Chapter 32 Zhan Xiao was silent for a moment: "Then she..."
Lou Bingling was still indignant: "Your Highness, why don't you reason with such a despicable person?"
"Do you have any evidence?" Jiang Fushi casually picked up a bow, her fingertips brushing the bowstring. "Even if we confront her, she can simply claim ignorance. The real messengers are those two daughters of officials; she only needs to say 'What does it have to do with me?' and she can get away unscathed."
"But I just can't swallow this insult and let her go!"
Jiang Fushi glanced into the distance and met Li Wanru's probing gaze. The other woman hurriedly looked away like a startled rabbit.
"No rush," Jiang Fushi said with a faint smile. "The best is yet to come. Just wait and see."
Having said that, she drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and gazed intently at the target in the distance. The archery competition was about to begin.
The competition consists of three rounds, with the winner determined by the number of rings scored.
Among the women of the royal family and noble families, Yu Yao's archery skills have always been outstanding, and she has almost always been ranked first every year.
The first two rounds were a foregone conclusion; Yu Yao's arrows hit the bullseye every time, drawing endless praise from the audience. Enjoying the admiring gazes of the crowd, she became increasingly arrogant.
In the final round, only Yu Yao and Jiang Fushi remained to face off.
Yu Yao glanced disdainfully at Jiang Fushi, who had just stepped onto the stage, and raised her voice with a mocking tone:
"Oh, Sister Yuhe is here to practice archery this year too? That's rare. But the way of archery is about accumulating experience over time, it's not something you can achieve with just a bit of luck. In previous years, you even had trouble hitting the bullseye, so this year you should be careful not to... lose face."
Jiang Fushi was not angry, but simply replied, "You're too kind, Your Majesty."
These empty titles are not important to her at all; on the contrary, being too sharp makes her a target of public criticism.
If Yuyao wants to win, then let her win; it doesn't matter to her.
When Yu Yao saw that Jiang Fushi dared to go on stage, she felt that her authority had been offended. She sneered inwardly and made up her mind to embarrass her in public.
She deliberately raised her voice to make sure everyone could hear: "Sister, you must hold on tight. This bow is not like an embroidery needle. If you accidentally drop it, it's a small matter if you hurt yourself, but if you alarm His Majesty, you will be condemned to death."
Before she finished speaking, the ladies behind her covered their mouths and chuckled in agreement.
"Ah." Yu Yao covered her mouth and pretended to be surprised: "I forgot, my sister's mother passed away early, and there is no one to teach her riding and archery. She probably has never even touched a bow a few times. If you are so proud, don't blame others for not reminding you if you break the bow and lose face."
Jiang Fushi's fingers tightened suddenly as she nocked the arrow, her usually calm demeanor instantly turning icy.
Normally, no matter how Yu Yao tormented or mocked her, she endured it all. But her mother was the most sensitive spot in her heart, and Yu Yao actually used this to poke at her sore spot in public.
This is absolutely outrageous!
She said coldly, "Elder sister, if I win this time, you will serve tea to my mother in public as an apology, how about that?"
Yu Yao scoffed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, "You? If you lose, you'll kneel down and wipe my boots!"
Yu Yao was the first to shoot an arrow. The arrow whistled through the air and landed firmly on the bullseye, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Jiang Fushi held her breath and slowly drew the bowstring taut. The man behind her suddenly whispered, "Your Highness, the arrowhead needs to be tilted half a millimeter to the left."
She was slightly taken aback, surprised, but the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be released. As if possessed, she subtly adjusted the arrow in her hand, just as he had instructed.
With a whoosh, the arrow left the bowstring!
As a result, Jiang Fushi's arrow arrived later, accurately splitting the tail of Yu Yao's arrow that was nailed to the bullseye and knocking it off, while her own arrow was firmly nailed to the very center of the bullseye!
The entire audience fell silent for a moment, then erupted in even more enthusiastic gasps of amazement than before!
"How is this possible!"
"It was actually 'arrow splitting arrow'! Princess Yuhe is truly hiding her true abilities!"
Even Jiang Fushi herself was stunned.
Even without Zhan Xiao's guidance, she was originally confident that the arrow would hit the bullseye, but with his slight adjustment, the effect was so astonishing! This was not just precision, it was simply divine skill!
