Chapter 97: The Hunt Begins

Su Mu'er sized up the Liang princess before her, pearl-round and jade-smooth, broad forehead, square chin; it didn't look like she was looking at an enemy, more like she was looking at some interesting cat or dog.

She had long heard that this Liang princess was timid and simple-minded, incapable of great responsibility; plus her mother had just died, she was in mourning, so she must be even more absent-minded.

I originally thought we wouldn't see her in this autumn hunt, but since she's here, Su Mu'er certainly won't miss this great opportunity to crush the spirit of the Liang royalty!

What's wrong with picking the soft persimmon to pinch? As long as the goal is achieved.

Seeing Jingyu actually step forward to accept the challenge, the officials, together with Emperor Xuānwén, found it hard to keep relaxed expressions.

Some instead looked at Shen Shuangning, the princess's attendant, seeing her sit properly there without moving her bottom, they couldn't help but frown.

Jingyu was still in mourning, her attire much plainer than usual, but her princely bearing was undiminished. She lifted her eyes to Su Mu'er and said calmly, "You're the guest; you go first."

Su Mu'er raised her eyebrows, didn't reply, but thought to herself: If I go first and perform, I'm afraid this Liang princess might not even be able to hold her bow steady later.

The palace attendants quickly set up two targets in the distance.

Su Mu'er took the lead, stepping forward with bow in hand, her face showing a bit of arrogance.

She raised her hand, nocked the arrow onto the bowstring, drew the bow like a full moon, slightly narrowed her eyes to aim, then loosed six arrows in succession; the motion was clean and swift, done in one breath.

The six arrows steadily stuck around the bullseye, the ring scores hardly differing at all; it was an extremely impressive result.

But aside from the Jurchen present, no one dared to cheer.

Su Mu'er didn't mind, smiling at Jingyu: "I've made a fool of myself; your turn."

Surprisingly, Jingyu's face showed not a trace of panic or unease; she looked extremely calm.

This left Su Mu'er a bit unsure: could the rumors be wrong? How could that be?

Before Su Mu'er could think further, Jingyu calmly took the bow handed by the palace attendant; her posture and grip didn't look like a beginner's.

Su Mu'er's heart grew heavier; she wished she hadn't held back earlier.

Jingyu didn't look at her, lightly nocked the arrow onto the bowstring, took a deep breath, and in an instant shot six arrows in succession; the arrowheads were each half an inch off the bullseye, landing outside the third ring.

Su Mu'er had just secretly let out a breath when she saw Jingyu calmly hand the bow to the attendant, turn to her and say: "I have always admired the martial prowess of Jurchen women; hearing that the princess excelled in horsemanship and archery, I specially studied some archery. But I've only just begun for less than a month, so naturally I fall far short of your superb skill; today I lose, convinced and willing, and to be able to exchange pointers with you is already a great benefit."

Su Mu'er was taken aback; she hadn't expected the opponent to so openly accept defeat, and the hint of pride that had just risen on her face suddenly froze.

Instead, the opponent made Su Mu'er's earlier contempt and scheming look petty.

The Jurchen attendants in their entourage exchanged glances; the prepared cheering sound effect got stuck in their throats, and the atmosphere on the field became somewhat delicate.

One could see Su Mu'er's face flushing red and white; after a moment she stammered, "You, you're also very strong—having studied only a month, you're already quite good."

Jingyu's face then broke into a faint smile: "If we get the chance again, I'll come to you for advice."

"No problem!" Su Mu'er replied; her earlier arrogance had mostly faded, replaced by a newfound respect.

Who said the Liang princess was timid and clumsy? Pure nonsense!

Although their positions were opposed, Su Mu'er had already developed a bit of fondness for Jingyu.

The officials who had originally been sweating and had no hope for Jingyu now couldn't help but show approving smiles.

They never expected a palace-raised princess to beat a Jurchen who grew up on horseback; this outcome could not be better.

Although Jingyu lost the contest, she in no way lacked bearing; this composure is exactly what a princess of a great state should have.

