What the guards said was actually quite reasonable.

Even though Lord Zhao had repeatedly confirmed that Zhuang Dongqing’s body could handle some movement without any issues, Liu Qi couldn’t help but worry. She had never encountered the Ren tribe, but she had dealt with pregnant women before, mostly the concubines in the palace, and in Liu Qi’s mind, children were exceptionally fragile.

On top of that, the abbot of Daci Temple had personally stated that this child was their master’s only heir, which made Liu Qi even more cautious.

“Are you okay? Are you tired? Do you want to take a break?”

In the span of an hour, Liu Qi had already asked this question for the fifth time.

Zhuang Dongqing wasn’t tired, but facing Liu Qi’s worried gaze, she finally wavered and said, “Well, how about we sit for a bit?”

“Great!”

Liu Qi had been waiting for this response. As soon as Zhuang Dongqing agreed, she immediately looked for a flat area, found some shade under a tree, unfolded a folding stool, set up a small folding table, and laid out some snacks and warm water.

Hmm, the guards didn’t just bring folding stools; they also brought a folding table, everything was complete.

The movements were so swift that Zhuang Dongqing was still marveling at their terrifying efficiency when she was pressed down to sit.

Liu Qi apologized, “The lounge chair is too big, it’s inconvenient to bring along, so let’s make do with sitting for now.”

Zhuang Dongqing was taken aback by the attention.

“It’s fine, no need to go through all that trouble.”

Liu Qi was adamant, “It’s not a trouble at all.”

“…”

Alright then.

Once seated, the morning sunlight was warm, and Zhuang Dongqing felt quite comfortable basking in it. She grabbed some candied melon seeds, shared a handful with Liu Qi, and lazily yawned while munching on the snacks.

The guards spread out in an orderly fashion; some went further away to hunt wild chickens and rabbits, while others simply stood around, acting as the first line of defense for the group.

Zhuang Dongqing asked, “Since everyone is out hunting, should we roast some meat together for lunch?”

Liu Qi wasn’t sure, so she said, “I’ll send someone to ask.”

They had brought three horses, not too many, because the horses weren’t meant for hunting but were more like mounts to escape in case of emergencies; just having them was enough.

That morning, Zhuang Dongqing watched as the guards caught two wild rabbits and several wild chickens, which was enough for their group to eat.

The guard who went to inquire returned, bringing back deer and wild geese that Cen Yan and the others had hunted, and after some discussion, it turned out to be quite a feast.

“The master and the others went to the outskirts of the hunting ground and will be here soon.”

Liu Qi raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Usually, such sudden movements indicated they had discovered something unusual and were going to check it out.

When the person who went to fetch the roasting rack returned, they started a fire on the outskirts of the hunting ground to roast the meat, without going out.

Someone passing by the hunting ground asked if they were from the Dingxi Wangfu, and upon hearing that, they swallowed their words and left.

As the aroma of the meat wafted through the air and it was almost done roasting, Cen Yan and his group appeared on horseback, galloping towards them. In the blink of an eye, they were right in front of them, their tall horses running with smooth muscle lines, their manes shining in the sunlight—a perfect combination of strength and beauty. Zhuang Dongqing was momentarily mesmerized and stood up.

The horses almost brushed against the group, their front hooves raised high, kicking up dust, and Zhuang Dongqing thought they looked incredibly handsome.

Cen Yan dismounted and was about to say something when he noticed that Zhuang Dongqing’s gaze wasn’t focused on him.

Turning to look, Cen Yan asked, “Are you looking at the horses?”

Only then did Zhuang Dongqing come back to her senses and see Cen Yan. “Oh, yes.”

After thinking for a moment, she sincerely said, “They’re so handsome! It must take a long time to train them, right?”

Before Cen Yan could respond, Hao San behind him chuckled, “Young master, next time you should stand a bit further away. If you get too close, you might get kicked.”

Zhuang Dongqing replied, “No way, the prince has great control over the horses.”

Cen Yan raised an eyebrow, swallowing back the warning he was about to give, and instead said, “But with others, you definitely shouldn’t stand this close.”

Zhuang Dongqing nodded, “I know, I’m not stupid.”

Cen Yan had his doubts about the latter part, but with the sun shining brightly, Zhuang Dongqing’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and seeing her eager expression, Cen Yan asked, “Do you want to touch one?”