Yu Yao's face turned deathly pale, her eyes widened, and she murmured in disbelief, "This...how is this possible? You must have used some kind of sorcery!"
Jiang Fushi put down her bow and arrow, stepped forward, and said firmly, "Royal sister, the outcome is clear in front of everyone. It's time for you to fulfill your promise and serve tea to my mother."
Yu Yao laughed in anger, pointing at her nose and shrilly, "Promise? I was just joking with you. I am the legitimate princess of the Great Sheng Dynasty, a golden branch and jade leaf. What is your mother? Does she deserve to be served tea by me?"
With a flick of her sleeve, she stormed off, surrounded by palace servants.
As soon as she left the archery range, Yuyao burst out with all her shame and indignation.
"Useless! All of you are useless! I'm number one every year, but this year I was publicly humiliated by that bitch!"
Her angry outburst caused the palace servants to lower their heads, not daring to utter a word. The angrier she became, Yu Yao swept away the potted plants placed by the roadside, the loud crash of the porcelain basin shattering startling everyone.
"You!" She pointed at a trusted eunuch, her chest heaving with rage. "Go immediately and tell those Miao people to make the Gu worm for me within seven days! I want her to suffer a fate worse than death!"
"Yes, yes, this servant will go right away!" The eunuch scrambled off to obey the order.
...
Jiang Fushi had guessed that Yu Yao wouldn't actually lower herself to such a lowly position, but she had really offended her this time.
She stood alone, gazing in the direction Yu Yao had left, her chest heaving rapidly, her eyes glistening with tears, and the tip of her nose faintly red.
Suddenly, a shadow fell, blocking the blinding sunlight. Jiang Fushi raised her eyes slightly and found that it was Zhan Xiao's shadow enveloping her.
Lou Bingling came upon hearing the news and held her cold hand with heartache: "Your Highness, don't upset yourself. Everyone has seen what Yuyao said and did today. She is the one who has lost all the hearts of the people."
"There are gods watching over you from above. Your mother is watching you from heaven. She certainly can't bear to see you suffer such injustice, and she will definitely protect you and make those who bullied you get their just deserts sooner or later. You can't let your mother worry about you in heaven."
Jiang Fushi took a deep breath, forcing back the soreness in her throat.
Back at Lanyue Pavilion.
Qingdai served the dinner dishes one by one, but Jiang Fushi had no appetite. After eating a couple of bites, she dismissed everyone around her, took out the poison she had brought with her, and began to prepare it by the dim light.
Half an hour later.
Two newly prepared bottles of poison sat quietly on the table: one was 'Crimson Beauty', and the other was 'Nightmare Powder'.
She called Zhan Xiao in, and the two of them sat down while one stood.
Jiang Fushi looked at him: "How's your lightness skill?"
Zhan Xiao succinctly stated: "Enough to enter and leave the palace without anyone noticing."
Jiang Fushi hesitated for a moment, her fingertips tracing the cool porcelain bottle: "I want you..."
She bit her lip.
"Place this bottle of 'Crimson Beauty Elixir' in Li Wanru's dressing case, and send the other bottle of 'Nightmare Powder' to Princess Yuyao's bedchamber." She raised her eyes and looked directly at him. "Do you agree?"
'Crimson Skin Poison' is a skin-acting poison that gradually turns the lips of the poisoned person grayish-purple, resembling a person suffering from a long-term illness. 'Nightmare Powder' is a sleeping potion that causes no physical discomfort to the poisoned person, but for three consecutive nights, the person will fall into layers of incredibly realistic nightmares whenever they fall asleep.
Compared to Li Wanru's instigation and Yu Yao's public insults against their ancestors, her petty tricks don't even qualify as revenge; at most, they're just a way to get a fairer punishment.
"good."
Zhan Xiao agreed readily, and his departing figure was equally nimble.
The candlelight flickered in the room, casting Jiang Fushi's long shadow. She sat alone at the table, her fingertips hovering over the cool edge, her mind in turmoil. She glanced at the water clock from time to time, feeling as if time was passing incredibly slowly.
Although Zhan Xiao was confident in his superior martial arts skills, this imperial palace and forbidden garden were filled with countless nobles and their guards, none of whom were ordinary people. What if he were discovered...?
The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, so she stood up and paced around the room. Just as she reached the window to get some fresh air, she saw a familiar figure leap over the wall into the courtyard and appear before her in an instant.
