Tak!
Wei Hong Zheng had a spar with Wei Liuying while retelling what occurred. This has become the norm as Wei Liuying used her brother to obtain a lot of information that she usually couldn't access with the pretext that she wanted to help him evade any unnecessary schemes.
"Father only chatted with some officials for a short period of time. The only one who talked with him for a long time is Prime Minister Xie because of their rivalries," Wei Hong Zheng said with a shrug. "I think Father thinks that it's still too early to speak about marriage for you two."
"I see," Wei Liuying answered placidly. She side stepped to the side and positioned her wooden sword to block the next attack.
Tak!
"However, I can see that Wei Zilin is interested in some young masters. There are a lot of young men who came to the party yesterday. Even though there's a layer that separates the two places, we still can take a peek in some spot," Wei Hong Zheng said with a smile. He had a feast for his eyes yesterday because there were many beautiful young ladies who came too.
Wei Liuying looked at her brother and moved back to evade the attack. "Is there anyone of your interest, Second Brother?"
"Nah, I just find their appearance to be appealing. However, I don't have any interest in getting married for now," Wei Hong Zheng said with a sneer. He was only 13 years old. The earliest he could get married would be when he reached 20. It was still 7 years from now.
He was not that impatient.
Wei Liuying nodded. It seemed that the hormone hadn't worked well for Wei Hong Zheng because of his young age. All in all, it was fairly good for her since it meant she didn't have to bother thinking of how he should attract women.
By the time he could get married, she would have long gone from this residence unless Feng Chun wanted her to be an old maid.
Tak!
"Let's have it done here. I'm hungry," Wei Hong Zheng said and put his sword away.
"I understand."
"Also, I'm going to start learning archery, so you'll have to be my errand boy to set up the target and pick the arrows."
"Archery?" Wei Liuying's brain started to think when she recalled about the hunt three weeks from now. There was an annual hunt in summer when the weather was hot and also in Autumn before the temperature got too cold. There were a lot of young masters who came, but usually they arranged so that only those above the age of 13 could come.
Last year, Wei Hong Zheng was still under the age limit, so he couldn't participate. But this year, he had to participate, so he would need to start learning to use bow and arrow much better.
"Yes. I want to beat First Brother's record!"
Wei Liuying's expression was impassive. Wei Yijun managed to hunt a deer last year, which was quite an achievement considering it was only his third year. Many others have to be satisfied with only getting some rabbits that they could eat.
"What's the location for this year?"
"It's in South Plum Mountain. There are several villas owned by Prime Minister Xie, so the women can come this time," Wei Hong Zheng replied.
South Plum Mountain.
Wei Liuying knew that place. It was located not far from the capital city and known to be a good place to hunt. However, only the Xie Family had a villa in that area and still used it because there were a lot of bandits who came and went in that area.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
"I need more information about the place."
Wei Hong Zheng groaned. "Just ask Huo. He'll help you to obtain the information that you need."
"Alright."
Huo was the name of Wei Hong Zheng's servant that he used the most. He was also the most trusted servant that Wei Hong Zheng had. After all, only Huo knew the real relationship between the two of them.
The two siblings parted ways while Wei Liuying began to ponder. It was rare for the Emperor to pick a dangerous place for the annual hunt. Usually, he would just pick some areas that were known to be safer but good hunting places.
'Was it because of Prince Ji Sheng's participation?'
Wei Liuying couldn't think of any other reasons but this one. After all, having a general contend with pampered young masters would be overkill. It seemed that the Emperor wanted to have a reason for Prince Ji Sheng to not participate. He would be forced to clean up the area from bandits and guard it.
Well, it didn't really matter much to her.
In the afternoon, Huo came to bring her some bamboo strips that contained the information of the South Plum Mountain. Just like the name, the trees in that place were mostly plum trees. In summer, they would have enough leaves that help to reduce heat if they were to rest under the shade.
Wei Liuying read more of the information and concluded that the terrain was similar to forest with some rocky areas. There was also a map drawn on the skin, but it focused on the villa.
"Miss, the villa looks beautiful," Xiao Yu exclaimed.
"Yes. Prime Minister Xie built it years ago for his family. It's focused more on beauty. Unfortunately, he couldn't use the place too often because it's a dangerous area after the flood occurred on the East because of Huang River. Some villages were destroyed and the surviving ones mostly become bandits in the area."
South Plum Mountain was located slightly to the east, a dozen miles away from Huang River. Thanks to that, it became the target for the refugee who couldn't make their way to the villages. As time passed, many of them became bandits as they couldn't live in villages anymore or simply too poor.
Xiao Qing looked at the villa. "Miss, since the women were allowed to come, does it mean it'll be the chance for you to find a partner?"
"That didn't sound too bad," Wei Liuying said softly. "But I'm afraid that it wouldn't be possible."