“Can I?” Zhuang Dongqing was a bit excited but still restrained. “But it seems like the horse only recognizes its trainer; it probably won’t like me touching it, right?”

“I’ll take you.”

“Oh, oh, oh.”

Zhuang Dongqing really got to touch the horse, a real warhorse that snorted loudly.

She was thrilled and gently stroked it several times, afraid of upsetting the horse.

Seeing that her attention was entirely on the horse, Cen Yan felt like a mere backdrop and found it amusing. “Do you like animals?”

“Yeah, I like them all, but if I were to raise one, I wouldn’t consider reptiles.”

“What are reptiles?”

“Snakes, lizards, geckos, and spiders, I guess. I can only appreciate them from a distance.”

Cen Yan was puzzled. “I’ve never heard of anyone raising those…”

Zhuang Dongqing countered, “Why not? The Gu worms raised in the southern border are mostly those.”

After thinking about it, Cen Yan realized that was indeed the case and asked in surprise, “But would anyone keep them as pets?”

“Some do. The world is vast, and there are all kinds of things.”

That was hard to refute.

Seeing Zhuang Dongqing getting excited while looking at the horses, Cen Yan felt a stir in his heart. “Actually, there are many beautiful animals in the southwest, like green peacocks, black-necked cranes, and golden monkeys,” he paused and softly added, “If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll take you to see them.”

Zhuang Dongqing, with no reservations, replied, “Sure, sure!”

And she confidently added, “There will definitely be a chance. If he follows you, I will naturally go along too.”

Cen Yan was surprised. “You want to leave the capital?”

Zhuang Dongqing didn’t catch the hint of a test in his words and replied from the heart, “What’s so good about the capital? It’s dry and windy, not at all better than your fief!”

“And they say that Yunnan is a paradise on earth.”

In her previous life, she had never been to Yunnan, which was a pity.

Cen Yan truly smiled at that.

Zhuang Dongqing didn’t see it; her attention was elsewhere, and he didn’t rush her. After Zhuang Dongqing had enough of admiring the horse and the meat was ready, they all sat down to eat.

The group split into two; Cen Yan, Zhuang Dongqing, Liu Qi, Hao San, and Xu Si formed one group, while the rest of the guards made up the other. Zhuang Dongqing was always focused when eating, and Cen Yan was used to it, but it was the first time for Hao San to see this. Following Zhuang Dongqing, he took a lot of skewers of the same roasted meat, wanting to see if it was really that delicious.

Cen Yan watched, amused, but he didn’t remind Hao San.

After finishing the roasted meat at noon, Zhuang Dongqing leaned against Liu Qi and dozed off for a bit. In the afternoon, after resting enough, she fully woke up and continued hunting.

During the break, Liu Qi privately asked Cen Yan about the hunting ground situation, and Cen Yan only shook his head slightly. Liu Qi understood and remained vigilant as usual.

The day passed pleasantly, and dinner was also roasted meat. Zhuang Dongqing ate until she felt a bit stuffed. After a day of walking, she quickly fell asleep once they returned to the palace.

The next day, they continued into the hunting area.

The outer perimeter still had those guards, and they saw Zhuang Dongqing’s group again, but this time, it seemed like they had brought a lounge chair tied to a horse. “…”

Life was getting more and more comfortable.

The guards were envious.

In the morning, they changed direction and found a patch of tree stumps, where the group sat down to rest for a while.

At noon, however, Cen Yan’s group didn’t come to meet them; they only sent back some of the game they had caught in the morning. Liu Qi asked the guard, “Where’s the master?”

“Accompanying the emperor; he also wants to come in and see the hunting, to move around a bit.”

After handing the things to Liu Qi, the guard lowered his voice and added, “The master asked you to pay attention to the sky.”

Liu Qi nodded slightly.

In the afternoon, the group moved deeper into the hunting area, carefully avoiding the emperor’s direction. Zhuang Dongqing saw a broader view of the scenery, and with the vast sky and land, her mood lifted.

Zhuang Dongqing said, “Did someone hit a game they couldn’t take? Two shots, there must be a lot, right?”

She saw smoke bombs in the sky; there was an agreement in the hunting ground that if the game was too large to move, they would fire a shot, and someone would come to retrieve it.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qi’s expression changed. She looked up to confirm that it was indeed two shots. After assessing the situation, she realized it was in the direction of the emperor and decisively said, “Let’s go, up the mountain path.”

