Chapter 187 - You're Really a Contemptible Villain!

The next day was sunny, and the sun was high in the sky. At the camp, flags were flapping loudly, and horses stroke hard on the ground, making the sound of clip clop.

Baili Qingcang rode a tall, pure black steed. His face was full of joy. “Today, there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Show your skills. I will heavily reward the one who is the bravest.”

“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!” Everyone raised their bows and arrows and cheered loudly, especially the princes. They were so full of confidence that even the horses they rode were getting restless on the spot.

Baili Qingcang fitted an arrow to his bow, and an expression of deep concentration appeared in his eyes. He drew the arrow till it bent into the shape of a full moon, and then shot the first arrow of this hunting party.

“Great!” the sound of congratulations burst out nearby. Not long after, royal guards brought around the deer shot by Baili Qingcang. “Your Majesty is really wise and valiant!”

“Haha, alright, it’s your turn now.” When Baili Qingcang announced the start of the hunting, the hooves of the horses clattered immediately, and the shouts got people excited.

Shen Ninghua rode a horse. A cold and indifferent expression appeared in her eyes as she looked at the Second Prince, who was in the forefront. She pulled the rein slightly and shouted, “Go!”

Qing Que rode a horse and followed behind Shen Ninghua. They fell behind the others, enjoying the scenery around them along the way, which looked particularly charming.

Gradually, everyone scattered and separately searched for their prey in the forest.

Shen Ninghua was not in a hurry to hunt. She just rode the horse slowly. Suddenly, she stopped and looked up at a branch.

A squirrel appeared before her. Originally, it stood well on the branch. Suddenly, it jumped down and fell to the ground. The pine nuts in its paws fell far away. Perhaps it was shocked by the horses.

“Haha.” Shen Ninghua chuckled. “This squirrel is really stupid.”

Qing Que got off the horse. She picked up the squirrel and brought it to Shen Ninghua. “Miss, if you like it, take it back and raise it.”

Shen Ninghua touched the squirrel’s furry ears. “It lives in the wild. How can it adapt to the life in a cage? Forget it, let it go back.”

When she was just about to hand over the squirrel to Qing Que, the squirrel suddenly jumped onto the horse’s head and fiercely kicked the horse in the eye.

Shen Ninghua was shocked and she subconsciously pulled on the reins. As expected, the horse screamed the next second. It lifted the front hooves and ran quickly towards the forest.

“Miss!”

Qing Que cried out in alarm and immediately rode the horse and chased after her.

Chu Junyi had been secretly watching the movements of Shen Ninghua. Seeing that something happened to her, he immediately turned the horse around and chased after her.

The wind beside her ears was cold, and the blow made her cheeks hurt. Shen Ninghua clamped the horse’s abdomen tightly with her legs. She held the reins in her hands so hard that her palms ached terribly. A faint smell of blood entered her nose. She knew that the palms had been worn out by the reins, but she didn’t dare to release her grip. If she fell off the horse at this time, all the bones in her body would be broken. In addition, the ground was covered with stones and withered branches, so she might die immediately if she was out of luck.

Chu Junyi pursed his lips tightly and kept spurring the horse he rode. However, because he had lagged behind too far, he couldn’t catch up with her. “Go! Go! Ninghua! Hold on to the reins!”

Baili Jinchuan was riding his horse ahead of all the others when he saw a flash of red in the depths of the forest. His eyes suddenly shone. He shouted, “There’s an elk!” Then, he turned his horse around and rode into the forest, quickly leaving the guards behind.

A stealthy guard jumped down from a tree with the squirrel in his hands. “Master, things have gotten ready.”

“Good, as planned, I will go after Princess Zhaohua. You guys must stop and kill Chu Junyi and Qing Que on the road. You absolutely cannot let the two of them leave the forest alive!”

“Yes, Master.”

The forest became denser as the horse ran. Shen Ninghua’s heart sank even more. Because she had been exerting her strength so hard, the muscles in her arms became numb, and her palms were now a mess of blood and flesh.

Chu Junyi continued to spur his horse. But the horse’s speed was getting slower and slower. Panic and worry gripped his heart tightly. Suddenly, he heard a piercing sound. He turned around and bent down abruptly. A sharp arrow brushed against his back and flew away.

Chu Junyi’s pupils shrank back. If he hadn’t dodged it in time, the arrow would have hit him in the back.

The arrow seemed to send a signal. What followed was a dense rain of arrows flying towards Chu Junyi.

Chu Junyi pulled out his sword and waved it around quickly to protect his body. However, his horse was not so lucky. It was directly shot by arrows and looked like a hornet’s nest. With two screams, it fell to the ground lifeless.

Through the dense rain of arrows, Chu Junyi looked in the direction where Ninghua disappeared. A thick killing intent flashed across his eyes. These people must die!

Shen Ninghua’s horse was so out of control that it hadn’t shown any sign of tiredness until it had run for about two hours. Shen Ninghua slowly let out a sigh of relief and tried to stop the horse. However, an arrow was shot out suddenly out of nowhere and directly hit the horse in the forehead.

The horse hissed and stopped immediately. Shen Ninghua was directly thrown out by inertia.

Just as she bit her teeth tightly and was prepared to suffer a severe crash, she suddenly felt that she was stopped and hugged by someone.

“Ninghua, are you alright?”

