At noon during mealtime, Yuan Zhou returned to see Qiu Xinran sitting by the roadside looking utterly dejected.

“What’s wrong with you?” He sat down beside her. “I heard you won against the Second Prince in archery this morning?”

Hearing him say this, the dejected expression on Qiu Xinran’s face grew even heavier. If you were to ask about her current mood, it was regret—very, very deep regret. She had clearly intended to end in a tie, so how had she suddenly failed to restrain this competitive spirit?

“Where did you hear about it?” Qiu Xinran asked listlessly.

“It spread throughout the entire morning. Even His Majesty just asked about it…”

Qiu Xinran was greatly alarmed: “What? His Majesty heard about it too?”

“He asked about it,” Yuan Zhou nodded, then consoled her. “But you don’t need to worry too much. His Majesty didn’t say anything critical. Young Master Xia even said that the Second Prince alone hit the bullseye, while you two together only managed to hit the bullseye as well, so at most it should count as a draw.”

Qiu Xinran hadn’t expected that the person who seemed possessed by a ghost this morning would return to normal after just one meal. She quickly asked: “What did His Majesty say?”

“His Majesty probably felt this made sense. He praised the Second Prince a few more times and told several princes to go hunting in the mountains this afternoon. Whoever bags the most game will be rewarded tonight.”

Before Qiu Xinran could breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Yuan Zhou add: “However, the Second Prince asked me to tell you that this competition isn’t over yet. This afternoon in the mountains, he wants to compete with you again.”

Qiu Xinran: “…”

Emperor Xuande had already gone into the mountains in the morning. In the afternoon, he rested at the traveling palace, and many officials stayed in the palace to keep him company.

In the afternoon, Qiu Xinran didn’t wait for Li Hanyi but instead encountered Zheng Yuanwu. He was leading a horse, preparing to enter the mountains. Seeing her standing outside the stables unable to make up her mind, he kindly suggested he could take her along. Qiu Xinran glanced at Li Hanru and others not far behind him and politely declined the offer.

In the end, it was Zhou Xianyi who went into the mountains with Qiu Xinran. Zhou Xianyi was poor at riding and archery, and being honest by nature with a slight stutter, he was often neglected by everyone at the academy. Qiu Xinran herself was also poor at riding and archery, so the two of them sat on their horses swaying along together, neither looking down on the other. The two tacitly let their horses roam freely, circling around various parts of the mountain without mentioning the autumn hunt at all.

On the way, Qiu Xinran asked him if Li Hanyi had given him trouble because of the morning competition. Zhou Xianyi shook his head: “The Second Prince isn’t really a bad person, just his temper… his temper is a bit impulsive. But Xinran, you’re amazing! When they said at the academy that you killed that kidnapper with one arrow, I didn’t quite believe it. But today I finally do!”

Qiu Xinran was startled. She had never inquired about the aftermath of the incident when the traveling palace was attacked that summer. Now encountering this opportunity, she took the chance to ask Zhou Xianyi a few questions: “Was it ever discovered who was behind that incident?”

“I don’t know much either.” Zhou Xianyi recalled: “The next day after the Imperial Guards went up the mountain, they found three corpses—one in the cave, one in the forest, and one at the bottom of a cliff.”

“At the bottom of a cliff?”

“That was the Imperial Guard traitor,” Zhou Xianyi supplemented. “After he was hit by an arrow, he fell off the cliff. By the time the searching guards found him, the body was beyond recognition. They barely managed to piece together a human form. The one who fell in the forest was from Diyue, so they deduced that the kidnappers must have been targeting Young Master Xia. There’s currently a war in the west, so they might have wanted to kidnap him as a hostage.”

Zhou Xianyi had few people to talk to at the academy, but in front of Qiu Xinran, he became more talkative. When he reached the exciting parts, even his speech became much more fluent: “Because Diyue people infiltrated the traveling palace, a large group of people at court were implicated. All the close attendants responsible for palace security were dismissed and investigated. The Imperial Guards commander Zhang Yong was reported for secretly colluding with Diyue people, and his entire family was imprisoned. Soon after, the Zhang manor was raided, and secret letters were indeed found in the residence. This case dragged on for a long time. Not long ago, Commander Zhang committed suicide in prison out of fear of his crimes, and only then was the case considered closed.”

Qiu Xinran had previously seen this Imperial Guards commander drilling troops at the training grounds in the palace. Her impression was of an extremely serious-looking man with a young man following beside him who must have been his son. That time she happened to be delivering something to the palace when that youth rushed out recklessly and knocked her to the ground. When he got up, he didn’t even apologize and just turned and left. Later she heard that this incident was seen by nearby patrolling Imperial Guards and reported to Commander Zhang, who punished him by making him practice horse stance all afternoon when he returned.

There were many such arrogant young men in the palace. Qiu Xinran didn’t take it to heart, but after hearing about what happened afterward, she formed a good impression of Commander Zhang. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but ask one more question: “How were the other members of the Zhang family dealt with?”

Zhou Xianyi sighed: “The men were exiled and the women forced into prostitution. I heard that several female members of the Zhang family couldn’t bear the humiliation and hanged themselves in prison the same day Commander Zhang committed suicide.”

This was Chang’an City—beneath its prosperity lay countless bleached bones. Today’s nobility and generals could become tomorrow’s criminals. No one knew who would be the next person standing on high, but once they fell, it meant eternal damnation.

“Does Xianyi think Commander Zhang was innocent?”

Zhou Xianyi shook his head: “I don’t know. I heard he embezzled a sum of reward silver, and to cover this shortfall, he accepted bribes. He wrote a confession in prison before his death, saying he didn’t know the identities of those two Diyue people and only acted that way because he was momentarily possessed. Although I feel Commander Zhang doesn’t seem like someone who would do such things, judging cases requires evidence. I shouldn’t comment carelessly.”

