Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C076

Prince Wei had gone out for a time, and upon his return, the core had been replaced with another person.

Wushuang had always wondered how he switched each time, but unfortunately, she had never witnessed it. This time was the same; Prince Wei had deliberately gone out, clearly for the purpose of switching.

Ji Yang clearly remembered that earlier, the two of them had been drinking in Yuhua Hall. His talkative brothers had been chattering away, one after another, making him feel irritated, and he had inadvertently drunk a bit too much.

After the banquet ended and he returned, as he walked to the front of the sleeping quarters, he was thinking of telling Prince Wei to get lost, but who knew the other party did not move, and he was directly blocked out.

Since returning to the capital, the two of them frequently blocked each other out, and he was the one who initiated it. Ji Yang could not say anything. He thought perhaps Prince Wei had something going on, but then he reconsidered that this was not in the Prince's mansion, so what could he have going on? Moreover, if he remembered correctly, he had just walked to the sleeping quarters.

What was in the sleeping quarters?

Out of a bit of his own careful consideration, Ji Yang started making a fuss inside.

In an instant, he appeared outside, and the other was not in the sleeping quarters, but in the outer hall.

[What tricks are you playing?]

No one paid him any attention.

Ji Yang was too lazy to say more to him. Confirming that the other had already entered the small black room, he walked towards the inner hall.

As he walked, he smelled a faint fragrance. He could not help but raise his hand to sniff his sleeve. He was very familiar with this fragrance, and could even distinguish the subtle differences.

Entering the sleeping quarters, there was someone on the couch. It seemed that she had heard his movement, and lifted the curtain to step down from the couch.

Everything seemed normal, but because of his martial arts and battlefield experience, Ji Yang had always been observant, and naturally noticed the basin of water placed on a small table to the side, as well as the sobering tea placed by the bedside.

He had just come in from outside, so who were the sobering tea and water basin for?

Getting closer, he also noticed that her eyes were a little red.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"If it's nothing, why are your eyes so red? Who bullied you?"

"No one bullied me. Maybe it's because I just took a nap," Wushuang forced a smile to change the subject, afraid that Ji Yang would see through her. "Your Highness, have you been drinking? I'll have someone get a bowl of sobering soup."

Ji Yang glanced at her, his gaze shifting to the low table by the bedside.

"Isn't that sobering soup?"

Wushuang's hand trembled. She quickly went to pick up the sobering soup. "This sobering soup was prepared earlier. I heard that Your Highness was feasting in Yuhua Hall, and I was afraid that Your Highness would drink too much, so I had it prepared. Who knew they sent it up too early, and now it's cold. I'll have someone go and get another bowl."

Mentioning the sobering soup, she naturally also thought of the water basin. Wushuang tried her best to act as if nothing was amiss, having someone change the sobering soup and also having someone take the water basin away.

Before long, the sobering soup was brought over. Wushuang held it out to him, but Ji Yang looked annoyed, saying, "Why drink sobering soup?"

Despite saying that, he still drank it all in one gulp.

"Alright, you don't need to busy yourself. Quickly get on the couch. This hall is not as warm as the mansion. Be careful not to catch a cold."

Wushuang got on the couch, and he also got on the couch.

She nestled into his embrace, letting him hold her. Ji Yang said, "Why are you so well-behaved today? Usually, you're afraid that this Prince will provoke you, but today you're taking the initiative to crawl into this Prince's arms."

"I'm not."

She was indeed sometimes tormented to the point of fear, but what did that have to do with this? Couldn't it simply be that she wanted him to hold her, instead of having to tie it to that matter?

"Alright, alright, you didn't. By the way, since the first hunt is in three days, I'll take you riding tomorrow."

"Riding?" Wushuang raised her head in surprise, "But I don't know how to ride a horse."

"If you don't know how to ride, you can learn. This Prince will teach you. Coming to this place and not riding a horse, what fun is there?"

"But..." She hesitated, still a little afraid, "Won't I fall off the horse? And the horse is so tall."

He glanced at her, "With this Prince following, would I let you fall off the horse?" Saying this, he yawned, "Alright, hurry and sleep, you've been tired all day today."

After Wushuang fell asleep, he lowered his head to look at the person in his arms, his eyes flickering with an inscrutable light.

***

The next day, after finishing their morning meal, Ji Yang planned to take Wushuang riding.

