DIHBSG chapter 37

Song Jian stayed dizzy in place for a long time before recovering.

Young Lord Tang asked with concern, “Lord Song, are you alright?”

Song Jian waved his hand. “Other than feeling a little like throwing up, I’m fine.”

Meanwhile, the culprit, the little horse, stood not far away with a calm expression, leisurely strolling around.

Xiao Yongning tried to lead the little horse over to Song Jian, but the little horse was as stubborn as a little donkey. It would take one step forward and two steps back, refusing to move no matter what.

Xiao Da patted his chest confidently. “Let this prince do it!”

The moment he reached out his hand, the little horse let out a fierce snort right in his face.

Xiao Da wiped his face. “…”

The little horse slowly turned and wandered off in the other direction.

Over here, Young Lord Tang was very enthusiastic. “Back then at Zuixian Tower, thanks to you saving my father in time. I’ve always wanted to find an opportunity to thank you in person. I didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence today.”

Song Jian’s face was a little pale, but he still grinned. “How could I dare claim all the credit? If you’re thanking anyone, thank Imperial Physician Mao instead.”

As he spoke, he looked toward the tents and found that the place was empty.

Song Jian found it a little strange. He had clearly seen Xiao Yinghuai standing there just now, so why had he suddenly disappeared?

Young Lord Tang said, “It looks like Lord Song is going hunting with Her Highness the Princess and His Highness Prince Xian. If you don’t mind, let me come along too. I also want to hunt some game.”

Song Jian said, “Sure, sure.”

He was still thinking to himself, Did I see wrong?

Forget it. It wasn’t important anyway.

Xiao Yongning handed him a waterskin. After taking a couple of sips, Song Jian felt much better. After having the little horse sent back to the stables, he left together with the others.

Young Lord Tang’s horseback archery really was as amazing as Gong Defu had said. Following the three of them, Young Lord Tang hit whatever they pointed at. Song Jian and Xiao Yongning only had to follow behind picking up the prey.

Xiao Da refused to accept it. “This prince won the grand prize before too!”

Xiao Yongning mercilessly exposed him. “How many years ago was that? Besides, Father had us compete in teams back then. Weren’t all the prey hunted by Imperial Brother? What did it have to do with you?”

Young Lord Tang’s expression management was impeccable.

Song Jian covered his mouth. “Pfft~”

Xiao Da said, “I hate you.”

By evening, the group returned with a full haul. Most of the prey was handed over to the cooks by Young Lord Tang, while Xiao Yongning and Song Jian carried away a small portion.

In Xiao Yongning’s arms was a rabbit.

Song Jian held a little sparrow with an injured wing that couldn’t fly.

The two of them walked in front with smiles on their faces.

Behind them, Xiao Da said, “Heh.”

From now on, he would never smile at these two people again.

After returning the other horses to the stables, Song Jian headed straight for the Emperor’s tent. Teasing the little sparrow in his hands, he happily poked his head inside.

“Your Majesty? Your subordinate is back.”

There were quite a few people inside the tent. Withou t even raising his head, the Emperor kept his eyes lowered on the map of the hunting grounds spread across the table.

Song Jian lightened his footsteps and walked over beside the Emperor with the little sparrow.

The little sparrow chirped, “Cheep cheep~”

Many places on the map had bright red little flags planted in them. After listening for a while, Song Jian finally understood that the little flags represented man-made traps.

The people discussing matters with the Emperor inside the tent were all the officials who would lead tomorrow’s imperial hunt. Song Jian had already heard from Gong Defu that although the winter hunt was called a hunt, its greater purpose was actually military exercises.

There were not always wars on the border, and the vast majority of the princes, nobles, and officials in the capital were only good at armchair strategy. An event like this suited them perfectly.

He stood off to the side, listening intently. Whenever they reached an important point, he even raised his hand to vote with them.

“I agree! I agree!”

Xiao Yinghuai didn’t spare him a single glance the entire time.

Soon it grew dark, and the officials gradually left the tent. Song Jian still hadn’t realized anything was wrong.

The little sparrow kept chirping beside him.

Song Jian kept grinning.

He stood obediently, waiting for the Emperor to ask what he had gained from today’s hunt.

But he waited, and waited, and waited.

The man never paid him any attention.

Song Jian: “(。· _ · 。)”

The little sparrow hopped twice in his hand.

“Cheep!”

Song Jian called softly, “Your Majesty.”

Only after a long while did Xiao Yinghuai respond with a quiet, “Mm.”

