Behind Qingjiang Summer Palace stretched continuous mountains with abundant forests. The mountains harbored many rare birds and exotic beasts. Though Emperor Yan was elderly, he still valued archery and horsemanship greatly. Every year upon arriving at Qingjiang Summer Palace, he would hunt in the back mountain hunting grounds. The imperial family and important ministers all had to accompany him. This year, with Northern Dynasty Crown Prince Xiao Yin and Eastern Yan’s Prince Rui participating, Emperor Yan’s interest was even more stimulated.
Northern Dynasty people excelled at archery and horsemanship, while Southern Dynasty people were not skilled at riding and shooting—this was common knowledge among the four kingdoms. However, Emperor Yan refused to fall behind and wanted to use this summer hunt to compete with Xiao Yin. Therefore, any soldiers skilled in archery and horsemanship had to accompany the imperial entourage.
The day before, guards had cleared the back mountain hunting grounds, driving away idle people and dangerous beasts.
In the early morning, the weather was fine.
Emperor Yan rode in his carriage, surrounded by palace guards, heading toward the back mountain.
Huangfu Wushuang and Huangfu Wushang followed closely behind Emperor Yan’s carriage, with countless guards protecting them. Both wore narrow-sleeved riding attire, appearing more heroic. Huangfu Wushang had never ridden horses due to his leg ailment since childhood. Though his leg condition had gradually improved recently and he had slowly begun learning archery and horsemanship, he was ultimately just a beginner. Sitting on horseback, his pale face showed traces of nervousness.
After about an hour, the group reached the back mountain hunting grounds. Emperor Yan descended from his carriage as palace attendants led over precious horses. Emperor Yan mounted his horse and looked back at the two princes following behind him. Raising his eyebrows with a smile, he said, “Wushang, you need only follow along and watch the excitement. If you can hunt small game, that’s good; if not, it doesn’t matter!” After speaking, Emperor Yan’s expression darkened as he turned to Huangfu Wushuang, saying coldly, “Wushuang, you usually enjoy hawking and dog racing. Today, let me see your real abilities!”
“Yes!” Huangfu Wushuang hurriedly bowed in agreement.
Hua Zhuyu followed closely behind Xiao Yin. The gyrfalcon circled low overhead, its sharp eagle eyes fierce as lightning, while the four personal guards followed closely behind him.
For today’s occasion, Dou Qianjin hadn’t come, reportedly having gone to handle some matter. Hua Zhuyu wondered if he had gone out to search for Ying Shuxie.
Ji Fengli and several civil officials also followed behind under guard protection, fully equipped and ready.
The hunting horn sounded in the grounds—long and fierce, signaling for quiet in the hunting area. Everyone mounted their horses. The guard commander led guards to clear the path ahead as the Emperor led over a hundred riders into the forest.
Eunuch Chang beside Emperor Yan shouted with his shrill voice, “His Majesty decrees that everyone shall hunt beasts independently. After two hours, whoever has hunted the most prey shall be the victor.”
Everyone spurred their horses away. For a time, hundreds of beasts ran wild in the back mountain hunting grounds as people galloped in pursuit—truly ten thousand arrows flying together with earth-shaking shouts.
Hua Zhuyu rode alongside Xiao Yin, admiring the mountain and forest scenery. Xiao Yin’s group were all skilled in archery and horsemanship, requiring no help from Hua Zhuyu.
Two hours later, everyone regathered at the starting point to count their harvest. Xiao Yin had the most, followed by the Emperor and the military generals’ team, then Huangfu Wushang, then Huangfu Wushuang. Ji Fengli and several civil ministers had only hunted two pheasants.
The Emperor, having lost to Xiao Yin, was naturally uncomfortable. Seeing that Huangfu Wushuang had actually lost to Huangfu Wushang, his expression darkened as he scolded coldly, “Look at yourself! Usually you enjoy hawking and dog racing, making merry, but when it’s time to truly display your skills, this is all you can manage. Look at Wushang—he’s only been learning archery and horsemanship for a few days, yet he’s already surpassed you!”
Huangfu Wushuang knelt on the ground with his head lowered, not daring to make a sound.
After guards counted the prey and seeing the sun setting westward, Emperor Yan ordered camp to be made in the wilderness. Halfway up the mountain, dozens of tents were distributed in continuous rows beside a mountain spring on open ground. Emperor Yan’s imperial tent was in the center, with Xiao Yin’s tent to one side. Behind were Huangfu Wushuang and Huangfu Wushang’s tents, while ministers’ and guards’ tents surrounded Emperor Yan’s tent like stars around the moon.
