Chapter 158: Failure to Protect the Emperor
After entering the forest, General Gu was worried about Gu Xiaoran, so he specifically told her not to go too deep and just enjoy herself in the safe forest area outside.
"The terrain in the deep forest is complex, and there are ferocious wild beasts that can tear flesh with one claw. If we are not fully prepared, your father and I would not dare to go there. Don't be reckless." General Gu said.
After hearing the instructions, Gu Xiaoran agreed on the surface, but did not take it seriously in his heart.
She has a bow and arrow, and a brain that the beasts don't have, so how could she not defeat them?
She would not be so foolish as to walk up to the wild beasts and fight them. She would first shoot arrows at them to injure them, slowly consuming their strength, and then she would be able to defeat them when they were exhausted.
General Gu looked at Gu Xiaoran sitting on the horse, looking like she didn't want to hear too much and was just waiting to gallop out, so he didn't lecture her any more.
He knew that his daughter had been cooped up in the palace for too long and always needed to come out to release her nature.
Maybe it only happens once a year, so let her have fun.
"Go ahead, and then we'll see who can hunt more, father or daughter." General Gu laughed while waving his whip.
Xiao Chenglan glanced sideways at the father and daughter behind him and said only one sentence: "Guards, protect General Gu and Gu Chongyuan, otherwise you will be beheaded."
After saying that, several hunting teams began to act separately.
Gu Xiaoran looked at the direction Xiao Chenglan was heading into the mountains and deliberately chose the road closest to him.
She rode her horse so fast that the leader of the guards behind her couldn't help but remind her.
"My Lady, the mountain road is rugged, so you'd better be careful with your horse."
Gu Xiaoran waved his whip again, "If you can't keep up with me, just tell me."
The guards were silent for a while, then followed closer without making a sound.
Unexpectedly, halfway through, the guards heard Gu Xiaoran say, "My belt is loose and needs to be fixed. All of you rein in your horses, turn around, and face away from me."
After hearing this, the guards quickly turned their horses around and refused to look at anything inappropriate.
However, after a moment's silence, everyone heard only the neighing of horses and the sound of galloping behind them.
The guards turned around in astonishment, but Gu Xiaoran had already ridden his horse a long distance away, and even his shadow was almost out of sight.
The leader of the guards was shocked, "Hurry up and follow!"
Gu Xiaoran wanted to get rid of the guards who were holding her back, so she circled the path a few times. After a while, she saw no more guards chasing her.
The leader of the guards couldn't find anyone and was already sweating profusely.
His Majesty ordered them to follow Empress Chongyuan, the daughter of General Gu, who had made great contributions to the pacification of the southwest. If anything happened to her, I'm afraid even his head would not be enough to compensate.
The direction in which Gu Xiaoran disappeared just now was towards the deep forest. The guards were afraid that if they were any later, something big would go wrong, so they had to bite the bullet and go find Xiao Chenglan to report the matter.
"Your Majesty, our humble servants failed to provide adequate protection, and Empress Chongyuan has gone deep into the forest..."
The people around him all looked stern and didn't dare to look at Xiao Chenglan's expression.
General Gu has made great contributions. What would happen if something happened to his daughter at the celebration banquet?
But Empress Chongyuan is really something. General Gu has already instructed him not to enter the deep forest casually, so why is she so arrogant?
It’s hard to persuade a ghost who wants to die with kind words.
A flash of cold disgust flashed across Xiao Chenglan's eyes. He lowered the bow he was aiming, glanced at the surrounding hunting teams and guards, and ordered, "Go find someone. Don't alert General Gu. You, follow me."
Xiao Chenglan ordered a team of people to follow him.
On the other side, Gu Xiaoran had already entered a place where the horse could not gallop. The jungle ahead was so dense that the road was almost invisible.
She dismounted and looked around.
The surroundings were very quiet, with only the rustling sound of dead leaves as she stepped on them.
There was not much light in the deep forest, and the dim environment made her feel a little cold. She looked back, but the guards had disappeared without a trace.
She suddenly realized that she was a little scared.
