Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Inside the Imperial Horse Ranch, on the spacious pasture, the Crown Prince had already arranged numerous competitions.

Beside it stood a seven-story tower, where the royal ladies gathered to admire the handsome men of the capital.

Having beautiful women watching the game is something that naturally fuels a man's desire to perform.

Moreover, many people had heard the news that Princess Zhaoyang was choosing a husband. As a result, all the princes and nobles in the capital were as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. Whenever they went on stage, they all performed with all their might, trying their best to show their best side.

"Princess……"

On the third floor, as Princess Zhaoyang arrived, all the palace maids and eunuchs stepped aside, except for one tall woman whose graceful figure and elegant demeanor could not be concealed even in her palace maid attire, who remained standing by the railing.

She stood there quietly, without making the slightest movement, yet it was as if she had the world at her feet.

Princess Zhaoyang looked somewhat dazed, yet also reverent, and obediently stood beside her.

The woman turned her head and glanced at her.

What beautiful eyes they were! Every single eyelash seemed perfectly groomed, without a trace of dirt or blemish.

Beautiful and intelligent, as if she could see into people's hearts.

Just from those eyes, one can tell that this is a woman of unparalleled beauty.

Unfortunately, below those eyelids, a semi-transparent veil obscured the view, preventing a full glimpse.

Princess Zhaoyang smiled and said, "My eldest brother said that the hunting activity will be held in an hour, and he instructed me to prepare your attire."

The woman smiled, and in an instant, it was like a spring breeze.

"But I'm not very good at riding horses, and I'm afraid it might cause you trouble. Why don't you go and have fun, and I won't go?"

Her voice was gentle and ethereal, like the song of a nightingale.

Princess Zhaoyang grabbed her arm and shook it, "No, it's already agreed. I wouldn't have agreed to come out with you, my elder brother! If you're not going, I won't go either."

Seeing that the woman shook her head helplessly, which meant she agreed, Princess Zhaoyang became happy, took the woman's arm, and accompanied her to watch the competition below.

"Qingran, what do you think of that person?"

The woman suddenly gestured to a young man in the distance who was riding a horse and shooting at a target.

Princess Zhaoyang curled her lip: "The son of the Vice Minister of Rites is always flattering the eldest prince, but he stutters when he speaks, which is annoying to watch."

The woman remained silent for a while, then pointed to the young men fighting on the platform and asked, "What about this one?"

Princess Zhaoyang glanced at him, deliberately ignoring the burly opponent, and after a moment's thought, said:

"He seems to be the son of some general's mansion. I've met him before; he's quite a promising young man... Oh dear, you really want to find me a son-in-law?"

"Didn't we agree that we were just out for sightseeing today? If you keep acting like this, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

Faced with Princess Zhaoyang's refusal to go on the blind date, the woman simply said, "You're already over eighteen."

Princess Zhaoyang felt a pang of guilt and quickly resorted to her charm and coquetry.

The woman had no way to deal with her and sighed, "Men should marry when they are of age and women should marry when they are of age. Do you want to play around like this for the rest of your life?"

Tell me, what kind of man can catch your eye?

Princess Zhaoyang knew she couldn't avoid it, so she thought for a moment and smiled, "The man I like only needs to meet three conditions."

The woman looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

"First, he must be handsome."

The man I like must be an exceptionally handsome man. If he is not, even if he comes from a prominent family, is as rich as Shi Chong, and is as talented as Cao Zhi, he will not catch my eye.

The palace servants on the periphery couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh when they heard Princess Zhaoyang say this.

Everyone loves beauty, but few people besides princesses would dare to say it so boldly and shamelessly in public.

"Secondly... he must have lofty ambitions, brilliant strategies, the capacity to encompass the universe, and the ambition to swallow the heavens and earth!"

At this point, Princess Zhaoyang smiled playfully, glanced at the woman, and seemed afraid that she would scold her.

But the woman didn't; she simply stared at her and asked, "Anything else?"

"Furthermore, he has to be better than me, better than me in every way. Otherwise, I'm afraid he won't be able to stand up straight in front of me. What's the point of marrying a husband like that?"

Princess Zhaoyang said matter-of-factly.

She had met several of her uncles' husbands, and none of them showed any masculinity in front of her aunt; they were definitely not the men she wanted.

The stunningly beautiful woman stared at her for a long while before bursting into laughter. "I'm afraid the kind of man you're talking about doesn't even exist. I don't think you've thought about it seriously at all; you're just trying to shut me up with those words."

