Chapter 68

Chapter 68

At the outskirts of the hunting grounds, more and more officials gathered.

Behind the royal hunting party stood the ranks of military officers from various garrisons, summoned and arrayed in formation. Among the princes, the eldest swept his gaze over his brothers behind him, pausing deliberately on the third prince. "Third brother, this hunting ground is your home turf, isn’t it?"

His tone carried a hint of probing.

Not far away, the third prince was not one for easy conversation. He did not respond, merely resting his hand on his lower back, a posture of coiled readiness.

Seeing this, the eldest prince pressed his lips into a thin line and coldly looked away.

The friction between them was obvious. The Eighth Prince watched his two elder brothers, more tense than usual. Many eyes were on him, and he subtly avoided their gaze, his own drifting toward Ying Fusheng.

At that moment, one of his guards suddenly spoke: "Your Highness, you must not slack off in this hunt."

The Eighth Prince withdrew his gaze. He knew that today his father had granted certain privileges, and he could not afford to perform poorly. "I understand," he said quietly.

The guard added: "The Grand Secretary sent me to tell you that the Xu family now has no one to rely on but you."

The atmosphere among the princes was heavy. In a certain sense, the spring hunt was a competition. Now that the court’s power dynamics needed to be reestablished, the hunt was initiated by the emperor. The prince who performed best would stand out in the emperor’s eyes.

By then, everyone had taken their positions in the hunting grounds. The blast of a horn split the air. The emperor’s procession led the way, banners fluttering, and then the horses charged into the forest!

The emperor rode at the forefront, his arrow cutting through the woods. Before his horse even entered the forest, he had already felled his quarry.

His sharp archery awed the courtiers. Behind him, the military officers cheered loudly, their fervor igniting the rest of the officials. Dayuan valued martial skill—especially when military officers gathered in force, the sight of arrows flying all at once was electrifying. The third prince followed close behind, charging into the forest first, with the eldest prince right after him. Surprisingly, the youngest, the Eighth Prince, also spurred his horse and dashed forward.

As they rode into the forest, the princes were followed by their guard riders. Guided by the hunting ground officials, each headed to a different part of the grounds.

Ying Fusheng hung back, catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of the awe-inspiring scene in the distance. Shen Yunfei stayed by his side, not following the others, accompanying Ying Fusheng on the periphery. The other princes and their parties had already vanished from sight. He had no intention of venturing deep into the woods. He let Shen Yunfei take point, his gaze involuntarily sweeping over the forest’s layout. The Ministry of War had indeed set up the outskirts properly, and all the trail markers were in place.

In the distance, birds startled into flight, and the faint sound of hooves reached them. The competition in the depths of North Mountain had already begun.

He shot two game animals, and the guards and Shen Yunfei also made several kills.

"Your Highness, we should head back soon," Shen Yunfei said.

Ying Fusheng was about to turn around when the corner of his eye caught a horse racing by. He immediately reined in, but by the time he looked, the rider was gone. "Who just passed by?"

Shen Yunfei had sharp eyes. "Judging by the banner, it should be someone from the Eighth Prince’s retinue."

The Eighth Prince was young. By rights, like Ying Fusheng, he should have stayed on the outskirts. Going inward meant entering the inner hunting grounds—a place unsuitable for a prince barely twelve years old. That was not his hunting ground.

"Send word back to Lord Shen," Ying Fusheng said, changing the direction of his reins. "Something’s about to happen."

Shen Yunfei was taken aback, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation. He quickly dispatched someone to report back. As they approached the edge of the hunting grounds, a guard burst out from deep in North Mountain, his face panicked. Spotting Ying Fusheng, he seemed to see a savior: "Your Highness! Something terrible—the Eighth Prince’s horse bolted and charged straight into the deep forest!"

Shen Yunfei turned sharply to Ying Fusheng. This was really happening. "Your Highness, I’ll ride back immediately to summon reinforcements!"

But the guard kept his eyes fixed on Ying Fusheng. "But the horse bolted—there’s no time!"

Ying Fusheng’s gaze settled on the guard’s flustered face, catching the evasive flicker in his eyes. His gaze deepened. "You all go with him to search for the prince. Yunfei, ride back quickly and find help."

Several guards obeyed and followed the man into the woods.

