"Why are you hunting so many sables and black foxes, Xie Jiang? You're so rich, you can have as many precious furs as you want."
Xu Hengyi walked over and took a look. Both the sable and black fox had been shot in the head, their pelts intact. He was sure Xie Jiang was after the furs.
Xie Jiang leaped off her horse, casually tossed the reins to Xu Hengyi, and walked towards the river, saying, "Winter will be here in a few days. I'm making two cloaks for Xu Hengyan. My manor isn't short of good furs, but are they as warm as those I hunted myself?"
"For my second brother?"
Xu Hengyi instinctively reached out to catch the reins, then looked down at them in his hand, cursing himself for accepting them so readily. He turned and threw the reins to a nearby attendant.
"You came out hunting today just to get these furs to make clothes for my second brother?"
Xu Hengyi followed Xie Jiang towards the river. He wasn't too surprised by the answer, but it was impossible not to feel a pang of jealousy.
"That's right, aren't you touched?" Xie Jiang said.
Touched? Xu Hengyi thought. As if! It wasn't for him!
Xie Jiang squatted by the riverbank to wash her hands.
Xu Hengyi sidled up and squatted beside her, "Is there anything for me?"
Xie Jiang and his second brother were close friends, having faced life and death together more than once. Their bond was far beyond that of ordinary people.
But his friendship with Xie Jiang wasn't bad either.
He had been so hardworking and even endured her teasing. Didn't he deserve a cloak?
"Don't you have hands? Go hunt them yourself," Xie Jiang said.
Xu Hengyi felt a strong urge to push her into the river! But such a dangerous thought could only flicker in his mind.
If he were to act on it...
This river might become his burial ground.
Xu Hengyi suppressed his restless impulses. "Can the ones I hunt myself be the same as the ones you hunted?"
He didn't expect Xie Jiang to share half with him, nor did he expect her to mount her horse and draw her bow again to hunt a few sables and black foxes specifically for him.
But Xie Jiang had hunted so many sables and black foxes, there must be some left over, right? "Leave me the scraps from making clothes for my second brother, even a scarf would do."
Xie Jiang finished washing her hands and turned around. Xu Hengyi looked at her expectantly. To his surprise, Xie Jiang simply grabbed the hem of his robe and wiped her hands on it.
Xu Hengyi was about to pull his hem back, but he inadvertently caught sight of her slender fingers, as white and smooth as polished mutton-fat jade.
Xu Hengyi's mind was filled with thoughts of how such pampered hands could possibly draw a bowstring.
"Are you that afraid of the cold? Then go to my manor's storeroom and pick out a few more furs," Xie Jiang said and walked away.
"Do I lack those few furs in your storeroom!" Xu Hengyi followed her indignantly. "Doesn't our Duke of Wei's manor have furs for making clothes?"
"Then go back to your Duke of Wei's manor and pick them out!" Xie Jiang didn't go into the tent to rest. She sat down on a mat spread by the river. Nie Tong brought two freshly roasted rabbit legs and a plate of chopped roasted meat.
Xie Jiang wasn't particularly interested in wild game, but she was willing to eat a couple more roasted rabbit legs.
"Why didn't you let my second brother pick furs from your manor's storeroom? Why didn't you tell my second brother to pick them from our Duke of Wei's manor?"
She was too obviously biased! She favored Lan Yong so much that she had forgotten Da Yu!
He wasn't trying to compete with his second brother for furs! He knew he couldn't possibly win! So he was just humbly asking for some scraps.
"Aren't the ones you hunted yourself warmer? I want warmer ones too, I want furs you hunted yourself. I'm not greedy, just leave me a piece for a scarf."
Wasn't he being considerate enough!
Xie Jiang picked up a roasted rabbit leg and gnawed on it. She stared at Xu Hengyi for a moment, then reached out and patted his face, which had a slight blush from his excitement.
"What's my relationship with your second brother? Why are you getting involved? Are you really that petty over a few furs?"
"You call this petty?"
Xu Hengyi's face felt numb from her patting, and he was so angry at her undisguised favoritism that his liver ached. "If you say it's petty, then it's petty. You only have eyes for my second brother!"
Nie Tong personally roasted another banana and brought it over. He was used to Xu Hengyi's sour tone; there were always people vying for the Young Master's attention.
"Alright, I get it. If there are any leftovers, I'll save them for you. You're so old, yet you're still so competitive."
Was that competitiveness!
He...
He couldn't quite explain it himself, but she specifically hunted sables and black foxes for his second brother, and he...
Even though her pat wasn't that hard, why did his face feel so hot? In any case, as long as he got something, it was fine.
"Are you going to eat this or not? If not, I'll eat it."
Xie Jiang had taken one bite of the chopped roasted meat and hadn't touched it since. Xu Hengyi looked at it with some longing, somehow feeling that the pieces she had touched were exceptionally fragrant.
Xie Jiang gestured for him to take it.
Xia Zeshi and Lu Yuqing each carried a plate of roasted meat and walked over.
Lu Yuqing stared at Xu Hengyi's face. "What's wrong with your face?" He glanced suspiciously at Xie Jiang.
He suspected Xu Hengyi had been hit. He thought he had just seen Xie Jiang pat Xu Hengyi's face.
"...The wind. It's a bit cold."
Xu Hengyi couldn't lie and say Xie Jiang had hit him. Xie Jiang hadn't hit him; she had just patted him. Xu Hengyi raised his hand and rubbed his face uncomfortably.
Lu Yuqing didn't believe him. "Where's the cold? I'm sweating..."
Lu Yuqing thought he was afraid to speak up, but he knew how mean Xie Jiang could be.
Xu Hengyi lowered his head and took a bite of roasted meat, his eyes widening in disbelief.
The meat was from the same deer, and it was also prepared by Nie Tong, but his portion tasted worlds apart from Xie Jiang's!
He had just praised Nie Tong's roasting skills!
Only after eating Xie Jiang's portion did he realize how good Nie Tong's roasting skills truly were!
The portions they were given were just casually roasted, right? The portion for Xie Jiang was Nie Tong's true skill!
As they were talking, they heard some commotion. The few of them turned and looked in the direction of the sound. It was Ruan Ziji and the others returning.
Ruan Ziji, who was at the front, spotted Xie Jiang immediately. He jumped off his horse and ran towards Xie Jiang.
"Young Master Xie!"
Xia Zeshi carefully observed Ruan Ziji and his group. They didn't have any new injuries, so their trip this afternoon should have been without further peril.
Of course, he didn't want Ruan Ziji and the others to be in danger. Not only was he Ruan Ziji's cousin, but Ruan Ziji's mother was his aunt. If anything happened to them, everyone who came hunting together would be held responsible.
However, if someone wanted to kill Ruan Ziji, why wouldn't there be further developments on such a golden opportunity?
Ruan Ziji was exceptionally agile. As he lunged towards Xie Jiang, he kicked off the ground. Xu Hengyi, who had been sitting beside Xie Jiang, was completely knocked over, and the roasted meat he had just started eating spilled onto the ground.
"Ruan Ziji, I'll fight you to the death!"
Looking at the scattered pieces of roasted meat on the ground, Xu Hengyi felt as if he were going to vomit. He roared and lunged at Ruan Ziji, and the two of them began to wrestle.
Xia Zeshi and Lu Yuqing both stood up to give them space.
Xie Jiang stood by and watched for a while. Then, she suddenly bent down, grabbed a corner of the mat, and forcefully tossed it towards the small river opposite them.
The two men who were wrestling rolled into the small river.