History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 384 Escaping from the Tiger's Mouth
Jingyang Mountain Hunting Grounds.

As a large, striped tiger approached Wei Yao and her two companions, their fear deepened to the point that they dared not flee, dared not not flee! The slightest sound of broken branches and leaves underfoot seemed like a series of death knells ripping at their ears.

Yuan Yu drew his short sword for self-defense, lowered his voice to the lowest possible level, and made up his mind: "Kill one horse first, then just take Wei Yao with you."

The Seventh Prince quickly nodded, understanding his Fourth Uncle's meaning. Killing one horse first was a test to see if the tiger was hungry for its blood. The remaining horse would surely run away, sharing the risk of their escape. Wei Yao's mount was the most obedient of the three; leading it away wasn't out of pity, but as a precaution in case they were still being chased by the tiger, they could use the same method of killing a horse to lure it away.

"Wait a minute." Wei Yao spoke up. Just now, she took out a water bag from her sling bag, uncorked it, and sprinkled it on the Prince of Guangling and the Seventh Prince.

The unpleasant stench immediately assaulted my nostrils!

Wei Yao explained: "Tiger urine."

Yuan Yu and his nephew were extremely impressed! They had been hunting every year, but this was the first time they had ever seen anyone bring tiger urine to hunt.

Just as Wei Yao was pouring the remaining tiger urine over herself, a scream suddenly rang out from afar: "Ah—Tiger!"

Amidst the screams, the ferocious tiger lost its patience and switched from walking to running. Because the person shouting was far away, the tiger still pounced towards Wei Yao and her two companions.

Yuan Yu acted decisively, stabbing the horse in the eye socket with his short knife. He managed to avoid being splattered with blood, and then took over leading Wei Yao's horse. The three of them fled haphazardly in different directions.

The Seventh Prince's mount was terrified. Instead of neighing and fleeing as Wei Yao and the other two had expected, it stood still, trembling, squinting, and continuing to tremble.

He kept glancing sideways...hehe, the tiger walked past it.

"Damn it!" Yuan Yu turned around and saw the ferocious tiger chasing after them. He cursed angrily.

He was going all out! His eyes were bloodshot as he yelled at his nephew and Wei Yao, "You two run separately! Your lives are in our own hands!"

"call--"

Flying sand and flying rocks.

The ferocious tiger has arrived!

The one who screamed was Princess Jingzhao. She deliberately provoked the tiger's power with her shout, and as she expected, the tiger regarded the person closest to it as "prey".

She didn't dare linger to watch the spectacle, so she turned back and retraced her steps, in high spirits. "Wei Yao, don't blame me for being ruthless when you become a ghost. Blame it on your own bad luck and misfortune. Anyway, you'll have two other unlucky ghosts to keep you company. You won't be alone on your journey to the underworld, haha."

Wait a minute! What's that noise?
She turned around in a panic, her heart pounding with fear!

It's a ferocious tiger, why is it chasing her?

Before she could even think of a way to escape, she drew her bow and fired an arrow, but missed.

He fired another arrow, but this one missed even further than the first.

"Help, help me..." Yu Baofei was completely unaware that she was crying from fright. She changed direction and shot an arrow backward, but it was no use. Her hands were trembling and she couldn't muster any strength.

The ferocious tiger was only one leap away from her!

She gasped for breath, her mind blank, and just as she smelled the foul stench emanating from the tiger's mouth, a sharp arrow struck the tiger's neck from the side.

Although the tiger was injured, its attack was undiminished, and it knocked Yu Baofei off her horse.

The archer was Yang Daye. He fired another arrow, killing the ferocious tiger. Seeing that Yu Baofei's injuries were not serious, he continued along the tiger's claw marks.

Besides his astonishing martial arts skills, Yang Daye possessed an exceptionally remarkable ability: lightning speed. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, to test his full-speed running, a three-zhang-long rope was tied to his hair bun. When he ran, the rope taut like an arrow. Therefore, during this hunting trip to Jingyang Mountain, the emperor ordered Yang Daye to roam the areas frequented by ferocious beasts and promptly rescue any officials in danger.

He soon spotted Wei Yao and the other two.