Shen Yunfei wanted to say something more but met Ying Fusheng’s eyes and said, "I’ll go at once. You men escort the Sixth Prince back to camp!"

Ying Fusheng brought up the rear as the remaining guards escorted him back.

But before he could leave the periphery, a volley of hidden arrows suddenly shot out from the forest! The arrows immediately alarmed his guards. These were all imperial bodyguards, skilled and seasoned. As the arrows flew, they sensed trouble at once. "Ambush in the woods! Protect the prince and get him out!"

The guards blocked the arrows, but in the next moment, several ferocious beasts burst from the trees!

At the North Mountain hunt, such beasts usually only appeared deep in the mountains. This was the periphery—they should never be seen here!

The guards immediately changed direction to escort Ying Fusheng away. But one man hidden among them slapped the rump of Ying Fusheng’s horse. With a sudden whinny, a horse in the crowd bolted, charging toward the woods.

"No! The Sixth Prince’s horse has bolted!"

...

The commotion faded into the forest. Hearing some noise, the Third Prince looked back into the depths and saw a pure white fox dart past. He raised his bow to shoot, then turned, sensing something. "What’s that noise in the woods?"

"Third Prince, it seems to be coming from the south," a guard replied.

The south—that was already somewhat beyond the hunting range. The Third Prince frowned. "Send a few men to check it out. Don’t let anyone cross the boundary..."

"Bad news, Third Prince! Reports say something’s happened at the outskirts. Two princes have lost control of their horses and gone missing—heading south!"

The Third Prince’s face changed instantly. "Impossible!"

To the south of the mountain forest, there were miasmic mists. As evening approached, the fog would thicken. To prevent the fog from interfering with the hunt, the area south of the grounds had been cordoned off.

Silently, several horses in the forest lost their direction. The Eighth Prince tumbled into the underbrush, pale-faced. His bolting horse had long since vanished into the woods. Fortunately, his riding skills were good enough that he wasn’t seriously injured, but he had become separated from his guards, lost in the forest.

He reached for the signal flare at his waist—a device that could pinpoint his location to the outside. But when he lit it, the flare failed to launch. His face turned truly pale. Why wouldn’t it fire?

Just then, arrows came whistling in, and the Eighth Prince’s face went white with terror!

He rolled into the trees, dodging the arrows. As darkness fell, the forest ahead turned pitch black. To avoid the arrows, he had no choice but to run deeper. Only when the sounds behind him stopped did he halt, completely lost.

Suddenly, a wild beast lunged at him from the distance!

The Eighth Prince fumbled for his arrows, only to find he had too few left to hold off the attack. Then, an arrow shot out from the side, wounding the beast. It howled and fled. The Eighth Prince tried to run out, but someone grabbed him and pulled him back into cover!

He turned and saw it was Ying Fusheng.

Ying Fusheng’s hand throbbed from drawing the bow. He looked at the battered Eighth Prince. "If you run any deeper, not even the gods could save you."

After the Eighth Prince had left that day, Ying Fusheng had Song An assign two men to keep an eye on him.

After using the bolting horse to shake off the hidden watchers, he followed the trail left by those two men, only to find them dead. But they had managed to leave a mark on the Eighth Prince, allowing him to roughly track the direction.

Fortunately, before the hunt, he had obtained something from Chen Xuqiu. Ying Fusheng sprinkled the powder over himself and the prince. "Beast-repelling powder. Don’t move. Wait for help."

The Eighth Prince was dazed. Wait for whom?

In the forest, Ying Fusheng pulled the Eighth Prince behind him.

As they stumbled, trying to avoid wild beasts, an arrow suddenly split the air from behind. It struck the charging beast directly. A man in black landed behind them, grabbed Ying Fusheng by the collar, pulled him back, and fired another arrow into the next beast.

Several figures moved through the forest, clearly having been following the two princes for some time.

Seeing someone appear beside the princes, the hidden assassins fired without hesitation!

The man in black held Ying Fusheng protectively, then glanced at the Eighth Prince. He swung the boy onto a horse. Ye Xuanjiu, riding beside him, caught the prince thrown by his superior and his head spun.

Qi Hanzhou’s eyes flickered. He shielded Ying Fusheng behind him as the waiting Embroidered Uniform Guards struck, subduing the assassins. Seeing they were cornered, the assassins killed themselves as the guards closed in.

