Lin Zhanyuan resembled a bird that flew out of its cage for the first time, yearning and timidly advancing towards this free and vast world outside. His command of words were too little to properly express his feelings, so all he could do was drag LIn Feilu along while repeating the same words,"I like it here! I like it here!"
Lin Feilu looked at his excited and eager expression. For the first time, she thought about the future of her silly brother.
He would grow up one day and it would be impossible for him to stay by mother's side all the time. When a Prince becomes an adult, they are expected to move out of the palace and construct their own feudal mansion outside the palace. At that time, even if Emperor Lin were to bestow upon him the establishment of a mansion, how could he possibly live alone?
Lin Nianzhi was only 12 years old this year. However, when Lin Feilu and Lin Zhanyuan were playing together in the Empress Dowager's palace a while back, they heard the Empress Dowager having a discussion with Liuzhi.
It was about finding an appropriate husband for Lin Nianzhi.
When women of the ancient times turned 15 years old, they were expected to marry. So, not only was Lin Zhanyuan's future troubling her thoughts, Lin Feilu's own future was quite worrying as well.
What could she do to avoid being wedded off into early marriage?
Lin Feilu suddenly felt that no matter how good she was, unless she became the Empress Regnant(1) herself, she would never be able to make her own decisions in her life.
(T/N: Empress Regnants are extremely rare. They can rule the country on their own— basically the same as a normal Emperor but ruled by a woman. In the actual history of China, only Empress Wu Zetian was given the honour)
Do I really want to fight the battles to become an Empress Regnant?
That's going to be a little bit difficult…
Lin Feilu was letting her thoughts run wild when Lin Zhanyuan suddenly pulled her hand and said anxiously, "The birdies! The birdies have fallen!"
After dinner, the two went out for a walk on a quiet road. The trees on both sides of the road were quite old and their trunks were straight and tall. The canopy of leaves acted like a big umbrella that covered the sky above. At the base of the tree, two birds laid on the ground as they twittered frantically.
Lin Feilu looked up and saw that there was a bird's nest on the tree branch that was slightly inclined— the two little birds probably fell from the bird's nest.
They were not very good at flying. However, it was fortunate that they were not hurt as she could see them jumping around. Lin Zhanyuan squatted in front of the birds and stretched out his small finger, wanting to touch them but not daring to. Then, he turned his head and said to his sister, "Help the little birdies!"
This tree was sturdy and straight. There were no branches near the trunk and the closest branches were the ones above ten meters. Lin Feilu calculated the distance and found it to be a bit difficult.
Lin Zhanyuan tugged at her sleeves and said, "Fly, sister!"
He had seen Lin Feilu practice Qinggong in the Mingyue Palace as she scaled up and down the wall. Facing her brother's trusting eyes, Lin Feilu's heart swelled with pride again. She had no problem scaling the wall, so doing the same with a tree should not be difficult for her.
So after a moment of adjustment, she grabbed the two birds and started to leap up the tree with a boost of air.
Lin Zhanyuan also excitedly applauded her from below.
Lin Feilu lived up to his expectations this time as she scaled up the tree steadily. Then, she placed the two birds back into the bird's nest and even thoughtfully fixed the nest.
Lin Zhanyuan raised his head and cheered from below, "My little sister is the best!"
Lin Feilu was triumphant, but when she looked down, she felt a little dizzy.
This was her first time scaling a tree so high up a tree…
As the saying goes, 'it is easy to go up the mountain but it is difficult to go down'; the truth remained the same even when the context was changed to a tree.
She held onto the trunk of the tree and stood on the branches. Looking at the far hills and the palace in the distance, her legs began to tremble.
Lin Zhanyuan waited for a while before he called out to her, "Sister, come down!"
Ahh! I want to come down as well, but this is just too tall for me! Or should I grab onto the tree, hug it like a monkey and crawl down slowly?