The guards obeyed the order.

After that, the pace of the group changed. Zhuang Dongqing, despite her usually carefree personality, sensed something was off in the atmosphere and fell silent, focusing on conserving her energy to hurry along the path.

In fact, their route today was quite off, and they had walked far enough, but just before entering the mountain, they heard the sound of hooves approaching.

Liu Qi paused, and the guards tightened their grips on their weapons. When they saw the approaching figures, they confirmed they weren’t Cen Yan’s group.

Liu Qi ordered, “Draw your bows.”

“Fire—”

A rain of arrows shot out, and a large number of the incoming people fell to the ground.

Zhuang Dongqing saw many arrows piercing through people’s eye sockets, striking their brains, and her expression changed slightly, but she forced herself to stay calm.

As expected of elite soldiers, the first wave of attackers was quickly dealt with.

Liu Qi led them to continue up the mountain, and when Zhuang Dongqing asked, she received an answer indicating they were heading towards the mountain. She felt reassured.

Liu Qi was worried she might panic, but she didn’t expect that at such a critical moment, Zhuang Dongqing was incredibly obedient. Even though she trembled a bit, she did exactly as Liu Qi said, not suggesting anything unnecessary.

To conserve energy as much as possible, Zhuang Dongqing sat on the horse for the rest of the journey. Liu Qi didn’t mount, but one of the guards and Liu Qi’s pack-carrying companion, Liu Fu, also mounted under her instructions.

When the second wave of attackers arrived, they had already sustained some injuries.

Liu Qi said, “They are targeting the people from the Wangfu. Keep going.”

Her decisions were extremely decisive, and they were almost at the foot of the mountain when they heard the sound of hooves again.

Liu Qi knew what they were after, but the items weren’t with their group, and she worried about Cen Yan while still making rational decisions.

This time, Liu Qi had Zhuang Dongqing, Liu Fu, and the two guards who had switched to horses go ahead first.

They stayed behind.

“There will definitely be a third wave. Once we get up the mountain, it won’t be easy to maneuver. Young Master Zhuang, you go first, and we’ll hold them off.”

Zhuang Dongqing only asked, “Aren’t you coming?”

Liu Qi shook her head. “I don’t have good stamina. Following you would only be a burden. If I stay here, I can do more. The things we brought haven’t been used yet, and they can only be deployed after you leave.”

Zhuang Dongqing felt a bit reluctant but still nodded.

Liu Qi truly thought highly of her now.

After giving Zhuang Dongqing a steady look, she instructed the two guards, “Take good care of the young master. Go.”

The two guards accepted the order.

Once they reached the mountain, Zhuang Dongqing quickly understood Liu Qi’s intentions.

Looking at the thick white smoke rising from the foot of the mountain, the guard explained, “Liu Supervisor used poison.”

Zhuang Dongqing thought about her current situation and realized she indeed needed to leave; only then would Liu Qi dare to let her go.

“Young Master, don’t worry about them. Once they gather, they become the target. If they scatter, they can find a wild place to hide. Each of them has their own means of survival.”

Zhuang Dongqing nodded, feeling anxious but not daring to call for a break.

Unexpectedly, the first time she witnessed murder was in such a situation.

The smoke at the foot of the mountain billowed two or three times, and no one came up the mountain. Zhuang Dongqing said, “Once we pass Wang Mountain, there should be a village. We can borrow a place to stay then.”

The guard was surprised. “I’ve never heard of that. Is what the young master said true?”

It should be.

Because Li Yang had been to a place called Wang Mountain Village and even brought someone out from there, who later became one of his trusted subordinates. But… with only this information, Zhuang Dongqing couldn’t be sure.

She simply said, “Since there’s a water source, there should be a village. The emperor hasn’t come to the hunting ground in many years, so the surroundings must have changed.”

That made sense, and the guard nodded.

As they passed Wang Mountain, the trees on the mountainside were too dense, forcing them to abandon their horses. Once they reached the top of the mountain, Zhuang Dongqing was too exhausted to continue. The guards carried her for a while, and feeling a bit better, they didn’t want to exhaust their strength too much, so they let her down to continue walking.

It was a close call without any real danger.

Once they crossed Wang Mountain, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The guards felt they had likely escaped danger; as long as Zhuang Dongqing wasn’t captured, the Wangfu wouldn’t be held hostage, and their mission would be complete.

