」
Yun Zheng smiled, his gaze sweeping past Ye Zi.
She was clever indeed!
Too bad she had ruined his chance to deal with Yuan Gui!
At this moment, Madam Shen slowly spoke up: "We knelt outside the palace gates all night yesterday. I have a frail constitution and unfortunately caught a cold. I'm afraid of passing it to Your Highness, so please excuse me, Your Highness, feel free to do as you please!"
With that, Madam Shen walked straight toward the inner hall.
"I must go supervise Nianci's studies, so I will also excuse myself."
Saying this, Wei Shuang also took her leave.
Watching their retreating figures, Yun Zheng instantly understood.
No wonder they had suddenly turned so polite and obediently bowed to him.
So they had been waiting right here for him!
This was a clear attempt to slap him in the face right in front of outsiders!
Yuan Gui looked at Yun Zheng mockingly. "Your Highness, we are still going horseback riding in the countryside. If there's nothing else, we shall take our leave as well!"
Even this idiot wanted to slap him in the face?
Just watch how I ruin you, you bastard!
Yun Zheng sneered inwardly, then smiled and said, "I have nothing to do anyway. I'll go horseback riding with you!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Luoyan immediately became displeased, curled her lip in utter disgust, and scoffed, "You? Do you even know how to ride a horse?"
"I really don't know much about it."
Yun Zheng gave an embarrassed smile, then turned to ask Yuan Gui, "Commander Yuan, you are a cavalry commander, so your horsemanship must be excellent, right?"
Obviously!
Yuan Gui looked down on Yun Zheng in his heart, but replied with a smile, "Horsemanship is just the most basic skill for a cavalry commander. Anyone who makes it to cavalry commander must be proficient in both riding and archery!"
"Really?"
Yun Zheng said with eager enthusiasm, "Commander Yuan, I'll be heading off to the battlefield soon, but my horsemanship is truly terrible. On the way here just now, my two guards were terrified I'd fall off my horse. Why don't you teach me some riding skills?"
As he spoke, Yun Zheng looked at Yuan Gui with a face full of admiration.
Yet in his heart, he was thinking: *Idiot, get into the trap, and let His Highness here ruin you completely...*
Chapter 8: Ruining someone without batting an eye
Teach him how to ride?
Yuan Gui's heart stirred, and he immediately nodded with a cheerful smile: "Since Your Highness has said so, how could Yuan Gui dare refuse!"
Just right—this would let him witness his horsemanship first-hand!
And let him see just how pathetic and useless he really was!
If not for Emperor Wen bestowing the marriage, Shen Luoyan would definitely have been his!
Even if he couldn't change the outcome, he was going to slap Yun Zheng hard across the face to vent the pent-up anger in his heart!
"Then you guys go, I'm not going!"
Shen Luoyan had no interest to begin with, and seeing that Yun Zheng was still brazenly insisting on tagging along, she lost interest even more.
She didn't want to look at Yun Zheng for even a single second!
Hearing this, Ye Zi felt a wave of speechlessness in her heart and hurriedly persuaded, "Luoyan, let's just go clear our heads together! You and the Sixth Highness can take this opportunity to get more familiar with each other."
Ye Zi felt utterly depressed inside. She hadn't wanted to draw unwarranted suspicion upon Shen Luoyan, which was why she had taken the matter upon herself.
If Shen Luoyan backed out now, didn't that mean she was selling her own self out?
She didn't want to see this good-for-nothing, but did *she* want to see him either?
With Shen Luoyan around, at least she had someone to talk to!
"That's right, let's all go together!"
Yuan Gui chimed in to persuade them, adding with a sarcastic sneer, "We can just happen to admire the heroic posture of the Sixth Highness riding a horse!"
Hm?
Shen Luoyan's heart stirred slightly, and the corner of her eye swept across Yun Zheng.
Right!
She would go and see this good-for-nothing's so-called "heroic posture."
And ruthlessly crush him!
To let him know that she was the fierce daughter of a military general and would look down on him forever!
Clinging to this thought, Shen Luoyan finally nodded in agreement.
Stepping out of the Shen Mansion, the family servants had already brought over their respective horses.
Yuan Gui wanted to show off before Yun Zheng. As he vaulted onto his horse, he immediately executed a one-handed mount.