"How did it go? Did it work?" Jiang Fushi asked impatiently.
Zhan Xiao glanced at her.
Separated by the window frame, in the darkness of night, he could clearly see the faint joy and excitement in her eyes.
"Um……"
"The matter has been taken care of."
Jiang Fushi let out a long sigh of relief, her tense shoulders finally relaxing. She then sat down on a chair by the window. "Very good."
"Oh, right." As if suddenly remembering something, she looked up at him again, "Aren't you afraid that what I just asked you to do was kill them?"
Zhan Xiao remained calm: "Your Highness's orders are simply to be carried out by your subordinates."
Jiang Fushi couldn't help but press further: "If one day I really asked you to kill Princess Yuyao, what would you do?"
Zhan Xiao was silent for a moment, then looked back at her: "Then she will not see tomorrow's sun."
Jiang Fushi suddenly smiled, unable to explain why she was happy. The smile was like a dragonfly skimming the water, spreading a shallow ripple on her lips before disappearing into the flickering candlelight.
...
It was the dead of night.
Yu Yao fell into a deep sleep amidst the brocade quilt and the warm charcoal fire. In her hazy state, she found herself all alone, standing in the cold, empty courtyard, surrounded by darkness and silence so profound that she could only hear the frantic pounding of her own heart.
"Tick-tock...tick-tock..."
The sound of water came from somewhere, exceptionally clear in the deathly silence.
She looked up abruptly and was horrified to see a woman in a blood-red palace dress with long, flowing hair sitting in the main seat with her back to her.
Yu Yao screamed and turned to run away, but her legs felt like lead and she couldn't move.
The woman in red slowly turned her head at an eerie angle, revealing a pale, swollen face with blood streaming from her eyes.
"Why...do you repeatedly humiliate my daughter..."
The woman in red's voice was faint and ethereal, as if it came from the depths of the earth. Before she finished speaking, she had already floated to Yu Yao's side like a weightless red cloud, almost touching her nose! Her empty eyes, filled with bloody tears, were fixed on her.
A bone-chilling cold swept over her. Yu Yao froze, terrified out of her wits, her teeth chattering, unable to utter a complete sentence: "No...it wasn't me...spare...spare my life..."
"Your Highness? Your Highness? What's wrong?" Yu Yao's personal maid, Hong Ying, was awakened by the commotion inside the bed curtains. She quickly lifted the curtains and saw Yu Yao with wide-open eyes, a face full of terror, and her body stiff.
Yu Yao finally snapped out of her nightmare, drenched in sweat as if she had just been pulled from the water. Her voice was trembling with tears as she shouted at Hong Ying, "Ghost... there's a ghost!"
“No ghosts, no ghosts, Your Highness, you just had a nightmare, don’t be afraid.” Hongying said as she had other palace maids bring over candlelight and shine it on the bedside.
“Your Highness, you see, these all have shadows, there are no ghosts.”
Yu Yao slowly relaxed, panting heavily.
Yes, there were no ghosts, it was just a nightmare.
She kept reassuring herself that it was all fake.
Hongying said, "Your Highness, please sleep peacefully. This servant will stay here to watch over you."
Yuyao nodded, and with Hongying's comforting words, lay back down, slowly closing her eyes with a restless heart.
However, less than half an hour later, she was awakened again by a shrill scream, having had the same dream again.
After this happened twice, Hongying hurriedly went to fetch the imperial physician. He examined Yuyao late into the night, but the physician only diagnosed her with restlessness and prescribed a remedy. Yuyao took the calming medicine and finally managed to fall asleep just before dawn.
...
The fourth day of the Winter Festival.
The royal hunt begins with a ritual to worship Heaven, as is customary.
Jiang Fushi got up early to dress and change, then took a carriage straight to the altar north of the hunting grounds.
She arrived early and waited for a while before seeing people gradually approaching. Normally, Yu Yao's entourage was large and imposing, but today it was completely silent. Looking closely, Yu Yao's face was haggard, and there were dark circles under her eyes that even the heaviest makeup couldn't conceal.
Li Wanru has also arrived, and so far everything seems normal.
Jiang Fushi withdrew her gaze and waited quietly for the auspicious time.
Soon the ceremony began, with bells and drums ringing out and incense smoke billowing. The emperor, along with his relatives and officials, respectfully bowed to heaven and earth, praying for a successful winter hunt and national prosperity. The scene was solemn and dignified.
