Chapter 57

The two figures tangled together once more, murmuring intimately as they badmouthed the Third Princess.

“The Third Princess is so beautiful, born of noble blood like a golden branch and a jade leaf, and yet she still ended up married to a fool.”

“If I’d known even a fool could marry the Third Princess, I could have done so myself back then.”

The mocking laughter drifted into Tao Chuyi’s ears. Furious, she snatched up two handfuls of dirt and nearly hurled them, only for Zishan to intercept her midway.

Those filthy words grated in Zishan’s ears too, sparking her urge to thrash the pair senseless. But beating them now would only bring trouble upon the Third Princess.

Tao Chuyi furrowed her brows, her cheeks puffing out in indignation.

They were all big villains!

Oblivious that their shameless behavior had been discovered, the pair grew even more brazen.

“His Majesty so readily married the Third Princess off to a fool—isn’t that tantamount to saying she’s fair game for any man?”

Tao Chuyi could no longer hold back. Ignoring Zishan’s attempts to stop her, she charged forward with a stone in hand and smashed it straight into the man’s forehead, sending blood gushing forth.

“Who’s there!”

The man clutched his forehead, bellowing in rage.

By this point, Zishan had lost her patience as well. She flung her long robe over the man’s head and joined the prince consort in giving him a thorough thrashing.

Terrified, the woman scrambled to the edge of their discarded clothes to cover herself, shrieking nonstop.

From brazenly spewing obscenities at first to desperately begging for mercy later on, the man shamelessly kowtowed and wailed. But his attackers paid him no heed.

The commotion soon reached the evening banquet. The man was the Second Princess’s favored pretty boy. When he knelt before her with a face swollen like a pig’s head and his clothes in disarray, the entire hall fell silent.

“Your Highness, you must stand up for me!”

The pretty boy pointed at Tao Chuyi. “It was him—him who beat me into this state.”

Seeing her beloved pretty boy reduced to such a unrecognizable mess, his once-handsome features utterly ruined, the Second Princess flew into a rage and slammed her hand on the table.

“Third Imperial Sister, how do you explain this?”

Nangong Yunshang turned toward the still-seething Tao Chuyi and gently patted her head.

“Prince Consort, what exactly happened?”

Tao Chuyi jabbed a finger at the pretty boy. “He was speaking ill of Your Highness the Princess.”

Disrupting the banquet had already soured the Emperor’s mood, and he was itching for an outlet for his displeasure. Whoever erred at a moment like this was in for it.

After a moment’s pause, Nangong Yunshang summoned Zishan. “You explain what happened.”

Zishan bowed in salute. “Replying to Your Highness, this subordinate was escorting the prince consort back to the tent when the prince consort wished to take a stroll by the riverbank. Thus, this subordinate accompanied the prince consort there. Unexpectedly, we came upon the Second Princess’s pretty boy and a palace maid entangled in debauchery, their clothes strewn throughout the reed thickets—even the dudou dangling from a treetop. The prince consort intended to drag the pretty boy before the Second Princess to atone for his sins, but the pretty boy showed no remorse and instead hurled vile slanders at Your Highness. In defense of Your Highness, the prince consort fought him.”

The sequence of events was laid out crystal clear, leaving no doubt as to who was right and who was wrong.

The Second Princess’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. She kicked the pretty boy sprawling.

“You despicable wretch!”

“Mercy, Princess! Spare me, Princess! This servant was muddleheaded—a momentary lapse in judgment!”

By now, the palace maid had also been brought before the Emperor. On her wrist gleamed a jade bracelet, a gift from the pretty boy—which had originally been bestowed upon him by the Second Princess herself.

“I’ll kill you!”

The Second Princess snatched a guard’s sword and lunged forward, only to be sharply rebuked by the Emperor.

“Enough of this! What sort of glorious affair is it?”

The Emperor summoned the Forbidden Army Commander. “Drag these two filthy vermin away and dispose of them properly.”

The Forbidden Army Commander signaled the guards, who hauled the pair off amid their futile screams and struggles.

The Emperor, still displeased, remarked, “If you can’t even manage your own people, what else can you hope to handle?”