That's way too embarrassing…
Lin Feilu felt the urge to cry as Lin Zhanyuan became anxious, "Sister, come down! Come down! Come down quickly!"
The more he urged her, the more anxious she felt. She was at a stalemate when she suddenly saw a figure waving leisurely around the corner.
When she heard the voice, she first glanced at Lin Zhanyuan, who was anxiously pacing under the tree. Soon, her eyes met someone else's gaze and she immediately felt relieved. "Little Bean, you flew quite high," He folded his arms across his chest before raising his eyebrows. He then asked, "Can't you come down?"
Lin Feilu didn't care about her constant bicker with him on the norm as she yelled at him, "Xi Xingjiang, help me!"
Xi Xingjiang walked slowly under the tree and put his fingers over his brows. Then, he looked up and snickered, "It's very tall. Really, it's quite tall," The corner of his lips were raised and he smiled uncontrollably, "You want me to help you? Well then, beg me."
Lin Feilu, "…"
Xi Xingjiang raised his eyebrows at her, "First, call me 'brother Shizi'."
Lin Feilu, "Pui!"
Xi Xingjiang wasn't annoyed either, so he further acted like a jerk, "You're scoffing when your legs are jittering? Fine then, don't blame me for not being able to help you when you fall down just because you can't stand."
Lin Feilu was furious, "No one needs your help!"
She squeezed her fist and took a deep breath. Then, she closed her eyes and jumped down from the tree.
Xi Xingjiang's playful expression suddenly became startled and he was already sprinting on his toes as he went to cushion her fall. However, the Little Bean was quite stubborn and avoided his help. She deliberately angled herself to fall towards the side and her legs came in contact with the ground. Despite her stature being slightly unstable for a moment, she was able to steady herself.
She wiped the cold sweat from her palms on the corner of her clothes. Then, she walked over and pulled Lin Zhanyuan before they turned around and left.
Xi Xingjiang scratched his head in embarrassment, "Hey, your Qinggong is not bad…"
Lin Feilu just snorted "Humph!".
Upon realising that he might have actually angered the Little Bean, Xi Xingjiang patted his head angrily and chased after her.
Although Lin Feilu had short legs, she walked very fast and dragged Lin Zhanyuan forward without looking back. No matter what Xi Xingjiang said to her, she continued to ignore him.
Xi Xingjiang scratched his ears and apologised, "Little Lu, don't be angry. How about you go up that tree again? I will definitely help you this time!"
Lin Feilu, "?"
Scram, you pathetic, sly perverted wolf!
He stretched out his hand to pull her, but before he could do so, his hand was slapped away by Lin Zhanyuan who stood beside her, "Don't touch my sister! Boys can't touch my sister!"
Xi Xingjiang felt that he had lost against this pair of siblings. Despite his best attempts to coax them all the way back to the He Se Palace, Lin Feilu never once returned her gaze on him as the children entered the courtyard. With that, he rubbed his nose slightly before leaving in boredom.
For the next three days, the palace began to prepare for the annual Summer Hunt.
Every year, those who won the top prize in the Summer Hunt would receive a golden bow bestowed by Emperor Lin. Several Imperial Princes received horseback archery lessons from a young age, so the hunt was also a good setting to showcase their skills.
Lin Feilu had never participated in such a large-scale hunting event. After all, the concept in modern society was about protecting animals. Throughout the past couple of days, all she saw was everyone around her gradually becoming occupied with tasks that led to the preparation of the event, thus she started to look forward to the event as well.
She has been practicing horseback riding since the beginning of spring. Although she had yet to reach the level where she could ride a horse and aim an arrow towards the eagles that soared in the skies, riding a few laps did not pose a problem for her. So when she acted coquettishly to bait Emperor Lin into letting her join, he unknowingly took the bait and allowed her to participate during the Summer Hunt. (editor's note: classic dad jebaited by cute daughter)
She just wanted to see the sights and check out the event. As long as she didn't venture off alone, there were guards stationed at every vicinity, so the level of security and safety were both quite high.
