tallest building

Chapter 268 The Hunt in Full Swing

King Zhao was in a very good mood. Those who had been captured by King Chu had all been rescued and were all hidden in King Zhao's palace.

Even if the King of Chu still has the account books in his hands, it can no longer be considered to have both witnesses and physical evidence.

Of course, they also stole a lot of banknotes and cash; we'll settle that score later.

When he returned to the manor, the princess's maidservant saw him and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the princess has something urgent to discuss with you."

King Zhao originally intended to go to his concubine's room, but upon hearing that Queen Zhao needed to see him, he had no choice but to come here.

Princess Zhao was so anxious that she couldn't sit still. She paced back and forth on the ground. When she saw Prince Zhao walk in, she waved for the servants to leave.

"What's wrong with you? What happened again?" King Zhao couldn't help but twitch his brow, sensing something was amiss.

"There's been a mistake!" Princess Zhao sighed. "Just now, Eunuch Xia came out of the palace and told me that Ying Bai didn't eat his dinner last night, but instead distributed it to his subordinates. Now, several of the palace maids and eunuchs have fallen ill, and the Imperial Hospital has already found something amiss. If it were just one person, it would be fine, but so many people falling ill at the same time is definitely suspicious. Oh dear! How could that little brat be so lucky?!"

"How could this happen? Was the person who poisoned him an idiot? It would have been fine if they had only put it in one of his favorite foods, but the master's leftover food is going to be distributed to his servants anyway. Didn't they even consider that?" King Zhao was so angry that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"I don't know either, and I didn't go into the palace to ask," said Princess Zhao. "I heard that Princess Chu has already gone into the palace. What should we do?"

"What should we do? How many people know?" King Zhao asked. "If there are many, tell them to keep quiet. If there are few, silence them if necessary!"

"Perhaps...perhaps I should go and tell the Empress!" Princess Zhao was at a loss. She thought that killing him to silence him might backfire.

"Then let's hold our positions for now. I doubt they'll dare to or won't reveal you." King Zhao had calmed down by now. "Let's remain unchanged and pretend we know nothing. Tomorrow morning we'll be going hunting with His Majesty and King Fenye. Let's just go about our business."

Now let's talk about the Chu King's Mansion.

The King of Chu and his queen were also discussing what to do about this matter, as it was obvious that it was the King of Zhao and his group who had taken action.

"The Eldest Princess said that only Su Qingyun is convinced that someone poisoned Bai'er, and the other imperial physicians are not giving any leeway. It seems they know that the situation is too complicated. Let's wait until those poisoned palace maids all die. Several lives lost can't go unnoticed. When the matter is brought before the Emperor, there will be a proper explanation." Princess Chu knew that the Empress and her faction wielded too much power. Sometimes, even when things were obvious, getting them to confess was extremely difficult.

The next day, the group went out of the city to hunt, and Princess Duanmin and others also went along.

Ying Bai rode the Second Master's horse, and Ying Tong rode a black imperial horse.

Before leaving the palace, the King of Fenye said, "Your Majesty, today's hunt is so lively, I would like to add to the joy. I have a golden belt here, which I obtained from the conquest of the Wusun Khan. Whoever has the most game today, I will give this golden belt to them."

"Very good. I will also reward the one who brings the most game today," the Emperor said. "May everyone strive bravely and make this trip worthwhile!"

It wasn't that the King of the Wilderness was deliberately causing trouble; it was simply that there were always rewards during hunts, which was meant to encourage hunters to compete.

Ying Bai's face was rather gloomy today. Who could be in a good mood after learning that they had almost been poisoned?
In just two or three days, Chunbao and the others had been tortured to the point of being neither human nor ghost. Doctor Su said that they could only try to prolong their lives, but they were afraid they wouldn't last more than a few days.

Thinking of the arrogance of the Zhao family, Ying Tong's constant humiliation of him, and now that they even wanted to kill him, Ying Bai truly hated them.

If Gong Chang'an hadn't called me to eat wontons that day, I would be lying there, dying.

His hateful gaze did not escape Ying Tong's notice, but Ying Tong knew nothing of the poisoning, and his mother certainly wouldn't tell him. He met Ying Bai's gaze and asked in an unfriendly tone, "What? You think you're so great just because you're riding a Second Master's horse? Don't hold back when you're shooting arrows later!"

He knew that Ying Bai was no match for him in archery and horsemanship, and even if he didn't get the gold belt, he was sure he could surpass Ying Bai.

Once they reached the top of the mountain, everyone dispersed.

The King of Chu was worried that something might happen to his son, so he ordered his men to protect him well and stayed by his side himself.

King Zhao saw through his thoughts and, smiling, spurred his horse forward: "King Chu, don't hang out with children. How about we have a contest?"

“Yes! No matter how despicable, it is wrong to harm a child,” the King of Chu sneered. “It is truly chilling.”

“Some people just like to play dirty tricks, stealing other people’s things and keeping them in their own homes,” King Zhao immediately retorted, “such thieving behavior is truly laughable!”

"Your Highnesses, His Majesty requests your presence." At this moment, a guard from the Emperor's side came to deliver the message, and the two had no choice but to stop their bickering and hurry over.

Yingbai's horse was so bored in the palace that it took off galloping forward as soon as it was out in the wild.

Ying Tong also rode off to find prey, accompanied by many followers.

Ying Bai's horse was faster. He galloped ahead for a long time, then turned back to his followers and said, "Go over there and set up a few tripwires."

He figured Ying Tong would come over from there soon, and then she'd give him a piece of her mind.

Children don't think too much before they act; they just want to make the other person suffer.

Although it had snowed, there were still many withered branches and fallen leaves, making it easy to set up tripwires.

"Your Highness! A rabbit ran past!" A gray shadow flashed by and was spotted by the attendant.

Ying Bai drew his bow and arrows and gave chase.

Ying Tong disdained small prey like rabbits and pheasants; he hadn't been in the mountains long when he spotted a half-grown deer.

"You guys surround us from both sides, I'll go through the middle!" Ying Tong instructed his men. "Keep your eyes peeled, don't let them get away!"

Deer have very sensitive hearing, and once they sense danger, they spread their legs and start running.

Ying Tong was in hot pursuit. He had a bow and arrow in his hand. The first arrow missed, but the second arrow hit the deer but did not wound it. The deer continued to run forward with the arrow still in its body.

He nocked a third arrow and was getting closer and closer to the deer. Just as he was about to shoot the arrow, his horse suddenly lurched forward.

Due to inertia, he tumbled off the horse, and the arrow that hadn't been fired pierced his calf, causing him to scream in pain.

Ying Bai heard his screams from not far away, laughed triumphantly, but then, feeling unsatisfied, whistled.