The Second Princess immediately bowed her head. “This child will heed the lesson.”

With the farce concluded, the music and dances resumed, as if the brief interlude had never occurred.

Nangong Yunshang excused herself early from the banquet and personally escorted Tao Chuyi back to the tent. She refused to believe the prince consort could slip away this time.

Dismissing all the attendants, Nangong Yunshang sat upon the couch and watched as a certain someone drank her tea.

Tao Chuyi lifted her cup of milk tea and drank contentedly, blissfully unaware of anything amiss.

“Chuyi, didn’t I tell you not to wander off on your own?”

Tao Chuyi shot straight upright, stealing a guilty glance at Nangong Yunshang.

“Sister, I was wrong.”

Seeing Nangong Yunshang’s stern expression, she scooted closer and held out her right hand.

“My hand is all red.”

It had hurt, hitting that big villain.

Nangong Yunshang sighed softly, taking hold of the hand and blowing on it gently twice.

“I’m not upset with you. I’m just afraid you’d end up getting the short end of the stick—what then?”

Tao Chuyi flashed a brilliant smile. “Chuyi knows.”

“Good that you know.”

Nangong Yunshang chided her affectionately. “Get some rest early, then.”

But Tao Chuyi shook her head and clambered atop Nangong Yunshang in a few quick steps, gazing down from above.

“I saw them doing naughty things.”

Nangong Yunshang swiftly realized what she meant and promptly pushed her away.

“Do not look upon or listen to improprieties.”

Tao Chuyi tilted her head in confusion. But she’d already seen and heard everything—how was she supposed to avoid it now?

Suddenly, a brilliant idea occurred to her. Sneakily, she crawled back over, pinning Nangong Yunshang to the bed and clambering on top. Now, Sister was all hers.

Nangong Yunshang: “…”

Was this an attempt to squash her flat?

The next morning dawned bright and clear under a blazing sun. The imperial kin and nobles ascended the viewing platform, where the Emperor sat upon his central throne, surveying the troops arrayed below, ready to depart.

Nangong Yunshang occupied the seat beside him, her attention fixed on Tao Chuyi. The prince consort rode a magnificent steed, now and then scratching the back of her head, sniffing, and craning her neck to look this way and that.

“Your Highness, rest easy. With Zishan watching over the prince consort, there will be no mishaps.”

Yinghong offered reassurance from the side.

Nangong Yunshang nodded, though her brows remained tightly knit, her fingertips nervously twisting the silk handkerchief.

The horns blared, dust billowed, and the thousands of horses thundered into the forest. Gradually, no trace of them remained, only the fading echo of hoofbeats.

Tao Chuyi galloped wildly on horseback, ignoring any prey she spotted, her curved bow slung across her back like mere ornamentation.

“Prince Consort, wait for this subordinate!”

Zishan whipped her mount furiously, but Tao Chuyi rode like a horse with a broken bridle, impossible to catch.

It was not until they plunged deep into the dense forest that Tao Chuyi finally halted—because she was lost.

“Zishan, where is this place?”

Tao Chuyi reined in her horse, swiveling in circles as she peered left and right.

Zishan let out a long breath of relief. She was utterly exhausted.

Hoofbeats sounded nearby: the Second Prince and the Crown Prince vying for a kill.

Considering it unbecoming for the prince consort to return empty-handed, Zishan nocked an arrow and shot a rabbit for her.

Tao Chuyi watched in astonishment. Before long, more young noblemen arrived on horseback, competing fiercely to hunt deer.

The contest grew heated; the herd fled in panic. Several arrows flew wide, but the young masters pressed on relentlessly.

Finding it all great fun, Tao Chuyi dashed after them.

“Prince Consort, that’s beyond the hunting grounds!” Zishan called urgently.

The wind and tumult drowned her out, however, and Tao Chuyi barreled onward in pursuit of the nobles.

Ere long, they reached a rocky stream beside a waterfall, whose roaring cascade masked the thunder of hooves.

The noblemen and their attendants drew to a halt, circling half the stream in search of the vanished herd—but to no avail.

As they resumed their hunt, none noticed the rustling from the towering ancient tree overhead.