Lin Zhanyuan didn't know what the Summer Hunt was. After listening to Xiao Lan's explanation, he only thought of it as an action to find small animals. He heard that his sister was going to participate in it, so he took her hand and explained seriously, "I want a little grey rabbit!"
Lin Feilu, "Okay! I'll bring you a live one!"
On the day of Xia Shou, Lin Feilu got up early.
Xiao Lan had spent the past few days altering her dress, which looked like a riding suit, to make it easier for her to ride a horse. As the 6-year-old girl put on a blue and white riding suit, she lost her usual childish and cute appearance and there were traces of an elegant beauty emanating from her form.
When they got to the gathering place, Emperor Lin commented as soon as he saw her, "My Little Fifth Princess seems to be a bit taller now, what do you guys think?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Lin Feilu suspected that the dress she usually wore made her legs appear shorter than it seemed.
The horse that the palace servants prepared for her was still young. It had a white body and looked very small among a group of tall horses. Lin Feilu climbed on the horse's back and stroked its mane. After she established a friendship with it unilaterally, she then started to follow the large army.
Xi Xingjiang rode his horse and ran around her in circles for several laps as he winked, raised his eyebrows and made faces at her. Lin Feilu was really annoyed by him.
He smiled and said, "Little Bean, what do you like? I'll hunt one for you later."
Lin Feilu, "I like tigers! The type that eats people!"
Xi Xingjiang thought for a while, "I actually dare to hunt it, but the question is, are you daring enough to want it?"
Lin Feilu, "…"
Ahhhhh, is this person sick or what?!
Lin Jiwen, who was walking on the side, interjected very proudly, "I heard from the guards on the mountain that they heard the sound of tigers roaring last night. It seems that there are tigers on this mountain. When the time comes, I implore Shizi not to rob me of it."
Xi Xingjiang smiled and made a 'go ahead' gesture.
As the team progressed, they gradually went deeper into the forest where there were more traces of beasts. Emperor Lin also found a black panther, which immediately attracted a large group of troops to chase after it. Unfortunately, the black panther was fast and it disappeared in a flash.
Lin Feilu was up for a leisurely ride on horseback, but when they ran like this, she couldn't keep up and felt that her bones were about to fall apart. This little white horse had a very strong temperament and was not willing to fall behind the other horses at all. Hence, it ran the entire way and Lin Feilu didn't have the ability to stop it either.
She began to regret attending the hunting festival to join in the fun.
Wouldn't it be better to eat some iced watermelon lying down somewhere in the palace?
She looked around and went to Lin Ting, who was the nearest to her, and said, "Brother, I want a rabbit," She added, "Alive."
Although Lin Ting didn't like hunting and killing, his riding skills were not bad at all. Soon, he brought some men and managed to catch a rabbit for her.
Lin Feilu asked men to tie the rabbit's feet and then ushered the horse to proceed to the front, preparing to tell Emperor Lin that she wanted to go back. The hunt would probably continue for a few hours, but her backside was already protesting violently.
Not long after she went forward, she saw Lin Qing, who had been by Emperor Lin's side the entire time, currently riding behind the Emperor. He was holding the reins with one hand and covering his stomach with the other— his parlour didn't look very good either.
Lin Feilu rode her horse to his side and asked in a low voice, "Brother Crown Prince, are you feeling unwell?"
Lin Qing turned his head. When he saw that it was her, he put on his best smile, "It's nothing."
As he spoke, his palms rubbed his stomach slightly.
He woke up this morning with some discomfort in his stomach and a dull pain. But the annual Summer Hunt was very important to him. As the Crown Prince, he naturally had to be excellent in everything to satisfy his father's expectations. Otherwise, he wouldn't be practising alone in the paddock even in the harsh winter.
How could he give up participating in the Summer Hunt because of a mere stomach ache?
