CHAPTER 22: CHAPTER 22: THE ARROW WAS UNEXPECTEDLY AIMED AT ME

Fu Changqin scratched his head, "What you said makes sense, fine, I’ll go hunt a deer for you."

After coaxing Fu Changqin to leave, Fu Shinian linked arms with Fu Mingzhu and said, "It’s not unusual for men to hunt things, other households’ brothers can also hunt to feed their sisters."

"But among these noble ladies, there aren’t many who are skilled at riding, let alone hunting," Fu Shinian said expectantly, "If you bring me back a pheasant, I’ll be sure to flaunt the roasted drumstick everywhere. They have brothers who hunt deer for them, but none have a sister who hunts pheasants."

"Alright!" Fu Mingzhu was stirred up by Fu Shinian’s words, "Niannian, wait for me, I’ll go hunt a pheasant for you right now!"

Fu Mingzhu mounted the horse in one swift motion, and with a firm "Hah," she spurred the horse out.

Emperor Jiawen, watching from a high vantage point, exclaimed in surprise, "Who is that young lady? Such impressive skills."

Fu Mingzhu departed later than Lin Qingqing, but it wasn’t long before she caught up with her and galloped past.

Lin Qingqing looked up, saw Fu Mingzhu’s silhouette on horseback, and was momentarily stunned.

Fu Mingzhu can ride a horse?

And she’s so good at it?

Didn’t Xiao Fengxing say that Fu Mingzhu was a good-for-nothing?

She bit her lip in anger, furious that Fu Mingzhu wanted to steal her spotlight!

"Hah!" Lin Qingqing urged her horse to speed up.

But her riding skills were ultimately inferior to Fu Mingzhu’s. Despite her best efforts, she gradually couldn’t even see Fu Mingzhu’s figure.

"Whose young daughter is that? Her riding is truly remarkable!"

"I used to think Mr. Lin’s family’s riding was pretty good for a woman, but this young lady’s, even compared to men, isn’t weak."

"Look, she’s already surpassed the Princely Heir of Yongning Marquis."

Mr. Fu walked out happily, saluted Emperor Jiawen, and said, "Your Majesty, she is the daughter of your humble servant, Fu Mingzhu."

Lin Siye, standing nearby, hadn’t had time to retreat, but his smile was starting to falter.

Originally, it was his moment to shine, his daughter had brought him honor, and there was hope for promotion.

Who knew another Fu Mingzhu would appear, with even better riding skills, completely overshadowing Lin Qingqing.

"Not bad." Emperor Jiawen praised, "Your child is usually quite low-key."

Never had it been heard before that the eldest daughter of the Fu family was so skilled at riding.

[Ding! Qingqing’s luck value -1, the Fu family’s luck value +1]

Fu Shinian rubbed his hands together, expectantly thinking, wondering what good things would happen this time.

As the young people participating in the hunt entered the woods, Emperor Jiawen and others could no longer see into the forest.

Fu Mingzhu rode her horse, seeing the grass shaking in the distance, she slowed down, holding her bow and arrow in hand.

Immediately after, she saw a pheasant fly out from the woods at a low angle.

Without hesitation, Fu Mingzhu pulled the bow and shot, the arrow piercing precisely into the pheasant’s neck, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Fu Mingzhu, thrilled, rode over, dismounted, and was about to pick up the pheasant when she suddenly heard the sound of an arrow slicing through the air.

Instinctively, Fu Mingzhu looked over and was horrified to find that the arrow was heading straight for her.

It was incredibly fast, almost upon her.

Fu Mingzhu’s hands and feet went cold, her mind blank with fear, her feet as if rooted to the spot, unable to move.

"Pa!"

Suddenly another arrow flew over, intercepting the arrow aimed at her and knocking it aside in front of her eyes.

The arrowhead actually pierced through the other arrow, nailing it to a tree.

"Miss, are you okay?" The man, still on horseback, hurriedly asked.

