The prince is more stable

Chapter 126 Hunting in the Western Suburbs
When hitting a snake, hit it at its most vulnerable part; when scolding someone, expose their weaknesses.

Zhao Xiaoqian is not a man of high quality and he just likes to poke holes in people's hearts.

Dark history is something that will accompany a person for a lifetime. In any case, Xiao Guangjing will never be able to get away from it in front of Zhao Xiaoqian.

Just one simple sentence made Xiao Guangjing so angry that his lungs almost exploded, but he didn't dare to yell at Zhao Xiaoqian anymore. He even looked around with a hint of guilt.

This is the result of being caught by someone. For Zhao Xiaoqian, it feels great.

Xiao Guangjing's face turned purple with anger, but at this moment, in front of many officials from the Song and Liao countries, he was really afraid that Zhao Xiaoqian would shout out the fact that he fell into the cesspool. That would not only be a disgrace to him personally, but also to the entire Liao Dynasty.

Xiao Guangjing instantly shut down, his face livid as he said coldly, "People say the Song Dynasty is a country of etiquette, with the emperor and his ministers all being refined gentlemen. Today I've seen it for myself."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled gently and said, "My lack of quality is my personal matter, please don't elevate it to a national level."

Then Zhao Xiaoqian blinked: "Besides, a gentleman can be deceived by tricks, but can a refined gentleman make the Liao Kingdom stop fighting forever and never invade our Song territory again?"

Xiao Guangjing paused and snorted coldly, "A gentleman should at least be more virtuous and not expose others' shortcomings."

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed and sighed, "Fortunately, I'm not a gentleman, otherwise I would have been caught."

At this time, Xiao Guangjing probably understood that Zhao Xiaoqian was not a good person. If he angered him, he might really spread the story of him falling into the cesspool. So Xiao Guangjing's temper finally subsided a lot.

Looking around at the numerous banners, numerous Song officials, and over a thousand Dragon Guard soldiers, Xiao Guangjing sneered, "Your country is quite ostentatious. A simple autumn hunt has gathered so many troops."

Zhao Xiaoqian asked curiously, "I heard that your father is the governor of Huanglong Prefecture and the commander of the Northeast Route Army. Are you keeping a low profile in Liao?"

Xiao Guangjing was speechless again. As the top playboy of Liao Kingdom, he had never been low-key in Liao Kingdom.

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and said, "We are all the same kind of people, so let's not hurt each other."

Riding on horseback, Zhao Xiaoqian stood up, looked around at the officials and imperial guards, and waved his hand vigorously: "Blow the horn, and set off!"

A long and mournful ox horn sounded, and the Song Dynasty and Liao Dynasty envoys, numbering several thousand people, marched out of the city gate and headed towards the western suburbs.

There is a royal garden outside the western suburbs, named "Qionglin Garden". It is a scenic summer resort. Every year, officials of the Song Dynasty would come here to escape the summer heat for one or two months.

In addition to dense trees, the garden also raises many wild animals, such as wild boars, sika deer, golden pheasants, hares, etc.

Every autumn and winter, when the animals were fat and plump, the imperial guards guarding the gardens would release the animals into the wild, and the emperor would lead his ministers and the imperial guards on horseback to hunt.

Although Zhao Xu did not personally participate in this autumn hunt, he still ordered the location of the autumn hunt to be set at Qionglin Garden and arranged everything in advance.

The autumn hunting team arrived outside the Qionglin Garden in a mighty procession, where the imperial guards were already waiting.

After greeting the military generals, Zhao Xiaoqian ordered the autumn hunting team to set up camp outside Qionglin Garden.

From ancient times to the present, hunting for the royal family and the dignitaries has its own rules. It is not just a group of people gathering around and shooting a few arrows and then calling it a day.

Hunting is actually a form of activity that symbolizes a country's conquest. Hunters will treat their prey as enemies and use various military strategies and tactics to encircle and suppress the enemies.

It can also be understood as an activity for the country to show off its military power and military combat capabilities, in order to enhance the majesty of the royal family and the sense of belonging of the ministers and the people to the country and the dynasty.

So when hunting began, they did not rush forward and shoot prey with bows and arrows foolishly. Instead, they first set up camp, then rode out on horseback to scout out the gathering place of the prey. The cavalry then went out in batches to drive the prey to the designated area.

Finally, everyone gathered together and annihilated the enemy.

At this stage, it can be like in movies and TV dramas, with soldiers beating drums and gongs and shouting loudly about what someone has shot.

The rules of autumn hunting are somewhat complicated, and Zhao Xiaoqian only gained some understanding after taking a make-up class last night.

But autumn hunting is not the purpose today, and some processes can be simplified.

The main reason was that Zhao Xiaoqian didn't have the patience to camp in the wild for three or five days and could only eat dry food and game. Life was too hard and Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't bear any hardship.

Everything was kept simple and quick, with the main purpose being to teach the Liao delegation a lesson and make their bad tempers become humble and friendly.

