After speaking softly, Jiang Zhiyi slowly released his collar and turned her head away like a thief, taking light breaths.

A delayed wave of heat surged fiercely upward, burning her cheeks warm and flushed. Not only was it hot, but a strange restlessness stirred within her body, suddenly making her want to go outside and feel the cool breeze.

Jiang Zhiyi breathed slowly with extremely small movements, trying to relieve this restlessness. Feeling the surroundings so quiet as if only her breathing existed, she secretly turned her head slightly to look sideways—

Shen Yuance still maintained his leaning position without moving, his hand clenched into a fist on the edge of the bed, blue veins protruding on the back of his hand. His eyes were fixed on the tent gauze behind her, as if trying to bore a hole through it.

Suddenly, there was a soft crackling sound as a spark burst from the charcoal brazier, like thunder striking overhead. Shen Yuance abruptly stood up and stepped back.

In just two steps, he had retreated ten feet away from her bed.

…It seemed like her kiss had somehow angered him.

Sister Bao Jia’s sachet clearly stated that both lust and restraint were dangerous, and no normal man could withstand both dangers simultaneously. Once she kissed him, he would surely kiss her back.

Jiang Zhiyi raised her eyes to see him still in a daze, staring at some part of her, not knowing exactly where. She hesitantly propped herself up on her elbows and parted her lips.

Shen Yuance’s eyelashes fluttered with the movement of her half-open lips. He took another half step backward, turned around, and strode quickly toward the exit. As he lifted the tent flap, he ran into Gu Yu returning with water.

“Where is Young General Shen going? Has the Princess’s medicine been applied so quickly?” Gu Yu looked inside curiously.

Shen Yuance halted in his tracks.

“…No, it hasn’t been applied yet!” Jiang Zhiyi answered Gu Yu, but her voice was directed at the figure who seemed to be fleeing in panic.

“I don’t know how to apply medicine either…” Gu Yu glanced at Shen Yuance, who appeared ready to leave again. “And the person who harmed the Princess hasn’t been caught yet. If Young General Shen leaves, I’m afraid…”

Shen Yuance closed his eyes, letting the biting cold wind cool him for a moment. He let out a long breath, turned around, and walked back into the tent.

Jiang Zhiyi winked at Gu Yu in appreciation, her gaze following Shen Yuance as he walked in. Her lips curved into a slight smile as she was about to speak, but she saw that this time he had turned his back to her, sitting at the foot of the bed and quickly unscrewing the medicine jar.

His calloused fingertips, coated with cool, oily ointment, applied it to her swollen ankle, gently massaging in circles.

His movements were extremely fast, as if somewhat impatient, but when touching her ankle, they were very gentle, as if afraid of hurting her.

As the rough calluses brushed against her delicate skin, Jiang Zhiyi couldn’t help but retract her foot slightly.

Shen Yuance paused and turned his head to glance at her.

“It tickles—”

“Bear with it.” Shen Yuance frowned, turned his head back, grabbed her foot, and pulled it back, continuing to apply the medicine.

Jiang Zhiyi let out a soft snort at his back, muttering quietly: “Taking advantage and acting innocent…”

“…”

Shen Yuance pretended not to understand, picked up a roll of thin cloth, and said: “I’ll bandage your injury, then have someone escort you back.”

Jiang Zhiyi wanted to contradict him, but upon opening her mouth, she calmed down.

The hunt was indeed too bloody, and she feared she truly couldn’t bear it. Besides, with her foot in this condition, if he went out hunting, she would have no mobility and would be afraid to stay in a place where something had just happened.

Jiang Zhiyi: “Alright, then about today’s incident—”

On the way back to camp earlier, she had wanted to show him the forged note with his handwriting, but when she looked for it, it wasn’t there. Thinking back, she remembered holding the note in her hand; when she fell into the hunting pit, it probably flew away and was retrieved and destroyed by the culprit.

With the note gone and the arrow in the tent also missing, the drug used to knock out Gu Yu was likely one applied to arrows during hunting to protect against fierce beasts attacking. Every tent was equipped with it, so there was nothing particularly distinctive about it.

It seemed that whoever dared to harm a princess like her was certain they hadn’t left any evidence and was confident she wouldn’t publicize her private meeting with Brother A-Ce, so she could only suffer in silence.

“I know who did it,” Shen Yuance replied.

“Have you found any other evidence?”

Although it was obvious who was most suspicious, this matter clearly couldn’t have been done by one person alone—there must have been accomplices. Unlike those young masters whose legs Shen Yuance had broken before, these noble young men from the academy were all eldest legitimate sons who would inherit their family titles. Taking action against them without cause could invite trouble.

“No evidence needed,” Shen Yuance stood up, rubbing the remnants of ointment from his fingertips. “To the outside world, you accidentally fell into a pit today. Don’t worry about the rest. Go back and sleep—”

Jiang Zhiyi looked at his slightly pulled lips and felt a chill in the tent, an inexplicable sense of cold rising.