Show-off!
Yun Zheng cursed inwardly, while aloud he offered endless praise: "Truly deserving of a cavalry commander, your horsemanship is indeed superb beyond compare!"
Yuan Gui smiled triumphantly. "Your Highness, you should mount your horse first."
With that, Yuan Gui wore the expression of someone waiting for a show, fully prepared to watch Yun Zheng make a fool of himself.
"You, get down first."
Yun Zheng called out to Yuan Gui, "I'll start learning right from mounting the horse!"
"Fine!"
Yuan Gui executed a graceful flip and leaped down from the horse's back.
Yun Zheng praised him once more, while laughing hysterically inside.
Show-off, you just wait to cry your eyes out, you bastard!
Yuan Gui walked up to Yun Zheng, shook his head as he explained the essentials once more, and then told Yun Zheng to give it a try.
Yun Zheng nodded and immediately attempted to mount the horse.
Yet try as he might several times, he couldn't manage to get up.
Watching Yun Zheng's flustered and clumsy appearance, the few people at the entrance could no longer bear to watch.
Shen Luoyan's face was full of disgust; she was just short of cursing him out loud as a good-for-nothing on the spot!
Even the Shen family servants were biting their lips hard to suppress their laughter.
"You... push me up."
Yun Zheng gave an awkward laugh, looking somewhat embarrassed as he glanced at Yuan Gui.
"Okay, okay..."
Yuan Gui bit his lip hard to hold back his laughter and gave Yun Zheng a gentle push upward.
The moment he pushed him up, a trace of a mischievous smile flashed quietly across Yun Zheng's face. He suddenly exerted force with his feet, vaulted straight over the horse's back, and rolled right off the other side.
"Your Highness!"
Zhou Mi and Gao He cried out simultaneously. Zhou Mi even lunged forward in a flying dive, throwing himself flat onto the ground directly beneath Yun Zheng.
Yun Zheng landed squarely on top of Zhou Mi, the impact forcing a soft groan from Zhou Mi.
"Haha..."
Seeing Yun Zheng in such a miserable state, Yuan Gui, who had been struggling desperately to hold back his laughter, could no longer contain himself and finally burst out laughing.
Shen Luoyan, already inclined to watch Yun Zheng make a fool of himself, joined in with hearty laughter.
However, as he laughed on, Yuan Gui noticed something was amiss.
He saw that everyone at the entrance was staring straight at him, their gazes as if looking at an absolute idiot.
Remembering Yun Zheng's identity, Yuan Gui's heart gave a violent jolt, and he snapped his mouth shut.
"Stupid!"
Ye Zi cursed silently in her heart, utterly speechless.
Shen Luoyan was the Princess Consort Sixth; it was no big deal if she laughed a little.
But what was Yuan Gui's status?
The Sixth Highness had fallen from his horse, and instead of helping him up, you stood there laughing?
Were you really that afraid you weren't dying fast enough?
She retracted her previous assessment of Yuan Gui.
He wasn't just rash and brainless; he was downright stupid!
Ye Zi cast a look of disgust at Yuan Gui, then gently tugged at Shen Luoyan beside her, signaling her to exercise a bit of restraint.
"Are you alright?"
Yun Zheng scrambled to his feet and hurriedly pulled Zhou Mi up.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, this subordinate is fine."
Zhou Mi patted the dust off his clothes.
"Good thing you're fine."
Yun Zheng let out a sigh of relief, then turned to Yuan Gui: "Commander Yuan, the next time you push me up, please don't use so much force."
Force?
Yuan Gui froze slightly.
He hadn't used much force at all!
It was just standard strength!
"Audacious Yuan Gui, how dare you push the Sixth Highness off his horse?"
A furious roar suddenly exploded in Yuan Gui's ears.
Hearing this, Yuan Gui gave a start and stammered in a flustered panic to explain: "I... I didn't use force! It was... it was the Sixth Highness himself who accidentally slipped!"
"Bullshit!"
Gao He's face was frost-covered. "Are you saying His Highness is framing you?"
"It's fine, it's nothing!"
Yun Zheng hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over, saying with a cheerful smile, "I reckon Commander Yuan just wasn't paying attention and failed to control his strength. He certainly didn't do it on purpose."