After setting up the camp, Zhao Xiaoqian did not waste any time. He immediately ordered Zhong Jianzhong to mobilize the Dragon Guard Camp, and rode out on horseback to the left and right to surround a dense jungle three miles outside the Qionglin Garden.

The accompanying Song officials and playboys were quite surprised. According to the procedure, they should rest after setting up camp today and wait until tomorrow to start hunting.

Why did they start mobilizing troops to encircle their prey the moment they arrived at Qionglin Garden? Zhao Xiaoqian didn't bother to explain to them, "You can't imagine how happy the Crown Prince is in Bianjing. Who the hell would want to endure the hardship of sleeping in the open air for a few days?"
The Liao delegation was somewhat excited, and everyone was eager to try.

The Liao Dynasty was a country founded by nomadic people, who had a natural love for hunting.

The autumn hunt organized by Zhao Xiaoqian today was very much to their liking, and they couldn't wait to show off their skills in front of the officials of the State of Song and gain the respect of the people of the State of Song with their strength.

The Dragon Guard Camp cavalry had already set out. Zhao Xiaoqian rode on his horse, squinting his eyes as he watched the soldiers encircle the area from the left and right. More than a thousand people quickly surrounded a vast jungle, plains and hills, and slowly approached the center.

Xiao Guangjing rode his horse side by side with Zhao Xiaoqian. Seeing that the ranks of the imperial guards were sparse, he couldn't help but smile.

"You Song people are still a little weak after all. You are thin and short, without much strength. The horses you ride are also short Southern horses. The horses have little endurance and charge slowly. If you fight against my Liao country, hehe..."

"Oh, yes, yes." Zhao Xiaoqian replied perfunctorily.

The perfunctory attitude made Xiao Guangjing very angry. In the Liao Kingdom, no one dared to treat him like this.

However, when I think of Zhao Xiaoqian's character...

Xiao Guangjing took a deep breath and decided to endure it.

Because... there's really nothing we can do about this guy. It's so frustrating just thinking about it.

The soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp have surrounded the entire hunting ground and have been beating gongs non-stop. The animals in the hunting ground have fled from the dense forest in panic. Soon, all kinds of animals have gathered and are running, and the group has reached a considerable scale.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and turned to look at Xiao Guangjing. "I've heard that the Liao people are good hunters, and their horseback archery is unrivaled in the world. Does your envoy have this skill as well?"

Xiao Guangjing's eyes lit up. Didn't this hit the nail on the head?

Xiao Guangjing then smiled proudly: "Of course, if you don't mind, my Liao cavalry is willing to lead the charge and let you Song people open your eyes."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "Thank you for your help, Your Excellency. Please!"

Xiao Guangjing was not polite either. He immediately raised his arm and ordered the officials and entourage of the Liao delegation to take out their bows and arrows and form a battle formation. Then, Xiao Guangjing urged his horse to gallop out first, rushing towards the groups of prey.

The members of the Liao delegation also rode their horses and, as they charged towards the prey, they drew their bows and pulled the strings. In the fierce gallop, they each aimed at the prey.

After a whirring sound of bowstrings, more than ten animals of all sizes were shot by arrows and fell to the ground, emitting shrill howls.

The cavalry of a hundred men shot down more than ten prey in the first round of archery, which is truly admirable.

Zhao Xiaoqian coldly observed the Liao envoy's formation and accuracy, muttering, "The Liao cavalry is indeed powerful. If Song and Liao were to go to war, they would surely suffer more defeats than victories. Fortunately, I am here in this world..."

The Liao delegation went hunting and shot several rounds, capturing dozens of prey. They ran towards Zhao Xiaoqian happily, holding the prey they had shot.

That smug and arrogant look was really annoying, and the officials and playboys of the Song Dynasty all gritted their teeth.

Xiao Guangjing galloped up to Zhao Xiaoqian and said with a smug smile, "It was a small test, and I gained a little. What do you think of my Liao cavalry, Your Highness?"

"Good! Very powerful!" Zhao Xiaoqian gave a thumbs up and praised generously.

Xiao Guangjing and the Liao delegation's entourage became increasingly delighted, laughing wildly. As they laughed, they looked around at the Song officials with sullen faces, their eyes revealing undisguised contempt.

Zhao Xiaoqian also laughed, and his laugh was even happier than Xiao Guangjing.

"Your Excellency is a guest from afar, so let them enjoy themselves first. Now that you have enjoyed yourself, it's time for us, the Great Song, to test our skills, right?"

Xiao Guangjing laughed heartily and said, "My Lord, please, please show me your skills. I also want to see if the Song cavalry has improved since then."

Zhao Xiaoqian was not angry either, and looked at Zhong Jianzhong with a smile.

Zhong Jianzhong understood and slowly raised a small flag in his hand.

"Musketeers, march out!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a team of about 500 imperial guards walked out of the camp and formed a three-stage long formation towards the prey running panicking in the distance.

(End of this chapter)