Shen Yuance: “When you wake up, it will all be over.”

The hunting grounds were not far from the Xuan Strategy Camp. Jiang Zhiyi was escorted back to the city by several soldiers from the Xuan Strategy Army. After returning to her residence, the effects of the ice compress and ointment gradually faded, and her ankle began to ache again.

Unable to bear the pain and too preoccupied to think about what Shen Yuance was planning to do, she had her female physician examine the injury, confirming there were no other injuries from the fall. Then she drank a medicinal soup for calming nerves and relieving pain before closing her eyes. Before sleeping, she instructed Gu Yu to wake her immediately if any news arrived.

She fell into a deep sleep, perhaps because the day had been too eventful. Jiang Zhiyi had one dream after another, sinking deeper and deeper, unable to wake up. She slept until late at night when she was vaguely awakened by the sound of whispering voices.

She tiredly opened her eyes, her vision gradually clearing from blurriness, and saw two maids at her chamber door with their backs to her, heads close together, arguing softly about something.

“What are you quarreling about?” Jiang Zhiyi asked weakly.

Gu Yu and Xiaoman stopped talking in surprise and turned around.

“The Princess is awake,” Xiaoman came forward with a slight flicker in her eyes. “Does your foot still hurt?”

“How could it not hurt…” Jiang Zhiyi moved her numb foot slightly. “What were you two arguing about just now?”

Xiaoman looked at Gu Yu beside her, who looked even further to the side and noticed the medicinal soup warming on the small stove: “Oh, it’s just that it’s time for your medicine, and we were arguing about whether to wake you up or not.”

“Didn’t you two consider that by arguing, I’d wake up whether you decided to wake me or not?” Jiang Zhiyi eyed them both.

The two rubbed their noses and came forward to help her rinse her mouth and drink the medicine.

Jiang Zhiyi was helped to sit up, and as her thoughts emerged from her confused dreams, she remembered the matter that had been worrying her before sleep and immediately asked: “Is there any news from the hunting grounds?”

“No,” Gu Yu and Xiaoman answered in unison.

Jiang Zhiyi looked at the two who had answered so decisively, frowned slightly, and glanced at the dark sky outside the window: “What time is it now?”

“The hour of You (5-7 pm).”

“The hour of Xu (7-9 pm).”

Jiang Zhiyi: “?”

The two tensed up and exchanged glances.

Jiang Zhiyi: “You were quite in sync just now, but what happened this time?”

Xiaoman: “…Didn’t we agree to say one hour earlier?”

Gu Yu: “That was discussed last hour. Now, naturally, we should say two hours earlier!”

Jiang Zhiyi: “Do you take me for deaf or stupid?”

“Princess, please forgive us. We didn’t mean to hide it from you…”

“What time is it exactly?”

“It’s already the hour of Hai (9-11 pm), Princess.”

“What else are you hiding from me?” Jiang Zhiyi’s face hardened as she became stern.

Gu Yu nervously swallowed: “We received news that this afternoon during the hunting competition, a group of noble young masters were competing fiercely, chasing each other and refusing to yield, and an accident occurred while fighting over prey. Young Master Zhong’s arrow accidentally hit Young Master Zhuo’s horse. The horse panicked and ran wildly, causing Young Master Zhuo to be half-thrown off, his head hitting a roadside rock. He immediately lost consciousness. A large group of physicians rushed over. By evening, he had been revived, but Young Master Zhuo seems to have become… become an imbecile, unable to recognize anyone or understand speech, just constantly crying and wailing incoherently, looking quite frightening…”

Jiang Zhiyi shuddered with horror.

Young Master Zhuo must refer to Zhuo Kuan, the son of Marquis Xuande. The Marquis had been childless in his youth, rumored to have some ailment, which was later cured, and only in his old age did he finally have this one son. A child born in old age, and the only bloodline, he was precious beyond measure.

With Zhong Boyong’s arrow causing Zhuo Kuan to become like this, if he couldn’t be healed, Marquis Xuande would likely never forgive Zhong Boyong—no, he would never forgive the entire Zhong family.

Zhong Boyong, Zhuo Kuan—could it be—

Before Jiang Zhiyi could think it through, she realized something wasn’t right: “Wait, but that’s between the Zhong and Zhuo families. Why were you two hiding it from me?”

Both maids lowered their heads, trembling as they spoke: “It’s—it’s because we also heard that when Young Master Zhuo was hanging from the horse, he was about to be carried over a cliff with the horse, which would have cost him his life, but Young General Shen arrived in time to catch the horse. However, to restrain the horse, Young General Shen was dragged along the ground for quite a distance… His injuries looked even more terrible than Young Master Zhuo’s at that time, with blood all over his body…”

Jiang Zhiyi’s face turned pale, a breath stuck in her chest that she couldn’t release, like the moment of intense pain in her ankle that morning. Spots appeared before her eyes and began to spread.