Hearing Yun Zheng's words, Yuan Gui almost jumped up and cursed to the heavens.
This wasn't smoothing things over at all!
This was pouring oil on the fire plain and simple!
Sure enough, upon hearing Yun Zheng's words, the frost on Gao He and Zhou Mi's faces deepened even further.
They had already concluded that Yuan Gui had done it on purpose!
He had deliberately tried to make the Sixth Highness make a fool of himself in front of Shen Luoyan!
Facing their furious glares, Yuan Gui found himself unable to defend himself and hurriedly shot a look of plea for help toward Shen Luoyan.
Shen Luoyan curled her lip and sneered, "It was his own poor horsemanship to begin with, falling off the horse all by hi—"
"Miss Shen, please mind your status!"
Gao He raised his eyes to look at Shen Luoyan. "You will soon be the Princess Consort Sixth!"
Shen Luoyan choked slightly, and just as she was about to retort, she was pulled back by Ye Zi.
Taking this in, Yun Zheng nodded inwardly.
Gao He's situational awareness wasn't bad at all!
What Gao He wanted to say was precisely what he wanted to say as well.
"Forget it, forget it!"
Yun Zheng waved his hand dismissively, then said to Gao He and Zhou Mi, "I'll have you two teach me how to ride another day! Let's go, we won't stay here to join in the excitement."
With that, Yun Zheng attempted to mount the horse once more.
Although he was just as clumsy this time, no one dared to laugh anymore.
Gao He and Zhou Mi cast one last cold glare at Yuan Gui before swiftly vaulting onto their horses.
After briefly bidding farewell to Shen Luoyan, Yun Zheng rode off, making sure not to forget to instruct Gao He and Zhou Mi on his way: "Imperial Father hasn't been in a good mood lately. Make sure you two don't mention this matter to him; otherwise, in his anger, Imperial Father might just behead Commander Yuan."
Damn it!
If I can't beat you to death, I'll scare you to death, you bastard!
You'd better hurry up and have your old man bring some good treasures over to apologize!
Yun Zheng's voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for Yuan Gui to hear every single word clearly.
Yuan Gui was scared nearly half to death and collapsed straight onto his backside on the ground.
"Yuan Gui, you have no sense of propriety whatsoever!"
Shen Luoyan glared at Yuan Gui. "No matter how incompetent he is, he is still an imperial prince! Pushing an imperial prince off his horse—at best, it's a lack of respect; at worst, it's attempted assassination of royalty!"
Attempted assassination of royalty?
Hearing Shen Luoyan's words, Yuan Gui felt like he was about to piss his pants in terror.
"I didn't use any force at all! He really did slip and fall by himself!"
Yuan Gui wailed aloud as he scrambled up on trembling legs.
"I know you wanted to make a fool of him to vent your anger for me."
Shen Luoyan gently shook her head. "The Emperor has already issued an imperial decree bestowing the marriage. I will be the Princess Consort Sixth before long. To avoid suspicion, you shouldn't come to our house anymore..."
"I..."
Yuan Gui was on the verge of tears, wailing continuously in his heart.
He really hadn't used any force!
Why did nobody believe him?
What should he do? What on earth should he do now?
If the Emperor found out about this, he might actually behead him!
The more Yuan Gui thought about it, the more terrified he became. Too panicked to speak further with Shen Luoyan, he hurriedly leaped onto his horse and galloped frantically back toward his estate.
Watching Yuan Gui's retreating figure, Ye Zi couldn't help but fall into deep thought...
Chapter 9: Any horse rides the same
Yuan Residence.
"What?"
Yuan Cong snapped to his feet, delivered a fierce kick that sent Yuan Gui sprawling to the ground, and roared, "You beast, you actually dared to push the Sixth Highness off his horse? Have you got a death wish?"
"Father, I really didn't push him down!"
Yuan Gui cried out as he lay on the floor, "It was completely his own fault for falling off!"
"Bullshit!"
Yuan Cong flew into a rage. "If you didn't push him down, what were you laughing at?"
"I..."
Yuan Gui choked, continuing to cry grievances in his heart.
"Master, calm down!"
