Chapter 40: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 40 Hunting Storm
Although Chen Yuan didn't want his daughter to go hunting, he still agreed, not because of Madam Chen's authority, but because he felt Madam Chen's words made a lot of sense.
He even thought about it and decided to go along himself.
In the evening, the banished group stopped and searched for a suitable place to camp and rest.
Before long, Xu Tian came to visit.
He didn't expect Chen Yuan to personally come hunting. For a moment, he felt somewhat honored and nervous, seemingly worried that Chen Yuan might get hurt.
Seeing Xu Tian flattering her old man, a term popped into Chen Xue's mind: "bootlicker."
She couldn't quite understand. Her old man was just a Ministry of Revenue Assistant Minister, neither high nor low in rank, usually quite low-key. How could he still have little fanboys?
"Oh, Xu Tian, are you here to ask for help?" A group of bailiffs walked over, seeing Chen Yuan, but paid no attention, instead teasing Xu Tian.
Other bailiffs laughed too, "This isn't asking for help, it's clearly dragging us down."
Obviously, not everyone among these bailiffs had a good relationship.
"Enough." Xu Tian suddenly became angry, "You are not allowed to insult Master Chen."
"Oh, still Master Chen?" The bailiff who spoke last sneered, "Now he's just a prisoner, and you're still foolishly treating him like some high and mighty lord. Do you think he can make a comeback? And you're even brown-nosing him…"
They knew very well that the Chen family was the "mastermind" behind the embezzlement of disaster relief grain, personally judged by the Emperor, impossible to overturn.
"Enough, what I do has nothing to do with you!" Xu Tian was a little angry, but he wasn't good at arguing with people.
"I came to hunt, not to argue with you. If you don't want to hunt, don't disturb us."
"Hunting?"
"Haha!"
Upon hearing this, the group suddenly burst into laughter, "Haha, don't you have any self-awareness? Every time you go hunting, you can't even catch a rabbit's fur. You set traps for yourself, but instead of catching prey, you catch yourself."
"Haha, if you catch prey, even mother pigs would fly up trees."
Xu Tian felt embarrassed. They often went hunting during breaks to change the taste, but he didn't know if it was his bad luck or if he really wasn't good at hunting.
In any case, while everyone else made abundant harvests, he returned empty-handed every time. When he tried to catch fish, he fell into the river, covered in mud. When he chased rabbits for half a day, he ended up exhausted without even catching a single rabbit fur.
Digging for bird eggs, he instead dug out a snake.
Once, he set up a trap but forgot where he placed it, ending up falling into it himself, and had to be rescued by others.
"Don't say that." The first Bailiff to speak interrupted the laughter of the crowd, "Look at him being smart now, knowing to ask for help? Maybe he can really catch some prey?"
"Haha!"
The others laughed even louder at this, "I say, Wei ge, are you trying to make us laugh to death? These prisoners, without weapons or experience, if they don't get caught by Xu Tian's traps, it's already pretty good."
Hunting wasn't a simple matter. They knew Chen Yuan was a high official, usually just handling court affairs. How could he have hunting experience like them, who were out in the field every day?
"What do you mean?" Xu Tian was angry, mocking himself was one thing, but mocking Chen Yuan was unacceptable.
"We didn't catch any prey before, it was just bad luck. Who says I can't catch prey? Furthermore, Master Chen isn't someone you can belittle. When Master Chen and the Emperor go hunting, do you even know where they are?"
"Oh? Is that so?" The Bailiffs sneered, glanced at Chen Xue, "Then how about we make a bet?"
"A bet?" Xu Tian became angry, wanting to defend Chen Yuan's honor.
"Well, let's bet if you can catch any prey today. But, if you have help, then let's bet on who catches more prey."
"Alright!" Xu Tian agreed without hesitation, "If you lose, you apologize to Master Chen."
"And what if you lose?" The Bailiffs didn't care.
"Then I'll apologize to you."
"No way."
The Bailiffs had already thought of the stakes, looking at Chen Xue behind Xu Tian, licking his lips greedily, "If you lose, hand her over to me."
"Dream on!"
Xu Tian hadn't spoken yet when Chen Yuan decisively refused. He looked at Xu Tian, "We won't participate in this hunt. Goodbye."
Mocking him before was tolerable; he had a big heart and didn't mind. But setting sights on his daughter was unacceptable.
If there weren't so many people, he would have wanted to punch him to show how stupid an idea it was to mess with his daughter.
"Stop right there!"
"Who allowed you to leave!"
The Bailiffs quickly stopped Chen Yuan and Xu Tian from leaving. Seeing this, Xu Tian hurried over.
"What are you doing! Let us go!"
Seeing that the Bailiffs didn't respond, Xu Tian turned to the leading yamen official, "Kuang Wei, this has nothing to do with Chen Yuan. Let them leave."
"You came, you can leave. It's not that simple." Kuang Wei, as he was called, sneered, "Let that girl play with us, and I'll let them leave."
"You're asking for death!" Chen Yuan turned his head, angrily staring at Kuang Wei. Although he wasn't the Ministry of Revenue Assistant Minister anymore, his authority still lingered, stunning Kuang Wei.
"Enough, you're causing trouble, the captain won't let you off." Xu Tian was angry. Chen Yuan's daughter was also his junior; how could he let others have designs on Chen Xue?
Kuang Wei glanced at Chen Yuan, didn't dare to meet his gaze, and heard Xu Tian's threat, his eyes flickering.
"Let's make a deal. You win, I'll let them go, you lose, then…"
As he spoke, Kuang Wei glanced at Chen Xue and licked his lips, clearly thinking of something unpleasant.
Xu Tian stood in front of Lord Chen, looking at Kuang Wei, "I said, this has nothing to do with Master Chen. I'll make a bet with you, but it's not related to Master Chen and them."
"Either you bet with us, or I'll just take action." Kuang Wei interrupted what Xu Tian was about to say, "Don't use the captain to pressure me, the captain won't care about this kind of thing."
As long as it didn't cause too much trouble, the captain wouldn't care. After all, in terms of relationship, the captain was much closer to him than to Xu Tian.
"You…"
Xu Tian regretted a bit. If he had known, he wouldn't have brought Master Chen along. He never expected something like this would happen.
To bet with Kuang Wei, he had no confidence, and more importantly, how could he use Master Chen's daughter as a bet?
However, seeing Kuang Wei's appearance, it was clear he wouldn't let it go easily. If he took action, he wouldn't be able to stop him.
Forget it. Even if he had to risk his life, he couldn't let Master Chen's daughter be bullied.
"You want to bet on who catches more prey, right?" A sudden voice broke in, attracting everyone's attention. Chen Xue walked out, "I'll bet with you."
PS: Thanks to the book friend Bazahei's kitchen knife, `Ling Zilin's monthly ticket.
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