This part of the story takes place on the second day of Princess Hui'an's birthday banquet, where the male guests compete in archery and go hunting in the mountains.

The female guests were enjoying the flowers, composing poems, swinging on swings, flying kites, picking flowers and chasing butterflies, playing chess, and playing the zither...

In any case, the venues for both events were basically in the same place, which was the hillside platform where the birthday banquet was held last night, plus a large courtyard behind the platform.

Princess Duanrong, being skilled in both horseback riding and archery, had no interest whatsoever in the embroidery that female guests discussed, and she also disliked Wen Xueling being fawned over by everyone.

He deliberately provoked Wen Xueling, using the excuse that the King of Jingxi was once a military general and that Wen Xueling, the daughter of a military family, must also know martial arts, and insisted that Wen Xueling compete with him in archery.

What follows is the plot that readers love to see: Wen Xueling, the lonely and helpless female protagonist, is pushed to the edge of the platform by Princess Duanrong, the vicious female supporting character, who warns her not to be with Zhongli Zhengzhen, and so on...

Then Princess Duanrong wanted to scare Wen Xueling, but she was "rescued by a hero"—the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue fell off a cliff while trying to save Wen Xueling.

It is said that this son of the Vice Minister of Revenue rose to power because of this heroic rescue of the beauty, which moved Wen Xueling.

Gan Qiongying originally planned to follow the original plot, which was to cause trouble for Wen Xueling, but not by taking her to the platform and threatening to push her off.

Instead, they planned to take her to the hot spring pool at Haoyue Villa, using the excuse of taking a bath together to push Wen Xueling inside.

The hot spring pool won't drown you; at most, it might make her drink a few more mouthfuls of water.

Hot spring water is good for your health, no problem.

According to the rule that the plot must be corrected if it goes astray, the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue will definitely happen to appear nearby, and will happen to discover that Princess Duanrong is about to drown Princess Xue'e, and then step forward to help.

Then the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue will fall into the water.

However, Gan Qiongying had also made two plans.

Gan Qiongying had already informed her shadow guards that even if the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue didn't go to the hot spring, they would still kidnap him and leave him there.

Gan Qiongying was determined to make him fall into the water so that he could change clothes and expose the fact that he was secretly hiding Wen Xueling's handkerchief, and also to remind the Grand Princess of Hui'an.

Of course, besides this plan, there was a backup plan: have someone ride a horse and run over the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue, pretend to rescue him, tear open his clothes, and pull out the handkerchief.

However, this second strategy was only used when there was no other choice, because riding a horse to run someone over was too strenuous, and Gan Qiongying was also afraid that the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue would not be able to withstand the horse's hooves and would be run over and killed.

Although this strategy is somewhat simplistic and crude, high-level chessboards often only require the simplest method of overturning.

However, Gan Qiongying slept until almost dark, and guessed that the hunting party had already returned!

"Manyue! Manyue, come in quickly and help me change!" Gan Qiongying shouted outside, the sun had already set!

She's about to miss the number two bus!

While being helped to wash and dress, Gan Qiongying frantically recalled the plot in her mind.

Fortunately, she read this book before she died. After finishing it, she transmigrated and discovered that she was the villainous female supporting character. She dared not be careless at all and would often recall it during her time.

If she had watched it any earlier, she wouldn't have remembered the plot.

Gan Qiongying vaguely remembered that during this hunt, apart from the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue falling from the high platform while saving "Beauty", the rest of them all had a great harvest and received the rewards prepared in advance by the Grand Princess of Huian.

It is also the first direct confrontation between all the "male protagonists" in the story.

This is a thrilling scene in the story, because Zhongli Zhengzhen and the Regent King have a conflict over prey.

At that time, Gan Qiongying was so excited that she bleated on her hospital bed.

Who doesn't love watching a storyline where the male leads are constantly fighting?

Let's fight! Let's fight! Let's fight!

The author clearly knew what readers wanted to see and didn't hold back at all. A ruthless and powerful regent and an unruly and handsome hostage from an enemy country actually dismounted and took action.

And they did it themselves.

They even went so far as to use knives just for the skin of a black bear.

They were about to stab each other's carotid arteries with daggers.

The more enjoyable it was for Gan Qiongying while reading the book, the more absurd it seemed when she was actually there.

Regardless of how far-fetched it is that the Regent personally intervened and fought with someone just for a bear's skin, wouldn't an imperial hostage really be punished for wielding a knife against the ruler of Nanzhao Kingdom?

Finally, of course, there's our all-powerful female lead, Wen Xueling, a gentle and kind-hearted innocent girl who acts as a mediator between the two of them.