Shen Ninghua panted slightly and looked up to see Baili Jinchuan who was looking at her worriedly. “Second Prince?”

“Yes, I was just hunting an elk. I didn’t expect to see your horse lose control. I hurriedly went forward to help you. It’s great that you’re fine.”

Shen Ninghua pushed him away and frowned as she looked at the dead horse on the ground. A faint light flashed across her eyes. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“No problem.” Baili Jinchuan smiled faintly as if he didn’t notice Shen Ninghua’s intentional alienation. When he lowered his head and looked at her arm, his face was full of worry. “Ninghua, you are injured?”

Then, he took out a bottle of Golden Sore Medicine from his pocket and said, “I have medicinal powder here. You can use it. Let’s find a place to rest first and I’ll bandage your wounds for you.”

Shen Ninghua put her numb arm into the sleeves again. “Second Prince, thanks for your kindness. My maid should arrive here soon. It is better for me to stand here and wait.”

Baili Jinchuan sighed slightly. “Ninghua, I know that you still have resentment towards me in your heart. But after a long period of reflection, I realized my mistake. Now, I treat you as my younger sister. As your elder brother, I just want to give you some medicine when seeing you get injured. Does this arouse your suspicion too?”

Shen Ninghua’s expression did not change at all. “It is great that Your Highness thought through. However, you also knew that I had a serious illness and spent more than half a year in the country villa. Although I have recovered from the illness, I can’t take some types of medicines anymore. So thank you for your kindness.”

Seeing that Shen Ninghua still hadn’t changed her mind, Baili Jinchuan sighed deeply. He suddenly rolled up his sleeve, took out a dagger, and slashed it down on his arm. Blood instantly flowed out. He didn’t care at all. He took out the medicinal powder and sprinkled it on the wound. “Ninghua, this medicinal powder is very effective for wounds. Your palms were injured seriously. If you don’t treat them immediately, you will suffer in the future.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes moved as she stretched out her bloody fingers.

Baili Jinchuan frowned tightly. He wanted to help her apply the powder. But Shen Ninghua dodged him and said, “I can do it myself.”

Shen Ninghua directly took the bottle and poured some medicinal powder onto her wounds. Her movements were very light and smooth as if the wounds in her hands did not exist at all.

At this moment, Chu Junyi and Qing Que were still fighting amidst the rain of arrows. The arrows beside them had already formed a dense layer on the ground. However, there were still arrows shooting at them. Qing Que’s arm was hit by an arrow, and her face turned extremely pale. She bit her teeth tightly and struggled to hold on.

The arrows were poisoned.

Chu Junyi suddenly grabbed an arrow and cast it back into the bushes. A muffled sound was immediately heard. A burst of numbness suddenly arose from his palm. Chu Junyi gritted his teeth. What a vicious plan. The entire arrow was poisoned. What a wicked mind!

He took out from his purse one antidote pill Shen Ninghua had given him and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he grabbed the arrow on the ground and cast it back to where it was from.

One hour later, Chu Junyi panted heavily. After running for a while, he saw the besieged Qing Que. He pulled out his sword from his waist and directly joined the fight.

By the time they wiped out the stealthy guards, about two hours had passed.

Chu Junyi gave Qing Que an antidote pill. “In which direction did Ninghua go?”

“East!”

“Go back and ask for help. It is better to bring His Majesty around.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After resting on the roadside for about two hours, Shen Ninghua regained feeling slightly in her numb arm. She carefully pulled out a golden needle from the edge of her sleeve and hid it with great care.

In the afternoon, as the sun dimmed down, the forest became quieter and darker. Baili Jinchuan made a bonfire. He caught a rabbit and roasted it with the fire.

“Ninghua, the dew is heavy at night. You should lean closer to the fire so that you can warm up yourself and drive away snakes, worms, and ants.”

“I’m fine.” Shen Ninghua couldn’t help but frown as she felt increasingly sleepy.

“Ninghua, if you’re sleepy, sleep for a while.”

Shen Ninghua suddenly raised her head, but her body was extremely weak. She fell forward all of a sudden.

Baili Jinchuan caught her, and a smile appeared in his eyes. “Ninghua, what’s wrong?”

Shen Ninghua bit the tip of her tongue fiercely. “When did you play the trick to me?”

“When I made this fire just now. I put in the fire a little incense which can make people feel sleepy. And you are just downwind of the fire.”

“Baili Jinchuan, you are truly despicable!”

“I’m doing this for your good. Chu Junyi must have become a corpse in the wilderness now. He can’t marry you anymore.” Baili Jinchuan raised his hand and stroked Shen Ninghua’s face. A trace of infatuation flashed across his eyes.

A flame of anger flickered in her eyes. As the firelight shone, her beautiful face became more exquisite and charming. At this moment, her red riding dress was like a cluster of charming flames, attracting him to move closer to her even it would bring destruction upon him like moths darting into a flame.

“Ninghua, this time I’ve thought things through. Your horse was accidentally shocked. I saved you when I met you by accident. But the horses were both lost. So we could only spend the night in the forest. However, the forest was full of danger. We encountered a pack of wolves at night. You were thus injured, so I had to take off your clothes and treated your injuries…”

Shen Ninghua sneered, and her eyes were full of mockery. “Baili Jinchuan, you’re really a contemptible villain!”

Baili Jinchuan chuckled. “As long as I can get you, what if I’m contemptible and shameless?”