The assassins' bodies were rotting, just like the ones at the thatched cottage.

The Imperial Guards did not handle the bodies and simply came to report: "My Lord, they are dead."

"Dispose of the bodies cleanly. When these people don't report back, someone will know something went wrong," Qi Hanzhou said. "Leave no trace."

While the Imperial Guards dealt with the scene, the Eighth Prince was taken away by Ye Xuanjiu for protection.

"You're a bit late," Ying Fusheng said, steadying himself against a tree.

A falcon circled high above—Qi Hanzhou's messenger hawk.

It had been following him ever since he parted ways with Shen Yunfei.

Qi Hanzhou looked up at the circling hawk, then down at his hands—the wounds from drawing the bow, torn open.

He tore a clean strip from his robe and bandaged the wounds on his hands. "The Sixth Prince is a good shot."

"The hunting grounds are fine. The problem is the people," Ying Fusheng said.

Qi Hanzhou replied, "Three days before the spring hunt began, during a routine patrol by the Imperial Guards, a stable hand went missing."

"By then, the Imperial Guards had already stepped in."

This spring hunt was no small affair. Hu Buyu had already inspected the grounds and found nothing wrong. If there's a problem, it must be with the people coming in.

Disguised as a prince's guard or a minister's escort, anyone could walk right into the hunting grounds. Ying Fusheng's personal guards were all clear; the problem was the guide on the hunting grounds, who had attacked his horse amidst the chaos. Two princes' horses got spooked one after another—someone was targeting both of them.

"You came this way on purpose," Qi Hanzhou said. He'd been following him, so he knew Ying Fusheng was looking for the Eighth Prince.

Ying Fusheng said, "If someone was going to make a move during the hunt, the easiest targets were him and me."

After the crown prince was deposed, remnants of his faction still lingered at court. The Xu family would either try to reinstate the deposed prince or shift allegiance to another prince. The emperor gave the Eighth Prince his own camp and showed him favor—clearly meaning to elevate him. The Eighth Prince was tightly tied to the Xu family. Seeing the emperor's stance, the civil officials knew there was no hope of reinstating the deposed prince, so they had to turn to the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince was an obvious target.

"He's the target, but what about you?" Qi Hanzhou asked.

If the Eighth Prince was the target, then how could the Sixth Prince be one? He only had the emperor's favor on the surface and at most Shen Changcun as an open supporter. Ying Fusheng's eyes flickered. Qi Hanzhou's words were direct and clear. He didn't elaborate, instead saying, "Let's check his injuries."

Ye Xuanjiu had already examined him. "Young General, the Eighth Prince has many wounds. He was clever enough to avoid some, but from the looks of it, his attacker was ruthless. A few nearly killed him."

Ying Fusheng's expression flickered. Fatal!?

No, why would they be fatal?

Qi Hanzhou noticed the shift in Ying Fusheng's expression. "You think the wounds are wrong?"

"He's a target... but not to the point of death," Ying Fusheng frowned. The mastermind found the Eighth Prince too useful a pawn to deal him a fatal blow.

Just then, a falcon descended from above. Qi Hanzhou scanned the urgent message it carried.

As he read the message, his expression shifted, and he looked up at Ying Fusheng.

"Something happened at the foot of the mountain."

...

Back at the camp, news of the two missing princes spread fast—

"Bad news! Neither the Eighth Prince nor the Sixth Prince came back!"

When the news reached the emperor's tent, his eyes darkened. "What happened?"

"Your Majesty, I got an urgent message from Lord Shen: the Eighth Prince's horse got spooked in the woods, and he asked the Sixth Prince for help," the official in charge of the hunt reported. "But when our men got there, they found no sign of either prince. However, at the southern edge of the hunting grounds, they discovered a dead horse with this arrowhead."

The dead horse bore the banner of the Eighth Prince's camp, but no sign of the prince himself. The fatal wound was from an arrow. The arrowhead was royal issue, but the engraving on the fletching showed it belonged to the First Prince.

Arrows for each prince's camp were fixed, especially during the hunt—they were tracked more strictly than ordinary arrows, and only the prince himself could have them. That meant only the First Prince or someone close to him could have produced this arrowhead.

Among the crowd, the First Prince's face turned ashen!

"Impossible! I never even saw the Sixth or Eighth Brother!"