The two men, who were like kings who never met, were brought into the fray by Wen Xueling, who persuaded them to stop fighting after saying a few words.

When Gan Qiongying watched this scene, it reminded her of the countless times she had watched "Princess Pearl." In the scene where a torrential downpour prevents the horse from pulling its harness, Ziwei goes down and whispers a few words in the horse's ear, and the horse immediately starts working.

Gan Qiongying smiled as she thought about it, and quickly dressed. She didn't even bother to eat a bite of food. She told Manyue to go out and call down her eighteen shadow guards... Alas, now there are only seventeen left. One of them was given to the Grand Princess Huian.

Gan Qiongying gathered the group together and, like discussing tactics before a football match, spoke with them in a mysterious manner.

Fortunately, these people basically didn't speak or express any opinions. After receiving orders, no matter how absurd the orders were, they would just nod and say they understood.

Gan Qiongying patted each of them on the shoulder, unable to distinguish who was number one to seventeen, let alone know their names, but that didn't stop her from loving them.

This was given to her by her dear brother.

You have to understand that her adopted brother is barely able to take care of himself, so giving these people to her is already the limit of what he can do.

Having these bodyguards really makes things much easier.

After giving their instructions, the shadow guards went about their business, and Gan Qiongying quickly had someone take her to the platform halfway up the mountain.

Rushing from one event to another.

When she arrived, the scene was very lively; the young noblemen who had gone hunting had indeed all returned.

There's no sign of the Regent or Zhongli Zhengzhen yet, but Gan Qiongying did see Li Hua.

Li Hua held a longbow in his hand and stood at the archery spot, surrounded by several people who appeared to be having a contest.

Could Li Hua also shoot arrows?

Gan Qiongying squinted and observed carefully. She found that the people surrounding Li Hua did not seem to be bullying him, because they all had fawning expressions on their faces. Even though he missed the target with his arrow, this group of young masters were still applauding him, which was obviously to flatter him.

Gan Qiongying could even guess why these young masters' attitudes toward Li Hua had suddenly changed.

Of course, it was because of her attitude towards Li Hua last night that these young masters from prominent families realized that the Prince Consort was not just an empty shell.

Moreover, this spoiled princess did not look down on her husband as rumored. Who would dare to look down on her husband?

Moreover, Li Hua was the wealthiest man in the world, with his business associations spread throughout Nanzhao and involved in countless industries. Although these people looked down on merchants, they certainly did not look down on money.

Clans may seem grand, but the more prestigious and noble a family is, the more money it needs. Large, interconnected families do indeed have deep roots and a lot of influence.

However, all the branch families of those aristocratic clans were servants who depended on their masters, no different from the four thousand people kept in Princess Gan Qiongying's mansion; most of them were just freeloaders.

There are a few officials, but they are only minor officials. They are lucky if they can support their own families. Men who care more about appearances will marry three or four wives and concubines and keep a group of servants. They simply cannot make a living without embezzling.

Even if one is involved in business, doing some transactions that one looks down upon in private, making money is never easy, no matter the year.

As the saying goes, money is hard to earn and life is hard to endure.

They were all desperately short of money. Although the birthday gifts they sent to Princess Hui'an were quite presentable, they probably didn't have much money in their pockets.

Moreover, judging from their attire, the people surrounding Li Hua were likely illegitimate sons from various clans, those who were not favored.

To put it bluntly, if you're destined not to inherit the family business, how can you make a living without earning some money?

Normally, Li Hua had no contact with these people, and they had no way of knowing him. This time, Gan Qiongying brought Li Hua here, which gave these people the opportunity to get to know him.

Gan Qiongying snorted, feeling somewhat displeased at the thought that these little devils wanted to squeeze some silver from the God of Wealth.

After all, she worships the God of Wealth, and all the money is hers!

However, seeing that they weren't bullying Li Hua, Gan Qiongying stopped bothering with it. Li Hua was indeed a bit introverted and had been bullied quite a bit by Princess Duanrong before. It was good that she had a few friends.

Gan Qiongying was relieved and didn't go that way, letting Li Hua play with them by herself.

Turning around, I saw Princess Hui'an sitting on the high platform, drinking tea and chatting with a group of noble ladies.

As the sun sets, the world is bathed in a glow of rosy light, creating a scene of unparalleled harmony and beauty.

Despite her humiliating defeat last night, Wen Xueling still has the aura of a leading lady. Those aristocratic ladies who were snickering at the banquet yesterday are still talking about her today.

Moreover, she had quietly crept up to Princess Hui'an's side and said some nonsense that made Princess Hui'an laugh repeatedly.

Gan Qiongying walked quickly toward the high platform.

She couldn't let her beloved aunt, whom she had just won over, be bewitched by Wen Xueling!