“Xiao Beichen—” Shen Xihe lost her support from Xiao Huayong and fell from the galloping horse. Though she landed in the grass and wasn’t badly hurt, in that moment of falling she saw Xiao Huayong and the tiger tumbling to the ground together.

She quickly grabbed anything she could reach to stop herself from rolling further, then desperately climbed up. She saw the tiger pinning Xiao Huayong down, both of them lying motionless on top of each other, and her face drained of all color.

She could still hear the tiger’s heavy breathing, so…

In her panic, she frantically looked for a weapon to pounce with, then remembered she was wearing the hidden sword hairpin Xiao Huayong had given her. She hurriedly pulled it from her hair, so urgent that she didn’t notice she’d pulled out an empty shell with no sword inside.

Gripping this wooden shell, she charged forward and stabbed down at the tiger’s back.

“Crack crack crack…” The groan of pain came from Xiao Huayong. The tiger’s body was still warm, and Shen Xihe could feel it slightly trembling, but it seemed to have no strength to resist. Her strike hadn’t even pierced its body. Coming to her senses, Shen Xihe stared blankly at the wooden hairpin in her hand.

“Youyou… if you don’t pull me out, I won’t die from the tiger but from being crushed by it…” Xiao Huayong’s voice came from underneath.

Shen Xihe then realized that in her desperate fight with the tiger, she had also thrown herself on top of it.

She hurriedly got up and struggled to push the tiger aside, finally seeing Xiao Huayong covered in blood. The fallen tiger had two black Pingzhong leaves embedded in its neck, the entire blade buried deep.

One of its eyes was still open, blood still flowing, its belly still moving, but it couldn’t move at all.

“Xiao Beichen, are you alright?” Shen Xihe helped Xiao Huayong up.

Xiao Huayong looked at the panicked Shen Xihe, at her disheveled state, at the deep concern and worry in her eyes, at the wound on her leg. Disregarding his blood-stained condition, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

At this moment, the sound of hoofbeats and arrows filled the air as Tianyuan and the others rushed up from the foot of the mountain.

Zhenzhu and Sui Axi immediately ran over. Ignoring that Xiao Huayong and Shen Xihe were embracing, Zhenzhu said: “Princess, let this servant check your wounds.”

Xiao Huayong released Shen Xihe. One followed Sui Axi aside to treat his injuries, while the other was carefully examined by Zhenzhu.

The remaining tiger chose to flee with the arrival of Tianyuan and his group.

Shen Xihe only had several deep scratch marks on her leg, nothing compared to Xiao Huayong’s arms which were wounded almost to the bone from being caught between two tigers and climbing trees.

Xiao Huayong had multiple lacerations. After Zhenzhu finished bandaging Shen Xihe, she went to help Sui Axi treat Xiao Huayong’s injuries.

After basic treatment, they quickly returned to the city, first going to the Princess’s manor. Xiao Huayong also tidied himself up at the Princess’s manor.

After Shen Xihe had bathed and changed into fresh clothes, he came to see her, full of guilt and self-reproach: “It was my poor planning that put you in danger. If not for you, I likely wouldn’t have escaped today.”

Fortunately, Shen Xihe had smelled the fragrance before reaching the ambush zone and recognized its purpose. Otherwise, if they had unknowingly run into the circle of lingering incense, they would have fallen into a den of beasts, with certainly more than three tigers in relentless pursuit.

“Why do you say such things?” Shen Xihe looked him over. He was properly dressed, all his wounds hidden beneath clean clothes, his demeanor so calm that no one would guess he was injured.

Moreover, having taken medicine for years, the strong medicinal smell on his body completely masked any trace of wound medicine.

“I told you, when I chose you, I would share both fortune and misfortune with you.”

Besides, such crises were impossible to prevent completely. Their intelligence didn’t mean others were foolish. Xiao Huayong was now becoming prominent, and many were beginning to suspect. The number of people wanting to test Xiao Huayong’s depths was countless.

Today’s events were just the beginning. They would face more schemes and plots in the future.

Xiao Huayong held her hand: “I only want you to enjoy good fortune with me, without misfortune. Today I failed to ensure that. I’m still not fearsome enough.”

“Even His Majesty, the supreme ruler, faces assassination attempts. You needn’t be so troubled. Let’s find the mastermind and properly repay them,” Shen Xihe redirected Xiao Huayong’s attention.

Xiao Huayong’s eyes darkened: “Rest assured, I will catch this person.”

He still had official matters to attend to, so he didn’t stay long at the Princess’s manor, not wanting to delay Shen Xihe’s rest. He left the Princess’s manor and went straight back to the Eastern Palace.

“Princess, you must be more careful in the future,” Zhenzhu advised after Xiao Huayong left.

Heaven knows how terrified she was seeing Shen Xihe covered in blood earlier. Fortunately, Shen Xihe was only lightly injured.

At the same time, they were extremely regretful for becoming careless in trying to give the Crown Prince and Princess private time.

“This isn’t your fault, don’t blame yourselves,” Shen Xihe glanced at Zhenzhu, Moyu, and the others, softly comforting them. “We were too content these past two months, which led to our carelessness.”

From the third month until now at the end of the fifth month, Xiao Huayong had taken her out more than ten times, each time full of joy. They had become immersed in these relaxed, leisurely moments, almost forgetting that she was the Northwestern King’s daughter and he was the current Crown Prince. So many people would love to take their lives.

However, to devise such a method showed quite a devious mind.

To accomplish this, something must have gone wrong on Xiao Huayong’s side. Someone had planted people around Xiao Huayong long ago. It wasn’t clear how much this person knew about Xiao Huayong, but presumably not much, otherwise they wouldn’t have needed such methods.

“Your Highness, local subordinates leaked the information,” Tianyuan, who had returned to the Eastern Palace first, had already investigated the matter.

When Xiao Huayong wanted to take Shen Xihe out, he naturally had to choose scenic locations. Previously, local officials were always sent to scout, and this time was no exception. However, this time the person sent to scout today’s location had leaked the information to outsiders beforehand.

There was a path on the mountain full of azaleas, quite beautiful. Having been there before, they could guess that Xiao Huayong would surely bring Shen Xihe to see such beautiful scenery, so they set up an ambush beyond the azalea sea early on.

Fortunately, this person wasn’t important and merely thought the local authority was a mysterious organization, with the Eastern Palace simply buying information from them, knowing nothing else.

“Where is the person?” Xiao Huayong asked expressionlessly.

“They have already committed suicide,” Tianyuan knelt before Xiao Huayong, head lowered.

“Investigate. I want to know who the information was leaked to and who set up today’s trap,” Xiao Huayong’s pupils darkened. “Punish the local authority by having them capture three fierce tigers and keep them caged. Once we find the person, they’ll be thrown to the tigers as feed.”