The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Zhuxing carried the two of them into a more secluded cedar forest.

The life-or-death struggle just now seemed to be merely an interlude along the way.

"Your Highness."

Pei Yanchuan sat in front of her, his back straight, though slightly stiff.

The faint, cool scent of a young girl lingered around his nose, while the warmth and steady heartbeat behind him made him even more unsettled.

He hesitated, then asked softly, "Why...did you turn back to save me when things were so dangerous just now?"

He didn't even call for help; the signal flare was fired by Shen Xian.

Upon hearing this, Tang Xixue lowered her head slightly, her lips almost touching his earlobe. Her warm breath brushed against his sensitive earlobe, arousing a slight shiver.

Her voice was very soft, yet it sent a jolt of electricity into his ears:

"Because Yanchuan is mine."

She paused, her tone matter-of-fact.

"My people are my people, and I will naturally take care of them. No matter when or where."

Pei Yanchuan trembled, feeling that the gentle words were even more impactful than the tiger's roar just now.

The words "my people" seem to bear some kind of mark, falling hotly into the lake of my heart and stirring up a monstrous wave.

A blush rose uncontrollably to her cheeks, spreading all the way down to the back of her neck.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

His voice was slightly hoarse, and he didn't know how to respond.

"Yanchuan," Tang Xixue seemed oblivious to his embarrassment, her gaze fixed on the sky above the gap in the trees, her tone returning to normal, "What kind of prey do you want to hunt?"

"Anything is acceptable."

Pei Yanchuan barely managed to calm himself down. He felt her arm holding the reins unintentionally wrap around his waist, and his body stiffened even more. He even became careful with his breathing.

"Your Highness...is there anything you'd like?"

Tang Xixue's gaze suddenly sharpened, locking onto a tiny black dot that almost blended into the pale blue sky high above.

The black dot was hovering in a certain pattern, and it was definitely not an ordinary bird.

A chill flashed across her eyes, but a sharp smile curved her lips.

"Then... let's hunt an eagle."

"eagle?"

Pei Yanchuan was taken aback, then gave a wry smile.

"Your Highness, an eagle soars through the sky with unpredictable speed. Yan Chuan... I fear he is not up to the task."

His archery skills were decent, but shooting down a soaring eagle required not only precision but also extraordinary prediction and arm strength, which he knew he could hardly do.

"Yanchuan, you can do it."

Tang Xixue's voice suddenly came close, and her hand covered his hand that was holding the bow. Her fingertips were slightly cool, but her strength was steady.

She held his hand and slowly raised the rhinoceros horn longbow, while with her other hand she guided him to draw a specially made wind-breaking arrow with a sharper arrowhead from the quiver.

Her presence enveloped him, guiding him to adjust his angle and aim at the shadow in the clouds.

"Observe its trajectory, calculate the wind direction, and then..."

Her voice was soft and gentle, intertwining with his tense breathing.

"Believe in yourself, and believe in me."

Just as the eagle flapped its wings and turned, tracing a graceful arc across the sky—

"Now is the time!"

She and he exerted force with their fingers simultaneously, and the bowstring emitted a clear, resonant sound under the immense force!

"call out--!!!"

The white-feathered arrow left the bowstring, transforming into a silver lightning bolt that surged upstream, resolutely piercing the biting wind, passing through the light spots filtered through layers of branches, and heading straight for the black dot in the sky.

Time seemed to stretch out.

Pei Yanchuan held his breath, watching as the arrow flew higher and higher, getting smaller and smaller, until it finally met the black dot precisely.

A mournful cry came from the highest point, and then the black dot suddenly stopped, struggled and rolled a few times, and then turned into a falling shadow, plunging diagonally into the distant dense forest.

Shot...hit it?!

Pei Yanchuan's pupils shrank suddenly as he looked incredulously in the direction where the arrow had disappeared, then abruptly turned back to look at Tang Xixue behind him.

She slowly lowered the hand that had been guiding him, a faint smile playing on her lips that could melt ice and snow, her eyes shining like stars, reflecting his shocked face.

"Look, didn't we hunt one?"

