The moment Situ Haonan said this, the excited gleam in Yelu Qianqian’s eyes immediately dimmed. But before Ziqing could even speak up on her behalf, she perked right back up. “Han Ziqing’s teaming up with the Second Beast Young Master!”

This girl had, after all, crossed paths with the Second Beast Young Master before in the royal garden, and they had a bit of rapport—this must have been arranged with him beforehand. The Second Beast Young Master, seemingly unpracticed at this sort of thing, smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, “Yes, yes, I’d like to team up with the Princess Consort of Prince Yao. I’ve long heard of her skill in mounted archery and have been hoping for a chance to see it for myself!”

He stood there, unmoving, until Yelu Qianqian shot him several pointed looks, at which point he finally stepped forward and cupped his hands in a bow. “Princess Consort, please agree to this—I’ve been hoping for this chance for quite a while now!”

Ziqing caught the meaningful glances passing between him and Yelu Qianqian clearly enough. But she missed the flash of malice that crossed his eyes the instant he lowered his head while speaking.

The Second Beast Young Master truly had been “hoping for this chance” for quite a while indeed.

Given such an invitation, Ziqing found it difficult to refuse. Besides, she needed a partner too, so that Situ Haonan could accompany Yelu Qianqian instead—and aside from Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian, the Second Beast Young Master seemed a perfectly reasonable choice.

Still, Ziqing hesitated, especially seeing Situ Haonan’s grave expression, which seemed to be both a warning and a silent protest.

The Empress of Eastern Qin had just proactively invited the Second Beast Young Master onto her team—and now the Second Beast Young Master, on Yelu Qianqian’s behalf, had proactively invited Ziqing instead. This would undoubtedly be a significant slight to the Empress.

Ziqing glanced sidelong and saw the Empress’s expression darken considerably. After a moment’s hesitation, she ultimately agreed.

After all, this arrangement let everyone steer clear of the Empress of Eastern Qin—the best possible outcome.

Seeing Ziqing nod, Situ Haonan’s head immediately drooped. Of all the young masters and clan heads among the Three Clans, the Second Beast Young Master was the least ambitious, the least involved in clan affairs, and the most hot-tempered idealist of the lot. Entrusting Ziqing to him, he could rest fairly easy.

But entrusting himself to Yelu Qianqian sent a chill down his spine. A full two days and nights—how would he endure it? The girl only needed to make the smallest request, and it would give him a splitting headache for an entire day.

Everything seemed to be proceeding rather smoothly.

But just then, the Empress of Eastern Qin spoke up, half teasing, half serious. “Second Young Master, what’s this? Do you think this king too old, that I’d hold you back?”

“No, not at all!” the Second Beast Young Master said hurriedly, glancing toward Yelu Qianqian with a hint of reproach.

“If not, then shall I join your team?” the Empress of Eastern Qin added, and this immediately stirred up murmurs of discussion.

A single “your” had lumped Ziqing in with them—how remarkably generous of her, actually willing to team up with her!

Yet had she truly been so magnanimous, she would have agreed at once earlier, and wouldn’t have needed to awkwardly dodge saying “Princess Consort of Prince Yao” by using the vague word “your” instead.

The truly magnanimous one was Ziqing herself. She smiled and said, “Your Majesty asked first. Second Young Master, perhaps we’ll have the chance to team up another time.”

Her graceful, unhesitating response won more than a few admiring glances.

The Second Beast Young Master looked troubled once more, glancing again at Yelu Qianqian. Ziqing suspected Yelu Qianqian must have arranged this all with him beforehand—they clearly hadn’t intended to invite the Empress of Eastern Qin or the Western Liang general at all originally.

The Empress’s behavior only deepened Ziqing’s trust in the Second Beast Young Master. She stepped back willingly, taking the opportunity instead to team with the usually low-key Western Liang general, hoping to glean some information about Western Liang.

But to her surprise, the Second Beast Young Master remained stubborn. “Your Majesty, this humble one would never dare think you too old. You are of the highest sovereign rank, and this one feels unworthy already. Since Princess Zhaoxi is here too, why not team up with her instead? That would ensure fairness, wouldn’t it?”

