Leaving the leisure estate, five li to the east was Cloud Mist Mountain. Actually, from the leisure estate, one could already gaze upon the beautiful and majestic scenery of Cloud Mist Mountain throughout the four seasons.

There were two routes from the leisure estate to Cloud Mist Mountain. One was the official road—the young masters and misses from the capital mostly took the official road when visiting Cloud Mist Mountain for leisure. The other was a small path trampled out over many years by nearby hunters. Though not as smooth as the official road, it was secluded and quiet, and the journey was also shorter.

The small path was what Wei Rao usually took.

When the four cousins arrived at the entrance of the small path, they saw only three or four sets of footprints in the vast white snow.

“Let’s race on horseback and see who reaches the foot of the mountain first,” Wei Rao pointed toward the end of the small path and suggested with a smile.

Huo Jue was rather worried about Zhou Huizhu’s horsemanship—his little cousin was only thirteen years old. Could she manage to ride?

Seeing her cousin looking at her, Zhou Huizhu pouted and said, “Cousin, don’t underestimate me. I learned to ride when I was ten years old. I can even go up mountains, let alone this flat little path?”

Wei Rao also said, “Exactly. Cousin, don’t be like those men outside who make a big fuss whenever they see women riding horses, as if they’re watching men embroider or paint their eyebrows. Since we sisters dared to come out today, we naturally have the skill to ride and hunt. Cousin needn’t worry about this and that—just focus on competing with us properly!”

Being scorned by both cousins simultaneously, Huo Jue laughed and apologized, “It was indeed my mistake. Very well, today this cousin will compete properly with you all.”

Though he said this, when the race began, Huo Jue still deliberately fell back a step, letting the three girls run ahead while he stayed behind, ready to assist if any accident occurred.

Wei Rao didn’t think so much about it. Her cousin Zhou Huizhu’s riding skills weren’t much inferior to hers—after all, living on the estate meant she could ride whenever she wanted. As for her cousin Huo Lin, Wei Rao had also observed her just now. From her posture when mounting and gripping the reins, one could tell she was an experienced rider. Since her aunt was skilled in horsemanship, how could the daughter she taught be lacking?

Therefore, as soon as the race began, Wei Rao simply charged forward with all her might.

The white horse galloped through the snow, seeming to merge with the pristine white snow. The red-clothed woman on horseback was like a red phoenix that had finally escaped its cage, soaring freely along the snowy ground. The spring breeze carried the crisp scent of melting ice and snow toward her. Wei Rao took a deep breath, as if drinking celestial dew that cleansed away all the dusty vulgarity she had picked up in the capital.

The end of the small path was the foot of Cloud Mist Mountain. Wei Rao reined in her horse and turned around with a smile.

The pearls on her cap gleamed brilliantly, yet they couldn’t compare to her clear phoenix eyes and tender white cheeks that were even more captivating.

Zhou Huizhu and Huo Lin were competing for second place and didn’t pay much attention to Wei Rao. However, Huo Jue’s gaze fell on Wei Rao the moment she turned around, then he was immediately dazzled by her beauty and looked away, not daring to stare.

He feared that the more closely he looked, the deeper he would fall. Cousin Rao and he were destined not to be on the same path.

With Wei Rao and Zhou Huizhu leading the way, the four rode their horses at a gentle trot along the foot of the mountain for a quarter-hour before stopping.

Huo Jue looked toward the mountainside. Everywhere else was dense deciduous forest, but here one could vaguely see a small path dividing the trees.

“There’s snow on the mountain, so it’s easy to step into space. Today, let’s not go to the mountaintop—we’ll just look around at the foot of the mountain and casually hunt whatever we can,” Wei Rao decided. Though she loved to play, she knew safety came first.

Huo Jue breathed a sigh of relief, truly afraid the young ladies intended to climb the mountain.

After dismounting, the four tied their horses to nearby trees.

“Will anyone steal the horses?” Huo Lin looked around, somewhat worried.

Zhou Huizhu laughed, “Sister Lin, don’t worry. These horses bear our Zhou family’s markings. Ordinary petty thieves wouldn’t dare provoke us.”