Zishan finally caught up to Tao Chuyi, riding abreast.

“Prince Consort, let us head elsewhere. This is the fringe of the hunting grounds.”

Scarce had the words left her lips when the creature coiled in the ancient tree revealed its massive head.

“A—a python!”

The cry sent three or five men crumpling in a faint. The rest spurred their horses to flee, only for the terrified beasts to drop to their knees and pitch their riders to the ground.

“Run—run!”

But humans could not outpace a python. The azure-patterned giant python’s head was as broad as an iron wok, its body as thick as a tree trunk.

The python gaped its bloodied maw, toppling grass and brush in an instant. The noblemen and attendants tumbled to the earth in abject terror.

Tao Chuyi’s mouth hung half-open. She had never beheld so enormous a python.

Zishan wheeled about to drag her to safety—only to find her gone. A second glance revealed that she had dismounted, bow in hand.

“Prince Consort!”

Her shout rent the heavens. What followed stunned all who witnessed it.

Tao Chuyi struck the azure-patterned giant python squarely on the head. Pain sent it thrashing wildly, its tail carving chaos through grass and stone wherever it whipped.

Ignoring the cries behind her, Tao Chuyi yanked an arrow free and charged. Leaping from rock to rock into the air, she plunged arrow after arrow into the beast’s body. On her descent, the lashing tail caught her unawares, sending her tumbling to the foot of a great tree.

“Prince Consort!”

Zishan leaped from her horse and rushed to her side, about to check for injuries, when a heavy thud sounded from behind.

Whirling around, she saw the azure-patterned giant python sprawled lifeless on the ground, thoroughly dead.

Zishan stood dumbfounded, at a loss for words. At that moment, the missing deer herd reappeared. Tao Chuyi clambered to her feet as if nothing had happened, snatched Zishan’s quiver, and loosed ten arrows in rapid succession.

Zishan, unsure what else to do, had but one thought: the mission was complete.

Anxiously, she shook the unconscious noblemen. “Wake up! Come on, wake up! Hang in there—don’t sleep now! We’re going to take first place…”

By then, Tao Chuyi had wiped out the entire herd.

She stood alone on the now-empty grassland. After a brief pause, she abruptly cast aside her bow and turned about in bewilderment.

“Zishan, why is everyone lying on the ground?”

Taking it all in with the strongest resolve she could muster, Zishan seized Tao Chuyi by the hand and fled the scene.

At last shaking off their “trophies,” Zishan collapsed in exhaustion. Her hard-earned reputation was saved.

“Zishan, are you tired?”

Tao Chuyi’s breathing remained utterly steady, as if she had done nothing at all. She stretched her neck, puzzled.

Zishan could only shoot an admiring glance her way. “Prince Consort, from now on, this subordinate will be your most loyal guard.”

“Ah?”

Tao Chuyi tilted her head, big eyes flickering with confusion.

The sun had finally set. Tao Chuyi returned to Nangong Yunshang’s side as they wished, saying not a word about everything that had happened—as if none of it had ever taken place. The shock of the whole affair was left for Zishan to bear alone.

The top spot in the first day of the hunt had gone to the obscure Censor’s Young Master. Even he had no idea how he’d claimed it. All he knew was that he’d fainted from terror at the sight of a massive python, only to wake and find both the python and an entire herd of deer dead by his hand.

With their thunder stolen, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince slunk away in defeat.

Zishan leaned in to whisper with Yinghong from behind. “I finally get how tough this assignment really is.”

Yinghong gave a look of perfect understanding. It seemed that even everyone in the Princess Mansion put together couldn’t take down a single Prince Consort.

At the banquet table, Nangong Yunshang kept picking dishes for Tao Chuyi.

“How was it? Did you have fun? Run into any trouble?”

Before Tao Chuyi could respond, Zishan jumped in. “Everything was perfectly normal, wasn’t it, Prince Consort?”

Nangong Yunshang shot her a sidelong glance. “I didn’t ask you.”

Her phoenix eyes then turned tenderly toward Tao Chuyi.

“Chuyi, dear, you tell me.”