"rustle--"
The taut string completely broke the moment the dead leaves made a sound. She didn't move at all. Where did the sound come from?
Gu Xiaoran couldn't help but tremble. When she came back to her senses, she saw two glowing eyes staring at her in the cave hidden by the jungle.
Gu Xiaoran's hair stood on end. All the strategies he had thought of before were thrown out of his mind. He could not think of anything else except fear.
She took off running, climbed onto the horse in a panic, and whipped the horse hard. The horse was frightened by the force and rushed out neighing.
The sound completely enraged the tiger, which had been quietly observing, and it roared and ran towards Gu Xiaoran.
"roar--"
The tiger's roar made Xiao Chenglan rein in his horse. His brows furrowed as he listened to the direction of the bird's scream and pointed: "There!"
The hunting team first untied the hounds' noose, and dozens of wolf-like hounds rushed out at an extremely fast speed, followed closely by the search team.
When Gu Xiaoran was running halfway, his horse was frightened by the tiger behind him, and after a frenzy, it threw Gu Xiaoran off.
Gu Xiaoran rolled down the steep slope and just as he got up, he found blood falling like rain.
Her horse was torn to pieces by the tiger's claws.
The horse's screams made her feel weak all over and she couldn't even stand up.
The tiger didn't look very big from a distance, but when it got closer, she realized that when it stood up and pounced on the horse, it was taller than her.
In despair, Gu Xiaoran heard a burst of dog barking, and dozens of hunting dogs surrounded him from all directions, forming a circle.
But the hounds were no match for the tiger and could only surround it to intimidate it. The tiger growled and was ready to attack at any moment.
"Shoot!"
The sound of arrows shot out in unison, all aimed at the tiger's eyes and lower limbs. One arrow pierced the eye, and the tiger lost half of its attack power, but was also completely enraged.
It roared and rushed forward, about to crash into the hunting team's spear formation, but unexpectedly its body tilted.
Gu Xiaoran, who thought he had survived, watched the tiger slip and roll down the slope where he was.
Everyone who came to rescue was shocked.
Why did he fall there and be chased and killed?
Gu Xiaoran used up all her strength and crawled forward using her hands and feet. If she couldn't avoid the falling tiger, she would not only be torn to pieces by it, but would be crushed to death by it.
Xiao Chenglan's face turned stern. He snatched the spear from the person in front of him and slid down the slope nimbly.
The leader of the hunting team behind him suddenly came to his senses: "Get down! Protect the emperor!"
Dozens of people also walked down the slope.
The tiger rolled to the bottom and hit the tree trunk. The fluttering leaves fell on Gu Xiaoran's back, each one like a death warrant. She heard the tiger behind her turn over and stand up.
Xiao Chenglan, who reacted faster than everyone else, stretched out his spear, grabbed Gu Xiaoran's belt, and pushed her to the side.
A claw flew past Gu Xiaoran's face, and its sharp claws penetrated into the mud. Gu Xiaoran was so frightened that he couldn't even scream.
"Form a formation!" The hunting team below began to rearrange their spears on the left side of the tiger, stabbing at the tiger in an orderly manner.
The moment the spear pierced the tiger, its other claw just passed through the shoulder of Xiao Chenglan who was right in front of it.
The tiger lay on the ground and gradually became silent. Xiao Chenglan pulled out the bloody spear from its heart and stuck it into the mud, then wiped the scarlet blood that splashed at the corners of its eyes.
The storm subsided and people were kneeling on the ground.
Gu Xiaoran crawled over, hugged Xiao Chenglan's legs and screamed incoherently.
Xiao Chenglan kicked her away, his cold eyes filled with undisguised disgust.
"roll."
"Your Majesty, you are injured. It is because I failed to protect you properly. I deserve death!"
Xiao Chenglan moved his arm and didn't feel any sharp pain, which meant that his bones were not injured, just a cut and some bleeding.
"Go out first and call the accompanying doctor at the forest entrance. Don't alarm anyone."
Although the injury is not serious, it is better not to let Jiang Yingli know, otherwise she will cry all night.
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