The back courtyard of the princess’s manor was a small training ground, which must have been where Xia Hongying practiced her skills daily in the past. These past few days, Qiu Xinran came here every day to practice, and she felt that her arm strength had indeed improved considerably.

She stood before the target, raising her arm to draw the bow. Her back was straight, her arms extended gracefully, her eyes focused, and her expression solemn. At first glance, she looked quite intimidating. After ten arrows, four missed the target entirely, four failed to hit any ring, and the remaining two barely landed near the bullseye.

She joyfully put down the bow and jogged over to pick up the arrows that had fallen to the ground. When she turned back, she saw Xia Xiuyan sitting in the shade of a tree with an expression that suggested he couldn’t bear to watch.

“Haste makes waste. I’ve only been practicing for a few days, and to achieve such results is actually quite remarkable,” Qiu Xinran said consolingly as she returned with the arrows in her arms.

“You certainly have a positive outlook,” Xia Xiuyan mocked. “Let me ask you, originally when you were supposed to go with Zheng Yuanwu, how were you planning to explain things to him?”

Qiu Xinran had been practicing all afternoon and was already parched. She grabbed the teacup on the table and gulped down several mouthfuls before contemplating: “I would just say that hitting the target that day on the mountain was a complete fluke, and it was entirely due to luck.”

Xia Xiuyan gave a light snort, the derision in his eyes intensifying: “Do you think the Imperial Guards are all incompetent? If you could hit him by sheer accident, then his death wouldn’t be unjust.”

“Then what else can I do?” Qiu Xinran sighed. “Speaking of which, isn’t this all because of what you said before His Majesty?”

Xia Xiuyan narrowed his eyes: “And who was it that rushed headlong into Jinhe Palace that night and ruined my plan?”

Fearing he would dredge up more old grievances, Qiu Xinran quickly backed down: “You’re absolutely right. This is karma coming full circle, and it’s most appropriate for me to resolve this matter.”

“Hmph.” The young man gave a cold snort. Qiu Xinran pondered for a moment, then said: “However, according to what you just said, those Imperial Guards are no ordinary people, yet you were able to pin his garment with a single arrow at that time. This shows that your archery skills are even superior.”

As she spoke, Qiu Xinran observed his expression. Seeing that though he remained cold, his demeanor had indeed improved somewhat, she couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Striking while the iron was hot, she asked: “But I don’t understand why you’re willing to wade into these muddy waters this time?”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her: “If I don’t wade into these muddy waters, am I supposed to wait for you to be exposed as a liar at the autumn hunt and drag me down with you?”

Hearing this, Qiu Xinran felt greatly reassured. She stopped beating around the bush with him and said frankly: “You’re right, but you’ve also seen my current progress. It’s impossible for me to develop archery skills good enough to pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces by the day of the autumn hunt. You must already have a plan, don’t you?”

Xia Xiuyan looked at her with an ambiguous smile and asked: “What was your original plan?”

Qiu Xinran brazenly analyzed: “The Second Prince is someone with a strong competitive spirit and equally strong pride. If I beat him, he’ll lose face and certainly won’t accept it. If I lose too easily, he’ll find it boring and might cause me more trouble in the future. So the best outcome would be to lose by a narrow margin, letting him win by the skin of his teeth—that would be most perfect.”

“You certainly think things through,” Xia Xiuyan snorted lightly. “Continue.”

“That’s all,” Qiu Xinran said honestly. “When it comes to actual competition, I’m naturally no match for the Second Prince. It’s also inappropriate for you to shoot arrows in front of everyone, so if we want to find a solution, perhaps we could use our brains regarding the format of the competition.” As she spoke, she observed his expression again and quickly added: “Of course, this will depend on your wisdom and intelligence.”

Xia Xiuyan studied the person before him impassively. After a while, he said: “Qiu Sichen does have some cleverness—” Qiu Xinran waited for his “but,” yet Xia Xiuyan paused briefly and didn’t continue. Instead, he said: “On the day of the autumn hunt, I’ll have my own methods. For now, just focus on practicing diligently these next few days.”

Though Qiu Xinran was curious about his methods, she couldn’t help but breathe a huge sigh of relief at his words. She smiled, revealing a single dimple, and cupped her hands: “Then I thank you in advance, Young Master Xia.”

This gesture, when performed by others, would carry heavy overtones of flattery and ingratiation, but perhaps because of her young age, when she imitated the officials’ practice of cupping hands, there was an indescribable playfulness and charm to it. Xia Xiuyan’s face remained impassive as he picked up the thin bamboo rod from the table that he’d been using lately to correct her posture, and tapped it lightly on her hand: “Now that you understand, what are you still sitting here for?”

Qiu Xinran instantly jumped up from her stool—she’d truly suffered enough from this thin bamboo rod these past few days. With a pained expression, she continued to pick up the bow from the ground and sighed: “You truly are a strict teacher.” That look of anger she dared not voice was quite amusing. Xia Xiuyan, in a reasonably good mood, stood up and walked over: “This counts as being strict?”

“What was the teacher who taught you riding and archery in your childhood like?”