Emperor Xuānwén looked at Jingyu, his eyes full of praise, then turned his gaze to Shen Shuangning.

He knew these words could not have come from his own daughter; someone must have taught her carefully.

Only after Jingyu returned to Shen Shuangning's side did she finally relax; the earlier composed demeanor faded largely, and, taking advantage of inattention, she gently took Shen Shuangning's hand and said anxiously:

"Did I do all right just now? Didn't I embarrass Liang?"

Shen Shuangning clasped her hand in return, eyes smiling, and whispered softly: "Don't worry, you did very well."

Upon hearing that, Jingyu finally let out a full breath; heaven knows how nervous she had been!

But after the nervousness passed, her heart filled with a faint excitement and pride, her spine straightening involuntarily.

Shen Shuangning never liked to vie for superiority; letting Jingyu face this alone was something they had agreed on long ago, and fortunately everything went as planned, so their month of hard work was not in vain.

After this interlude, the spring hunt officially began.

Su Mu'er, however, suddenly said she was unfamiliar with the hunting grounds and needed an escort.

This request was quite reasonable, after all she was a foreign princess; if anything happened in the hunt, it would be a trouble.

Emperor Xuānwén did not refuse, but when he was about to assign a certain guard,

Su Mu'er instead raised her hand pointing toward Xie Lin's direction, saying bluntly: "I want him."

As her words fell, everyone was stunned, immediately sensing something unusual about it.

Could this foreign princess have taken a liking to Xie Lin? Her vision is truly sharp.

Shen Shuangning also looked over at Su Mu'er, then followed her pointing direction to look at Xie Lin.

One could see him slightly furrowing his brows, his expression clearly showing reluctance; he obviously did not want to take on this task.

But since Emperor Xuānwén had already agreed to Su Mu'er's request, it would be improper to change his mind now, so he said: "Mingyuan, you go escort the princess."

No matter how unwilling Xie Lin was, he could not defy the imperial command.

Emperor Xuānwén also summoned two more Jinwu Guards.

Su Mu'er's gaze, however, fixed on Xie Lin, her eyes shining, she gave a playful smile: "Thanks for the trouble."

Knowing Su Mu'er had intentions of taking a consort, Xie Lin naturally kept his distance from her.

Seeing Xie Lin always standing far away, Su Mu'er grew a bit dissatisfied and raised her voice: "You stand so far from me; if I encounter danger, how will you protect me?"

What does she look like someone who needs protection?

But Emperor Xuānwén was still watching, so Xie Lin reluctantly stepped over, a hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Su Mu'er then satisfied, she lifted her chin at the two maids behind her, gestured for Xie Lin to follow, then rode her horse ahead into the forest, the horse's hooves treading the grass, raising a light sound.

Xie Lin mounted his horse, glanced back toward Shen Shuangning's direction, then finally followed Su Mu'er's silhouette on horseback; the hoofbeats faded and disappeared into the woods.

Shen Shuangning did not miss the interest Su Mu'er's eyes had just shown toward Xie Lin; her face involuntarily sank a bit. But on second thought, if Xie Lin were always by Emperor Xuānwén's side, she would actually have no chance to speak with him.

Thinking that way, it actually wasn't a bad thing.

Therefore, when Jingyu expressed that she also wanted to join the hunt, Shen Shuangning readily agreed.

Many people had already entered the forest to hunt; the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and Xiao Jingyuan et al. had all gone one after another, leaving far fewer people staying behind at the camp to attend the horses.

Jingyu took Shen Shuangning's hand and went to look for Emperor Xuanwen.

"Father, I've practiced archery on horseback for a month and also want to have some fun!"

"Good, good, good, then you must perform well."

Emperor Xuanwen saw Jingyu's eager expression, then assigned a few guards to protect them, and with a pleased look said, "If you can bring back a rabbit, there will be a generous reward."

Everyone knew the emperor doted on the princess, so no one said anything.

Pei Zhi sat motionless at the emperor's right side, his gaze sweeping past the princess and Shen Shuangning's figures toward the distant, layered woods, as if something flickered in the depths of his eyes.