Just as the ceremony was about to conclude and everyone was preparing to rise, suddenly, someone exclaimed in a low voice, "Miss Li, what's wrong? Your mouth..."
Instantly, everyone's attention was drawn to it. Li Wanru was completely unaware that her lips had turned a strange grayish-purple, creating a horrifying contrast with her vibrant makeup.
The noble ladies around them all took a step back, as if avoiding a plague.
She quickly realized what had happened, hurriedly covering her mouth with her sleeve, her voice shrill with terror: "My mouth! What happened to my mouth!"
The eldest princess glanced at Jiang Fushi, then turned her gaze to Li Wanru: "Miss Li's face is ashen and her lips are cyanotic. I'm afraid she has a wicked heart and is morally flawed, which is why she has suffered divine retribution."
Li Wanru suddenly looked up, about to retort, but then remembered that this was a solemn sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. She immediately knelt down, her whole body turning cold, trembling, "Your Majesty, please understand! Your Highness, please understand! This humble woman... this humble woman doesn't know why this is happening... Perhaps I ate something wrong last night, it's definitely not some divine punishment!"
The emperor frowned, his tone cold: "Since you are unwell, you need not participate in the rest of the hunt. Return to your tent to rest and do not move around without my decree."
Li Wanru's face turned deathly pale instantly.
Although His Majesty did not explicitly state the punishment, the phrase "without imperial decree, she is not allowed to move about at will" was tantamount to confining her to her quarters in front of everyone, thus solidifying her reputation as "inauspicious."
She collapsed to the ground, wanting to beg again, but was quickly and "respectfully" helped down by two eunuchs and completely disappeared from everyone's sight.
After the sacrificial ceremony, the formal hunting began. Strangely, Princess Yuyao, who was always enthusiastic and determined to win in previous years, took the initiative to withdraw, explaining that she had a nightmare the night before and was still unsettled, fearing that she might disturb the emperor.
Hunting areas are allocated by drawing lots as is customary.
Jiang Fushi wasn't very interested in hunting, especially since she didn't have any skilled hunters around her. In previous years, she would just idly play around in her own area, occasionally catching a couple of rabbits to get by.
She had planned to do the same this year, but she never expected that the area she drew in the lottery would be the deep forest in the northwest corner marked on the map, a place known for its complex terrain and frequent appearances of wild beasts.
She was somewhat surprised, and then she heard that the area the Third Prince had drawn was the lush and verdant Deer Park on the east side, right next to hers.
Oh well. Anyway, this year's event is just a formality, so let's just be careful.
The rules of the hunting competition stipulate that each member of the royal family may bring one bodyguard.
Jiang Fushi naturally chose to have Zhan Xiao accompany her.
She rode a small white horse and headed northwest, while Zhan Xiao rode a large black horse behind her, always maintaining a distance where he could provide support at any time.
The further west they went, the denser the forest became. Jiang Fushi dismounted in a clearing in the woods and led her horse slowly forward.
This place is rarely visited by people, so perhaps she could find some rare medicinal herbs. She bent down and carefully parted the grass to check, and she actually found some rare hemostatic herbs.
She walked deeper and deeper into the area, until she came to a shady slope where the vegetation was particularly lush.
Just as she was getting into the swing of digging, a long sword silently appeared in front of her, and the man's broad back completely shielded her behind him.
She looked up in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Zhan Xiao's aura instantly turned icy. The sound of birds fluttering their wings in fright echoed through the forest, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Although she didn't know what was wrong, Jiang Fushi quickly straightened up and looked around. The forest was deep and the light was dim; everything seemed normal.
The sound of an arrow piercing the air came from the depths of the dense forest on the left, instantly breaking the silence of the woods.
Zhan Xiao parried with his sword, precisely cleaving the arrow to the ground.
"Ah!" Jiang Fushi exclaimed instinctively, grabbing his collar tightly.
"There are people to the northeast, Princess, don't move." Zhan Xiao spoke decisively, and more arrows fell like a storm.
Zhan Xiao raised his sword and began to condense his energy into frost. The surrounding air was instantly permeated with coldness, which slowed the speed of the incoming arrows by half, and then he cut them all down.
