That night, Luo Sheng didn’t sleep at all, and Xiu Yue barely slept either.

But from the second day onward, the two tidied themselves up, changed into new clothes, and looked no different from usual.

They went hunting as usual, and as usual made fragrant, delicious food that attracted people around them who could only wander about with bitter faces but couldn’t eat any.

The rumor that Court Lady Yu had died from a sudden illness gradually spread among the wives and daughters of princes and high ministers.

However, as it concerned the private affairs of the imperial family and was only about a minor concubine of the Crown Prince, this gossip that wasn’t really gossip was merely mentioned in passing over tea among noble ladies, and then it passed.

A favored concubine of the Crown Prince—of course one couldn’t offend her while she was alive, but once dead, she was nothing.

Court Lady Yu’s death was like a small pebble tossed into a lake, creating a small ripple before disappearing without a trace.

As for whether Court Lady Yu truly died from a sudden illness, or even where she was buried—who would care?

On the other hand, the Crown Prince seemed somewhat heartbroken, resting in the traveling palace for several consecutive days without participating in the hunt.

So much so that Luo Sheng’s desire to directly stab him with a knife, when she actually saw Wei Qiang riding a horse and appearing among the hunting party, she was able to maintain her calm.

Restrained calm.

She gripped her bow and glanced at the man surrounded by guards in the center.

As the heir to Great Zhou, the Crown Prince’s safety naturally couldn’t be overlooked.

Although the prey in the hunting grounds had been arranged in advance, accidents could still happen. This required guards with outstanding martial skills to not stray too far from the Crown Prince.

As for protecting the Emperor, that went without saying even more.

Luo Sheng stared fixedly at him.

Unlike the carefully planned assassination of Prince Pingnan, trying to assassinate the Crown Prince would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

For someone standing at the pinnacle of power like this, relying on assassination had always been the worst strategy.

But she still hated him.

The kind of hatred where she wanted to devour his flesh and drink his blood.

Luo Sheng’s knuckles gripping the cold bow turned white.

That person suddenly looked in this direction.

Luo Sheng didn’t have time to look away, so she curved her lips in a smile, counting it as a greeting.

Unexpectedly, Wei Qiang urged his horse over.

“Haven’t seen Miss Luo in several days.” Wei Qiang’s gaze locked onto the young woman’s cold, composed face, his tone gentle.

Luo Sheng smiled: “I participate in the hunt every day. It should be that we haven’t seen Your Highness in several days.”

Wei Qiang’s eyes flickered slightly, revealing a hint of sadness: “Something happened, so I rested for a few days.”

Luo Sheng tugged the reins, urging the date-red horse to trot forward.

Wei Qiang urged his horse to follow.

“I heard Court Lady Yu contracted a sudden illness.” Luo Sheng took the initiative to bring up Zhaohua.

Given Miss Luo’s personality, after having interacted with Court Lady Yu a few times and hearing that she had suddenly died, there was no reason she would hold back from asking.

Wei Qiang was slightly startled, then smiled bitterly: “I didn’t expect even Miss Luo to have heard about it.”

Luo Sheng said nonchalantly: “This isn’t any secret. When I sent someone to deliver food to Court Lady Yu that day, I already heard she wasn’t feeling well, and then I heard about it from several chatting ladies.”

She slightly raised her chin, looking at Wei Qiang: “Your Highness must be extremely heartbroken, not coming out for several days.”

Wei Qiang smiled awkwardly.

For some reason, though Miss Luo’s words sounded sincere and genuine, he detected a hint of sarcasm.

Heartbroken?

He didn’t really feel particularly heartbroken.

He admitted that all his tolerance and favoritism toward Zhaohua was because of Luo’er, not because of Zhaohua herself, so naturally he wouldn’t be heartbroken over this person’s passing.

Moreover, Zhaohua had struck viciously while he was sound asleep.

Turning his head to look at the bright and charming young woman, thinking of Zhaohua’s words before she died, Wei Qiang felt a trace of wavering in his heart.