Princess Zhaoyang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the woman smile, and then pleaded, "That's really what I thought, I didn't lie to you at all."

Alright, there are too many people here today, and it's hard to choose among so many people.

"How about we wait until after today, when we return to the palace, and you summon all the qualified people in, so I can choose them one by one in person? That would be much more convenient than this."

"You said it yourself, don't go back on your word later..."

"No, no."

……

The Crown Prince decreed that the top three finishers in all competitions may accompany the princes and princesses on a hunting trip to the mountains and forests in the northwest at the hour of Si (9-11 AM).

Accompanying the princes on a hunt is nothing special; what is rare is being able to hunt with Princess Zhaoyang, which is an immense honor.

If I show off my skills in front of the princess, I might win her favor and become her son-in-law. That would change my life forever!

Therefore, those who had won in the previous trial were all eager to try again, secretly excited.

Those who were not qualified to play with the princess could only feel regret in their hearts, and then wait outside the guard's perimeter for the princess and her entourage to return from the hunt.

……

After bidding farewell to Feng Ziying and the others, Jia Lian returned to his assigned area of ​​duty and patrolled the garden. He showed no curiosity about what was happening in the garden, nor did he intend to curry favor with the Crown Prince.

Although the crown prince is the heir apparent and the future boss.

However, in Jia Lian's opinion, the current boss is still in good health and should be able to run the business for a long time. There is no need to risk being suspected by the emperor by trying to win the favor of the crown prince.

Of course, you can't offend them either.

There's really not much to patrol. Not to mention that the Imperial Guards have the Royal Horse Stables completely under their protection, there's no one else around the Royal Garden except for the tenants of the Imperial Estates.

The tenants knew that something big was going to happen today, so they didn't even dare to leave their homes. In the entire area, apart from the nobles who were active in the center, there were only soldiers everywhere, and not a single other living person could be seen.

Jia Lian also felt bored, so he simply brewed tea under the shade of the trees in the woods to pass the time.

Upon seeing this, Commander Xie Jun came over to freeload some tea and chat with the boss to relieve his boredom.

Suddenly, they heard the rapid sound of horses' hooves coming from the mountain road to the north. Jia Lian and his companion looked over and saw a beautifully decorated horse carrying a veiled beauty who looked like she was about to fall, galloping wildly down the mountain.

"Who goes there?!"

The guards, who were already bored, immediately formed a line and blocked the way, trying to stop the person who was trying to break through the checkpoint.

Jia Lian immediately recognized that this person was someone close to Princess Zhaoyang, and that the horse was clearly out of control.

If the soldiers were allowed to stop them, the person on horseback might fall off and suffer greatly, possibly even losing their life.

Then he shouted, "Get out of the way!"

The soldiers, who were worried that they wouldn't be able to stop the galloping horse, managed to make way for it and let it go down the mountain path.

"Sir, what should we do? Could she be an escaped assassin...?"

Jia Lian didn't understand Jun's words. Could there really be such a delicate and powerless assassin? Besides, we'd know for sure once we caught the assassin.

"I'll go after them and check it out. You stay here and keep watch on the situation!"

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he untied his white horse from the tree and turned to head down the mountain.

Under Jia Lian's pursuit, they soon saw the exhausted man and horse.

At this moment, Jia Lian could naturally confirm that the woman was not fleeing, but rather unable to control the horse beneath her. She could only lower her body and tightly grip the reins, swaying precariously several times, appearing both pitiful and beautiful.

Perhaps hearing Jia Lian chasing after her, she turned around and glanced back, but made no comment.

Give me your hand...

The road was difficult to traverse, and Jia Lian managed to get his horse to stop side by side. He then had the beauty hand him so he could use the leverage to pull her onto his own horse and prevent her from getting hurt.

Unfortunately, the beauty clearly didn't understand what he meant, and her body was very tense, only knowing to hold on tightly to prevent herself from falling.

Jia Lian reached out twice without success. Seeing that the mountain road ahead was about to end, with streams and farmland below, he knew that if he let it continue, the beauty would inevitably fall off her horse.

With a determined heart and relying on his superior skills, Jia Lian, on the third attempt to cross the river, suddenly abandoned his white horse and leaped over it...

She was hanging precariously on the other's horse, but before he could hold the beauty tight and help her tame the runaway horse as planned,

The horse seemed to be overworked and unable to bear the sudden weight, so its legs buckled and it fell straight forward.

"Ahhh!"

The beauty finally let out her first gasp.

……