Xia Xiuyan fell slightly silent before picking up a bow from the side and saying in a low voice: “A hundred times stricter than I am today.”

Qiu Xinran said with genuine feeling: “Then you truly encountered a good teacher!”

Xia Xiuyan turned back: “Weren’t you just complaining that I was a strict teacher?”

While drawing her bow and aiming at the bullseye, Qiu Xinran said casually: “How can you and I be the same? I’m learning archery today merely to deal with a temporary difficulty. You’re the son of a general. That teacher was strict with you because he was training you as a future military commander, so naturally he must have been a hundred times more rigorous with you than you are with me today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, an arrow shot out with a whoosh and struck outside the third ring.

Qiu Xinran shook her head with some regret—this was already among her better shots from the past two days. The person beside her said nothing. He drew his bow and aimed at the target. When he drew the bow, he was completely unlike the frail Young Master Xia of usual days. The moment he pulled back the bowstring with the arrow pointing at the bullseye, it was as if he were truly standing on a battlefield of flying sand and rolling stones. The point of his arrow was aimed not at the target a hundred paces away, but at the heart of an enemy general. In an instant, a sharp twang sounded by her ear, the arrow feathers quivered lightly, and the arrow had already pierced through the bullseye!

Only at times like these did Qiu Xinran feel she could see through that layer of sickly, pale exterior and glimpse a bit of the true sixteen-year-old Xia Xiuyan.

The young man gazed at the arrow feathers that had struck true in the red center of the target, his expression calm and undisturbed. After a long while, he finally lowered his bow and said quietly: “You’re wrong. He never intended for me to go into battle and kill enemies.”

In the blink of an eye, the autumn hunt had arrived. Each year for the autumn hunt, Emperor Xuande would bring civil and military officials to the hunting grounds on the outskirts of the city.

Today, Qiu Xinran wore men’s clothing and nomadic attire, with her hair bound up in a headband, looking for all the world like a lively young boy. Yuan Zhou jumped down from the carriage with her. The two were about the same height and similarly dressed, so from a distance they looked like brothers.

Many people had come along on this trip, and all around them people were bustling about busily, which made the two of them seem particularly idle in comparison. The carriage ride had been bumpy and Yuan Zhou felt somewhat carsick, so Qiu Xinran kept him company sitting under a nearby tree. When Yuan Zhou felt a bit better, he couldn’t help but turn to look at the person beside him who appeared thoroughly bored: “Didn’t you say you were going to compete with the Second Prince today? Are you confident?”

“Confident about winning or losing?”

Yuan Zhou laughed: “Did you cast a divination this morning?”

“I did cast one.”

“What was the result?”

Qiu Xinran paused: “Inauspicious.”

Yuan Zhou shook his head: “Then there’s nothing to worry about. Your divinations for yourself are consistently inaccurate.”

“…” Qiu Xinran found herself momentarily unable to refute this.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats came from not far away. A group of young men rode up to them on horseback—it was Li Hanyi and the others. The two stood up and greeted them with proper etiquette. Li Hanyi sat on his horse and, as if to assert dominance, circled around them once before taunting: “Didn’t you learn to ride from Yuanwu? Why did you still come by carriage?”

Qiu Xinran looked up and saw that several young men from the academy were all there. Aside from Li Hanyuan, who was young and riding in the Empress’s carriage, even Seventh Princess Li Hanru had come on horseback.

Qiu Xinran smiled: “This is my first time coming. I don’t know the way. I was afraid that if I rode a horse I might get lost and delay the competition with the Second Prince.”

Li Hanyi gave a light scoff: “Then hurry up. I’ll be waiting for you at the hunting grounds!” Having said this, he raised his hand and cracked his whip, then headed toward the hunting grounds. Seeing him leave, the others quickly spurred their horses to follow.

Xia Xiuyan lagged at the very back of the group. He too had come on horseback today. However, sitting on his horse with one hand holding the reins and the other hand in a fist pressed to his lips, as if choked by the dust from the journey, he kept coughing. His entire person swayed precariously on the horse from coughing, making the attendant guards beside him anxious and alarmed.

He was in no hurry to catch up. Holding the reins, he slowly passed by Qiu Xinran’s side and lowered his eyes to look at her for a moment. Qiu Xinran maintained her bowing posture. After waiting a while without seeing him leave, she finally couldn’t help but raise her head to glance at him.

“You’re not wearing a hairpin today?” he suddenly asked inexplicably. Qiu Xinran instinctively reached up to touch the small hair bun on her head: “Why are you asking about this?” She was somewhat puzzled.

“In case it comes in handy.”

Qiu Xinran stared at him in disbelief, eyes wide. The person on horseback seemed to be amused by her expression. The fist pressed to his lips moved slightly, concealing a fleeting smile, and then he too rode away.

Yuan Zhou was completely bewildered: “What was Young Master Xia talking about?”

Qiu Xinran couldn’t tell whether Xia Xiuyan had just been joking with her, since he didn’t really look like someone who would joke with others.

After a long pause, she finally said with a solemn expression, counting on her fingers: “Today—he must have encountered a ghost.”