For the first time, Shen Xihe was turned away by Xiao Huayong. She didn’t insist, only asking if the Crown Prince had awakened. Upon receiving an affirmative reply, she left.
“What did she say?” Xiao Huayong asked.
“The Princess only asked if Your Highness had regained consciousness and if there was any serious concern,” Tianyuan answered truthfully.
Xiao Huayong slowly closed his eyes, letting out a self-mocking short laugh through his nose. Though knowing the outcome, he still wanted to hold onto a shred of self-deceptive hope.
He had never imagined that one day he would become so humble.
His chest ached in waves – so this was the taste of heartache, truly the world’s most terrible torture.
“Tianyuan, I want to take my heart back…”
Take it back – would that stop this bone-deep pain? Would that let him return to being unmoved by all things?
He had said if her heart was cold, he would warm it; if she had no heart, he would give her half of his.
But today he realized she wasn’t heartless or cold-hearted – she had a heart firmly set on being unmoved by anyone!
Such as she was, he couldn’t shake her, and his heart couldn’t squeeze in.
“Your Highness, what did you say?” Xiao Huayong’s voice was too soft and unclear, Tianyuan hadn’t heard clearly.
But Xiao Huayong said: “I don’t want to hear news of her anymore.”
Tianyuan was stunned, then realized this matter was more serious than he had thought.
This was the first time Xiao Huayong had retreated. He didn’t know if he could still confidently win such a Shen Xihe’s heart. He wasn’t sure if her coldness would eventually leave him unrecognizable and scarred.
He wasn’t afraid of being hurt himself – he feared that after being wounded by love, he would lose control and end up hurting her too.
Even now, he couldn’t bear to hurt her in the slightest. If so, better to let go early.
This way, they could remain free of debt to each other.
Shen Xihe didn’t know that Xiao Huayong was so perceptive that merely from the name “Short Life,” he had an epiphany about her thoughts.
After Xiao Huayong refused to see her, on her way back to her quarters, she encountered Princess Changling. Though it had been long since her nose bridge was broken because Princess Changling hadn’t followed the doctor’s instructions, it had left a mark – her nasal bone protruded in the middle, giving her nose an arc. From the front, it didn’t look too severe, but from the side, it appeared particularly strange.
When Princess Changling saw Shen Xihe, her eyes flashed with cold light, like a venomous snake lurking in the grass, desperately wanting to pounce and bite Shen Xihe viciously. However, this time she didn’t approach, instead just glaring darkly at Shen Xihe for a moment before choosing another path.
“Why did she look at Sister that way?” Xue Jinqiao, who was following Shen Xihe, found Princess Changling’s gaze very disagreeable.
Shen Xihe glanced at Xue Jinqiao and said seriously: “She’s jealous of my beauty.”
Xue Jinqiao nodded in agreement: “That’s only natural.”
In Xue Jinqiao’s view, all women in the world should be jealous of Shen Xihe’s beauty.
She was different – because she admired Shen Xihe’s beauty.
For three consecutive days, Shen Xihe brought Random Happiness to visit Xiao Huayong, but each time was put off by Tianyuan, who felt very conflicted.
He knew His Highness was angry but didn’t know when the anger would pass. He also dared not offend Shen Xihe – if His Highness later held him accountable, he would suffer greatly. He could only rack his brains for appropriate excuses.
Although Tianyuan’s explanations were always reasonable, Shen Xihe wasn’t foolish. She understood that Xiao Huayong truly didn’t want to see her.
She thought carefully but couldn’t recall angering him.
Men were truly difficult to understand.
Unable to understand, Shen Xihe simply stopped trying and put it aside. The autumn hunt was only five days total, and she had already spent half the time on him. Shen Xihe accepted Bu Shulin’s invitation and went horseback riding with Xue Jinqiao.
“Young Master Bu, do you remember what you promised me last time?” Shen Xihe reined in her horse in a grove, seeing a beehive ahead.
“You… you’re not going to make me hunt a tiger, are you?” Bu Shulin’s face showed wariness and pleading.
“What would I do with a tiger?” Shen Xihe nodded toward the beehive. “I want that.”
It was a crescent-shaped beehive hanging on a cliff face, extremely large, surrounded by steep terrain with no trees to climb.
“This? …” Bu Shulin stroked her chin, quickly surveying the environment. “I can try.”
She instructed her subordinates to go back and fetch clean white clothes while she went to explore the environment. Shen Xihe gave her a snake-repelling sachet to wear. Bu Shulin climbed up, planning to leap across from one side and use a long sword to cut it down.
Someone would catch it below, while she would land on the opposite cliff face and jump down. She shot an arrow to the landing spot on the opposite side to test the stability of the rocks there. Satisfied, she turned back to Shen Xihe below: “Wait for me to get it for you!”
Just then, the sound of horses approached from behind. Several princesses seemed to be racing with some noble ladies, charging toward their location. Shen Xihe, Xue Jinqiao, and the others quickly made their way.
Leading the group was the Sixth Princess, Princess Pingling, followed by two noble ladies who galloped past where Shen Xihe and Xue Jinqiao had cleared the path. Right behind them was the Fourth Princess, Princess Changling.
Princess Changling saw Shen Xihe sitting parallel to the path on horseback. As she passed by, she viciously whipped Shen Xihe’s horse’s rump.
Shen Xihe’s startled horse immediately galloped away, its speed so great it overtook even the racing Princess Pingling.
Everyone cried out in alarm and pulled tight their reins. Princess Pingling looked back and shouted: “Fourth Sister, what are you doing!”
“What’s there to fear? Princess Zhaoning is the Western King’s daughter. Which Western woman doesn’t have skill in horsemanship? Let Princess Zhaoning show us all.” Princess Changling leisurely urged her horse forward, her gaze cold.
Princess Pingling glanced at her, then whipped her horse to give chase. Xue Jinqiao also pursued, and passing by Princess Changling, gave her horse a fierce whip in return.
Then, ignoring Princess Changling’s shocked cry, she chased after Shen Xihe.
Shen Xihe knew some horsemanship but wasn’t an expert. As the horse galloped, she found it difficult to breathe. Her body was gradually recovering but hadn’t recovered this quickly – riding at a gentle pace was fine, but once galloping, she couldn’t withstand it.
She completely couldn’t calm down to control the horse. As her chest began to feel like it was being torn apart, she knew she couldn’t continue like this. Making a split-second decision, she abandoned the horse, finding a slope overgrown with weeds, she leaped from the horse, protecting her head with her arms as she rolled down the slope.
There were thorns among the weeds, leaving countless scratches on her arms. The slope was deeper and longer than she had imagined. She rolled uncontrollably downward, and at the bottom was a waterfall’s deep pool – she plunged straight in.