Although Wushuang was puzzled as to why it was Ji Yang during the day instead of Prince Wei, she wondered if there would be any problems. However, this was not something she could interfere with, and besides, it wasn't as if this hadn't happened before.

The riding attire had been prepared long ago. After receiving the news that they were coming to Mount Xiang, Linglong and the others had rushed to make two sets of riding clothes for Wushuang.

The short jacket had a left-fastening turned-down collar, narrow sleeves, and a cinched waist. Below, she wore a horse-face skirt that reached her knees, and sheepskin boots. Because of the cold weather, she also wore a sleeveless fox fur vest and a cloak that only covered her knees.

After putting it on, she wore a white fox fur Zhaojun* hat on her head, which not only blocked the wind but also accentuated her bright eyes, white teeth, and snow-white complexion.

TN: something like this 

Ji Yang was also dressed smartly today, in a sapphire blue narrow-sleeved round-collar shirt, with a tied-on jade belt, and a long black fox fur coat over it, and black leather boots on his feet.

The two arrived outside the villa, where the horses were already prepared.

One horse was black, tall and strong, with bulging muscles. The other was a small, chestnut-red mare, a head shorter than the large black horse. When the two approached, the chestnut-red mare was circling the black horse, but unfortunately, the black horse was very proud and ignored it.

As soon as the black horse saw Ji Yang, it neighed loudly, and Ji Yang smiled as he walked over and patted it.

"Is this Your Highness's horse?"

"It's called Black Steed, and it has been with this Prince for many years. Its temper is very proud, and if ordinary people get close, they will always be kicked by it."

Upon hearing this, Wushuang quickly moved closer to his side.

He laughed, "With me here, are you still afraid of it kicking you? Come, Black Steed, come and meet someone."

Black Steed glanced at Wushuang and snorted.

Ji Yang took Wushuang's hand and placed it under Black Steed's nose. It looked at Wushuang again before reluctantly lowering its head to sniff her hand.

This was the first time Wushuang had been so close to a horse. She had been a little afraid, but when he took her hand to touch it, feeling Black Steed's hot breath, she suddenly seemed less afraid.

"That small mare is prepared for you. You can't ride a horse like Black Steed when you're just learning to ride. Ride this small mare first, and when you're a little braver..." He paused, then said, "Even when you're braver, you still won't be able to ride Black Steed."

Wushuang was a little embarrassed by what he said, but what he said was the truth. Black Steed was so tall that she couldn't even climb onto it.

In fact, it was difficult for her to climb onto the small mare as well, and Ji Yang simply lifted her up.

"Don't be nervous, relax a little. Put your feet in the stirrups, don't use your legs to squeeze the horse's belly, and don't pull the reins too tight. First, make sure you're sitting steadily. First, learn to sit steadily, then let the horse walk slowly for a bit…"

Ji Yang taught her very carefully, holding the reins with one hand and supporting her waist with the other. But Wushuang was still very nervous. It wasn't until she listened to his words, tried to relax as much as possible, and sat steadily that she slowly felt a little better.

In fact, sitting steadily in the saddle was not difficult. The key was not to tighten the reins or squeeze the horse's belly because of nervousness. If you did, the horse would think you were urging it on and would start to run. And when a beginner saw the horse running, they would only become more nervous and squeeze the horse's belly and tighten the reins, creating a vicious cycle that would ultimately end with them falling off the horse.

Although Wushuang was not clever, she was quite obedient, so the small mare remained calm. Finally, when Wushuang was no longer so nervous, she gently tapped the horse's belly with her right leg, encouraged by Ji Yang.

The little mare slowly began to walk, and Wushuang, seeing this, couldn't help but relax a little more. Seeing that she could now control the horse, she couldn't help but give him a smile.

This smile was like the sun breaking through the clouds, a hundred flowers blooming, and Ji Yang's eyes couldn't help but carry a hint of a smile as well.

"See, isn't this quite good?"

"If it weren't for Your Highness teaching me, I would surely be afraid."

Seeing her obediently say that it was all Your Highness who taught her, so reliant on him, Ji Yang couldn't help but feel a great joy in his heart, and said, "Ride a few more times and you won't be afraid..."

At this moment, a dozen or so riders approached from not far away, and the one leading them was none other than Prince Qin.

Besides Prince Qin, there was also Prince Jin. Prince Jin rode his horse beside Prince Qin, followed by their guards. Seeing that they were all on tall, sturdy horses, with bows and quivers on their saddles, and several hunting dogs behind them, it was clear that they were going hunting.

