After becoming pregnant, the cold-hearted nobles all went mad.

Xiao Sha immediately fell silent. Since Pei Heng had made the promise himself, it was not something he could interfere with.

After he finished counting the people, he prepared to set off.

Xiao Sha first went to inform Pei Heng, and upon returning, told Shen Lingyi, "His Majesty said that you should come with us."

Pei Heng did not allow anyone to get too close when he went hunting; his guards always followed behind him.

Sending Shen Lingyi with Xiao Sha was also for safety reasons.

Just as Shen Lingyi was about to speak, she noticed a eunuch among the palace servants with his head down. She couldn't see his face clearly, but she was inexplicably drawn to him.

This made her change her mind and say, "Okay, I'll go with you."

Shen Lingyi quickly regretted it.

The main force was advancing slowly, which was completely different from her imagination of galloping horses.

Xiao Sha said, "Hunting is different from horseback riding. If you go too fast, you will startle the prey."

They won't run unless their prey is fleeing.

If Pei Heng had to slow down, then those of them following behind would have to slow down even more.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Pei Heng's horse seemed to be startled, raised its hooves high, neighed, and charged away!

"ah!"

The palace servants panicked and couldn't keep up.

Xiao Sha's pupils contracted; he reacted the fastest, "Why was His Majesty's horse startled!"

Although he was angry, he knew that now was not the time to talk about this, so he gave an order and was about to chase after them.

Seeing this, Shen Lingyi said, "I'll go with you."

Xiao Sha only had time to glance at her before nodding, not even hesitating for a moment.

The two were excellent horsemen and quickly caught up with the enemy, only to find themselves ambushed in the woods.

A thin thread was tied to the tree. The thread was not visible in the sunlight; it looked thin but was extremely strong.

If the horse bumps into something, the people on it will be thrown off.

Xiao Sha was a little faster than her. Shen Lingyi saw the cold glint in the sunlight, her eyelids twitched, and she immediately stopped, shouting at him:

"Stop right now!"

It's too late to call for help.

Xiao Sha fell from his horse, but fortunately he was unharmed. He rolled on the ground, drew his sword, and said to her, "Be careful, young lady!"

Shen Lingyi immediately understood why Xiao Sha was so vigilant and on guard.

Countless arrows shot out from all directions. Xiao Sha blocked the few closest to Shen Lingyi, and with a slash of his sword, the arrows were cut in two.

But because of this, he couldn't care less about himself and groaned as he was injured.

Upon hearing Xiao Sha's voice, Shen Lingyi ran over. "Commander Xiao, you're injured."

Xiao Sha was hit by several arrows in the back, and the wounds continued to bleed.

He disregarded all that, cut off the obstructing arrows, led Shen Lingyi's horse over, carried her onto its back, and panted, "Miss Shen, I'm sorry, only you can save His Majesty now."

After speaking, he slammed his hand on his horse, and Zhu Xing galloped away.

The moment Shen Lingyi ran out, she saw a rain of arrows falling from the sky. She had already run some distance and thus escaped unscathed.

only……

Xiao Sha might not survive.

Shen Lingyi bit her tongue, knowing she couldn't go back now, so she could only rush forward to find Pei Heng.

Fortunately, Pei Heng was not entirely unprepared; he had marked the route.

Following the markings, she found Pei Heng hiding under a tree.

The strong smell of blood filled the air. Hearing footsteps approaching, Pei Heng became alert and tackled Shen Lingyi to the ground the instant she got close.

"Your Majesty, it's me." Shen Lingyi looked up and saw that Pei Heng was covered in knife wounds. Before she arrived, he had already survived an attack.

However, those people were now all dead under the knife.

Pei Heng lowered his guard when he saw that it was her. "Someone tampered with the horse. I suppose they wanted to separate me from you."

In such a disheveled state, he no longer referred to himself as "朕" (the imperial "I").

After explaining his own situation, Pei Heng asked about theirs.

Shen Lingyi remained silent for a moment before replying, "Commander Xiao stayed behind to cover my retreat, and his fate is currently unknown."

Upon hearing this, Pei Heng remained expressionless, as if Xiao Sha hadn't been someone he'd grown up with.

Shen Lingyi didn't understand at first why Pei Heng could be so calm, until she heard the shouts of killing.

It came from the woods behind, and it was so intense that it terrified anyone who heard it.

Pei Heng slowly stood up. Despite his disheveled appearance, he still exuded an indescribable air of nobility. He said, "Let's go. It should be resolved by now."

The forest was filled with blood; several corpses lay on the ground.

Most of these people were dressed in palace attire, including palace maids and eunuchs.

Without exception, they were all assassins.

Shen Lingyi exclaimed in astonishment, "These...they are all..."

She saw the eunuch who seemed strange, and he was dead too.

I thought there was only one, but it turns out there were all of them.

Xiao Sha wiped the blood from his face, ignoring his disheveled appearance, and knelt on one knee before Pei Heng, saying, "Your subordinate has not failed you!"

Pei Heng nodded and said, "Well done."

Shen Lingyi then realized that this was a trap, and Pei Heng was using himself as bait.

However, judging from Pei Heng's disheveled appearance, he probably didn't expect these people to choose today to make their move.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have called Shen Lingyi out.

Xiao Sha stayed behind to clean up the scene, while Pei Heng suffered many injuries, but he didn't care.

Fuquan is about to cry. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!

Wei Chengrui also arrived with his troops. He glanced at Shen Lingyi before saying, "Your Majesty is injured. You should go back and find the imperial physician for treatment. I will take care of things here."

"Then I'll leave it to you, my dear minister," Pei Heng replied calmly. "Try to keep them alive if possible."

Even without Pei Heng saying anything, Wei Chengrui knew what to do when facing an enemy.

Then, Pei Heng asked a guard for a horse, turned to Shen Lingyi, and extended his hand, saying calmly, "Come on, I'll take you back."

Pei Heng's horse has already been killed by the assassin.

Zhu Xing was also injured and could no longer carry Shen Lingyi around.

Therefore, Shen Lingyi hesitated for less than a second before taking Pei Heng's hand, pressing it against hers, and then carefully separating it.

Pei Heng sensed it clearly, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips. "Afraid of touching my injury?"

Shen Lingyi whispered, "I'm afraid that Eunuch Fuquan will cause me trouble."

Fuquan felt extremely distressed whenever he saw Pei Heng get even the slightest injury.

If Pei Heng's wound reopens because of her, then every time they meet, she'll have to look at her with resentful eyes until she feels guilty.

Little did Shen Lingyi know that Fuquan was indeed watching them, but not in the way she thought.

He glanced at Wei Chengrui and the others, coughed, and said, "What are you looking at? You are all responsible for His Majesty's injury!"

He secretly lamented, "Your Majesty, if you can't hold back, at least do it appropriately!"

That's good now.

He had to help cover it up.

Wei Chengrui coldly withdrew his gaze, and the deputy general was taken aback, feeling that something was different about his young master.

When I first returned from the northern frontier, I was like a grown-up wolf king, with a burning flame of revenge in my heart.

The flames didn't disappear, but they were replaced with a different core, and the people who used to hate them no longer hated them.