My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 287 Spring Hunting
Soon, the day of spring hunting arrived.

Chu Lu did not sit still these days. He used almost all the means he could to try to find out what tricks Xiao Jiu was going to play in the spring hunt. However, he found nothing. After all, he was the emperor, and it was inconvenient for him to go out of the palace to investigate in person. He could only send his copy natives to inquire. But the influence of the heroine's halo was too strong. Under the interference of the heroine's halo, those copy natives were like headless flies. It was impossible for them to find any valuable clues, and failure was inevitable.

After trying several times, Chu Lu had no choice but to give up and put all his energy into the security of Chunshou. Since it was impossible to predict the crisis, he could only make as much preparation as possible and respond to all changes with the same attitude.

He personally reviewed all the procedures for the spring hunt, from the route to the camp site, and repeatedly considered every detail.

Finally, the location of the spring hunt was decided to be the Tianshu Paddock, a hundred miles outside the capital. This was a long and undulating royal hunting ground, with deep forests, dense grass, abundant water and grass, and common prey such as elk and hare. There were few wild animals such as tigers, leopards, and bears, so it was very safe.

The core hunting area was set in a relatively open valley, surrounded by gentle mountains and excellent visibility, which facilitated observation and early warning. The camp was set up on a high ground at the entrance of the valley, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun. All the trees and weeds within a hundred feet were cleared to prevent fire attacks or ambushes. The defense of the camp itself was taken to the extreme by him. Not only did he send three times the number of Royal Guards, but he also dug trenches outside the camp and erected antler forks, making it look like it was ready for battle.

All the guards who participated in the spring hunt had also been strictly selected. They were all veteran soldiers in the army. Most of them had served at the border. They were not only skilled in archery, but also had rich experience in surviving in the wild and dealing with wild beasts. He also ordered that all the guards who participated in the escort be equipped with special animal-repelling smoke pills and emergency detoxification pills.

Everything was arranged properly, and the Spring Hunting Ceremony finally kicked off under the attention of the public.

That morning, outside the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City, there was a great bustle of people. The royal family, princes, ministers, and some specially granted military honors were all dressed in fine clothes, armed with bows and arrows, and riding their fine horses in high spirits. They were all rubbing their hands, ready to show their skills in the hunting grounds.

When Chu Lu arrived, there were cheers of "Long live the emperor". After a lengthy ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven, the officials of the Honglu Temple loudly announced the rules of the spring hunt: the spring hunt will last for three days, and rewards will be given based on the number and rarity of the prey. Each prince and princess can form a team and lead their entourage to the hunting ground.

The sound of trumpets resounded through the sky, and a huge team set out in a mighty manner, heading towards the royal hunting ground on the outskirts of Beijing.

After arriving at the camp and taking a short rest, the troops could not wait to divide into groups, choose their own directions, and rush into the vast hunting grounds. According to the rules, Chu Lu, as the emperor, naturally led a team alone, guarded by the most elite imperial guards, to symbolically patrol the hunting grounds.

Chu Lu sat upright on the imperial horse, his expression calm, his eyes alert to the movements around him.

The team moved slowly through the woods. Apart from the sounds of birds singing and animals running, the surroundings were relatively quiet.

However, just as they reached the edge of a dense forest, a rapid roar suddenly came from the front.

"Something's happening!" The leader of the guards beside Chu Lu shouted loudly, and everyone immediately reined in their horses, drew their bows and arrows, and formed a defensive formation.

Dust was flying in the forest, and dozens of wild wolves with red eyes and saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths rushed out of the forest like crazy and rushed straight towards Chu Lu and his party!
"Your Majesty, be careful!" the guards shouted and shot arrows in a well-trained manner.

However, these wild wolves seemed to feel no pain. After being shot by arrows, they simply paused for a moment before pouncing even more ferociously.

"Set the net!" the guard commander gave the order decisively.

Several large nets were thrown out in an instant, covering several wild wolves. The rest of the wild wolves were held tightly by the guards holding spears. For a moment, the sound of people shouting, horses neighing, weapons clashing and wild animals roaring mixed together.

Chu Lu watched coldly, without a trace of panic.

Thanks to their thorough preparation, after a fierce battle, this small group of mad beasts were quickly killed or captured.

"Your Majesty, there seems to be something wrong with these wild beasts." The guard leader reported solemnly after examining the body of a wild wolf, "Wild beasts also cherish their lives. Under normal circumstances, they will never attack rashly and fight to the death."

