The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

After the Second Prince caused some noise on the first day in the hunting ground, the autumn hunt went smoothly for the next ten days.

Even a civil servant with average skills like Zhang Pingan gained a lot. Although they were not rare species, he still felt a great sense of accomplishment.

The feeling of galloping freely on horseback makes people very happy, as if they have become a few years younger.

As an emperor, Zhou Ziming did not often lead his team out hunting. In the past half month, he only led the team out three times. He was very skilled and had a lot of gains. He even shot down several golden eagles, which won praise from civil and military officials.

Later, someone spread the rumor that the emperor was mad at the second prince, so he was not interested in the autumn hunt.

In contrast, the prince is both civil and military, and at a young age he has the demeanor of a benevolent monarch. He has great ambitions and is friendly to his brothers, which is admirable.

During the ten-day autumn hunt, he performed quite well. The team he led went hunting with King Qin Qingshan of Qin and achieved good results.

Ever since the incident on the first day, the Second Prince Zhou Shu has been staying at home and rarely going out. He is rarely seen in the camp, and it is unknown whether he has heard this message.

Anyway, after Zhang Ping'an learned about it, he was quite suspicious.

But he couldn't talk about things like this that concerned the Heavenly Family casually, so he could only suppress his doubts in his heart for the time being.

Today is the last day of the autumn hunt, and it is also the most grand and largest hunt in the autumn hunt.

The autumn weather is clear and cool, and after just over ten days, it already feels like winter has arrived. As the emperor, Zhou Ziming will naturally have to go on the trip as well, which means everything will be complete.

Xiao Yuer was too young to go, which was a pity, and he could only watch helplessly.

Zhang Pingan squatted down and warned again seriously: "Don't run around, don't eat anything, don't fight, be careful with what you say and do. Also, don't be too hot and take off your clothes casually, be careful not to catch a cold!"

"I know," Xiao Yuer replied unhappily.

The boys nearby were all very envious. At that time, most people believed in having grandchildren rather than sons. It was very rare to see such a good and intimate relationship between Zhang Pingan and his sons.

After tying the cloak, Zhang Ping'an touched his son's head, then turned around and left the tent with Lord Wang to gather in front of the distant grassland.

The royal grassland is vast and boundless. The blue sky and white clouds in the distance seem to have been washed by water, and against the backdrop of layers of undulating mountains, people's horizons can't help but become broader.

Zhang Ping'an narrowed his eyes and enjoyed the air of freedom.

After a while, Zhou Ziming came over wearing a dragon-patterned military uniform and a sword at his waist. His horse was a top-quality Arabian horse with a golden saddle, looking very majestic. With the flags behind him like a forest, the army's armor was bright and silent, which added a bit of majesty to Zhou Ziming's demeanor.

The prince and Qin Qingshan followed closely behind.

Now that the final person has arrived, it’s time to start taking action.

Zhou Ziming took the lead in waving his whip, and with a "go!" the horse immediately rushed forward like lightning.

The others hurried to catch up, spurring their horses and whipping their whips.

In less than two quarters of an hour, they entered the forest.

The outer forest is very dense, and there are many fallen leaves in the woods in late autumn. The fallen leaves are floating and hanging on the branches, with a kind of magnificence unique to autumn.

Although the Imperial Guards and the Cavalry Battalion were nearby to protect everyone's safety, they could not be too careless, especially not shoot arrows casually.

In such a large-scale hunting activity involving all civil and military officials, it is natural that the subordinate cannot steal the limelight from the superior.

Therefore, apart from being on guard today, Donkey Egg and Cat Egg did not prepare to gain anything.

"It's a bit boring," Maodaner complained quietly to his big brother Ludaner.

Donkey Egg was very cautious. He glared at his younger brother without saying anything.

When Maodan saw this, he smiled silently in embarrassment twice and quickly rode his horse back to his team.

As you go deeper into the forest, it becomes quieter and naturally there are more prey.

Zhang Pingan takes action according to the situation and does not seek credit.

The bodyguards following Zhou Ziming in front of him were already hanging a lot of prey, mostly foxes, roe deer and the like.

Zhou Ziming had a stern face and a solemn expression, and did not relax just because it was just an autumn hunt.

Suddenly, everyone heard a tiger roar as loud as an earth-shaking roar in the nearby forest, startling countless crows.

Then, a yellow and black hurricane rushed out from the depths of the forest.

When everyone looked closely, they found that it was a white-browed tiger with hanging eyes and a body as big as an ox.

The accompanying guards drew their arrows and formed a battle array, shouting, "My lords, be careful!"

Zhang Ping'an and other colleagues also took out the weapons they carried with them for self-defense.

But Zhou Ziming was sitting on his horse as steady as a mountain. He drew a golden arrow from his quiver, drew the string, opened the bow, and took aim. His movements were done in one go and with all his strength, there was a "buzz" sound of tearing silk. The arrow turned into a deadly cold star and accurately penetrated into the "king" pattern on the tiger's forehead.

The tiger realized something was wrong and it was too late to stop or turn around, so it fell to the ground.

Before he died, he let out a mournful roar that shook the mountains and the earth. Then he fell to the ground with a bang, a trickle of blood flowing from his forehead, and he was silent.

The officials and guards were nervous at first, but then they became excited, and shouts of "Long live" resounded through the sky.

Zhou Ziming showed no emotion, and even a hint of sadness. He casually instructed the accompanying eunuch, "It's not easy for this tiger to grow this big. We don't know how old it is. Leave its body intact!"

The eunuch nodded in agreement, feeling a little regretful.

But he was the emperor, and he had seen all kinds of good things, so of course he couldn't refute it.

After obtaining the trophy of the white-browed tiger, Zhou Ziming no longer asked the civil and military officials to follow him, and let everyone move in teams with more freedom.

Upon hearing this, the generals and nobles were all eager to take advantage of this opportunity to show off their skills one last time. After discussing with each other, they divided into several teams and left.

The civil officials were not as skilled as the military officials, but they had also learned the six arts of a gentleman and were decent at riding and shooting.

They split into two groups and left.

In the end, only a few older first- and second-rank civil servants were left around Zhou Ziming, such as Prime Minister Lu and Grand Tutor Qian.

The time has come for them to no longer rely on the autumn hunt to show off.

Among all the officials, Zhang Ping'an is the youngest and stands out.

Prime Minister Lu jokingly said, "It will be hard for Master Zhang to follow us old men!"

"No, no," Zhang Pingan smiled and said modestly, "I would love to learn from His Majesty and all the gentlemen!"

While they were talking, they walked forward a little further.

"Something is not right," Zhou Ziming suddenly waved his hand to signal everyone to stop.

"It's too quiet!" Zhang Ping'an replied, frowning and looking around.

I sniffed carefully in the direction of the wind and found a fishy smell.

Zhou Ziming also smelled it and said in a deep voice: "The white-browed tiger that ran out just now must have encountered this big guy!"