The concern about fairness was, of course, referring to the possibility that Xuanyuan Zhaoxi might go easy on her own mother.

The Empress of Eastern Qin seemed not to have considered this angle at all, shooting Xuanyuan Zhaoxi a displeased glance before reluctantly agreeing.

Ziqing thought to herself that within this short span of time, what had seemed like casual negotiation had actually been a battle of words and wits. With this outcome settled, this hunting-ground crisis had likely been averted—regardless of what happened next, the Empress of Eastern Qin would have no opportunity to approach them, nor could she pull any tricks within the beastfolk’s own hunting grounds.

Yelu Qianqian was oblivious and didn’t know much, but Situ Haonan would certainly keep her far from the Empress of Eastern Qin—and as for herself and the Second Beast Young Master, there was nothing to worry about at all.

Soon, everyone else found their partners as well. The Second Beast Young Master really was quite peculiar—his hunting rules were unusual, and his win-loss criteria were unusual too. After all, he wasn’t the King of Nanzhao; he couldn’t offer, nor should he offer, anything too extravagant as a prize, but offering something too paltry would hurt the beastfolk clan’s dignity.

“Heh, let’s not compete for winning, but for losing instead. Whoever catches the fewest prey has to face the sky and howl like a beast three times—how about that?”

At these words, everyone was taken aback, and quite a few grew visibly nervous. Regardless of how it played out, any competition would inevitably produce winners and losers!

Which meant that in two days’ time, someone in this group would certainly have to stand up and howl like a wild beast three times!

“Heh heh, great idea!” Yelu Qianqian, who had been bouncing around cheerfully, was absolutely delighted.

Ziqing watched, sharing in the amusement, while the Empress of Eastern Qin’s face darkened, saying nothing at all.

That night, everyone settled into the campsite at the hunting grounds. Exhausted from the journey, and with the hunt set to begin the next day, there was no formal banquet—everyone retired early.

Situ Haonan, tangled up with Yelu Qianqian, was nowhere to be seen the entire evening. The Second Beast Young Master, however, came calling.

“Princess Consort, I never found the chance to explain what happened that day in the royal garden. Princess Qianqian, she’s actually…”

“That girl speaks whatever comes to mind—I’ve already forgotten about it.”

“Heh heh, good thing I didn’t manage to offend the Empress of Eastern Qin today, or I’d have really gone back on my word to Princess Qianqian.”

“You agreed to team up with her before, didn’t you? Heh.”

“That girl really is… but she has a kind heart. Master Situ is lucky indeed!”

Ziqing smiled and let the topic drop. The Second Beast Young Master had come specifically about the garden incident, and once he’d clarified it, he took his leave.

Just then, Hongyi, who had been wrestling with something all day, finally couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up quietly. “My lady, if Shiliang had come along to serve you, she could have protected you too. I’m just holding things back.”

“I’m not asking you to hunt. Just stay obediently in the tent,” Ziqing said, carefully inspecting tomorrow’s bow and arrows, riding gear. Though things seemed to be going smoothly, she remained cautious, planning to check the horses as well the next day.

“But having Shiliang here too would give us extra backup! His Highness always praises her whenever he sees her, and often says she reminds him of you!” Hongyi added—she’d spent a long while thinking up this particular angle.

Ziqing’s hand stiffened slightly, then she smiled. “Mm, there is some resemblance.”

It was precisely that same stubborn resilience and pride from her own past that had made her want to save Shiliang back at that inn.

Seeing Ziqing still showing no sign of alarm, Hongyi grew anxious, thinking to herself—her mistress was normally so clever and sharp, could it be she simply trusted Prince Yao too completely, with no wariness at all?

Hongyi persisted stubbornly. “My lady, His Highness also said Shiliang…”

But before she could finish, Ziqing waved her off, and though her back was turned, her tone was clearly displeased. “Go on, get some rest. Whoever someone finds pleasing is their own business—no need to dwell on it so much. I’m tired.”

Her mistress had misunderstood, thinking she was jealous of Shiliang. Hongyi couldn’t help but feel a sting behind her nose, her eyes reddening…