Jiang Fushi froze in fright, watching as the man before her wielded his sword with incredible skill, arrow after arrow grazing their clothes and embedding themselves deep in the tree trunks. Zhan Xiao caught her waist with one arm, lifting her steadily off the ground. Their bodies rose and fell with his movements through the forest, their ears filled with the sound of the wind and the sharp whistling of arrows piercing the air.
“They’re after us,” he said to her, looking down at her.
Jiang Fu's heart sank.
The two escaped the hail of arrows and returned to where they had tied their horses. Zhan Xiao scooped her up and mounted the horse, then spurred it on, and the black horse galloped off like an arrow.
Several snarling gray wolves suddenly pounced out from the bushes on the side, blocking the way!
not good!
Seeing that they were about to run into the wolf's mouth, Zhan Xiao suddenly tightened the reins, turned around, and rushed into the deeper, denser, and darker woods.
Amidst the jolts, Zhan Xiao held Jiang Fushi firmly on both sides of her waist, his chin resting on the top of her head, his intense body heat seeping through her thin clothes.
“Your Highness, hold on tight to me,” he suddenly said.
Jiang Fushi looked up at the sound and found that there was a steep slope in front of her, the bottom of which was shrouded in thick fog and could not be seen.
It seems that Zhan Xiao intends to rush down directly to escape the wolf pack and any potential pursuers.
She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes tightly in the weightless moment when the horse leaped into the air, and used all her strength to hold onto Zhan Xiao's arm.
The horse carried the two of them as it plummeted downwards!
The intense feeling of weightlessness made Jiang Fushi's heart almost leap out of her throat. She closed her eyes tightly, her ears filled with the whistling wind and the stinging pain of branches and leaves brushing against her body.
The anticipated violent impact did not occur.
Instead, after the horse stumbled a few times on the steep slope of trees and thick layers of fallen leaves, its front hooves gave way, and it slid into the entrance of a natural cave hidden by dense vines, finally stopping on the flat rocks at the cave entrance.
There are no signs of human excavation here, only paw prints left by wild animals and withered grass. The dense bushes block the view, making it a natural sanctuary to escape the hunting grounds and temporarily avoid pursuers.
Zhan Xiao dismounted and glanced at her, noticing that her right shoe had been missing at some point. She was now only wearing a pair of dusty silk stockings, her ankle swollen high, with a patch of bright red blood seeping from the bottom of the stockings.
"Your Highness is injured."
Jiang Fushi tried to move, but gasped in pain and couldn't get off the horse. Zhan Xiao reached out his hand to her, his voice steady: "I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Highness."
She hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand on his forearm, using it to carefully slide off the horse and stand on one leg.
The wound wasn't deep; it was probably cut by a tree branch.
Fortunately, among the herbs she had just picked was a hemostatic herb, and she immediately instructed Zhan Xiao to pound the hemostatic herb until it softened.
Zhan Xiao did as he was told, and said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, that was the work of the Third Prince."
Jiang Fushi agreed with his point of view. All the arrows came from their adjacent areas, their directions were clear.
That day during the martial arts competition, Zhan Xiao made him lose face completely. How could the proud and arrogant Third Prince swallow this insult? Perhaps he had planned to find an opportunity to get rid of Zhan Xiao today, and also teach her a lesson.
Since the Third Prince dared to do such a thing, he must have already planned his escape route. I'm afraid that the place where they fought just now has been cleaned up, leaving no trace of evidence.
As Jiang Fushi was pondering the Third Prince's scheme, she came back to her senses and found that Zhan Xiao had bandaged her foot wound. The medicinal mud was properly secured with strips of cloth, with just the right amount of tightness, so as not to cause pressure and to effectively stop the bleeding. It looked very professional. She blurted out, "Why do you, a bodyguard, know so much?"
Zhan Xiao replied, "Wandering the world, one becomes a doctor through long illness."
After saying this, he got up and went to the cave entrance to find some dry moss and twigs, then took out a tinderbox from his pocket and lit it. The firelight dispelled the cold and darkness of the cave and also illuminated his sharply defined profile.
"His Highness is injured and should not move, and this place is secluded. If His Majesty discovers that His Highness is missing, he will surely send people to search for him. We would be better off waiting here."
Author's Note: [Gold ingots][Gold ingots][Gold ingots]
In case some readers missed the synopsis, here's a key point: the male protagonist is the strongest character in the story.
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