Song Jian asked, “Aren’t you going to ask what your subordinate did today?”

Xiao Yinghuai replied indifferently, “What does it have to do with me?”

Song Jian blinked.

The tent became very quiet.

Only the little sparrow’s chirping remained.

Song Jian realized that the Emperor seemed to be in a bad mood, but after thinking about it carefully… wasn’t he usually like this anyway?

He gathered himself for a moment, then suddenly broke into a grin.

“Hehe~”

Taking the initiative, he spoke, “Your Majesty, today your subordinate…”

“Lord Song is quite free?”

Song Jian was interrupted. The smile hadn’t even left his face yet. He was a little confused, but still answered honestly.

“This afternoon I wasn’t free because I went hunting with Young Lord Tang. Right now, I’m a little free.”

Xiao Yinghuai: “…”

He said nothing more.

After another few seconds of silence, the cautious voice of the young man sounded beside him.

“Your Majesty, do you not want to hear your subordinate speak?”

Xiao Yinghuai remained silent.

Song Jian asked, “Does Your Majesty think your subordinate is annoying?”

After asking, Song Jian waited and waited, but the man never answered.

He lowered his head.

The little sparrow chirped, “Cheep! Cheep!”

Song Jian took a step back and also fell silent.

Who knew how much time had passed.

“Snff…”

The sound of someone sniffing.

“Wuu~”

Xiao Yinghuai: “…”

He turned his head to look.

Song Jian: “QnQ.”

Xiao Yinghuai frowned slightly.

“Where did all these tears come from? Are you made of water?”

Song Jian answered inwardly, ‘Of course. Humans are seventy percent water.’ But on the outside, little pearls kept falling.

“If Your Majesty thinks your subordinate is annoying, your subordinate can just leave.”

Xiao Yinghuai’s tone was stiff.

“When have I ever said such a thing?”

Song Jian stroked the sparrow without making a sound.

“Raise your head.”

Song Jian obediently raised it.

Xiao Yinghuai felt irritated. He only threw out a single word.

“Speak.”

The young man’s face immediately broke into a bright smile.

“Your Majesty, after your subordinate went out today, I went to the stables with Her Highness the Princess and His Highness Prince Xian. Your subordinate led a little horse. That little horse looked so majestic, and it had such a good temper too. It was especially obedient.”

Xiao Yinghuai said, “If it was obedient, then why did it throw you off?”

Song Jian paused briefly before saying, “So your subordinate didn’t see wrong after all. Your Majesty really did come out of the tent today. You even saw your subordinate get thrown off by the little horse.”

Xiao Yinghuai: “?”

Where did he get the nerve to dig a pit for him?

Song Jian understood perfectly well how to repay kindness. He hurriedly reported how Young Lord Tang had saved him, hoping to deeply engrave Young Lord Tang’s righteous act into the Emperor’s mind so that if there were ever any opportunities for promotion or wealth in the future, the Emperor would think of Young Lord Tang first.

“The situation was extremely dangerous. Your subordinate got spun around by the little horse until I was dizzy and wanted to throw up. Just like this, blegh, blegh, blegh, I retched several times.”

“Then the little horse started running, like this, running around everywhere while throwing your subordinate around!”

“Your subordinate was so dizzy that I couldn’t hold the reins at all, and then whoosh, I got thrown right off!”

“At that critical moment, Young Lord Tang came flying over with a whoosh and caught your subordinate! He caught your subordinate perfectly!”

After listening, Xiao Yinghuai asked, “Mm. And then?”

Song Jian smiled shyly.

“Your subordinate was saved. Following Your Majesty’s teachings, your subordinate promptly thanked Young Lord Tang.”

Xiao Yinghuai asked, “How did you thank him?”

Song Jian replied, “Your subordinate said, ‘Thank you so much, Young Lord Tang. You’re such a good person.’ Young Lord Tang also said, ‘It’s nothing, just a small effort,’ and even asked whether your subordinate was alright.”

Xiao Yinghuai asked, “That’s all?”

Song Jian happily said, “There’s more! We went hunting together. Young Lord Tang’s horseback archery was incredible—he never missed!”

He recounted every single thing that had happened during the hunt to the Emperor before him. The more he talked, the more excited he became, completely failing to notice the Emperor’s expression.

When he finished, he held out the little sparrow in his hands.

“Look, Your Majesty. This is the little bird Young Lord Tang caught for your subordinate.”

Xiao Yinghuai cast a chilly glance at the sparrow.

The sparrow shrank its neck.

“Cheep~”

The young man looked at him with flushed cheeks.