The rest was to find a safe place for Zhuang Dongqing to hide until the turmoil passed before coming out.

When they reached the foot of the mountain on the other side of Wang Mountain, Zhuang Dongqing truly couldn’t walk anymore and wanted to rest for a bit.

They had already walked far enough, and both guards were elite soldiers who knew Zhuang Dongqing wasn’t alone. They exchanged glances and nodded; one stayed to guard her while the other went to scout the surroundings.

Liu Fu brought water for Zhuang Dongqing to drink. She had been carrying a large backpack for the past two days, filled with survival supplies that Liu Qi had arranged.

Their hunting group had brought a lot of things, including folding stools, so the backpack didn’t stand out too much.

Zhuang Dongqing noticed something. “Is there a river ahead?”

The guard went to check and returned with a confirmation.

Finding a water source made things easier; they would surely find people along the way.

But as they walked, they unexpectedly saw people dressed like guards floating in the water.

The guard went to check, and upon turning them over, he said in a low voice, “They’re already dead; they floated over.”

After walking a bit further, they confirmed the guard’s judgment was correct. At the confluence of two streams, their clear stream met another wider, deeper one, clearly a main flow.

On the main flow side, many soldiers floated on the water, and upon inspection, they were all already deceased.

“This is bad! Why are there people from our side?!”

“He was with Captain Hao!”

Zhuang Dongqing’s heart skipped a beat, and she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, tugging at the guard and pointing with a trembling finger.

“Master!”

“Master!!”

Cen Yan wasn’t in the river, but he had an arrow in his right shoulder and was lying against a large rock by the riverbank.

When he turned over, his face was pale, and there were bloodstains on him, causing Zhuang Dongqing to become anxious.

No, no, no, he would survive until the end, she kept reassuring herself, but it had little effect.

Fortunately, the guards knew how to perform first aid. After Cen Yan coughed up some water, he finally started to breathe again.

Zhuang Dongqing’s mind was in a daze as she reached out to check his breath, confirming he was alive.

He was alive and awake, but the first thing he said upon waking was a blow, “Don’t worry about me; take the tiger talisman from my body and go. I was bitten by a snake.”

Zhuang Dongqing’s mind went blank. “W-what snake?”

Cen Yan replied calmly, “A venomous snake.”

“Where did it bite you?”

“On the leg. It set a trap, and it bit the horse first; all the horses we brought out are dead.”

Zhuang Dongqing’s heart tightened. The guards had already found the bite on his calf, using a knife to cut open his clothes, revealing a swollen, bruised area. Zhuang Dongqing was still contemplating whether they should suck out the venom like in some TV dramas when the two elite soldiers had already rushed to the riverbank, quickly grabbing a few things and placing them on Cen Yan’s wound.

“What is this?”

“Reporting to the young master, these are leeches. Our fief’s folk remedy is great for sucking out snake venom.”

“Oh, oh.” She realized her mind wasn’t working properly.

Indeed, Yunnan was warm, with many insects and snakes, so folk remedies were likely more common than in other places.

After waiting quietly for a while, the first few leeches died, and the later ones survived, stopping their sucking of venom.

Cen Yan, feeling weak all over, quietly stopped them, saying, “It’s already spread; don’t do these unnecessary things.”

Zhuang Dongqing had never thought so quickly before. “No, not necessarily! Even if it’s a venomous snake, not every bite releases venom!”

Right, she had seen related science popularization and knew that.

Zhuang Dongqing asked, “How can you be so sure you’ll die?!”

She even countered him.

Cen Yan replied, “…”

Cen Yan spoke gently, “Taking me along will only be a burden for you.”

Zhuang Dongqing insisted, “Then, let’s take you for now. I think it’s better for the child to have both parents alive.”

Cen Yan was speechless.

“In the future, if he asks, I can’t just tell him that his other father is the one who didn’t save him, right?!”

She even countered with confidence.

Feeling weak, Cen Yan almost fell over from being angered by Zhuang Dongqing. He asked her, “What if there are pursuers halfway…”

The tiger talisman was still on him, and since the other side wanted the prince’s personal guards, it was only a matter of time before they searched for them.

Zhuang Dongqing replied practically, “Then we’ll just throw you away at that time.”

Cen Yan was speechless.

The two guards were also speechless.

Zhuang Dongqing waved her hand decisively, “That’s it! Liu Qi said they all have to listen to me. Come on, knock him out and take him away.”