Madam Yuan stepped forward, smiling genially. "Isn't he just that good-for-nothing Sixth Highness? Even if Guier did push him off on purpose, so what? The Emperor probably doesn't even remember having this son, how could he possibly care about this good-for-nothing—"
Smack!
Before Madam Yuan could finish, Yuan Cong delivered a vicious slap across her face.
Glaring at his primary wife, Yuan Cong roared, "The Sixth Highness now has his mind set entirely on seeking death at the frontier! The Emperor is currently feeling protective of this son he's neglected for far too long, and you're telling me it's fine?"
"What?"
Madam Yuan's expression shifted drastically, the pain on her face completely forgotten. "Then... then what should we do now? If the Emperor finds out, will he execute Gui?"
Madam Yuan lost all her composure, stripped of her previous nonchalance.
"What to do? What else can we do?"
Yuan Cong glared hatefully at his son and barked, "Get up this instant, come with me, and prepare lavish gifts to go apologize to the Sixth Highness!"
"Okay, okay..."
Yuan Gui scrambled up in a flurry.
Before long, the father and son set off with heavy gifts toward the Sixth Prince's Mansion.
To save time, they didn't even take a carriage and rode their horses directly.
They had to reach Yun Zheng and offer an apology before Emperor Wen found out about this incident!
As long as Yun Zheng accepted the gifts, it would mean he had forgiven Yuan Gui!
Even if the Emperor pursued the matter later, the punishment wouldn't be too severe!
Riding in panicked haste the entire way, the two finally arrived at Yun Zheng's estate.
Looking at the box in the hands of the father and son, Yun Zheng couldn't help a spark of anticipation.
He wondered what kind of gift they had brought.
If it wasn't worth much, this matter wouldn't be settled so easily.
"Yuan Cong failed to discipline his son properly, resulting in him offending Your Highness. I have specially brought my unworthy son along with modest gifts to apologize to Your Highness. I beg Your Highness to be magnanimous and forgive him."
Yuan Cong bowed respectfully.
This was his first time showing such deep respect to Yun Zheng.
With that, Yuan Cong hurriedly signaled the kneeling Yuan Gui to open the wooden box.
Inside the wooden box lay a set of crystal-clear wine utensils.
Both the decanter and the cups were present.
At a glance, they were exquisitely carved from top-grade mutton-fat white jade.
Hmm, not bad!
It should easily be worth a few thousand silver taels.
"I know Commander Yuan didn't do it on purpose."
Yun Zheng gave a naive, honest smile, then suddenly asked, "By the way, General Yuan, how is your handwriting?"
"This..."
Unsure of what Yun Zheng was driving at, Yuan Cong forced a flattering smile. "I am merely a military man, my handwriting is really nothing to boast about."
Weren't they talking about apologizing?
Why bring up how good his handwriting was?
Could it be that he still wanted the father and son to write a letter of repentance?
"It's fine, as long as it's better than mine."
Yun Zheng waved it off dismissively, then said with an embarrassed smile, "I plan to host a banquet for the various court officials the day after tomorrow to celebrate moving into my new residence. But I'm not very familiar with the officials at court, I can't even recognize all of them, so I was hoping General Yuan could help me write out the invitations!"
Write invitations?
Yuan Cong's face twitched violently. After a moment of hesitation, he was forced to agree.
Yun Zheng hadn't even accepted the gifts yet.
Nor had he said whether he forgave Yuan Gui or not!
Now that Yun Zheng was asking him for a favor, he had no choice but to help!
Soon, Yun Zheng had ink, brushes, and invitations brought out, and ordered Yuan Gui to grind the ink.
Yuan Cong had to bite the bullet and write them one by one.
Although Yuan Cong was a military man, he still had to write official memorials from time to time; while his handwriting couldn't be called exceptional, it was at least quite neat and orderly.
Yuan Cong wrote all the way until afternoon before finishing over a hundred invitations.
During this time, Yun Zheng had servants serve some tea and pastries.
During the process, Yun Zheng even picked out a few invitations and had the estate's servants rush out to deliver them.
"General Yuan is truly too modest; your handwriting is much better than mine."
Yun Zheng praised Yuan Cong with a beaming smile. "I'll be going out to deliver invitations to some of the heavyweights in court myself later, so I won't keep you two for dinner."
"Alright, alright."