Evening meals included not only delicious dishes prepared by imperial chefs brought from the Summer Palace, but also roasted meat from the day’s hunted pheasants and deer. After the evening meal, night had fallen. Above the night sky, a bright moon hung high; below, bonfires burned.
Huangfu Wushuang, dressed in athletic wear, walked before Emperor Yan. “Father Emperor, your son wishes to compete in archery with Wushang. I hope Father Emperor will grant permission.”
Huangfu Wushuang had a youthful temperament and somewhat stubborn character. Today’s hunt was meant to showcase his abilities, yet he had been defeated by Huangfu Wushang. Perhaps losing to anyone else wouldn’t have angered him so much, but Huangfu Wushang was both a rival for the throne and, most critically, someone whose leg ailment was gradually improving who had been learning archery for less than a few months—how could he accept this? Being scolded by Father Emperor over this matter left this Crown Prince with no face. Thinking that Huangfu Wushang’s prey was probably hunted by his subordinate guards, he proposed this competition to save face.
Emperor Yan nodded in agreement. Actually, privately, this emperor wouldn’t mind helping Huangfu Wushuang regain face. Seeing Emperor Yan’s approval, guards hurried to prepare.
Previously, in the ministers’ eyes, there was only Crown Prince Huangfu Wushuang, while Huangfu Wushang was not only a child forgotten by Emperor Yan but also one never noticed by the ministers. Since being enfeoffed as Prince Kang, the ministers seemed to realize Emperor Yan had another son.
Today marked the first confrontation between the Crown Prince and Prince Kang—who wouldn’t be interested? Everyone gathered around, watching with full attention.
Soon, a row of red silk lanterns rose gracefully thirty zhang ahead, the candle flames’ heat causing the red lanterns to float upward continuously—thirty lanterns total.
Huangfu Wushuang drew his bow and nocked an arrow. His dark eyes narrowed slightly as he shot toward the silk lanterns in mid-air. Only popping sounds were heard as arrows passed and lanterns extinguished, with silk lanterns continuously falling.
Seeing Huangfu Wushuang begin shooting, Huangfu Wushang’s handsome young face paled, showing nervousness and timidity, but his movements weren’t slow at all. The moment his hand touched the bow and arrow, he seemed completely absorbed in archery, extremely focused. Each time, he fired three arrows simultaneously toward the sky.
The thirty red silk lanterns were shot down by both in less than one tea time.
Since the two used different arrows, guards collected the red silk lanterns, counted them, and reported back: Huangfu Wushuang shot down fourteen lanterns, Huangfu Wushang shot down sixteen.
Hearing the numbers reported by the guards, Emperor Yan’s brow furrowed as his gaze drifted coldly over Huangfu Wushuang’s face. It seemed tonight Emperor Yan was extremely disappointed in Huangfu Wushuang.
Hua Zhuyu stood beside Xiao Yin with slightly furrowed dark brows. She hadn’t expected Huangfu Wushang’s archery to be so skilled.
“This Prince Kang’s archery skills couldn’t reach this level without two years of day and night practice!” Xiao Yin turned back, saying quietly to Hua Zhuyu. “The Southern Dynasty court appears calm as water on the surface, but turbulent undercurrents flow beneath. You absolutely cannot remain here.”
Hua Zhuyu knew Xiao Yin’s concern for her was genuine, but she still said decisively, “Even if it’s a mountain of knives and sea of fire, I cannot leave!”
Xiao Yin was exasperated. His deep eagle eyes swept over coldly, his handsome face as cold as ice. Turning away, he sighed deeply, his purple eyes full of helplessness.
Huangfu Wushuang was completely stunned. He had originally thought Huangfu Wushang’s prey was all shot by his guards. He never expected his archery to be so skilled. Tonight, Huangfu Wushuang had completely fallen flat.
This time Emperor Yan didn’t scold him again, merely waving his hand lightly. “Enough, you may withdraw. Tonight’s competition ends here. Beloved ministers, don’t be constrained tonight—you may drink freely.” Huangfu Wushuang’s handsome young face was already clouded over as he slowly withdrew with a dejected expression.
While ministers ate delicious roasted meat and drank fine wine, before long they all had somewhat hazy intoxication.
