loudly: "Dongfu, are the banquet ready?"
Wei Dongfu said respectfully: "It's ready."
Li Zhi said loudly: "Will you please come and have a meal?" He turned to Wu Mei and said: "Queen, I'll help you go and greet me at the Ladies' Pavilion."
Wu Mei agreed and left with Concubine Xue Xian, Princess Chengyang and Princess Taiping. The female family members had another seat in the Ladies Pavilion.
Not long after, the ministers entered the hall one after another. After everyone arrived, Li Zhi gave the order to start the banquet, and the hall was full of joy and celebration.
Unfortunately, Li Zhi just drank a few glasses of wine and felt a little unwell, so he had to return to the palace to rest.
After he left, everyone in the hall became more casual. Most people left their original seats and toasted each other.
Wei Daiqi held a wine bottle in one hand and a wine glass in the other. He looked at Wu Chengsi who was surrounded by the crowd from a distance, his face full of hesitation.
At this moment, Xue Shao came behind him and said in a deep voice: "General Wei, time is running out, what are you still hesitating about?"
Wei Daiqi glared at him coldly and strode towards Wu Chengsi.
Xue Shao came closer and looked at the two of them for a moment.
He saw Wei Baijie toast Wu Chengsi with a glass of wine. After Wu Chengsi drank the wine, a smile appeared on his lips.
He immediately left Ziyun Tower, walked to a palace maid outside the door, and whispered: "Tell Her Highness Xian Concubine that she has succeeded here, and she can prepare over there."
The palace maid agreed and walked quickly to the Ladies' Pavilion.
Xue Shao stood by the gate, silently looking at Wu Chengsi, who was chatting and laughing with Li Ji, Su Dingfang, and Cheng Wuting, with a sneer on his lips.
After a while, a eunuch entered the hall, came to Wu Chengsi's side, and said respectfully: "His Royal Highness, King Zhou, Your Majesty has summoned you to come over."
The eunuch Wu Chengsi knew him well and often followed Li Zhi. He nodded, apologized to several others, and followed the eunuch out of the hall.
When leaving Ziyun Tower, Feng Wu immediately followed her. Wu Chengsi whispered a few words to her, and Feng Wu nodded and did not follow him.
Following the eunuch, we passed through two corridors, and the front gradually became wider.
Soon, a palace appeared in view. There was an open space in front of the palace, with several big trees on the left and right.
"Your Majesty, do you want to rest here?" Wu Chengsi asked casually as he walked.
"Yes, it is relatively quiet here, which is conducive for His Majesty to rest."
The eunuch replied, stopped and said, "Your Majesty, King Zhou, your Majesty is in the room. I have to be ordered to summon the prince, so I will leave first."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "Go ahead."
After the eunuch left, Wu Chengsi stood in the open space in front of the palace, motionless, not knowing what he was thinking.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear some noise. He turned around and saw a figure emerging from behind a big tree.
After seeing that person's appearance, Wu Chengsi was surprised. That person was actually Shangguan Wan'er.
Shangguan Wan'er did not come over, but waved towards Wu Chengsi, gesturing for him to come over.
Wu Chengsi hesitated for a moment, then walked over. When he got closer, she grabbed Wu Chengsi's hand and pulled him behind a tree to hide.
Wu Chengsi saw her round eyes rolling around, looking at the palace for a while, then looking at the corridor in the distance, and said with a smile: "Wan'er, why are you here?"
Shangguan Wan'er looked up at him, smiled slightly and said, "I'm here to save you."
Wu Chengsi said: "Save me?"
"You'll find out later!"
Wu Chengsi felt a burst of joy in his heart.
In Shangguan Wan'er's words and deeds, there was no longer any courtesy or indifference, and she seemed to have returned to her former intimacy.
He couldn't help but said: "Wan'er, you...how are you lately?"
Shangguan Wan'er turned to him and smiled, saying: "The crisis has passed!"
Wu Chengsi was taken aback and asked quickly: "What crisis?"
Shangguan Wan'er said softly: "Your Highness, now is not the time to talk. I will talk to you about this later, okay?"
"No, let's talk now!" Wu Chengsi insisted.
Shangguan Wan'er looked at him helplessly and said:
"Your Highness, you should know that since you left Chang'an, Her Royal Highness the Queen has begun to favor Wu Sansi again and has become suspicious of you."
Wu Chengsi nodded:
"Since we met again at Taishan Palace, I have felt the change in my aunt's attitude towards me... and the change in your attitude towards me."
Shangguan Wan'er glanced at him faintly and said, "My maid was being monitored by Her Majesty the Queen at that time. If not, you may never see my maid again."
Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice: "Why does she want to spy on you?"
Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and said: "In the beginning, Her Highness the Queen became suspicious of a maid in the Zichen Palace and asked her maid to spy on the maid."
"One day, the maid discovered that the palace maid had stuffed a paper ball into the gap of a big tree. After she left, the maid took a peek at the paper ball and found... the content recorded on it was too scary!"
"What's written on it?" Wu Chengsi asked in a solemn voice.