She spoke softly, with the pleasure of completing a fun little task.

Pei Yanchuan stared blankly at her smile, feeling as if the arrow had not only shot down the eagle in the sky, but also pierced through the clouds and fog, directly nailing into the depths of his soul.

The frantic pounding in my chest rose again, even louder than before, filled with a burning, throbbing sensation.

"……Um."

He heard his own dry voice respond, his gaze unable to leave her face for even a moment.

We've got it.

He thought in a daze.

Perhaps, what is hunted... is never the eagle.

"Let's go, let's go get your spoils."

As Tang Xixue finished speaking, Zhu Xing once again took steady steps and jogged towards the approximate location where the eagle had fallen.

The scenery in the forest changes; the snow-covered pines and cypresses gradually thin out, replaced by rugged rocks and a grove of wild plums blooming in the cold.

The crisp fragrance of plum blossoms, mingled with the chill of ice and snow, seeps into the heart and soul.

Not far away, a huge waterfall was frozen, like a jade ribbon dropped by the gods, freezing the flowing time, and shimmering with crystal-clear light in the thin winter sun.

The air was bitterly cold, and breath turned to frost.

But Pei Yanchuan didn't feel cold.

The body temperature coming from behind him was steady and real, burning his back through his clothes.

The unique, cool yet sweet scent of crabapple blossoms emanating from her seemed to be the only scent in the world, enveloping him completely.

Despite being in a frozen hunting ground, he felt a warm sensation flowing through his entire body, as if he were under the bright sunshine of spring, and even his fingertips were slightly hot.

Meanwhile, deep within the hunting grounds, in a secluded cave beneath a sheltered cliff, the atmosphere was completely different from the cold outside; it was a chilling cold that could freeze one's blood.

“Pah!”

A crisp, resounding slap echoed through the empty cave, particularly jarring.

On the ground, a man in black was hit so hard that his head snapped to one side, his cheek quickly swelled up, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He dared not wipe it, nor did he dare to raise his head; he simply lowered his body even further, his posture one of absolute submission and fear.

At the head of the grotto is a large chair covered with a complete white tiger skin.

The person on the chair was not dressed in hunting attire, but rather in a dark-colored brocade robe with a gold python pattern, over which was a black fox fur cloak of the same color.

He sat casually, one hand on the armrest and the other supporting his forehead.

The cave was dimly lit, illuminated only by a few tallow torches, whose flickering flames cast dappled light on half of his face.

It was an extremely handsome yet unusually cold face, with icy eyes that looked down on the presumptuousness of ants, as if a god in the clouds was looking down on the presumptuousness of ants.

"Who gave you the audacity to act on your own?"

The kneeling man in black trembled, his voice filled with barely suppressed fear:

"Your Highness, please calm your anger! Your subordinate... Your subordinate only saw that the opportunity was rare, that wicked woman had ventured into the hunting grounds alone, with all the guards on the outer perimeter, so I thought..."

"So you think you can make decisions for me?"

The man interrupted him, a cold smile curving his lips, but his eyes grew even colder.

"When did I give you permission to touch her?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me! I would never dare!"

The man in black slammed his forehead heavily against the cold ground.

"Indeed... this operation is not just our side. My subordinates have discovered that at least two other groups are mixed in, both seeking to take our lives."

"They even used falcons for surveillance and lured the tiger from the mountains using a secret method..."

"I think that while things are in chaos, we should get rid of that wicked woman who dares to covet the Prince. Wouldn't that be a permanent solution? She's doomed this time!"

The man in black hurriedly reported.

An unfathomable darkness rose on the man's handsome yet cold and hard face, which was like an ice sculpture.

It seems that there are more people who want her dead than he expected, and they are more eager to do so.

He slowly leaned back in his chair, the black fox fur collar framing his cold, stern jawline.

The firelight flickered in his deep pupils, offering no warmth whatsoever.

"Inescapable doom?"

He repeated those four words in a low voice, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger, yet it sent a chill down the spine of the man in black who was lying on the ground.

"Fine. Then she deserves to die."

The cold curve of his lips seemed to deepen slightly.