“Princess!” Gu Yu and Xiaoman hurriedly rushed forward.

At the same moment, the back window opened and closed, and a familiar dark figure leaped in—

“Don’t faint just yet.”

Jiang Zhiyi was nearly collapsing onto the bed, supported on either side by Gu Yu and Xiaoman. She raised her eyes to see the visitor and forcibly regained consciousness from the edge of fainting, the blockage in her chest releasing as she took a long, deep breath.

Gu Yu and Xiaoman were both startled, their eyes widening in shock as they watched the person who should have been bedridden with injuries suddenly descend from the sky, walking in casually as if nothing had happened.

“Share news if you must, but there’s no need to be so vivid about it. Don’t you know how easily your Princess faints?” Shen Yuance gave the two maids a cool glance. “You may leave.”

The two hesitated, looking at Jiang Zhiyi: “But is the Princess alright?”

Jiang Zhiyi stared at the person before her, who didn’t appear to be missing any limbs, calmed herself, and raised her hand to dismiss them: “I’ll be fine.”

The two maids withdrew, looking back repeatedly as they left.

Shen Yuance sat down on the footstool by her bed, slightly moving his arm.

Jiang Zhiyi hurriedly looked down at him and asked in quick succession: “Where are you injured? They said you were bleeding so much. How could you come here with your injuries?”

“How could I come here?” Shen Yuance turned to glance at her. “If I’d arrived a moment later, you would have fainted. Taking advantage and acting innocent.”

“…”

“Where are you injured? Let me see.” Jiang Zhiyi tried to pull at the back of his collar.

“Not there,” Shen Yuance moved away with a sigh. Knowing he couldn’t escape this once he had arrived, he simply stood up and pulled up his right sleeve.

His entire elbow area was wrapped in thin cloth. After bandaging, the specific injury couldn’t be seen, but considering that he hadn’t bothered to treat minor injuries before, and now it was wrapped so thoroughly that the smell of blood could be detected through the bandage, it must be a serious wound.

Jiang Zhiyi, with reddened eyes, took his hand to examine it, looking up and down, wanting to touch it but not daring to. With a tearful voice, she chattered: “Can’t you have some sense of proportion… The elbow is such a crucial place, and it’s your right arm, too. If something went seriously wrong, how would you ever hold a spear again?”

“If you think this way, Marquis Xuande naturally would think the same,” Shen Yuance smiled.

Jiang Zhiyi stopped her teary complaints and looked up.

“Today’s prey was contested between Zhong Boyong and me. Even if that arrow was shot by Zhong Boyong, Marquis Xuande would inevitably direct half his blame toward me. But if I also became a victim while saving his son, Marquis Xuande’s anger would be aimed solely at the Zhong family. To use someone else as your weapon, naturally, that weapon must be sharp and accurate.”

So she hadn’t been wrong earlier. The people who had plotted against her today, besides Zhong Boyong, included Zhuo Kuan.

Then the so-called “accident” where Zhong Boyong’s arrow hit Zhuo Kuan’s horse was probably not an accident at all, and perhaps even Zhuo Kuan’s head hitting the rock wasn’t a coincidence…

Jiang Zhiyi was startled as she realized: “Even so, you shouldn’t gamble with your own life!”

Looking at the injured person still smiling before her, Jiang Zhiyi was furious. She thought he was simply insane, previously using himself as bait to lure enemies on the battlefield, and now setting up a revenge plot that could cost him dearly!

Jiang Zhiyi didn’t even want to ask if he was in pain; the answer would just be “it’s not worth mentioning.”

Shen Yuance withdrew his hand and calmly pulled down his sleeve: “It just looks frightening. The Zhong family isn’t worth that much concern.”

At this point, further discussion was useless. Jiang Zhiyi looked at his bandaged elbow, then at her own bandaged ankle, and sighed, not knowing who she was trying to comfort: “Fine, let’s just say you did it to be more compatible with me.”

“…”

Jiang Zhiyi composed herself and asked: “But has Zhuo Kuan become… an imbecile?”

Shen Yuance tilted his head: “Wasn’t he so good at thinking up schemes?”

By the sound of it, it seemed this condition was incurable.

“Isn’t that going a bit too far…”

“Falls and injuries depend on each person’s luck. You were lucky to only sprain your ankle. If you had been unlucky and hit your head, you might have ended up the same way. Giving him what he deserves, how is that excessive?”

Imagining herself becoming an imbecile, Jiang Zhiyi drew in a sharp breath and covered her face: “I would never become like that!”

After thinking for a moment, she asked: “What if I did become like that? Would you take care of me for the rest of my life?”

“…”

Without waiting for Shen Yuance to answer, Jiang Zhiyi shook her head: “Never mind. If I became an imbecile, such an embarrassing thing, it would be best if no one knew. If anyone did know, I would silence them for good. I wouldn’t want you to take care of me either; I’d just find a place where no one knows me and live out my pitiful days…”

“…”