The incident occurred at this moment.
The bonfire was nearly burned out. As guards went to add firewood, suddenly a strange wind blew, causing the bonfire to flicker and die.
Heaven and earth instantly darkened, with only the bonfire’s embers and several torches flickering with dim light. Guards took firewood to rekindle the bonfire. Just then, waves of wolf howls came over, sounding particularly mournful. In the mountain’s quiet night, wolf howls weren’t really concerning—where in the mountains weren’t there one or two wolves? Even if a pack of wolves came, with so many people, they needn’t fear. Moreover, fierce beasts in the hunting grounds had been cleared away yesterday, so the guards were somewhat relaxed.
However, after the wolf howls, another type of roaring arose, seemingly from the nearby forest.
Guards gripped their weapons, surrounding Emperor Yan in a circle while watching alertly in all directions. Most intoxicated people had sobered considerably by now.
The sound seemed to be tiger roars. Clearly all large wild animals had been cleared away, yet why would fierce beasts like tigers appear? These Imperial Guards who had lived comfortably in the Southern Dynasty capital with Emperor Yan—some trembled holding their swords, while others recklessly wanted to charge into the dense forest.
Hua Zhuyu hurried forward to stop these people, saying, “The situation is unclear—better not act rashly.” These guards charging over recklessly would undoubtedly be courting death.
However, these guards wouldn’t listen to a little eunuch’s words. Eager to display their loyalty before Emperor Yan, they pushed Hua Zhuyu aside, coldly shouting, “Move aside, move aside! Don’t obstruct our protection of His Majesty!”
Just then, from the shadowy dense forest, a black shadow suddenly pounced from behind Emperor Yan. Everyone was staring intently at the forest ahead, not expecting danger to attack from behind.
Before seeing clearly what it was, several screams were heard as guards beside Emperor Yan were successively knocked down. A huge wild beast pounced toward Emperor Yan.
At this moment, among the guards beside Emperor Yan, a figure roared angrily and charged forward. With a wave of his hand, a long rope whipped out, entangling the beast’s ankle, causing its form to pause and its pouncing momentum to slow. The force toward Emperor Yan was blocked, but even so, the remaining force made Emperor Yan stagger and fall to the ground, spitting blood.
Numerous guards and ministers hurried forward, surrounding Emperor Yan protectively.
Now, in the interweaving light of torches and moonlight, everyone could vaguely see this was a fierce tiger with yellow and black striped fur, its copper-bell eyes shooting fierce light. The one who had entangled the tiger’s hind leg with rope was Tong Shou, one of Ji Fengli’s two great scholars. Hua Zhuyu hadn’t expected this Tong Shou to be protecting Emperor Yan instead of staying by Ji Fengli’s side.
Hua Zhuyu looked coldly toward the crowd, seeing Ji Fengli protecting Emperor Yan’s vicinity, his long eyes slightly narrowed. At this moment, his face lacked its usual gentle smile—though not particularly tense, his expression was deeply cold and grave. Beside him, Lan Bing in blue robes protected him closely, as if fearing Ji Fengli might be harmed.
Hua Zhuyu couldn’t help but sneer inwardly—since when did Ji Fengli need others’ protection!
This Tong Shou’s martial arts were indeed formidable. He entangled the tiger with rope, then casually wound the rope’s other end around a nearby sharp stone. This tiger was also fierce—with an angry roar, it pounced forward again. The tremendous force actually uprooted the mountain stone, dragging it as it charged straight toward the pale-faced Huangfu Wushang.
Huangfu Wushang had just finished the archery competition with Huangfu Wushuang and was sitting at the lowest position drinking several cups of wine. He was now under several guards’ protection, sitting at the outermost edge. Seeing the tiger pounce over, several guards stabbed at it with swords. Unfortunately, this tiger was extremely fierce with astonishing jumping speed—several guards were successively knocked down and had their necks bitten through. Some guards were so frightened they scattered in all directions. However, one guard beside Huangfu Wushang had decent martial arts—while protecting Huangfu Wushang behind him, he stabbed at the tiger with his long sword. Huangfu Wushang was naturally timid and had always been pale-faced. Being frightened by the tiger, he became even more bloodless. Standing up, he actually fled in panic toward the outside. In his nervousness, he again showed some limping.
Seeing him flee, the tiger actually abandoned the guards and pounced toward him. He happened to run toward Hua Zhuyu. In this situation, Hua Zhuyu couldn’t help but leap forward to rescue Huangfu Wushang.