Chu Lu nodded slightly, thinking to himself: These beasts came strangely, and their mad appearance was also weird. In addition, Qin Su said that there was a plot of encountering wild beasts in the spring hunting plot. Needless to say, this must be the work of Xiao Jiu. But... is that all?

Chu Lu was a little skeptical.

He didn't think Xiao Jiu would be so confident that he only needed to prepare a dozen crazy wolves to kill him. Even if she was the heroine, that was a bit too stupid, right? Right? Right...right?

Although he became more and more unsure the more he thought about it, he decided to be cautious for the sake of safety and to use this attack as an excuse to end the spring hunt early.

Chu Lu said in a deep voice: "There may be something unusual in the hunting ground today. For safety reasons, the hunting will end here and we will return to the camp immediately!"

The guards naturally dared not object to the emperor's order. They turned their horses around and wanted to go back the same way. But they had not gone far when several ragged hunters suddenly stumbled out from the forest path ahead. When they saw Chu Lu in the royal ceremonial uniform, they were frightened out of their wits and fell to their knees, kowtowed repeatedly, and shouted incoherently: "I kowtow to you...I kowtow to you, my lord!"

When he saw Lu Longpao clearly, his face turned pale and he exclaimed, "Is... Is it the Emperor!?"

"Your Majesty, spare my life! I didn't know your Majesty was here, and I disturbed your Majesty. I deserve to be put to death!"

Chu Lu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Stand up. Why are you here? It seems that you are in trouble?"

The leading hunter kowtowed several times and then said in a tearful voice, "Your Majesty, we were originally hunting in this mountain, but today the wild animals in the mountain suddenly went mad for some reason and injured people everywhere. We were lucky enough to escape and were just trying to find a safe way down the mountain."

"Is that so?" Chu Lu said without comment. He looked at the hunters, thinking that they must have something else to say.

As expected, the hunter carefully looked at the team again, and hesitated, "Your Majesty, are you going there?"

Then, without waiting for Chu Lu to speak, he said excitedly: "Your Majesty! You must not go to that place! Your Majesty's body is worth a lot of money, you must not take risks! If your Majesty wants to return to the camp, please follow us to take another path to bypass that dangerous place!"

Chu Lu immediately sneered in his heart, thinking that Xiao Jiu's plan was indeed more than that.

Before the spring hunt, the royal hunting grounds were supposed to be cleared, so how could they have encountered several hunters by such coincidence? Wasn't this obviously a planned play?

Chu Lu sneered in his heart, but remained calm on his face. He said to the old hunter, "No need. My guards are enough to deal with any danger. You can leave on your own."

After that, he ignored the hunters who were looking at each other in bewilderment and directly ordered: "Keep going, return to the camp!"

The team continued to return along the original route. As expected, they encountered several waves of sporadic attacks by wild beasts on the road, but they were not large in scale. In front of Chu Lu's well-prepared guards, they could not cause any trouble at all and were easily resolved.

After returning to the camp safely, Chu Lu found that they were the ones who came back relatively early, as there was no sign of the other teams of princes and princesses.

But Chu Lu still felt a little uneasy, thinking that Xiao Jiu might have a trick up his sleeve. So he immediately ordered the guards to carefully check the water source, food supplies, and tents that were prone to fire in the camp, as well as all other places where there might be tampering.

After a careful investigation, no abnormalities were found.

Chu Lu then breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his own royal tent.

He thought about it again and again, and could no longer think of any possible risks, so he started talking to Qin Su in his heart.

"Qin Su," he said in his heart, "it seems that I have passed this level. This Xiao Jiu's method is just like this."

"Yeah, that's true." Qin Su also agreed, "After all, she is a heroine who likes to rely on cheats and violence. She is not used to not being able to fight back and being bound by rules and regulations. It's not surprising that she can't come up with any good plans."

Chu Lu picked up the teacup, took a sip, and felt much more relaxed. It seemed that this crisis was passed without any danger...

However, at this moment, a panicked cry suddenly came from outside the tent. A guard of the Imperial Guards rushed in, covered in blood, with his armor torn to pieces. With a look of extreme fear on his face, he cried hoarsely, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Chu Lu was stunned and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something serious going on?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince... The Second Prince... The Third Prince... Everyone... Everyone..."

The guard took a deep breath and shouted, "They're all dead!"

Chu Lu was stunned, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground with a bang and broke into pieces.

(End of this chapter)