Shangguan Wan'er hesitated for a moment, her voice was hushed, and she said: "You should know it by now. It says that Her Royal Highness the Queen has a rebellious heart and intends to usurp the throne!"
Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "What happened next?"
"The maid thought for a long time after reading it, and then put the paper ball back."
"Why don't you take the paper ball to the queen?" Wu Chengsi asked in surprise.
Shangguan Wan'er raised her head and glared at him, her eyes seeming to be reproachful.
"My maid is thinking that you will definitely object to this matter, so wouldn't it be better if this news can be spread?"
Wu Chengsi was shocked.
Shangguan Wan'er actually thought that he would oppose Wu Mei. Could it be that he really behaved so upright that others thought he would kill his relatives out of justice?
When Wu Chengsi saw Shangguan Wan'er lowering her head and saying nothing, he quickly asked: "What happened next?"
Shangguan Wan'er whispered: "Later, the palace maid disappeared, and there was no news of the queen's rebellion outside the palace, so I thought I should tell you the news as soon as possible."
Wu Chengsi remained silent. The missing palace maid should be Princess Taiping's spy.
Shangguan Wan'er continued: "My maid also wrote the message on the note, found a confidant eunuch, and asked him to find a way to give the note to your wife when he leaves the palace."
Wu Chengsi was surprised and said, "But Zhiying didn't receive such a note?"
Shangguan Wan'er gritted her teeth and said:
"My maid also felt strange. Not long after the eunuch sent the news, Her Majesty the Queen found out about it and ordered someone to arrest the eunuch. If he hadn't resisted death and refused to confess the maid, I'm afraid the maid would have died."
Wu Chengsi's heart sank. If what Shangguan Wan'er said was right, there was probably Wu Mei's spy in his house.
Looking down, I saw Shangguan Wan'er's eyes were slightly red, looking like she wanted to cry but was holding back.
Thinking that she had been living in fear and could not say anything to others, Wu Chengsi felt great pity for her and held her in his arms.
"You have been wronged these days. Cry. You don't have to endure it anymore."
Shangguan Wan'er hurriedly pushed him away, wiped her eyes and said:
"Although the eunuch did not reveal the maid, Her Royal Highness the Queen still suspected me. From then on, the maid felt that someone was watching me."
Wu Chengsi's heart tightened and he said, "How did you notice it?"
"One time when my maid came back to the house, she noticed an unfamiliar smell of powder. At that time, I wasn't sure if someone was watching me or if another palace maid happened to come to see me."
Wu Chengsi thought to himself: "Shangguan Wan'er is really as careful as a hair. If she hadn't been careful, I'm afraid he would never see this girl again."
Shangguan Wan'er continued:
"So I deliberately wrote a note containing some trivial matters, hid it in the cabinet, and quietly placed a piece of hair on the edge of the cabinet, then slowly closed the door and locked it."
Wu Chengsi nodded secretly. In this way, unless the person opening the cabinet opened the cabinet door very slowly, the wind would bring his hair out.
"When the maid went out for a trip and came back, the hair in the cabinet was missing. Then the maid tried again, and when she went out, the hair disappeared again. Then the maid knew that someone was really watching me."
Wu Chengsi was silent for a long time, and said word by word: "Wan'er, I'll ask my aunt later and ask you to come over, okay?"
Shangguan Wan'er suddenly looked up at him, stared at him for a while, and said: "If you really want to help my servant, please don't do this!"
"Why?" Wu Chengsi asked in surprise.
Shangguan Wan'er shook her head and didn't answer.
Wu Chengsi sighed and said, "Since you don't want to, I will never force you."
Shangguan Wan'er smiled sweetly at him and said: "Although it was dangerous before, since you rescued Her Highness the Queen, she has removed the people who were watching me."
Wu Chengsi nodded, his thoughts fluctuating in his mind. Wu Mei actually had an spy in his house, which made him intolerable.
But when I thought about it, I realized that this was indeed Wu Mei's behavior. She was a suspicious person, and she relied on this to survive in the palace.
Moreover, she knew that there were people of her own around, but she still gave up the investigation, which shows that the rescue incident at Daci'en Temple really had a great impact on her.
But compared with these, Shangguan Wan'er was still loyal to him, which made him happiest.
"Wan'er, no matter what trouble you encounter in the future, you can always come to me."
Shangguan Wan'er smiled slightly and said, "You are the one who is in trouble now." She looked at the palace and said, "Do you know who is in the palace?"
Wu Chengsi said leisurely: "It must be Concubine Xue Xian."
This time it was Shangguan Wan'er's turn to be surprised.
"How do you know?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "They want to deal with me the same way they dealt with Cheng Boxian, but I'm not that easily fooled. Putting aside this, why are you here?"
Shangguan Wan'er said: "Her Royal Highness the Queen asked me to come here. She got the news and knew that Concubine Xue Xian wanted to deal with you, so she asked me to come and stop you."
Wu Chengsi nodded. With Wu Mei's shrewdness, she even had people around herself, not to mention the enemy Xue Xianfei.
But she probably didn't know about Concubine Xue Xian's plan, otherwise she wouldn't have just sent Shangguan Wan'er.