So he endured it all the way. However, as the horse's back continued to jerk due to the bumpy roads, the discomfort in his stomach became more and more severe. Despite being under the hot sun of summer, he was literally drenched in a layer of cold sweat and his lips have long gone pale.
Seeing his appearance, Lin Feilu also knew that the situation was wrong as she frowned, "Brother Crown Prince, if you are not feeling well, don't join the hunt. It will be even more uncomfortable if you even have to run later on."
This hunt had just begun, so not everyone got their fair share of harvests yet. If it was truly just a dull throb, it would have been impossible for Lin Qing to leave the front team and fall behind.
He had nothing to say to that, so Lin Feilu said again, "The most important thing is the body. If the root of a disease was left because of a mere Summer Hunt, it will not be worth the gain. The Summer Hunt is held every year, but you only have one body."
Lin Qing was also in severe pain. In his state, even if he stayed, he probably wouldn't be able to hunt any prey.
Hearing the Little Fifth Princess's words again, he couldn't help but nod as he spoke with a pale face, "I will go back to the palace once I report to the emperor."
Lin Feilu patted the hare hanging on her horse's back, "Then I'll return with you!"
Emperor Lin knocked a bow and arrow in front of him as he eagerly scanned for any signs of prey. He turned around with a frown plastered on his face when he heard a guard inform him about the Crown Prince's unfit condition that resulted in his early absence. Originally, the Emperor wanted to criticise the Crown Prince for ruining his mood, but as he got closer, he saw that the boy truly didn't look well, so he left it at that.
After the two children reported their intentions to leave early, they were escorted back to the palace by a small group of guards.
It was still early in the morning as the sunlight shone through a layer of dense foliage, adding a sense of remoteness to the already silent mountain forest.
Lin Qing was unwell and had no strength to speak. Lin Feilu rode her horse beside him, but she didn't try to stir conversation as she was worried that it might worsen his condition. From time to time however, she turned her head around to look at him for fear that he might fall off his horse's back out of pain.
The speed of the group was rather slow. Lin Qing noticed his sister's worried look and couldn't help but smile, "I'm fine, I feel much better than before."
Lin Feilu saw that his facial expressions actually seemed to appear to be slightly better, so she pursed her lips and nodded before asking, "Brother Crown Prince, have you eaten something bad? Or do you always have stomach pains?"
Stomach pains were no trivial matter. In this era, if an issue occurred with one's internal organs, they would have no choice but to wait for their impending death.
Lin Qing recalled the food he had yesterday and shook his head, "Everyone in the Royal Food Sector examined the food and there was no problem at all; perhaps I just caught a bad cold last night."
Lin Feilu said, "Okay, but you should still see the imperial doctor later."
The two were still talking to each other when a large group of birds suddenly sprang up from the silent woods, rushing to fly towards the sky as the leaves of the trees swayed and rustled. Immediately afterwards, the horses under their saddles also began to neigh uncomfortably whilst circling around in their positions.
Lin Qing's expression froze as he looked around.
The guard next to him also spoke vigilantly, "The birds and the horses are uneasy; I am afraid that there might be beasts around."
Another guard said, "But we're already on the edge of the forest— there shouldn't be beasts lingering here at all."
Lin Feilu's little white horse kept raising its hooves. She was not good at riding and could barely control its anxiousness. Hence, she could only hold on to the reins and speak to Lin Qing tremblingly, "Brother Crown Prince, let's hurry up…"
Before she finished speaking, a deafening roar of a tiger suddenly resounded from the depths of the forest.
Barely a second later, a huge and ferocious tiger suddenly jumped out from the dense bushes. Everyone in the group wasn't even able to react when the tiger immediately pounced towards Lin Qing.
Several horses were startled at the same time. Facing the intimidation of the king of beasts, the horse that Lin Qing rode on let out a panicked neigh as it raised its front hooves upwards and ran wildly.
