Chapter 48

Unable to avoid it, Shen Yao Xing kicked away the people approaching her and walked inside with an expressionless face.

Chu Yi’s patience with the young girl could be said to be beyond imagination. She opened her jade fan with a “swoosh” and leisurely followed behind the girl. When she curled her lips, she accidentally pulled at her wound, instantly dissipating her air of charm.

She covered the corner of her mouth and quickened her pace, saying to the person in front: “I came to find you today because I have something to tell you.”

Shen Yao Xing mocked without turning her head: “Your so-called matters are always making trouble out of nothing.”

Every time she sought her out it was for something, but in the end it was always a trivial matter.

“Really, little Xing Xing, you have to believe me.”

Chu Yi circled in front of the young girl, directly blocking her path, and stared at her quite seriously: “I want to propose marriage to your elder brother again.”

Some people are the type who have seen coffins and shed tears, but still feel good and want to see it again and shed tears again. This type of person is commonly known as a masochist.

Shen Yao Xing’s fist clenched tightly, making a creaking sound. Her gaze aimed at her most injured spot, planning to add frost to snow on that painful area.

Seeing the young girl’s serious expression, Chu Yi was frightened and stepped back, using her fan to cover her face as she called out to stop: “Wait, I was joking!”

If she were to hit her, she’d probably have to lie in bed for a few days. The key was that with her face injured, she wouldn’t be able to meet handsome young men for a while, which would be a pity.

Knowing this person’s nature, Shen Yao Xing loosened her fist, her face full of impatience: “If you have something to say, say it quickly.”

Chu Yi didn’t beat around the bush anymore and said directly: “Three days from now is the autumn hunt. You must remember to go at that time.”

Autumn hunt?

Shen Yao Xing did know about this. It was nothing more than some officials’ children with nothing better to do putting on such an event, even begging for the emperor’s gracious approval to get a venue. Men and women gathered together to compete in archery, martial arts, and horseback hunting.

But the purpose for most men to go was actually just to gain women’s favor, to find a wife-master with an excellent family background for themselves.

“There will definitely be many beautiful young men going at that time, the scene will absolutely be pleasing to the eye.” Chu Yi sighed, her gaze drifting far away.

“……”

Shen Yao Xing was speechless towards her. Wherever there were men, this person’s mind was full of color. She really wasn’t afraid of kidney deficiency.

Shen Yao Xing subconsciously wanted to refuse, but thinking that going to participate in the autumn hunt was better than accompanying that person around everywhere, she finally agreed. But what she didn’t expect was that for the next two days, that person didn’t come to find her again, even Shen Mother’s side quieted down, actually giving her two days of peace and quiet.

Although it felt a bit strange, Shen Yao Xing didn’t think too much about it. She took advantage of this free time to carefully investigate the poisoning incident again, but still came up empty-handed, and Shen Mother showed no more signs of poisoning.

Shen Yao Xing felt that something was amiss, but had no way to start, and couldn’t even pinpoint a main suspect. She was even somewhat confused about what purpose the poisoner had.

Apart from keeping an eye on Shen Mother’s three meals a day, Shen Yao Xing spent almost all her other time sleeping, fully making up for her “lack of sleep” from the past few days.

On the day of the autumn hunt, Shen Yao Xing was dragged up by Chu Yi before she had even woken up. By this time she already regretted it, after all, since that person hadn’t come to bother her again, she didn’t want to participate in the autumn hunt anymore. Staying in her room sleeping was better than that.

Chu Yi couldn’t let her have a chance to change her mind. She directly wiped the young girl’s face with a handkerchief soaked in cold water, only stopping when she had wiped her awake: “Quickly wash up and change clothes, we’ll be setting off soon.”

The venue for the autumn hunt was not in the capital, but in a secluded forest area some distance from the capital. The journey would take about two hours, so those young ladies from official families chose to set off early to avoid wasting unnecessary time.

Helplessly, Shen Yao Xing could only get up to wash and change into light, comfortable clothes before leaving the mansion with the woman.

Horses were already prepared outside the mansion. The two mounted their horses and when they reached the east side street of the capital, they saw the long queue. Carriages were in front and horses followed behind, with many guards on the sides. The scene could be described as quite spectacular.

The two rode horses at the end of the queue. Shen Yao Xing glanced at the commoners being pushed to both sides, yawned, her voice still somewhat lazy: “How come it’s more grand each year than the last? It’s just going for one day, and it’s not even far. Is it necessary to bring so many people?”

It was almost comparable to the scene of the empress’s autumn hunt.

“This year is different.” Chu Yi raised her chin to point towards the carriage at the front: “The one inside is the Seventh Princess, naturally more guards need to be arranged.”

Shen Yao Xing wasn’t interested in this matter, she just said “oh” and shifted her attention.

Near the hour of si, the procession arrived at the place. The open hunting grounds were already prepared with archery targets, and behind was the dense forest for hunting. Those noble young ladies and gentlemen got off their carriages in two waves, chatting and laughing, while the guards began to set up camp.

There were too many people over there, and Shen Yao Xing didn’t want to join in. She casually sat down under a tree to enjoy the shade. Just as she was about to doze off, she was suddenly elbowed by the person next to her.

“Hey!” Chu Yi’s lowered voice seemed somewhat excited.

Shen Yao Xing impatiently squinted her eyes and glanced at her, following her line of sight. Her squinted eyes widened, and when she clearly saw the person getting off the carriage, she couldn’t help but exclaim “Wow” in admiration.

Only to see that the man getting off the carriage was wearing light blue clothes, with ribbons tightly wrapped around his wrists at the cuffs, unlike the usual loose and complicated style. His long, perfect figure was even more obvious. His black hair was casually tied high on the back of his head without any decoration, revealing his beautiful ear shape and jade-like neck. He didn’t use any sun protection tools, and under the sun, his ice-bone jade-skin was even more dazzlingly white.