Fu Mingzhu, still in shock, couldn’t speak, only shook her head.

"I’ll go check it out first." Gu Yunze said hurriedly, fearing that the person who shot the arrow would escape, he quickly rode in the direction from which the arrow came.

It took Fu Mingzhu a while to gather some strength and get up off the ground.

Then she heard the sound of hoofbeats.

Gu Yunze returned on horseback.

This time he dismounted, saying grimly, "I didn’t find anyone, they got away."

"Thank you, General Gu, for saving my life." Fu Mingzhu recognized Gu Yunze.

Gu Yunze, Little General Gu, who in the court didn’t know him.

Gu Yunze had a distinctly different charisma from Xiao Fengxing.

"Miss, you need to be careful, I’m afraid they might try again," Gu Yunze cautioned, "Otherwise, it’d be best for you to head back first."

Having just hovered at the gates of hell, with one foot nearly in, Fu Mingzhu had no desire to continue anymore.

And she had already achieved her goal of hunting a pheasant for Fu Shinian.

"I was thinking the same." Fu Mingzhu nodded.

Gu Yunze retrieved the arrow he had nailed to the tree earlier.

He examined it, "It’s one of the arrows uniformly provided for the hunt, no markings to identify the owner."

"I’ll escort you back." Gu Yunze proposed, "In case that person doesn’t give up along the way."

"Thank you, General Gu." Fu Mingzhu felt much more at ease.

The two of them rode together back, Gu Yunze asked, "Have you offended anyone lately?"

"No, I haven’t." Fu Mingzhu thought hard, "While I don’t have many friends, neither would the ladies in the boudoir go as far as to want to kill me."

Gu Yunze pondered for a while, then reminded her, "Once you get back, you’d better think it over carefully, it’s best to be cautious."

The two conversed as they returned to the campsite.

Fu Shinian rushed over, seeing Fu Mingzhu’s pale face, immediately asked, "Sister, what’s wrong?"

Gu Yunze explained for her, "Earlier, in the woods, someone attempted to shoot and kill Miss Fu from the shadows."

"What?" Madam Fu, shocked, hurriedly pulled Fu Mingzhu to check, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, thanks to Little General Gu who saved my life, or else I would have..." Fu Mingzhu was still shaken thinking about it now.

"It’s all my fault, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have let sister go in." Fu Shinian blamed himself, his intention was to let Fu Mingzhu outshine Lin Qingqing, who would have thought it almost cost Fu Mingzhu her life.

The one who tried to kill Fu Mingzhu, other than Lin Qingqing, Fu Shinian couldn’t think of anyone else.

In the original book, the male and female leads were just that ruthless, disregarding others’ lives.

Fu Shinian quickly bowed to Gu Yunze, "Thank you, General Gu, for saving her life."

Madam Fu then realized, hurriedly thanked him, "General Gu, we’re so fortunate you were there, otherwise..."

Madam Fu already had tears welling up in her eyes.

"I couldn’t just ignore it once I encountered it," Gu Yunze said, "Madam and Second Miss, no need to be so formal."

"It’s just a shame we couldn’t catch them." Gu Yunze said with a somber expression.

"No clues at all?" Fu Shinian asked.

Gu Yunze shook his head, "They’re very cautious, even using one of the hunt’s provided arrows, not their own."

Madam Fu repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Gu Yunze, saying, "Once the hunt is over, I will formally visit to thank you."

"You are too kind, Madam."

Madam Fu shook her head, "You saved my Mingzhu’s life, nothing is too much."

After seeing off Gu Yunze, Fu Shinian and Qiu Li helped Fu Mingzhu back into the tent.

Fu Shinian thought, perhaps this time the luck value was added to Fu Mingzhu.

Running into Gu Yunze when she was in grave danger.

Fu Mingzhu still had Xiao Fengxing in mind, she said, "They should all be coming back soon, I wonder how much Erlang hunted, I want to go see."

"Alright." Fu Shinian didn’t stop her this time, because the next scene was still to come.