Lin Qing already had a stomachache and was not in a good physical condition, so he was thrown off his horse's back. However, because of this, the tiger wasn't able to get him as it landed on the other side. Turning its head, the beast rushed again towards Lin Qing, who at the moment, was still lying on the ground.
All this happened so suddenly— within a few seconds, the tiger moved violently and swiftly as it reappeared without warning. Seeing that Lin Qing was about to be mauled, Lin Feilu picked up the rabbit that she tied on her horse and flung it at the tiger.
She was the closest to Lin Qing, so with 100% of her force, the rabbit smashed on the tiger's face.
Rabbits were living creatures, so although its legs were tied, that didn't hinder its ability to struggle and resist. The tiger was attracted by the living creature that fell in front of it, so it roared loudly and swallowed the offering with its huge mouth.
This pause bought Lin Qing and his guards just enough time to react.
Lin Qing rolled away from the spot and escaped from the tiger's reach. The surrounding guards also jumped off their horses and rushed ahead, beginning to entangle themselves in a fight with the tiger.
But human beings were merely that— just human beings. Compared with man-eating beasts, humans weren't capable of being their opponents, let alone a creature that excelled in all forms of attack. Currently, the guards were crippled with a plain disadvantage in this fight.
Soon, a guard was bitten by the tiger on the shoulder, causing half of his arm to be torn off.
Although the guards tried their best to deal with the tiger and protect the Crown Prince's retreat, the tiger seemed to have locked its sights on Lin Qing. It roared and pounced towards him, not giving up even if it missed its first initial tries.
The smell of blood and screams of agony echoed throughout the entire forest for a while.
All the horses were frightened and they ran away, but Lin Feilu didn't jump off her horse immediately. Before she could react after throwing the rabbit, she was already led away by the white horse that galloped away from the bloody scene.
Lin Qing finally took a breath and heard the Little Fifth Princess's anxious screams. He only had time to take a quick glance at her direction, but was relieved to see her being taken away by the white horse.
Some of the guards stayed behind to fight with the tiger and some protected him as they left, but without mounts, it was difficult to escape a tiger's pursuit by running.
Lin Ting heard an agonising scream echoing behind him. In the end, even the scream died off, leaving only the deep roar of the tiger.
He even smelled the thick stench of blood behind him.
Today, I'm afraid that I'm actually going to die in a place like this.
Looking forward, the eaves of the Lanxing Palace could be seen faintly, but the fierce tiger behind him had already killed all the guards who stayed behind to fight it in their attempts to buy more time for Lin Qing to escape.
But after running so far, Lin Qing was the only one left in the forest.
He heard the roar of the tiger close behind, so he suddenly stopped pointlessly running away. He pulled out the short knife that was strapped around his waist, turned around sharply and threw himself at the tiger.
Since I can't escape from the clutches of death anyway, I might as well drag you into the depths of hell together with me!
Lin Qing could no longer feel the pain in his stomach and his current discomfort. He was filled with rage— even if he was going to die, he planned to slice a piece of the tiger's flesh along with him!
Just as he turned around, a stern voice suddenly shouted not far away, "Crown Prince, evade!"
Lin Qing's senses were already heightened to the extreme at this moment and his reaction ability was extremely fast. Although his brain had yet to process the words, his body had already made the call as he rolled to the side. At the same time, a sharp blade that glowed with a cold flash of light pierced the air. The blade glided from a distance and was shot straight into the tiger's left eye.
The injured tiger roared wildly in pain. Lin Qing looked up and saw Noble Consort Xi jumping from the back of the little white horse. She held a short knife and swooped towards the tiger from mid-air.
The Noble Consort and the tiger suddenly got engaged in a close quarter combat.
Although Noble Consort Xi Tan had previously injured herself on the battlefield, she still had a very strong foundation in kung fu. Being apt at Qing Gong, her posture was very flexible. The tiger was already blinded in one eye, so her playing tricks on him and evading its attacks infuriated it to no end and only caused it to mindlessly attack even more violently.
