Chapter seven hundred and eighty nine: the whole story
Huaien was smart. Before calling Zhu Fan to come up, he told Zhu Qiyu exactly what happened below.
Therefore, regarding Zhu Fanzhi's words, Zhu Qiyu just felt that he was a little persistent, but he did not find it strange.
However, the ministers did not know this. Seeing the Prince of Xiangling begging for prey from the emperor, they couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
You know, according to custom, the prey in Nanyuan is brought back by the person who hunted it, and it is regarded as a reward from the heaven. When he asked this, was he afraid that the emperor would swallow his prey?
So, everyone turned to look at the Emperor, but unexpectedly, the Emperor, who was always generous, looked at Prince Xiangling across from him and said with a half-smile.
"It depends on what you hunt. Ordinary ones are fine, but some precious ones are not. Well, take the tiger General Zhu just hunted. It has to be moved back to the inner garden to be raised."
Seeing Zhu Fanzhi's face suddenly slump, Zhu Qiyu deliberately wanted to tease him, and while talking, he even turned to Zhu Yi and asked.
"General Zhu, do you have any objections?"
Under such circumstances, General Xiao Zhu was naturally very cooperative and held his hands.
"Your Majesty clearly understands that rare and exotic animals such as white tigers should be raised by the royal family. Even if your Majesty rewards me, I will never dare to accept them."
Ah this...
Zhu Fanzhi immediately glared at Zhu Yi fiercely, as if blaming him for his lack of integrity.
Not far away, everyone saw the Crown Prince of Xiangling snoring angrily. They thought of the cause and effect, and vaguely guessed something.
So, they simultaneously looked at the several large bags that were brought up with Zhu Fanzhi.
Among the civil servants, the elders looked at each other, and the good-tempered Hu Dazongbo, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward with a smile and asked.
"Speaking of which, I didn't hear anyone report the prince's prey just now. Now that everyone has returned, why don't the prince show it to us and let us see what kind of rare beasts the prince hunted during today's spring hunting?"
Zhu Fanzhi clenched his fists and raised his head to glare at the speaker. However, after realizing that it was Hu Hu, he lowered his head in despair.
Seeing everyone staring at him, Zhu Fanzhi knew that his little calculation was hopeless, so he had to move step by step to the bag containing the prey, reached out and untied the rope that tied the bag.
Everyone had already noticed that this bag seemed to contain living creatures.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the bag was untied, several small palm-sized beasts crawled out from inside. They looked like cats and their meows were somewhat like cats.
However, their limbs are thicker than that of a cat, and their bodies are colorful with gray and white patterns. The little guys haven't even opened their eyes yet. They just untied the bags and were crawling around on the high platform, as if they were looking for something.
"This is...a tiger cub?"
The civil and military ministers present suddenly burst into surprise.
Even if they have never been to a hunting ground, they can still recognize that this little beast is not the same thing as a cat. Although it looks young, the king-character lines on its forehead are so bright that it is difficult to ignore.
Zhu Fanzhi didn't say anything. He reached out and pulled the little ones together, picked them up and carefully put them back into the bag, then turned around and said.
"Your Majesty, these are my prey, three tigers...well, although they are a bit small!"
Although that is said, it is obviously impossible for Zhu Fanzhi to have so many prey. In addition to these small tigers, several other bags also contained common animals such as deer, pheasants, and wild geese. However,
, compared with a few tiger cubs, these prey get no attention at all.
"this……"
Zhu Qiyu glanced at those little guys, then looked at Zhu Yi, Liu Chengqing and others, and asked.
"Prince Xiangling, Huaien just reported to me that you want the eye-catching white-fronted tiger that Zhu Yi hunted back. Could it be that these tiger cubs are the children of that white tiger?"
Being exposed, Zhu Fanzhi rubbed his hands in embarrassment and said.
"I dare not lie to Your Majesty. I found these tiger cubs in a cave. At that time, I was chasing a deer nearby, and I found a little beast that had not yet opened its eyes crawling out of the cave entrance.
, I stepped forward to take a look and found several tiger cubs."
"At that time, there were signs of fighting outside the cave of these cubs. I thought that the tigress might have met other ferocious beasts and went out to hunt. I was afraid that these little things would be swallowed by the ferocious beasts that came and went.
Therefore, I have been staying outside the cave."
"However, I waited for a long time and did not see the tigress return until the end of your majesty's time limit, so I brought these little things back."