Yuan Cong nodded repeatedly, then asked, "Then... does Your Highness forgive my unworthy son?"
"Forgive or not forgive, what's there to talk about?"
Yun Zheng waved his hand. "I didn't take it to heart at all. I know Commander Yuan didn't do it on purpose."
"Yes, indeed!"
Yuan Cong felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders, and glared at Yuan Gui once more. "Hurry up and thank Your Highness!"
Feeling deeply aggrieved inside, Yuan Gui forced himself to say, "Thank Your Highness for your magnanimity."
"Alright, I'll see you out!"
Yun Zheng said with a cheerful smile.
"We wouldn't dare trouble Your Highness."
Yuan Cong said, feeling flattered.
"It's no trouble!"
Yun Zheng waved a hand. "You've helped me with such a big favor, it's only right that I see you off."
Unable to refuse further, the father and son could only force smiles as they walked out.
Upon reaching the outside, the servants had already brought their horses over.
"This horse..."
Seeing the horse before him, Yuan Cong's face twitched uncontrollably.
This damn thing wasn't their horse at all!
"What's wrong with this horse?"
Yun Zheng asked with a look of feigned ignorance.
"Reporting to Your Highness, this is not our horse."
Yuan Cong said, biting the bullet.
"Ah? Not your horse?"
Yun Zheng looked genuinely puzzled, scratching his head. "Could it be that the horse my estate's servant rode out just now was actually yours?"
Ridden away?
The father and son's faces twitched fiercely.
"General Yuan, I am truly sorry!"
Yun Zheng said with a face full of "apology". "I just moved in today, and these horses were all prepared in advance by Imperial Father's people, so I really didn't know..."
"No... no problem!"
Yuan Cong felt as if his heart was bleeding, but he had to bite the bullet and say, "Any horse rides the same; we'll just consider it an exchange of two horses with Your Highness."
"That's true, too."
Yun Zheng nodded in deep agreement. "A horse is a horse, as long as it can be ridden."
Can be ridden... just like that?
Yuan Cong's heart bled continuously, and he was a hair's breadth away from cursing Yun Zheng's entire family.
My ass "as long as it can be ridden"!
The horses belonging to him and his son were top-tier warhorses carefully handpicked, worth hundreds of gold taels!
What kind of wretched nag was he giving him in return?
This damn thing was nothing more than a packhorse!
At best, it was worth one or two hundred silver taels.
He had swapped their superior warhorses for an inferior nag!
And he had the nerve to say "as long as it can be ridden"?
If not for the fact that Yun Zheng was known as a good-for-nothing who couldn't even ride a horse, he would have suspected Yun Zheng did it on purpose!
Since Yun Zheng had already put it that way, the father and son couldn't say anything more and could only reluctantly mount their horses and ride back home.
Watching the two figures fade into the distance, a trace of a mischievous smile flashed quietly across Yun Zheng's face.
"Father, why didn't you ask for our horses back? Those two horses together are worth over a hundred gold taels!"
On the way back, Yuan Gui asked with deep dissatisfaction.
"Someone else already rode them away, how are you going to ask for them back?"
Yuan Cong glared fiercely at his son. "If you hadn't gone and caused trouble, would all this mess have happened?"
The horses had been ridden away, and they could only swallow their teeth along with the blood.
His son was depressed, but he was even more depressed!
Those two warhorses, even in Beihuan where cavalry mounts weren't scarce, could be counted as top-tier warhorses!
In Da Qian, where warhorses were scarce, such fine steeds weren't something you could just buy whenever you wanted!
Compared to those two horses, the apology gifts they gave were worth jack shit!
Thinking of those two warhorses worth hundreds of gold pieces, Yuan Cong felt an urge to vomit blood...
Chapter 10: Even if the person doesn't show up, the gift is enough
Having seen off Yuan Cong and his son, Yun Zheng immediately took Gao He and rushed to the Duke of Jing's Mansion.
The first invitation he delivered personally had to go to Xu Shifu!
Xu Shifu was the Third Prince's uncle!
As long as he won Xu Shifu over, would he have to worry about other people not sending gifts?
"Your Highness, there is something I don't know whether I should say or not."
On the way, Gao He hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up.
"Just say it."
Yun Zheng gave a casual smile.