Xi Tan was injured in the end and her arm hurt whenever she exerted force. The roaring tiger slapped its paw on her shoulder and instantly tore off a piece of her flesh as she fell heavily to the ground.
However, the tiger did not take the opportunity to maul her. Instead, it turned around and pounced towards Lin Qing again.
A mouthful of blood gushed out from Xi Tan's throat, but she gritted her teeth and launched herself from the ground. Leaping up, she managed to grab the tiger's tail and shouted at Lin Qing, "Run!" while still hanging on to the tail.
Lin Qing's eyes were red with blood. He knew that if he left, Noble Consort Xi was going to die. She came to rescue him, so it made no sense to leave her to die. That sort of ruthless and unrighteous act of greed towards life and fear of death should be despised by the world.
Thinking of this, not only did Lin Qing choose not to run, but he picked up his short knife and immediately charged towards the tiger.
Xi Tan was almost going to go mad from anger at Lin Qing's behaviour.
Lin Qing was the Crown Prince of the country and he was related to the very foundation of the Great Lin Empire. If something were to happen to him, there would be turmoil in the country and the ruling monarch. Throughout the pages of history, there have been a few cases where countries fell apart due to the internal disputes happening between royal siblings for the throne of their respective lands.
As an decorated army general, she would never allow such a thing to happen on her watch— even if it meant that it was going to be at the expense of her life.
She was no longer able to protect her country on the battlefield, so protecting the Crown Prince was the only thing she could do right now.
Xi Tan's eyes narrowed as she wrapped the tiger's tail around her right hand twice before yanking it back. The tiger, in pain and in a frantic frenzy, turned its head back to bite her. However, with all of her strength in the pull, the tiger fell backwards and landed on the ground with a thud. Even though she was also on the ground, she raised her already mauled elbow as the knife in her hands slashed forward and the sharp blade ripped open the beast's belly apart. A pool of blood spurted out as the crimson liquid dyed her pale face vermillion.
The tiger's deafening roars gradually faded and its huge body twitched once or twice more. Slowly but surely, it took its final breath and never moved again.
The forest was silent for a while.
Xi Tan raised her hand to wipe the blood that had splattered all over her face. She slowly stood up from the ground and frowned when she looked at Lin Qing grunting, "Crown Prince, are you injured?"
Lin Qing was still stunned. The panic and fear of escaping from death all came tumbling back the moment the tiger sprawled lifeless on the ground. Even the stomach pain that he briefly forgot about just now seemed to be in a much more serious condition than it was before. Lin Qing staggered as he knelt down, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.
There was an onrushing herd of hooves that echoed not far away. The escort guards arrived in a hurry from the direction of the palace and ran towards the two in a panic.
"Your escorts were late! Crown Prince, please forgive us!"
Lin Qing was powerless to speak, but when he looked up, he saw Lin Feilu, who was at the end of the line, riding on a big horse, staggering over to where he was.
When she got off the horse, she stumbled a bit before throwing her hands and feet on the ground beside him. Usually, her sweet and light voice that was rarely ever upset, now conveyed a sense of seriousness and worry, "Brother Crown Prince, are you alright? You're not injured, are you?"
Lin Qing felt a sour pang in his heart as he slowly looked towards the way he came from.
The entire trail was full of the corpses of the dead guards.
Lin Feilu followed his line of sight and saw the broken limbs and bodies sprawled all over the ground. After smelling the strong stench of blood that was wafted along by the wind, her facial expressions changed as she threw up on the spot.
Lin Qing couldn't care less about his own discomfort, so he hurriedly stroked her back and instructed the guard next to him, "Hurry up and take the Fifth Princess out of here!"