It must be said that this person’s outfit was truly beautiful, giving people a refreshing feeling. Even his face seemed more pleasing to the eye, Shen Yao Xing thought secretly.

Beside her, Chu Yi’s gaze was burning, staring at the man with eyes fiercer than the sun. She curled her lips and sighed: “I didn’t expect Young Master Yin would also come to participate in the autumn hunt this year.”

In the past, even if the princess came to invite him personally, they couldn’t get him to come. Today was indeed rare.

Chu Yi glanced at the young girl beside her, suddenly having an idea: “Could it be that Young Master Yin knew you were coming, so he followed?”

She had thought that the marriage between the two was purely a political alliance, but now it seemed that it wasn’t as simple as she had thought.

Shen Yao Xing watched from afar as those so-called noble young ladies saw the man and couldn’t stop fawning over him, like bears seeing honey, almost drooling as they wanted to pounce on him.

Hearing the woman’s words, Shen Yao Xing glanced at her sideways: “You’re thinking too much.”

From the time the man arrived until now, he hadn’t even glanced in her direction once. He probably didn’t even know she was here too.

Chu Yi guessed that the young girl wouldn’t say much to her, so she waved her jade fan and didn’t mind. After watching for a while, she squatted down and pointed towards those women who kept fawning over the man, shaking her head and clicking her tongue: “Everyone in the capital knows that Young Master Yin is already your Shen Yao Xing’s husband-to-be. Those people acting like this shows they don’t take you seriously at all.”

“I’m not their mother, of course they won’t take me seriously.”

Chu Yi was left speechless by the young girl’s retort. She carefully observed the young girl’s expression and indeed couldn’t find a trace of displeasure. Her bored look was as if she was watching someone completely unrelated to her.

Sometimes Chu Yi doubted if this person was really a woman. Not only did she not like men, but she could even be so indifferent towards a beauty like Young Master Yin. If it were her, she would have already hidden him in her mansion, not letting anyone catch a glimpse.

The two under the tree were lost in their own thoughts, neither noticing the figure in cyan approaching them. It wasn’t until the figure stood next to them that they turned to look.

Shen Yao Xing raised her head to look at the newcomer, feeling somewhat familiar.

“Long Qing pays respects to Young Lady Chu.” Si Tu Long Qing bowed, putting on a shy expression.

Chu Yi had long lost interest in this person and only nodded slightly.

Shen Yao Xing was sandwiched between the two. Her gaze silently appraised them both, and she quietly moved aside a bit.

The competition had already begun over there. The first event was archery, with no limit on male or female participants. Each person only had one arrow, and the one closest to the bullseye would win.

Shen Yao Xing quickly noticed something was off. The target seemed to be placed… a bit too far?

Women went first. One after another, almost all of them could hit the target, but they were still some distance from the bullseye. The last woman to go was the Seventh Princess wearing dark blue with black edges. She held a golden longbow half her height. The feathered arrow was drawn into a half circle on the string. With a “whoosh”, the arrow left the string and in the blink of an eye was already pinned to the target.

It was only two fingers’ distance from the bullseye. The watching crowd immediately let out exclamations of admiration, some genuine and some fake.

The Seventh Princess revealed a smug smile on her face and threw the bow to a female guard beside her.

Next it was the men’s turn. Although their height was not much different from the women’s, their strength was far inferior.

The first man to go up held the bow and arrow, trembling as he drew the string. Even though it felt like he was using all his strength, he couldn’t draw it much. In the end, he ran out of strength and released the string. The feathered arrow flew out lightly, only making it halfway before falling to the ground, far from the target.

Women’s laughter instantly spread throughout the entire hunting ground. The man holding the bow stood helplessly in place, his eyes reddening amidst their mockery, and in the end he could only cover his face and retreat.

“So that was their intention.” Chu Yi waved her jade fan, her face uninterested: “Using others’ weaknesses as a joke is a bit vulgar.”

Shen Yao Xing remained silent and continued watching the competition.

As expected, this target was already beyond the appropriate range. Even if some men were stronger, they could only barely touch the edge of the target, with no strength to make the arrow stick in the target.

Amidst the laughter, a figure in light blue slowly walked to the competition area. His leisurely manner gave people the illusion that he was taking a stroll in his own garden, as if they didn’t exist at all.

“Young Master Yin, how about I compete on your behalf?”

As soon as the man appeared, someone already eagerly stepped forward wanting to curry favor. Unfortunately, the man didn’t even look at her. The woman’s face showed a trace of embarrassment as she retreated under the mocking gazes of the others.

That slender figure was undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the scene. Everyone’s eyes focused on him, even Shen Yao Xing couldn’t help but hold her breath, her gaze concentrated.

The man took the bow and arrow handed to him by a servant without any hesitation. He raised the bow and drew the string in one fluid motion. The arrow didn’t even stay on the string for a second. Before everyone could react, the feathered arrow had already broken through the air and was firmly embedded in the target.

The scene suddenly quieted down. They stared blankly at the target, taking a while to come back to their senses.

It was… it was right in the bullseye!

Instantly, the women’s gazes towards him became even more fervent. Their eyes seemed to want to grow on the man’s body.

Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes were cold, ignoring the gazes glued to his body as if they didn’t exist. As he turned, his peripheral vision swept across the distance. When he caught a glimpse of the young girl’s gaze also falling on him at this moment, his heart couldn’t help but tremble.

He lightly pursed his thin lips, the tips of his ears faintly turning red, actually starting to care about whether his bow-drawing posture just now had looked good.