Those who dared to mock the Zhou family were all prestigious noble families in the capital. Common people only knew that Emperor Yuanjia respected Shou’an Jun, that the Zhou family had Consort Li who bore an imperial prince, and a grand-aunt who married the richest merchant in Jin territory. With money when money was needed and backing when backing was needed, who would dare steal from the Zhou family?

After organizing their quivers and hunting ropes, the four set out in formation. The mountain path was narrow, so Wei Rao led as before, with Huo Jue bringing up the rear.

After climbing to a certain height, Wei Rao stopped and pulled three whistles from her pouch, distributing them to Zhou Huizhu and the other two: “Staying together makes too much noise and scares away all the prey. Let’s separate here. Don’t wander too far. If anyone falls and sprains an ankle, stay put and blow the whistle—the others will be able to hear it.”

Just as Huo Jue was about to speak, Zhou Huizhu immediately blocked his mouth, saying, “Cousin, don’t panic. We usually hunt this way, too. This isn’t the main peak of Cloud Mist Mountain—aside from us sisters, very few outsiders come here. Besides, look at our clothing—red, green, and blue. We’re so conspicuous in the snow that we can see each other with just a turn of the head.”

Huo Jue could only compromise and asked Wei Rao, “Do you have a whistle?”

Wei Rao smiled and pulled a red cord from her collar—she had put on the whistle before leaving.

Huo Jue also glanced at the precious sword at her waist, wondering if it was a real sword or just a decorative accessory that girls wore for fun.

Though his cousin’s fussiness came from concern, Wei Rao smiled without speaking. She drew her precious sword and, appearing to do so casually, gently hurled it toward a locust tree two zhang away.

The sword tip embedded into a branch, the blade swayed slightly, then stopped steadily.

This kind of force and accuracy was probably beyond even ordinary guards.

Both Huo Jue and Huo Lin looked at Wei Rao in shock.

Wei Rao went directly to retrieve her sword while Zhou Huizhu said with complex emotions, “In the winter when Sister Rao was eleven, she entered the palace and was plotted against, falling into an ice pit. Though she was rescued and her life was saved, she was left with the root ailment of physical weakness. The Emperor felt sorry for Sister Rao and specially assigned a female master to teach her martial arts—dual cultivation of internal energy techniques and swordsmanship. Now, Sister Rao has not only restored her health, but her swordsmanship is also quite formidable. Unlike me, I only learned a bit of the basics.”

Huo Jue was more concerned about another matter: “Were the people who plotted against Rao Rao back then caught?”

Zhou Huizhu snorted, “They found one little palace maid who committed suicide.”

Huo Jue’s expression darkened. That little palace maid was a scapegoat. However, in the palace, the one who most hated their maternal grandmother’s family, there was no other choice but that person.

“Such a big incident—how come mother never mentioned it?” Huo Lin asked her brother in a low voice.

Huo Jue’s gaze was ice-cold: “What would be the use of mentioning it? What could we do?”

Huo Lin couldn’t help but look toward Wei Rao.

Wei Rao had just pulled her sword from the tree trunk. Meeting the complex gazes of the Huo siblings, she guessed what Zhou Huizhu had said.

Regarding that incident four years ago, Wei Rao had never forgotten it, but she no longer cared much about it. She was doing well now, and that was enough.

“We’ll only hunt for one hour. When the hour is up, we’ll gather at the foot of the mountain. Whoever hunts the most can ask whoever hunts the least to do one thing for them,” Wei Rao said provocatively as her precious sword returned to its sheath.

Zhou Huizhu immediately said, “Sister Lin and I are young—we’ll team up and count as one.”

Wei Rao naturally agreed. She waved to the three of them and went off alone in a diagonal upward direction, holding a climbing staff.

Though it had snowed, today was quite warm. The pampered young masters and misses had all come out of the city to play, and the small beasts in the mountains had also crawled out of their lairs to forage everywhere.