It was the first time that Lin Feilu witnessed such a bloody scene, so it came across as a shock to her. She vomited again and again in a dazed manner, but when she was carried on the horse by the guards, she still remembered to turn her head and shout to Noble Consort Xi Tan, "Noble Consort, are you alright?"
Noble Consort Xi Tan was supported by the guards to get on her horse. Her expression was as indifferent as always, "I'm okay, let's go back to the palace."
Some of the guards formed ranks and began escorting them back to the palace while some others stayed behind to clean up the scene.
When Emperor Lin heard of the incident and rushed back, an hour had already passed.
If it wasn't a known fact that no one would dare to deceive the Emperor, he would have thought that it was a cruel joke.
When the Crown Prince and the Little Fifth Princess left, the main force had yet to penetrate into the hinterlands of the mountain forest — the beasts have always appeared from those parts of the forest, after all. Yet, the main troops weren't able to encounter a single wild beast throughout their hunt even though they wanted to, so how could the two at the edge of the forest cross paths with one?
But when they got to where the tiger was encountered, everyone could still smell the lingering scent of blood in the air.
Although the guards have already cleaned up the stumps of the broken arms and limbs, he could still visualise the tragedy of blood splashing everywhere.
Every guard from the small troop that escorted the Crown Prince were killed as the guards who went back and forth were the ones that were originally stationed in the palace.
All Emperor Lin knew was that the Fifth Princess rode a horse all the way back to report that the Crown Prince had encountered a tiger. It just so happened that Noble Consort Xi was taking a walk nearby, so she then took the reins of the white horse and rushed ahead. By the time the rest of the guards arrived, Noble Consort Xi had already killed the tiger.
Emperor Lin's face was dark as he frowned. After returning to the palace, he headed straight to the Crown Prince's palace.
Although Lin Qing was not injured, his stomach pain was no longer bearable. Coupled with the fact that the adrenaline from the fight or flight response was now worn off, his body now registered the shock and he wasn't faring well with it. The imperial doctor had prescribed some medicine for the Crown Prince already. In the prescription, there were doses of sleeping pills as well, so the Crown Prince was already asleep by the time Emperor Lin came to see him.
Emperor Lin didn't wake him up, but when he heard that the Little Fifth Princess was in Noble Consort Xi's palace, he left right away.
(Editor's note: Lin Qing's moment of awakening)
Noble Consort Xi had suffered more severe injuries compared to Qin Ling.
The tiger practically clawed at her then, tearing off her skin and flesh in the process. Her shoulders and mouth were a bloody mess and she exerted too much of her internal force, causing both her Qi and blood to diminish. The pain she felt was comparable to her bones being snapped in half when her already weakened internal strength endured those attacks.
However, she made no complaint about it. Besides her pale parlour, there was no indication that she was bearing unbelievable torrents of pain.
When Emperor Lin arrived at the palace, Lin Feilu was sitting beside Noble Consort Xi's bed as she drank her medicine. She practically threw up everything her stomach had to offer and the shock she felt was not really considered minor either, so the imperial doctor also prescribed some medicine for her. As soon as she finished drinking, the maidservant next to her immediately handed over a piece of candied fruit to her. Lin Feilu stuffed it into her mouth and chewed while she crawled towards Noble Consort Xi Tan, who sat upright against the pillow as her lower body was tucked under the covers.
She wrinkled her face and asked, "Noble Consort, does it still hurt?"
Noble Consort Xi squinted at her, "It doesn't hurt, but why are you not going back? What are you still doing here?"
Lin Feilu said, "I'm worried about Noble Consort."
Noble Consort Xi, "Do you think that it wouldn't hurt anymore just because you're worried about me?"
Lin Feilu, "Didn't Noble Consort say that it didn't hurt?"
Noble Consort Xi, "…"
The Little Bean looked like she was about to cry, but her tone was very sincere, "If it hurts, it's okay to say it; no one will laugh at the Noble Consort— girls don't always have to be so strong," She said as she leaned towards Noble Consort Xi's shoulders and whimpered lightly.