The guards came to their senses and shot arrows like locusts toward the tiger. Finally, the tiger collapsed motionless from multiple wounds. Hua Zhuyu held Huangfu Wushang and stepped back two paces, setting him down. Just as she caught her breath, another fierce wind struck—another tiger burst from the dense forest, charging straight at Hua Zhuyu and Huangfu Wushang.
Hua Zhuyu had no weapons for defense. With her lightness skills, she could dodge and avoid it, but once she dodged, Huangfu Wushang behind her would die in the tiger’s mouth. Though Prince Kang was Huangfu Wushuang’s political enemy and son of her enemy Emperor Yan, Hua Zhuyu clearly understood that debts should be paid by the debtor—she didn’t want this innocent youth to die unjustly.
In a flash, Hua Zhuyu drew an arrow from Huangfu Wushang’s waist, gripping it tightly while secretly channeling internal energy into the arrow. She raised both arms high, concealing the arrow in her palm. To onlookers, it appeared she was preparing to fight the tiger barehanded. At this critical moment, a purple shadow charged over like lightning, moving so fast one couldn’t see who it was.
Xiao Yin had originally been far from Hua Zhuyu. The moment the tiger appeared, he had rushed toward her, but before reaching her side, this incident occurred.
At this point, driving off the tiger was impossible. Xiao Yin used lightness skills to leap beside Hua Zhuyu, pulling her body into his embrace. Unable to escape in time, he could only turn his body to protect Hua Zhuyu, using his back to meet the tiger’s pouncing force.
In this instant, the arrow in Hua Zhuyu’s hand flew out like lightning, stabbing straight into the tiger’s lower jaw. The tiger roared, its body arcing backward as it crashed heavily to the ground. It continued crying mournfully, the sounds growing weaker until it stopped moving.
The tiger’s lower jaw and neck area was a fatal spot, but when Hua Zhuyu thrust in the arrow, she distinctly felt something sharp at the jaw area—as if something sharp had already pierced there before her. However, at the moment, Hua Zhuyu had no time to investigate this.
She propped herself up and slowly pushed Xiao Yin away, laying him flat on the ground to examine his injuries. Many people were stunned as quiet returned to the mountain wilderness.
“How are you…?” Hua Zhuyu looked at Xiao Yin with a shaken heart. Under the moonlight, his healthy wheat-colored skin had turned deathly pale. Blood seeped from his shoulder area, making his face appear even whiter than snow, though his lips curved in a relieved, relaxed smile.
“Your Highness, how are you? Are you seriously injured?” Xiao Yin’s four personal guards arrived. Hui Xue asked anxiously while Liu Feng hurriedly helped Xiao Yin up, tearing open his shoulder clothing to examine his wounds.
Xiao Yin said carelessly, “It’s nothing, nothing serious.” However, his voice grew increasingly low. Seemingly accidentally touching his wound, his brow furrowed deeply as he coughed lightly, blood seeping from his lips.
Accompanying imperial physicians hurried over to examine Huangfu Wushang and Xiao Yin’s injuries, while Emperor Yan remained unconscious.
After this sudden change, three important figures were injured. The imperial physicians were in chaos while everyone’s hearts were filled with anxiety.
Night was deep. Returning to the Summer Palace that evening was impossible. Emperor Yan immediately ordered all Imperial Guards from the Summer Palace to come over, guarding outside all night while several large bonfires burned around the tents throughout the night.
Hua Zhuyu was currently assigned to serve Xiao Yin. Moreover, since Xiao Yin was injured protecting her, she remained in his tent attending him.
Candlelight flickered inside the tent. Xiao Yin leaned against the couch, his shoulder wound already treated and wrapped in thick white gauze. With medicine applied, his expression was much better than when first injured. Fortunately, that claw had struck his shoulder—if it had hit his back’s vital point, who knew if he could still be leaning on this couch.
Hua Zhuyu looked at his shoulder and after a long while asked hoarsely, “Does the wound still hurt?”
Xiao Yin smoothed his disheveled hair and smiled. “It doesn’t hurt—this small injury is nothing.” After speaking, his expression grew somber. “That day when I shot your shoulder with a barbed arrow, now I know how much pain you felt then. This injury is well-deserved for your elder brother. Girl, don’t take it to heart!”