Luo’er was like autumn chrysanthemums and winter plum blossoms, while Miss Luo was like a bright, thorny rose—they were actually two completely different people.

Zhaohua was right—there was only one Luo’er in this world.

However—so what?

Luo’er was already gone, and he saw Luo’er’s shadow in Miss Luo.

Even if only a trace, it was enough.

Wei Qiang’s gaze at the young woman became fervent.

The date-red horse unconsciously quickened its pace.

The fine horse beneath Wei Qiang sped up as well.

On both sides and behind were highly vigilant guards.

Not far away, the big white horse swished its tail, expressing its dissatisfaction with its master.

Its companion had gone off with another horse—why wouldn’t its master let it catch up?

Wei Han patted the big white horse soothingly, following at neither too far nor too close a distance.

A small deer entered Luo Sheng and Wei Qiang’s line of sight.

“I’ll hunt a deer and have Miss Luo’s cook make roasted meat—how about it?”

Luo Sheng pulled the reins, smiling: “Sure.”

Wei Qiang spurred his horse forward, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting toward that small deer.

Behind him, Luo Sheng also drew her bow and nocked an arrow. An arrow flew out like a shooting star.

Wei Qiang’s arrow struck the deer’s body. The running deer fell to the ground, struggling in pain.

Wei Qiang smiled with satisfaction and turned back to look at Luo Sheng, just in time to see that arrow coming in his direction.

The smile at the corners of his mouth froze. By the time he came to his senses, that arrow had already flown past.

A howl rang out.

Wei Qiang quickly turned his head to see a wild boar charging angrily toward him.

A wounded wild boar that hadn’t been hit in a vital spot—when it went berserk, it was quite terrifying.

The guards gathered around immediately blocked in front, surrounding and killing the wild boar.

Wei Qiang sat upright on his horse, watching the thrilling scene of the guards surrounding and killing the wild boar, remaining fairly composed.

And when this small commotion first started, Wei Han, who had been following unhurriedly behind, also shot an arrow.

This arrow didn’t attract anyone’s attention, simply lodging low-key and precisely into a wild boar’s rear end.

This was a group of wild boars that had just wandered out of the forest, and the one injured happened to be the lead boar.

Although due to its thick hide, the arrow’s moderate force didn’t penetrate before falling into the grass, this still couldn’t be tolerated.

The lead boar let out a shriek and charged directly at the composed man sitting upright on horseback within its line of sight.

When the twenty-some wild boars saw their leader charging forward, they bristled their manes and charged forward as well.

Suddenly seeing a group of wild boars charging straight at him, Wei Qiang was momentarily dazed.

This scenario was beyond imagination.

A sharp-eyed guard shouted loudly: “Protect His Highness!”

However, the guards were soon scattered in all directions by the group of wild boars, unable to protect their master while being so stretched thin.

Wei Qiang had no choice but to directly face the pursuit of at least two wild boars.

One wild boar rammed the horse’s leg with its tusk.

The horse stumbled and threw the person on its back.

Wei Qiang gripped the reins tightly with one hand and clung to the horse’s back with the other, not letting himself fall and become pig food.

It was thrilling and wretched, unbearable to watch.

Meanwhile, Luo Sheng, right after shooting that arrow, let the date-red horse gallop away with raised hooves, going to join the big white horse.

Wei Han saw it was about enough—if he didn’t intervene, the Crown Prince would truly perish under pig hooves—and only then did he shout coldly: “Crown Prince, don’t panic! Uncle is coming to save you!”

Wei Han drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The feathered arrow transformed into a rainbow of light, accurately and precisely embedding itself in the lead boar’s forehead.

The lead boar, struck in a vital spot, fell dead to the ground.

Those wild boars running everywhere saw their leader dead and immediately scattered in fright.

The group of wild boars besieging the Crown Prince quickly disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared, leaving all the guards with lingering fear.

And soon the news that the Crown Prince had encountered danger while hunting spread: “Hey, did you hear? The Crown Prince was charged by wild boars today…”