“Minister Situ, Your Highness, Vice Minister Wei, let’s leave here quickly. I just shot and killed a tiger, and there are probably other ferocious beasts of the same kind nearby.”

Yuan Yu's face was like a stone in a deep current, damp and sinister. He asked, "When you shot the tiger, did you see anyone?"

Yang Daye replied honestly, "Yes, the Princess Consort of Jingzhao was knocked off her horse by a tiger, but her injuries are not serious."

"Heh." Yuan Yu laughed in a frightening way. If Wei Yao hadn't persuaded him to take a gamble, and if the three of them hadn't given up and torn open their empty water pouches and spread them out on the horse's back, and the tiger hadn't let them and the horse go after smelling the scent of its own kind, Yang Daye would definitely have found his corpse by now!

After Yang Daye left, the Seventh Prince asked, "Shall we continue into the mountains?"

Hunting hones courage; if you back down when faced with difficulties, it's better not to participate at all.

Wei Yao took out a cowhide bag from the cloth bag.

Yuan Yu laughed twice, took it, and asked while pulling out the stopper, "Is it tiger urine too?"

He didn't mind things that had saved his life; on the contrary, he enjoyed them so much that he held them to his nose and took a long breath.

"No, it's... tiger dung."

It was too late; Wei Yao's answer was drowned out by Yuan Yu's vomiting.

A moment later, Yuan Yu, who was vomiting and his stomach was still cramping, lay listlessly on the horse. As soon as he regained his energy, he angrily pointed at the culprit, Wei Yao: "You, how vicious, you poured shit into the water bag."

The Seventh Prince was leading the horse. I felt sorry for my Fourth Uncle, but I also wanted to laugh.

Meanwhile, the Empress sent people to find Consort Yu, who had gotten separated from her. Seeing that her sister was covered in mud and looked distracted, the Empress asked, "Did you encounter a wild beast? Were you frightened?"

"Hmm." Yu Baofei nodded, deciding to conceal the whole story. She thought, maybe Wei Yao and the others are dead. If any of them are alive, they might not have seen clearly that it was her who shouted. Besides, what difference would it make if they did see clearly? She discovered a tiger and was too scared. What's wrong with shouting?
The queen showed her sister a red fox that had been shot through both eyes and said, "Look at its bright fur, how beautiful it is. Take it back after the hunt and make it into a fur collar or gloves."

Yu Baofei snorted: "I don't want it. If I take it back and my husband sees it, he'll definitely give it to that slut Yang Lianluo!"

Yang Lianluo was originally a female slave of the Xi official. After being given to Yuan Yu, the Prince of Jingzhao, she became his favorite concubine.

The Empress said, “In that case, you should take this fox back even more. As the mistress of the Prince’s mansion, if a concubine dares to offend you or compete with you for something, you may punish her according to the rules of conduct between wives and concubines. If your husband stands up for her and they both violate the rules of conduct between wives and concubines, you can complain to me and have His Majesty punish your husband. Don’t worry, whether your career is more important or a concubine is more important, the Prince of Jingzhao will understand.”

As evening fell, the bright red sun was partially hidden behind the mountain ridge.

Zhao Zhi returned to the barracks. The enemy camp opposite had already been captured, and the soldiers were busy moving between the two camps, either organizing supplies or escorting prisoners.

Commander Li Shen was overjoyed: "The general is back!"

Before the military commander Diao Zheng could come out of the tent to greet her, Zhao Zhi entered, took off her "spoils of war" and threw them on the ground. She first explained why she left the battlefield and chased after Lü Sengzhen: "This man took advantage of the chaos to escape. I shot him with an arrow, but he dodged it."

"How could he dodge the general's arrow?" Diao Zheng was shocked. He knew that the head's identity was not simple. He thought of guessing that it was the Liang general "Lu Sengzhen", but he dared not hope that he would be so lucky.

"To prevent it from being lost on the way, I would like to send the portrait of the head back to the capital, and leave the head in the army. What do you think, General?"

Zhao Zhi: "I'll listen to you." She had fought in battles big and small and understood what Diao Zheng meant. Losing spoils of war was a pity, but it was hateful for it to be intercepted by one's own people and claimed as credit!