"I didn't expect Third Brother to be in such high spirits, teaching his sister-in-law to ride a horse here," Prince Qin said with a smile.

"It seems Second Brother is in higher spirits. Having just arrived yesterday, you're going hunting today. Could it be that Second Brother lacks confidence in winning the first hunt?"

A sharp glint flashed in Prince Qin's eyes, but his face still wore a smile. "How could I be as spirited as Third Brother, so loving with your sister-in-law? It truly makes one envious."

With these words, Wushuang felt a malicious gaze fall upon her. Besides this gaze, she also felt an interested one.

She followed the gaze and saw that it was Prince Jin.

Prince Jin's expression was gentle, with a faint smile on his face. Seeing her look over, he even nodded at her. "Third Sister-in-law."

Wushuang gave a slight curtsy. "Your Highness, Prince Jin." She then gave a curtsy to Prince Qin as well. "Your Highness, Prince Qin."

After straightening up, she pretended to speak casually to Ji Yang, "Your Highness, you don't know, yesterday this concubine saw Prince Qin's Princess Consort at my great aunt's place. Not only is Prince Qin's Princess Consort ethereally beautiful, but Prince Qin's two Secondary Consorts are also as beautiful as the moon and flowers. I've heard that Prince Qin's mansion has many beauties, it's truly enviable."

Originally, Ji Yang's muscles had already tensed when he saw Prince Qin looking at Wushuang, but Wushuang suddenly held his arm and said these words.

His eyelids lowered slightly, and he echoed, "Indeed, Prince Qin is living a life like an immortal, there's no need to tease this Prince."

This harmonious exchange was beyond Prince Qin's expectations, leaving him momentarily unsure how to respond. At this moment, Prince Jin suddenly laughed, "This Prince plans to go hunting with Second Brother, I wonder if Third Brother has any interest in joining us?"

"This Prince will not go."

"Then we shall take our leave."

The group slowly passed by Wushuang and the others.

When it was the turn of the last two guards with the hunting dogs, the dogs, which had been quietly following beside the horses without barking, suddenly, as they walked in front of Wushuang, one of them broke free from its leash and charged towards Wushuang.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Before Wushuang could even feel fear, she heard a miserable cry. It was Ji Yang who had kicked the hunting dog, sending it flying more than ten meters away, where it died on the spot.

These hunting dogs were a breed that Prince Qin had specially sought out. They were incredibly strong and had a powerful bite. A few of them could even surround and attack bears and tigers. Yet, in the blink of an eye, one had died.

Prince Wei had only used one kick, but the hunting dog's head was directly shattered.

It was known that dogs, like wolves, had iron heads and tofu waists, their skulls being the hardest. No one could possibly kick a wolf's head to pieces with one kick, but today, they had witnessed it.

The guards of Prince Wei's mansion had already drawn their swords and stepped forward. Prince Qin and Prince Jin's eyes flashed with light, while the guard leading the hunting dogs hurriedly dismounted and knelt on the ground.

"Prince Wei, spare me, Prince Wei, spare me…"

Prince Qin stroked his beard, and said with a forced smile, "Third Brother, you know that this dog is a beast, but I didn't expect this beast to be so disobedient."

Ji Yang's eyes were filled with a fierce light, his face as cold as ice.

"If a beast is disobedient, it should be killed. If a person is ignorant of propriety, they will also meet a deathly end."

Prince Qin's pupils constricted. Just as he was about to speak, Prince Jin spurred his horse forward, saying, "It was indeed a beast that did not obey commands, nearly frightening our sister-in-law. It is also our fault. Fortunately, Third Brother was brave and did not allow that beast to succeed."

He dismounted and, from a distance, cupped his hands in a bow towards Wushuang, saying, "Sister-in-law, your brother apologizes to you."

Wushuang could not bear his courtesy and could only turn her body aside.

However, today she had also broadened her horizons, never having heard anyone call themselves a beast before.

"Your Highness Prince Jin need not be so. Although this concubine is a woman of the household and timid, fortunately, my Prince is valiant, and this concubine was not frightened. In the future, please ask the two Your Highnesses to manage your own dogs well. Today it is this concubine, but if one day the two Your Highnesses go hunting with the Emperor, and the dogs are also disobedient, causing some trouble, that would not be good."