Lu Ziyuan lightly touched the ground with his toes and climbed up another thick tree. Then he saw the maddened giant bear running towards him.

At this time of year, bears are hibernating and should be hard to wake up. But if they are woken up, things will go wrong. If they are further agitated, even lions and tigers will be afraid of them.

The giant bear had already spotted them. Perhaps it was the scent of humans and the smell of blood on them that displeased it. It stood up and tried with great effort to reach the people in the tree, but it couldn't.

The people in the tree held their breath, not daring to be careless. The giant bear circled around below several times but showed no sign of leaving. Lu Ziyuan thought to himself, if this dragged on, who knows how long it would take? The later it got, the more dangerous it would be on the mountain. He had to deal with this problem first.

With that thought in mind, he slowly moved downwards, attempting to kill the giant bear.

Although the giant bear was heavy, it moved incredibly fast. Its massive paws could send a person flying with a single slap. Lu Ziyuan couldn't afford to be careless. While the giant bear was attacking the tree where the emperor was standing, he sneaked over and thrust his sharp dagger straight at the bear's neck.

The giant bear howled in pain and tried to strike Lu Ziyuan, but Lu Ziyuan nimbly dodged and jumped up into a tree in a few moves.

The Emperor was terrified; Lu Ziyuan had taken too much of a risk just now, and the giant bear had almost brushed against his robes.

The dagger was still embedded in the bear's body. Because the blade was blocking it, not much blood was flowing out. However, due to the pain, the bear became extremely agitated and kept pounding on the tree in front of it.

Lu Ziyuan was extremely anxious; if things continued like this, the tree would not be able to hold on.

The heavy body pounded against the tree. No matter how straight and resilient the tree was, it could not withstand such destruction. In an instant, the tree began to shake violently and slowly fell to one side.

"Father!"

Lu Ziyuan rushed over without hesitation, trying to draw his dagger and kill the bear. However, the bear was frenzied and incredibly strong, and Lu Ziyuan not only couldn't get close but was also almost injured.

Lu Ziyuan shouted, "Father, you run first, I will hold it off!"

But the emperor refused: "I will not leave my son to face danger!"

After saying that, he drew his dagger and handed it to Lu Ziyuan. With a weapon in hand, Lu Ziyuan had a better chance of winning. He seized the opportunity again and finally seriously injured the giant bear.

The giant bear roared and chased after them, but it didn't get far before collapsing and dying from blood loss.

Lu Ziyuan was panting heavily, and the Emperor also looked shaken. The two of them checked several times to make sure the giant bear was dead before they breathed a sigh of relief.

The Emperor said, "I have never seen such a big bear before. Yuan'er, if it weren't for you here, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to go back today."

Lu Ziyuan frowned: "Such a giant bear cannot come out in winter for no reason. Someone must have provoked it. Father, I think this matter is not simple."

“Indeed, in the past, no matter how much noise we made during winter hunting, we never saw a bear.”

The Emperor also noticed something was wrong. From the horses going berserk to the bears going berserk, this could not be a coincidence. However, they still couldn't believe that anyone would be so audacious as to try to harm the Emperor.

Lu Ziyuan crouched down to examine the bear's carcass; there was nothing unusual about it. Logically, a bear is a treasure trove, and it would be great if they could bring it back. However, the two had lost their horses and ventured deep into the mountains, making it virtually impossible to take such a large bear with them.

Besides, the two had just escaped danger and had no time to worry about their prey.

The sky darkened, and just as Lu Ziyuan was inspecting the bear, snowflakes began to fall from the sky, soon covering the ground in a white layer.

Lu Ziyuan stood up and said, "Father, let's not worry about these things for now. It's a heavy snowfall, and we must hurry back before dawn when there are still footprints on the ground. If the snow gets heavier, the road will be difficult to travel."

“That’s right. We’ve gone so far into the mountains to deal with this bear, we have to get back as soon as possible.”

The two trudged through the mountains, their steps uneven. The sky was overcast, and everything around them was gray and white, making it difficult to discern directions.

...

On the other side, the others had also finished hunting. Zhong Muyu was not very skilled with his bow and arrow, but he still managed to catch quite a few prey. At this time, the snow was falling heavier and heavier.

Princess Fu happily secured the prey to her horse and said with great interest, "The snow is getting heavier. We've gathered quite a lot of things today, let's head back!"

It must be said that, as the daughter of a military family, Princess Fu, despite being much older than her, possessed physical fitness and vitality far surpassing her peers.

The two rode back on horseback, but Zhong Muyu had a vague sense of unease.

After returning home, this premonition came true.

The two of them were considered late to return. By this time, many people were already sitting in the main hall warming themselves by the fire, but after a while, only the Emperor and Lu Ziyuan had not returned.

People were talking about it, fearing that something might happen to them.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor and Prince Ling have not returned yet. Why don't we send some of our personal guards to look for them?"

Before the minister could finish speaking, a minister who favored Lu Ziying's faction retorted, "The Emperor and Prince Ling are probably in the middle of something; why disturb them at this time?"

"But now only they haven't returned, which is really worrying."

“Prince Ling is highly skilled in martial arts. With His Highness protecting him, there will definitely be no problem. Let’s wait a little longer; he may be back soon.”

"That's the Emperor! The snow is getting heavier, who can guarantee our safety? Before we left, we said we'd send personal guards with us, but you insisted on not letting the Emperor take us. I don't know what you're up to!"

Seeing that the two ministers were about to start arguing, the Empress said sternly, "Enough!"

The crowd fell silent. The Empress glanced at everyone and said slowly, "The snow is heavy right now, so it's not advisable to go out. Everyone, please wait for news. Besides, the Emperor is protected by Prince Ling, so I believe he will prioritize protecting the Emperor and ensuring his safe return. Please stop making noise and go back to your homes."

Although some people were dissatisfied, since the Empress had spoken, they couldn't say anything and could only go back to their homes.

Seeing the composed Empress and Crown Prince in the crowd, Zhong Muyu's heart skipped a beat, and a bad thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

She stopped in her tracks. Princess Fu asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Sister-in-law, the Emperor and the others may be in danger! No, I must go find them now!"

After saying that, she turned around and rushed into the vast snow, instead of staying under the eaves of the palace.

"Seventh sister-in-law! Zhong Muyu!"

Princess Fu immediately caught up with her, grabbed her arm and said, "I know you're worried, but you can't just barge in like this. Just wait quietly. They'll be fine. What if they come back and you're gone?"

Zhong Muyu calmed down and thought about it carefully. What Princess Fu said made sense. The environment in the mountains was complicated, and she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't get lost. Besides, the idea that there was danger was just her own guess and couldn't be confirmed.