Xiao Yin kept all past hurts to Hua Zhuyu in his heart, always using these memories to punish himself for his former coldness.
Hua Zhuyu’s heart surged with emotion.
Xiao Yin’s thousand-mile pursuit and sacrificing himself to protect her deeply moved her. This feeling was mixed with a trace of different, subtle emotion.
She lowered her eyelashes, hiding the mist rising in her eyes. When she raised her head again, her eyes were bright and clear as she smiled, saying, “Your Highness, you needn’t feel guilty about past events anymore. Don’t mention those things again. What you owed me has been completely repaid.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yin’s purple eyes grew increasingly dim.
He didn’t look at her, his purple eyes gazing at the candlelight as if using tremendous effort to speak words fine as silk.
“Repaid? You mean from now on we’re even, is that it?” After long silence, he slowly turned back to look at her, saying hoarsely, “Could it be that besides what was owed, there’s nothing else between us?”
Hua Zhuyu was slightly stunned.
Was there anything else?
These words were like a sharp sword piercing her tender heart.
“Even if you don’t care about the kinship between us, could it be…” Some words, when sober, he truly couldn’t speak.
The tent fell into deadlock.
“You’re unwilling to come with me—fine, I won’t force you. But what you’re doing is too dangerous! Tonight’s tiger incident was absolutely no coincidence. I think you must have realized this too. Leaving you in this treacherous Southern Dynasty palace, I truly can’t feel at ease.” Xiao Yin spoke slowly, word by word.
Hua Zhuyu also knew tonight’s events weren’t accidental. Especially those two tigers—they didn’t harm others but specifically targeted Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang. She didn’t believe tigers could recognize Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang—someone must have manipulated this. Today’s events were only the beginning; who knew what upheavals would occur in court tomorrow.
“Rest assured, I won’t let anything happen to myself! I think you can guess what I’m doing. If I don’t do this, even if I lived, it would be no different from being dead. So don’t try to stop me. If… if things work out, someday I might go to the Northern Dynasty to find you!” Hua Zhuyu lowered her eyelashes, hiding the emotions in her eyes as she spoke slowly. No matter what, she would not leave.
Xiao Yin turned to look at her, his deep eyes flashing with surprise that made his purple eyes startlingly bright. He had thought Hua Zhuyu completely disdained him as an elder brother, thought she would sever their relationship completely. He hadn’t expected she would be willing to return to find him.
Early the next morning, Hua Zhuyu heard that both Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang’s injuries had stabilized. However, Emperor Yan was no longer young and his health hadn’t been very good originally. Yesterday’s tiger attack had injured his internal organs and given him a shock, allowing other ailments to take advantage and invade his body.
This time Emperor Yan had to remain at Qingjiang Summer Palace to recuperate. Court affairs were entrusted to the equally injured Prince Kang Huangfu Wushang to handle, with Left Prime Minister Ji Fengli, Grand Tutor Wen, and Right Prime Minister Nie Yuanqiao as assisting ministers.
Crown Prince Huangfu Wushuang seemed forgotten.
Hua Zhuyu knew things were not good.
Emperor Yan probably suspected Huangfu Wushuang regarding last night’s incident. However, he currently had no evidence—if he found evidence, Huangfu Wushuang’s position as Crown Prince would likely be abolished.
Emperor Yan’s suspicion of Huangfu Wushuang probably stemmed from two factors: first, Huangfu Wushuang had always enjoyed hawking and dog racing, liking to deal with animals. Second, Emperor Yan had recently favored Huangfu Wushang greatly—his intention might merely have been to motivate Huangfu Wushuang, but such repeated suppression of Huangfu Wushuang, especially yesterday when Emperor Yan repeatedly scolded him after losing the archery contest, would naturally make Emperor Yan think Huangfu Wushuang harbored resentment.
These factors combined made Emperor Yan’s suspicion of Huangfu Wushuang reasonable. After all, yesterday Huangfu Wushang had been in such danger, nearly losing his life, so his suspicion was completely cleared.
Hua Zhuyu’s brow furrowed slightly as she suddenly remembered the sharp sensation at the tiger’s jaw when she thrust her arrow last night. Thinking about it now, a moment before her strike, a master had probably already acted. Huangfu Wushang was unconscious on the ground and couldn’t have acted, so someone else must have protected him.
Thinking of this, Hua Zhuyu took leave of Xiao Yin and went to find Huangfu Wushuang.