"Junior Tutor Pei, aren't you going to join the fun?" someone asked.

Pei Zhi slowly came to, lifted his tea, lowered his eyes, and softly said:

"I, Pei, am not skilled at archery."

This hunting ground was already vast, and upon entering the forest, the tree shadows swayed, branches intertwining to block out most of the daylight.

It was very quiet around, only occasionally hearing a few cries of unknown birds or the rustle of wind through leaves, as if stepping into a secret realm cut off from the outside world.

For this spring hunt, Shen Xiuci was busy with official duties and did not come; Shen Er was forced by Lady Liu to study and also had no free time, so only Shen Shuangning came from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.

The animals in this forest were extremely cunning; along the way, only occasional rustlings could be heard in the surroundings, as if something alive were weaving through the plants, yet when one looked closely, not even the shadow of a hare could be seen.

Having come empty-handed, Jingyu's initial excitement gradually cooled, and she realized that hunting was far harder than she had imagined, her face unconsciously taking on a listless look.

Before they knew it, the group had already ventured deep into the forest.

Not long after, they arrived at a fork in the road.

Jingyu reined in her horse, turned her head, and asked Shen Shuangning, "Which way should we go?"

Shen Shuangning's gaze fell on the two paths; she saw many hoofprints of horses that had galloped by, not knowing which way Xie Lin had gone, so she simply followed her intuition and chose the left one.

"This one then."

The guards responded and followed; the horses' hooves stepped on fallen leaves, producing a faint sound that was especially clear in the quiet forest.

Not long after, Jingyu finally spotted a hare; she shot an arrow, but it missed.

"Why didn't I hit it?" Jingyu, unwilling to accept, dismounted and ran to retrieve the arrow.

Then she suddenly became excited.

"Ningning, come quick, I hit it!"

Shen Shuangning walked over, saw Jingyu holding a blood‑stained arrow, and was very excited.

She had indeed hit it, but not in a vital spot, and accidentally let it escape.

"It's wounded, so it shouldn't go far." Shen Shuangning looked toward the surrounding thick grass.

Hearing this, Jingyu quickly ordered the guards to come down and search together, so a group of people plunged into the grass to look for the hare that had luckily escaped.

To their surprise, the hare had not yet been found, but Jingyu accidentally got bitten by a snake!

"It hurts..." Jingyu could not stand up, her eyes reddened, she panicked, "Is it a poisonous snake? Am I going to die? If I had known, I wouldn't have come, wuu wuu wuu wuu wuu...."

The guards panicked for a moment; failing in their duty, they might lose their heads!

Fortunately, Shen Shuangning remained calm; she caught a glimpse of the snake fleeing, and immediately shouted, "It's over there, hurry!"

The guard nearest, hearing this, immediately drew his blade and, quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, hacked the snake into two pieces!

Shen Shuangning walked over, saw the snake's appearance, breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to comfort Jingyu: "It's not a poisonous snake, it's fine, don't be afraid."

Jingyu lifted her head, eyes brimming with tears, and looked at her: "Really?"

Shen Shuangning helped her up, earnestly saying, "Really, let's leave this place first."

Seeing that the princess was not in mortal danger, the guards also finally breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have kept their heads.

The group quickly withdrew from that patch of grass.

Jingyu also learned her lesson, daring not to move about recklessly; she struggled to climb onto her horse, her spirits low: "But I still haven't caught a hare."

Shen Shuangning comforted, "It's all right, Your Highness, go tend to your wounds; I will stay behind and later catch a nest of hares for you."

That was all they could do. Jingyu nodded, and before departing she added, "You also be careful, come back early; if you don't catch anything, it's fine."

Shen Shuangning replied, "Understood, Your Highness, hurry back."

Once the princess left, she could focus on finding Xie Lin.

As Jingyu left, she left three guards with her.

They continued on horseback, not knowing how long they had ridden, when suddenly a faint clanking sound came from ahead, mixed with a few sharp shouts!

Shen Shuangning sharply squeezed her horse's belly, turned back, and asked the guards, "Did you hear that?"