As he spoke, Zhu Fanzhi glanced at Zhu Yi who was standing aside with a bit of contempt and said.
"I didn't expect that this tigress had been hunted long ago. Your Majesty, when I went outside the cave, these little guys were crying and waiting for feeding. They were obviously just born. God has the virtue of good health. As a hunter, he does not hunt for food.
A beast of cubs, this General Zhu, in order to get a headhunting opportunity, actually attacked a tigress that had just given birth, which is really disgraceful!"
At this point, the Prince of Xiangling paused, as if he had made up his mind, and said.
"Your Majesty, please take these tiger cubs back to the inner garden, and also bring the tigress back to the inner garden. No one but the royal family can keep these precious beasts!"
The specificity of this statement should not be too obvious.
Facing Zhu Fanzhi's inexplicable hostility, Zhu Yi also smiled bitterly, stepped forward and cupped his hands.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that I did not know that this tiger had just given birth. When I met it, it was indeed outside a cave. However, as soon as I got closer, the tiger pounced on it. It was extremely fierce. Although I saw that it was weak at the time,
, it could be seen that there were scars on its body, so I thought it was caused by fighting with other ferocious beasts or hunters, and didn’t think much about it.”
"At that time, the tiger pounced on people, seeming to mistook me for the person who injured it, so I had to fight back with all my strength, but unexpectedly, the tiger saw that the situation was not good, turned around and ran away."
"I was so focused on chasing the tiger that I didn't know that there were several tiger cubs in the cave, nor did I know that the tigress had just given birth. If I had known, I would never have approached the cave."
When hunting, do not hunt pregnant female animals, nor hunt cubs and female animals that have just given birth. This is the rule of hunting.
From a practical point of view, this is to hunt again next year and still have prey. From a moral point of view, hunting a pregnant female animal is too cruel.
The same is true for the female beast that has just given birth. This is because no matter how ferocious the beast is, it is very weak when it is just born. If the female beast is hunted at this time, then the newborn beast will definitely be regarded as a beast by other ferocious beasts.
What's in your belly.
Therefore, Zhu Fanzhi's hostility towards Zhu Yi cannot be said to be without reason.
If you hunt a healthy and intact tigress, you will only get respect and applause. However, hunting a weak tigress that has just given birth is a bit despising.
Seeing that Zhu Fanzhi still didn't believe it, Zhu Yi said helplessly.
"If the prince doesn't believe it, you can ask the imperial guards who went with Zhu. Besides, if Zhu knew that the tigress had just given birth, how could he only hunt the tigress and not bring back the cubs, leaving them with the prince?
?”
It seems reasonable to say so.
So, on the other hand, this problem arises...
"Mr. Liu, when Mr. Zhu met this tigress, she had already given birth to cubs, and her body was injured, so that Mr. Zhu misunderstood that it was injured by someone, so it was so weak. However, Mr. Liu met this tigress.
When a tigress was born, it must still be intact. Could it be said that Mr. Liu didn't realize that this was a tigress about to give birth?"
Zhu Yi has a good temper, but when it comes time to drag people into trouble, he is also merciless.
Especially, the person who pulled him was the eldest son of the Liu family, who was seeing trouble for him.
If a tigress that has given birth is not with her cubs, she will look weak at best and will have no other characteristics.
However, if it is a female tiger that has not yet given birth, it is much larger than an ordinary tiger. A hunter with a little experience can tell the difference at a glance.
If he hadn't injured the tigress, Zhu Yi would not have mistakenly attributed the tigress' weakness to the fact that it had been injured a long time ago. Naturally, this situation would not have happened.
"this……"
Feeling that everyone was looking at him again, Liu Chengqing felt embarrassed.
How should he explain that when he met this tiger, it was very manic and pounced on people. Mr. Liu fell off his horse before he could take a closer look and ran away in a hurry. Therefore, he did not realize that it was a tiger at all.
Where is the pregnant tigress...
To be honest, it's too embarrassing.
"This tiger...isn't it just a little fatter? Who knew it was carrying a cub..."
He muttered a few words without confidence. Mr. Liu blushed when he said these words.
Fortunately, at this time, the emperor spoke to help him out.
"Stop arguing. I understand. This is a misunderstanding. Since General Zhu and Prince Xiangling both mean this, I will accept this tiger and a few cubs."
"Huai En, find a few people to send these tigers to Xiyuan so that they can be raised and raised."
"According to the decree."
Ah this...