Hearing this, Qiu Xinran smiled slightly: “Xianyi has an upright character. If you enter government service in the future, perhaps you could become a justice official and speak for the loyal and the common people.”

Zhou Xianyi blushed at her words: “You’re teasing me again.”

Qiu Xinran said deliberately: “Didn’t you always say my divinations are accurate? Why are you saying I’m teasing you now?”

Zhou Xianyi was stunned: “Have you done a divination for me?”

“Well, not exactly—” Qiu Xinran choked for a moment. “But I can tell even without divination.”

The young man on horseback met her serious gaze and became excited for a moment, stammering: “Good, if I enter government service in the future, I certainly, certainly won’t disappoint you!”

Qiu Xinran smiled. Before she could say anything, she suddenly heard hurried hoofbeats and panicked shouting in the distance. From the sound, it seemed someone in the forest had been attacked.

The two quickly turned their horses around to leave. Halfway, they encountered guards rushing over. Zhou Xianyi stopped them: “What happened?”

The guard looked rushed and reported: “An assassin infiltrated the mountains. Young Master Xia was struck by an arrow and injured. You two should also go down the mountain quickly to prevent any further mishaps.”

Qiu Xinran said in surprise: “Someone tried to assassinate Young Master Xia?”

The guard had no time to say more to them. He hastily nodded and rushed up the mountain again.

“This…” Zhou Xianyi said dumbfounded. “Who is it this time?” Qiu Xinran said nothing, her expression somewhat grim. On the way down the mountain, the two were silent, no longer having the interest they’d had coming up, each lost in their own thoughts.

By the time they descended, Zheng Yuanwu and the others were already at the foot of the mountain discussing the matter. The expressions of everyone from the academy were somewhat heavy, and even Li Hanyi, upon seeing Qiu Xinran arrive, didn’t mention the afternoon competition again.

Li Hanfeng was telling people about the situation on the mountain. He had gone up the mountain with Xia Xiuyan. Midway through the forest, they encountered a doe, and Li Hanfeng chased after it. Xia Xiuyan wasn’t very interested and only waited for him in place. Who knew that shortly after Li Hanfeng chased it out, when he returned he heard that Xia Xiuyan had met with trouble.

“…No one knows where that arrow came from. Fortunately, Xiuyan was alert and avoided vital areas—it only struck his right shoulder. The imperial physician has already gone in. Word just came out that the arrow wasn’t poisoned, so he should be fine.”

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Xia Xiuyan’s popularity at the academy was average, but no one wished him harm. Hearing his life wasn’t in danger, they discussed the source of that hidden arrow.

Li Hanxing said: “From what the guards just reported, it seems to have been an arrow from the palace. There must have been someone who concealed their identity and struck from the shadows while he was alone.”

Li Hanling quickly asked: “Was it the same group as last time?”

Zheng Yuanwu shook his head: “Something just happened last time. Logically, security should be extremely tight right now. How could someone possibly infiltrate?”

Li Hangu said cautiously: “Then… could it be that there was no assassin at all, and he was just accidentally injured by someone nearby who was hunting?”

As soon as he said this, Li Hanyi immediately became displeased: “Are you saying that one of us accidentally injured him but won’t admit it now?”

Li Hangu waved his hands repeatedly in denial: “I naturally don’t mean that. Second Brother, how could you think that…”

The crowd argued endlessly with all sorts of explanations. Qiu Xinran grew irritable and quietly withdrew from the crowd, leading her horse back to the stables. After a while, Zhou Xianyi followed, saying worriedly: “Xinran, who do you think wants to harm Young Master Xia?”

Qiu Xinran shook her head: “I don’t know.” She glanced at the troubled youth beside her and instead consoled him: “Don’t worry, Young Master Xia will be fine.”

“How do you know?” Zhou Xianyi asked curiously.

Qiu Xinran paused, unable to say she was just casually consoling him. She could only say vaguely: “I calculated on my fingers—Young Master Xia is blessed and will have divine protection.”

“Good,” hearing her say this, the youth beside her immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “If you say so, then I’m reassured.”

Naturally, Qiu Xinran had never done a divination for Xia Xiuyan, but fortunately, Xia Xiuyan was indeed blessed with divine protection. However, he had barely returned to the academy before he began another indefinite leave of absence. Especially when the year-end examinations came around, Qiu Xinran even began to suspect he was deliberately avoiding the end-of-year assessments.

Last time when the traveling palace was attacked and Xia Xiuyan was recuperating at home, Qiu Xinran never once visited him. First, because her status was too humble and she really had no pretext for visiting; second, because that time Xia Xiuyan had frightened her by threatening to silence her permanently, so she feared he might remember this matter and naturally couldn’t deliver herself to his door.

But this time at year’s end, after Bai Jingming finished teaching for the year, just before leaving he glanced at her organized notes and suddenly remembered to remind her to make another copy to send to the princess’s manor: “Although astronomy isn’t particularly important, whether students study is one thing, and whether teachers teach is another. When working in the palace, think things through thoroughly. Don’t give others grounds for criticism.”

Qiu Xinran could only nod in agreement. The next day, she found time to send a visiting card to the princess’s manor.

At the academy, courses like the Four Books and Five Classics had people organize and send notes to the princess’s manor every few days, but for astronomy, which wasn’t so important, there really was no need to make such frequent trips. Before going, Qiu Xinran considered that going just to deliver notes would be quite hard to justify, so she wrote on the visiting card that she was primarily coming to visit the sick and, by the way, bringing the notes organized from astronomy class.

Before going, she specifically bought some modest gifts for visiting the sick, reviewed the etiquette to ensure nothing was amiss, and finally took a carriage to the old princess’s manor.