Noble Consort Xi's eyes reflected her surprise.
No one had ever told her that girls didn't always have to be so strong.
That it was okay to say that it hurt.
Even her parents had only taught her that every child of the Xi family should only shed blood; never tears. Those who guard the common folk at the break of dawn should not cry out in pain nor heave a sigh in exhaustion.
So it was a first for her to hear these words directed at her— and it was from a child no less!
Xi Tan was slightly amused and somewhat moved. But before she could speak, Emperor Lin's impatient voice echoed from behind the door, "Tan Er! I'm late!"
Xi Tan, "…" She raised her eyes and plastered her normally indifferent poker face expression, "Your Majesty isn't early nor late; you got here just in time."
Emperor Lin walked over quickly and picked up Lin Feilu, who was lying beside the bed, and embraced her in his arms. He held his daughter in one hand and Xi Tan's hand in the other as he was overwhelmed with emotion, "Thankfully there was the Little Fifth Princess and my lovely Noble Consort present at that time, otherwise… sigh!"
After he finished speaking, he looked at Noble Consort Xi with admiration, "I didn't expect my lovely Noble Consort to be able to kill a tiger even in the present; turns out your skills have never deteriorated even in the slightest!"
Noble Consort Xi Tan was startled as she cringed internally before trying to unceremoniously shoo the Emperor away, "This Noble Consort is fine, I'm just slightly tired. Your Majesty, you should check the corpse of the tiger that the guards brought back."
Emperor Lin hugged Lin Feilu and stood up, "Then have a good rest, my lovely Noble Consort. Let me carry the Little Fifth Princess out first; then, I will come to visit you later."
Lin Feilu waved to Noble Consort Xi obediently and was carried away by Emperor Lin the entire journey home.
Emperor Lin had already learned from the guards that if the Fifth Princess hadn't rushed back to ask for help, the Crown Prince would have been killed there and then. Earlier, he had heard the Fourth Prince comment that his fifth sister was his Goddess of Luck, but now it seemed like there was truly a little lucky star in the palace.
Emperor Lin was not in a hurry to see the tiger's carcass, so he sent Lin Feilu back to the He Se Palace first.
The guards who escorted the Crown Prince had all died in the line of duty and the Crown Prince was still asleep, so Emperor Lin could only ask the Little Fifth Princess about what happened then.
Although Lin Feilu knew that there must be something wrong with the tiger as it was obvious that it only chased Lin Qing and paid no mind to anyone else, she didn't say anything about her suspicions and merely described everything she saw flatly.
Emperor Lin nodded thoughtfully and took her back to the He Se Palace. After he instructed Xiao Lan to take care of her, he left in a hurry.
…
The carcass of the tiger was carried back by the guards and placed in the side palace.
Emperor Lin had also witnessed his fair share of brutal fights and bloody battles. At this time, when he saw the tiger's left eye left with a bloody hole and the fatal wound over its stomach, which was almost ripped open, he couldn't help but shiver when he thought that these were all done by his indifferent and cold Noble Consort.
As expected of the Queen of Hell, she was really cruel.
He put his hands behind him and looked around. The tiger was dead and he couldn't see anything amiss with the body. He could only ask the guard in a deep voice, "Why did the tiger appear on the edge of the forest? Have you found the reason?"
How can I know the reason? Have a chat with the tiger when it's in a good mood?
Of course, the guard didn't dare to retort that way, so he only guessed, "Replying to Your Majesty's questions, it might be due to the frequent rains in the mountains recently that caused the smaller beasts to go into hiding. When the tiger couldn't find any prey for itself, it probably came out and ran to the edge of the forest in its search for food."
In an era where there were merely cold and manual weapons, normal beasts were already very dangerous and considered powerful existences to humans, let alone the king of beasts.
(Editor's note: Cold weapons, manual weapons = non firearms weapons)