She nervously clutched the handkerchief in her hand.
Xu Lingqing, on the other side, was also anxious. So much time had passed and there was still no news; none of the people who went had returned.
"Something's happened! Something's happened!"
The guards galloped off on horseback, shouting that something had happened.
Xu Lingqing breathed a sigh of relief; she had finally succeeded.
"drive!"
The first to emerge was a figure in light colors, holding a long whip, her heroic bearing and stunning beauty immediately catching everyone's eye.
"It's the Crown Princess!"
Xu Lingqing's eyes were filled with disbelief as she watched Song Yue, completely unharmed, dismount and stand there triumphantly.
The guards behind him placed all the prey on the ground.
There were two rabbits, a roe deer, and a few pheasants, totaling about ten in total. After counting them, the eunuch next to him counted the arrow quivers and registered them one by one.
"A-Yue." Jiang Ying anxiously stepped forward.
Song Yue smiled slightly: "Elder sister-in-law, I am fine."
She turned around, feigning surprise: "Where are the others?"
Jiang Ying said, "They haven't returned yet."
Song Yue understood, and glanced at the hourglass again: "There's still half an hour left, so there's no rush."
As they spoke, people gradually came out of the hunting grounds. Song Yue was already sitting on a chair to the side when her eyes met Xu Lingqing's.
After just one glance, Song Yue immediately regained her composure.
But Xu Lingqing's face was rather pale, and her fists were clenched tightly under the table.
At this moment, the guard said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Lord Xu was seriously injured at the hunting grounds and died."
Even though Madam Xu had been mentally prepared, when she saw the guards carrying the person out, her face turned pale, her eyes welled up with tears, and she rushed forward, crying bitterly, "My lord! My lord! Don't leave me, my lord!"
Everyone was stunned by Madam Xu's crying.
How could someone who went hunting with them just a few hours ago suddenly die?
"Lord Xu's wound looks like an arrow wound," someone questioned.
Madam Xu immediately looked at the fatal wound, where half of an arrow was still broken off in her heart. Madam Xu knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, my master was murdered. I beg you to uphold justice."
Yun Ke dismounted, got up to check, and then his face darkened: "Check the arrows!"
Once everyone had arrived, the eunuch began checking each quiver one by one. When he reached Pei Zhao's side, he exclaimed in surprise, "Why is one quiver missing from the young master's quiver?"
Pei Zhao's eyelids twitched.
"Stop talking nonsense!" The Prince of Zhennan couldn't sit still any longer and roared, "Open your dog eyes and look carefully, how could there be one less?"
The eunuch trembled at the shout and quickly checked again: "Your Highness, the young master is indeed missing a quiver."
Pei Zhao frowned and counted them himself; indeed, one was missing.
Each person had twenty arrows, and now there are nineteen left in the quiver, and there are exactly nineteen prey on the ground.
He immediately realized he had been tricked. Twenty arrows, all of them hitting their mark, meant there should have been twenty prey.
“Father, I’ve been framed,” Pei Zhao said.
The Prince of Zhennan's first reaction was to look at Yun Ke: "The Crown Prince is holding a hunting party today, shouldn't we give an explanation?"
Yunke frowned.
"Princess Liang Ying is also injured." The guard led the horse slowly out of the forest. On the horse's back, Princess Liang Ying lay motionless like a puppet.
Upon seeing this, the maidservant quickly stepped forward to help the person down.
While being supported, Princess Liang Ying happened to wake up.
"Everyone need not worry. The princess's horse was startled in the mountains and forests, but she is fine." Song Yue smiled and walked towards Princess Liang Ying. "The princess must be unfamiliar with the terrain of the capital city, which is why she failed. This time, it was an unfair victory for me."
Princess Liang Ying was so angry at the person who came that she couldn't do anything about it. She gritted her teeth and thanked them, saying, "Thank you for saving my life, Your Highness."
"It's nothing, not worth mentioning." Song Yue personally helped Princess Liang Ying sit down and thoughtfully handed her a cup of tea.
Princess Liang Ying was so angry that she almost splashed water on the other person's face.
Song Yue pointed to the corpse not far away: "Princess, Lord Xu is dead. It seems today is not a good day for hunting. Why are there so many twists and turns?"
Princess Liang Ying was startled and immediately looked toward the source of the crying.
Madam Xu wept uncontrollably.
Pei Zhao's face turned pale, and he vehemently denied that it was him; he must have been assassinated.
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