After being tormented like this, Xiao Shu'er was already dizzy and lightheaded. She used the last bit of strength to struggle. The next moment, her body went limp, her vision went black, and she fainted.
The Emperor's anger vanished, replaced by concern that pierced his voice: "What's wrong? What's wrong with Shu'er? Someone, fetch the imperial physician! Send the princess back to the palace! Fetch the imperial physician!"
The princess fainted, throwing the hunting grounds into chaos. The hunt could not continue, and the guards hurriedly carried Xiao Shu'er into a carriage and left.
Meanwhile, Chang Lili and Meng Yuxiu had already embarked on their journey home. Meng Yuxiu carefully put his arm around Chang Lili, looked at her injuries, and sighed.
Suddenly the carriage stopped, and a low, deep voice came from outside: "General, something has happened at the hunting grounds."
Meng Yuxiu carefully put Chang Lili down and lifted the carriage curtain to get out.
Chang Lili lay in the carriage, opened her eyes in the darkness, her eyes clear and bright, without the slightest hint of confusion.
She pricked up her ears, trying to hear what the newcomer and Meng Yuxiu were whispering about, but after listening for a long time, she couldn't hear a single word. These people were really being a little too cautious.
She wanted to know how Xiao Shuer was doing now, and how things were going at the hunting grounds. Just thinking about it made her feel happy.
She sat up, took a few breaths, and the carriage curtain was lifted. Meng Yuxiu, hunched over, met Chang Lili's clear eyes. He paused for a moment before walking in.
"You...you're awake?" Meng Yuxiu looked at Chang Lili with a hesitant gaze.
Chang Lili said nonchalantly, "I'm awake. How was my performance? If it weren't for this brilliant plan, we wouldn't be able to get away now."
She spoke with great enthusiasm and pride, but Meng Yuxiu had a sullen face, looking very unhappy, even somewhat cold.
Receiving no response, Chang Lili finally realized something was wrong and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"The injuries on your body..." Meng Yuxiu hesitated, then stopped.
The bruises on Chang Lili's body were clearly real. Meng Yuxiu had seen countless injuries, big and small, and no fake injury could escape his eyes.
"Oh, you mean this? This is really real, but I made it myself. I had no choice, I had to make it look as real as possible." She said nonchalantly, her tone indifferent.
Meng Yuxiu clenched his fists tightly, frowned, and asked coldly, "So, all of this was within your expectations? You were the one who hung the princess on the tree, you were the one who hired someone to ruin her reputation?"
The carriage, which was moving slowly forward, suddenly trembled, and Chang Lili almost fell over because she wasn't paying attention.
"What? What did you say? You hired someone to ruin her reputation?" She looked incredulous. "I ruined her reputation? Who did I hire to ruin her reputation? Myself? I'm a young woman, even if I wanted to, I couldn't!"
Meng Yuxiu said coldly, "Just now, a scout reported that the Princess was hanging from a tree in the forest, and several men appeared and almost took her virginity."
Chang Lili was shocked. Still somewhat dazed, she raised her hand blankly and said, "I swear I didn't do this. If I were to do something, I would definitely do it openly. I cherish my life and don't want to die."
Meng Yuxiu's eyes flickered, and he realized that it was too hasty to attribute all of this to Chang Lili based solely on the information he had gathered.
He was so shocked when he first heard the news that he couldn't believe Chang Lili would do such a thing. A feeling of disappointment welled up inside him, but now he felt a sense of joy and relief.
He was always able to keep his emotions hidden, but now, facing Chang Lili, he didn't know what was wrong with him.
Seeing his expression, Chang Lili continued, feeling wronged, "I trusted you so much, but I never expected you to think this way about me. She insisted that I go to some dark and secluded path. I didn't dare to go in, so I found an opportunity to beat her up and hang her from a tree. Then I ran back to report the news. I didn't do anything else."
Meng Yuxiu pondered for a long time and felt that what Chang Lili said was indeed Xiao Shuer's style of doing things. She had forcibly dragged Chang Lili into the depths of the forest and had Hu Pin use the trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain, but she did not expect Chang Lili to be so cunning. In the end, she could not control her.
Thinking about this, Meng Yuxiu found it somewhat amusing.
His expression softened as he said, "I wronged you. I apologize, and please don't take offense, young lady."
Chang Lili snorted and said disdainfully, "You say women change their minds quickly, but I think you men change your minds faster than turning the pages of a book."
Meng Yuxiu said seriously, "Now that the hunting trip is over, we should get down to business. Do you remember the three challenges I told you about? You can learn mechanical arts by passing the challenges."
Although Chang Lili longed to learn mechanical arts, she had finally made a trip to the legendary West Mountain, only to leave after staying for a short while. It was such a huge loss!
"It's all Xiao Shu'er's fault, she's always causing trouble! I haven't even had a chance to explore Xishan yet, and I've already slunk back here!" Chang Lili said indignantly, feeling unsatisfied as she thought about Xishan.
Meng Yuxiu glanced at her expression, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips. He said slyly, "As we agreed before, you have three days. Stay in your room for three days, read through all the weapons in the weapon book, and memorize them. Then you will be tested by me. If you fail to do any of these things, you will have failed."
Although the trip to Xishan was somewhat regrettable, learning mechanical arts was what Chang Lili was most looking forward to.
She smiled brightly, looking quite confident: "Deal!"
She smiled brightly, her heart filled with anticipation, but deep down, she still harbored some worries.
This trip to Xishan completely offended Xiao Shu'er. According to Meng Yuxiu, Xiao Shu'er was hung on a book and almost had her body defiled. Given Xiao Shu'er's personality, she would definitely tear her to pieces.
The Emperor loves her so much, surely he wouldn't just issue an edict to order her death?
After thinking it over, Chang Lili felt that the Emperor probably wouldn't do that, but punishment would be inevitable, which made her quite uneasy.
She has caused such a mess that her mother-in-law must be living in fear, but she can only deal with it as it comes.
She had a great love for weapons and the like. She would yawn incessantly when looking at things like the "Women's Precepts" or the "Four Books and Five Classics," but she seemed to have inexhaustible energy when looking at weapon manuals.
Aside from looking at the weapons rankings, she was restless the rest of the time, worrying about the Emperor's punishment of her.
To everyone's surprise, on the third day, she memorized everything in a weapons manual, and the imperial edict of punishment never came down.
"The Emperor doesn't favor Xiao Shu'er enough? Xiao Shu'er doesn't care..." Before she could finish, she realized that the second half of the sentence was absurd. If Xiao Shu'er had such a broad mind, even pigs would be forced to climb trees.
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