“Cute, Your Majesty?”

Xiao Yinghuai narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Mm. Cute.”

Song Jian had finally finished telling him everything that had happened today. Satisfied, he pursed his lips and quietly settled down.

For about two seconds.

His eyes rolled around as he looked at the man.

Then he suddenly thought, ‘How can I let the boss hear me praise only someone else?’

He had already patted the horse’s butt—he might as well pat the dragon’s too!¹The Chinese idiom 拍馬屁 literally means “to pat a horse’s butt” and means “to flatter” or “to kiss up.” Since the emperor is associated with the dragon, Song Jian jokingly changes it to 拍龍屁 (“pat a dragon’s butt”).

Song Jian said, “Your Majesty, I heard Eunuch Defu say that your horseback archery is unmatched in Great Yan. You’re really amazing.”

Xiao Yinghuai stood up and coldly left behind one sentence.

“Tang Heng is among the very best at horseback archery in Great Yan. How could We compare?”

Song Jian hurried after him.

“You can compare! You can compare! Young Lord Tang praised Your Majesty today too. He said Your Majesty is amazing.”

Xiao Yinghuai lifted the tent flap and walked outside.

Gong Defu stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, the banquet has already been prepared at Yilin Palace. This old servant heard that Young Lord Tang hunted quite a lot of prey today.”

Xiao Yinghuai paused.

Gong Defu sighed.

“Oh, Your Majesty, how is it that Young Lord Tang is so outstanding at such a young age?”

Song Jian happened to walk out of the tent just then and heard the man say—

“Perhaps because he’s a rather good person.”

Song Jian: “?”

Gong Defu: “?”

Elsewhere, Tang Heng, who was wiping his arrows, “…”

Why does it suddenly feel so chilly?

The next day.

According to the original arrangements, Song Jian should have stayed by Xiao Yinghuai’s side. But Song Jian’s horsemanship was still rather clumsy, so Xiao Yinghuai only allowed Long Xiao and Seventeen and Eighteen to remain at his side.

Song Jian followed behind with the main group, walking alongside Xiao Da.

Song Jian asked him, “I saw that His Highness Prince Ying and the heir were all by Your Majesty’s side. Why are you standing so far behind?”

Xiao Da replied, “What do you know? This is called hiding one’s abilities. How could this prince’s horseback archery skills be casually displayed for others to see?”

Song Jian nodded.

“Oh.”

Xiao Da asked, “You don’t believe me?”

Song Jian replied, “I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything.”

Xiao Da continued his attack.

“The other members of the Tiancha Division are all by my Imperial Brother’s side. Why are you so far back?”

Song Jian answered sincerely, “Because my horseback archery isn’t very good. You know, I fell from the beam and injured my brain back then. I don’t really know how to do these things. If Your Highness Prince Xian has time, could you teach me?”

Xiao Da: “…”

He was going to die of anger.

There was nothing to say.

Just annoying.

He squeezed his horse’s belly and trotted away.

Behind him, Song Jian giggled.

“Hehe.”

At the very front, the procession had already reached the hunting grounds where the traps and encirclement had been prepared beforehand. Xiao Yinghuai sat astride Jinjue, a gilded dragon-patterned bow gripped tightly in his hand.

The winter hunt always began with the Son of Heaven loosing the first arrow.

Dry branches rustled softly in the forest.

The beasts that had entered the encirclement let out low growls.

Xiao Yinghuai nocked an arrow and drew the heavy longbow.

“Roar—”

The long arrow shot out like a swimming dragon with a whoosh.

The beast let out one final roar before collapsing to the ground.

The other beasts within the encirclement immediately began fleeing in panic. After the Emperor loosed the first arrow, someone beside him blew the horn in his hand, and the people closing in from the other directions urged their horses forward in pursuit.

It took Song Jian quite some effort to catch up on horseback.

He saw the Emperor calmly drawing his bow and shooting arrow after arrow, hitting the target from a hundred paces.

Song Jian tugged on the reins as he followed behind, clapping hard.

“So amazing! So amazing!”

The Emperor drew another arrow from the quiver.

“Whoosh!”

The arrow struck the prey dead center.

He said unhurriedly,

“So-so. Far inferior to Lord Tang Heng.”

Song Jian: “…”

You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨

• 1
  The Chinese idiom 拍馬屁 literally means “to pat a horse’s butt” and means “to flatter” or “to kiss up.” Since the emperor is associated with the dragon, Song Jian jokingly changes it to 拍龍屁 (“pat a dragon’s butt”).