Wei Rao was very familiar with the terrain in this area. After walking alone for a while, small animal tracks began appearing in the snow—mountain rabbits, pheasants, badgers…

The more secluded from human habitation, the more wild beasts there were.

The snow had fallen last night and stopped around dawn. Looking at these tracks, they were definitely left this morning, and some tracks led directly to their owners’ dens.

Wei Rao targeted the badger tracks. If she could hunt a whole den of badgers, she would win.

Following the small badger tracks, Wei Rao didn’t give up hunting other small beasts. She kept her eyes and ears alert while treading as lightly as possible.

Walking along, a flash of red caught her eye.

It was a red adult fox. Its usual diet seemed quite good—it was well-fed with smooth, glossy fur, and its long, thick tail looked very warm. The fox was crouching in the snow with its back to Wei Rao, its front paws digging in the snow. The distance was a bit far, so it hadn’t heard Wei Rao’s footsteps.

At this distance and angle, Wei Rao might miss her shot.

Wei Rao observed her surroundings, tiptoeing and stepping on some moist grass clumps that had no snow, quietly moving five or six steps closer, then hiding behind a tree. The fox still hadn’t discovered her. Wei Rao drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked her bow, found the right angle, aimed at the fox’s left hind leg, and shot.

The fox let out a miserable cry and fell to the snow, thrashing about futilely.

Wei Rao walked out with a smile. Such a large fox—she’d have her master skin it to make a fox muffler, and when winter came, she’d have someone send it to the Western Mountain Palace for her little brother to wear. Just right.

After skillfully knocking out and binding the fox, Wei Rao continued tracking that badger.

Sunlight filtered through the bare tree branches, and among all the gray and white, Wei Rao’s red clothing was the brightest color in this forest.

The badger tracks led higher and higher. Wei Rao looked toward the mountaintop, just considering whether to give up, when suddenly the sound of wild beasts running frantically came from ahead. From the sound, there were two of them.

Chasing each other—were they playing?

Wei Rao looked up, temporarily placed the trussed fox in a patch of grass, then leaped into a tree and readied her bow and arrow in preparation.

Two small hill-like brown-furred wild boars came running with about a zhang’s distance between them. Wei Rao’s lips curved up as her arrow shot and hit the first wild boar.

The poor wild boar, struck by the arrow, fell but continued charging forward for a stretch before rolling over and tumbling into the snow.

Seeing the situation was bad, the other wild boar turned to flee.

Wei Rao’s second arrow was already nocked. As she shot it, another arrow suddenly flew from the opposite direction, hitting that wild boar before hers did.

Wei Rao was greatly startled. Looking up, she saw a sky-blue figure half-hidden among the trees, his pale, slender hand maintaining the posture of having just drawn a bow.

Wei Rao couldn’t see his face, but after a moment’s thought, she realized both wild boars were the other party’s prey—she had just happened to stumble upon them by coincidence.

Wei Rao jumped down from the tree, picked up her fox, and headed down the mountain.

The two wild boars were the result of Lu Zhuo and Qi Zhongkai’s coordinated pincer attack. Qi Zhongkai hadn’t come down yet, and Lu Zhuo had been in hot pursuit. When the first wild boar was struck by an arrow and fell, Lu Zhuo knew someone was nearby. He didn’t particularly care and just went to shoot the second one.

Two arrows hit the second wild boar almost simultaneously. Lu Zhuo smiled faintly, already prepared to yield the prey to the other party to avoid a verbal dispute. He hadn’t expected that the red-clothed young man who leaped down from the tree also had no intention of fighting over it.

“Young master, please wait.”

Lu Zhuo walked slowly out of the forest, calling to the red-clothed youth’s retreating figure.

Wei Rao stopped. Why did this man’s voice sound somewhat familiar?

Out of curiosity, Wei Rao turned around.

Despite her masculine attire, those gorgeous brows and eyes, and full, crimson lips, still allowed Lu Zhuo to immediately confirm her female identity with one glance.

Lu Zhuo lowered his eyes, and the faint smile on his face also disappeared. He pointed to the first wild boar and said, “Yours.”