Seeing Eunuch Huai'en commanding people to carefully take away several tiger cubs, and then ordering people to go down, even the injured and dying tigress was carried out, Zhu Shizi was stunned for a long time without reacting.
Why did this suddenly become like this?
Although he had just planned to send the tigers up, Zhu Fanzhi was still reluctant to let go when he saw the few tiger cubs he had brought back being taken away.
This is a tiger. I have grown so big and hunted so many times, but I have never met a tiger cub!
When he came back, he secretly thought that he could raise one, but now, all of them have been taken away...
Looking eagerly at the little things with eyes that hadn't even opened yet, they disappeared into the distance. Zhu Fanzhi looked unhappy.
However, no matter how much courage he was given, he would not dare to confront the emperor on this occasion, so he could only stand there and sulk.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu also smiled dumbly.
To be honest, there are young people and old people in this court hall, but no matter how old they are, no matter what their personality is, they are all people who can't express their emotions and anger, and have a strong mind.
After spending a long time with them, Zhu Qiyu almost forgot what the wanton young man looked like.
Although, in terms of seniority, Zhu Fanzhi is one generation older than him, but in terms of age, especially for a person like Zhu Qiyu, who has experienced hundreds of years of vicissitudes, Zhu Fanzhi is really just a young man.
A young man with a righteous heart, a passionate heart, and a loyal and courageous heart, how much we will miss him...
Shaking his head slightly, Zhu Qiyu shook away the slight melancholy in his heart and continued.
"Prince Xiangling, as well as General Zhu, today's hunting is almost over. With this tiger, I think no one has more and rarer prey than you."
"I have taken this tigress and three tiger cubs, but they are not in vain. Just now, in front of all the ministers, I agreed to the request of the Supreme Emperor, and granted the request of the person who hunted the most prey in this hunt.
Since you two are indistinguishable, how about I grant each of you one request?"
"His Majesty!"
As soon as the words fell, all the ministers below suddenly stood up in excitement.
They didn't expect that, despite all the attempts to stop him, they still failed to stop him. Granting Prince Xiangling a wish was nothing. As a member of the clan, it didn't matter no matter how many rewards they gave him. As for the rest, even if the emperor gave him, he
I don’t dare to ask for it either.
However, Zhu Yi has been working hard to restore the title of Duke Chengguo. What should he do if he takes the opportunity to demand it?
All the ministers frowned anxiously, but the emperor remained calm and just waved his hands and said.
"My lords, there is no need to persuade you. Although today's events were twists and turns, General Zhu did not take credit for hunting the tiger. He still reported it truthfully. He can be called loyal and brave. The prince of Xiangling is the guardian of the young beast, so he can give up the opportunity to hunt.
It can be called benevolent. It is a great blessing for our court to have such a loyal, brave and benevolent minister. How can we not reward him?"
Well, after saying this, a bunch of ministers lost their temper completely.
Again, on the spring hunting ground, not in the court, with the envoys from all over the world watching, and the emperor saying so, how could they still say that Zhu Yi and Zhu Fanzhi were disloyal, courageous, benevolent, and merciless?
Wouldn't that be a joke...
Therefore, when the emperor said this, no matter how dissatisfied they were, all the ministers had to sit back in their seats, then silently stared at Zhu Yi and Zhu Fanzhi, warning them not to make any excessive demands.
However, it was obvious that Prince Zhu did not receive this signal. From the moment he heard the emperor's promise, his eyes were spinning wildly. Seeing the emperor looking at him, the prince also rubbed his hands.
road.
"Your Majesty, is it really possible to do anything?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled lightly, looked at him meaningfully, and said.
"You have no joke!"
"Can the minister..."
Zhu Fanzhi was about to make a request, but when he raised his head, he saw the emperor looking at him meaningfully.
"Um?"
Hearing this soft hum, Zhu Shizi was instantly frightened. He took back the words that came to his lips and whispered.
"Can...can I have a chance to see these tiger cubs again..."
So, the emperor nodded with satisfaction and said.
"What's so difficult about this? If so, I will give you a token that allows you to enter and exit Xiyuan at any time. Of those tiger cubs, I might choose one of them and feed it myself in Xiyuan. How about that?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live your Majesty!"
Young Prince Zhu originally just wanted to visit it from time to time, but he didn't expect that after receiving such a great favor, he immediately beamed with joy and paid homage.
"Okay, get up..."
This look made the atmosphere on the high platform relax, but only for a moment.
Because next, it's Zhu Yi's turn to put forward her wish...