Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne-Chapter 223 - One Hundred and Seventy-Seven

At noon, the morning hunt ended.

The Emperor led the way back to the camp and checked the game. He had shot quite a few deer and foxes. However, luck wasn’t great in the morning, as no wolves or bears were sighted.

The Crown Prince didn’t shoot much game. Prince Dai shot quite a lot, but not as much as the Emperor. He didn’t expect he would lose to the Fourth Prince.

During the hunt, the Fourth Prince didn’t compete aggressively but turned out to have shot the most game among the brothers.

The Third Prince and Fifth Prince shot even less game than the Crown Prince.

Shen Hu, Chu Ying, and Zhang Gong shot a lot of game, but still less compared to the Emperor.

In the morning hunting contest, the Emperor won.

Zhao Yao and Song Jicai shot some game too, but unfortunately, they didn’t catch any deer.

A campfire was lit in the camp, and the Imperial Chefs were roasting the deer and wild rabbits shot by the Emperor and others.

Zhao Yao sat beside the Fourth Prince, inquiring how much game the Fourth Prince shot in the morning.

Song Jicai and the others obediently sat beside their elder brother.

Upon learning that the Fourth Prince caught more game than Prince Dai, Zhao Yao was full of admiration for his fourth brother.

"Fourth Brother, you’re really amazing!" However, his fourth brother had always been low-key, so how did he become so high-profile this time and even surpass Second Brother?

The Fourth Prince smiled modestly, "It’s nothing. I’ve asked Wei Mian to send a few foxes to Zhaoyi Niangniang; later, you and Fifth Sister can have a few more cloaks made." The Fourth Prince had shot quite a few foxes in the morning and sent some to his mother; the rest were all sent to Liang Zhaoyi through Wei Mian.

Every year during the spring and fall hunts, the Fourth Prince would send a few foxes to Liang Zhaoyi.

"Fourth Brother, I also sent you three foxes." Zhao Yao had shot three foxes in the morning and sent all of them to the Fourth Prince. "And, I also shot a few wild rabbits and had Tong Xi send them to your tent."

The Fourth Prince laughed, "It seems you also gained quite a bit in the morning."

Zhao Yao chuckled twice and then humbly said, "Not as much as you, Fourth Brother."

"You’re still young."

Just then, Wei Mian and Tong Xi simultaneously brought freshly roasted venison, mutton, and rabbit.

Smelling the aroma of the roasted meat, Zhao Yao’s stomach growled with hunger. He was about to grab a lamb chop to gnaw on but was stopped by the Fourth Prince.

The Fourth Prince took the soup from Wei Mian and placed it in front of Zhao Yao, "Have some soup first."

Zhao Yao had to put down the lamb chop and slowly drank the soup.

The Fourth Prince took the lamb chop Zhao Yao had just put down into his own bowl, then took out a dagger and a handkerchief from his chest pocket. He wiped the dagger with the handkerchief, then cut the meat off the lamb chop Zhao Yao had just picked up.

By the time Zhao Yao finished the soup, the Fourth Prince had already cut the meat for him.

"Thank you, Fourth Brother." Zhao Yao picked up his chopsticks and began eating the meat.

After eating a few pieces of meat, the Fourth Prince urged him to eat some vegetables.

After eating for a while, Zhao Yao finally remembered something he hadn’t yet told the Fourth Prince.

"Fourth Brother, we found something strange during the hunt this morning."

The Fourth Prince had just picked up his wine cup, but upon hearing Zhao Yao’s words, he quickly put it down and asked, "What was strange?"

Zhao Yao’s hands were greasy from eating, he licked his fingers and said, "We initially went to the northern forest, but after arriving, we found nothing but birds, not even wild rabbits." As he spoke, he picked up another piece of roasted venison to eat. After finishing the meat in his mouth, he continued, "Chu Huan and the others said they hunt in the northern forest every year. Although the game isn’t abundant, there is some. They caught quite a few foxes and rabbits last year. But this morning, we didn’t see any, not even a rabbit’s fur."

"We wandered around for a long time but really didn’t see a single rabbit or fox. Isn’t that strange?"

The Fourth Prince’s brow furrowed, "You really didn’t see a single rabbit or fox?"

"Truly, aside from birds, we didn’t see any other animals." Zhao Yao deliberately said, "Could someone have driven the game out of the northern forest? Otherwise, how could there be none?"

The Fourth Prince thought this was indeed very peculiar, "It’s possible they were driven out."

"Why drive them out?"

"The northern forest is relatively remote," the Fourth Prince cautioned Zhao Yao, "Since there’s no game in the northern forest, don’t go there again."

"With no game, why should we go?" Zhao Yao was assured, seeing that the Fourth Prince had listened to his words.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)novelkiss