Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I saved that woman.

However, this time I kept a card up my sleeve.

I dragged her to a secluded spot to hide, bandaged her wounds, left some food and water along with a token of my identity, and then turned to leave.

If she were the type to repay kindness, she would naturally come looking for me.

If she were ungrateful, then our paths would simply never cross again.

I am not afraid of meeting good people, nor am I afraid of meeting bad ones.

What I fear is a villain masquerading as a saint just to torment me.

Someone like the Princess Consort.

By the time I returned to the camp, news of the assassination attempt on Prince Zhao and the Princess Consort had already spread.

My Sleeve Arrow had struck Prince Zhao, nearly killing him on the spot.

The Emperor was furious and ordered the capture of the assassins.

The entire hunting expedition was cast under a dark cloud because of this incident.

Inside the tent, the Princess Consort was weeping as if her world had ended.

Her eyes were filled with panic and anxiety.

Presumably, she feared that Prince Zhao would never wake up, especially since she had no son to secure her position. Even more, she feared returning to the estate and facing the Dowager Consort’s interrogation.

The Dowager Consort had only this one son, Prince Zhao, and had always doted on him excessively.

With Prince Zhao injured, the Princess Consort would surely be flayed alive.

She was desperate to find the culprit or a convenient scapegoat.

She questioned everyone one by one until her gaze landed on me.

In that moment, I felt as if I were being stared down by a wolf.

Her brows furrowed in rage as she pressed closer, step by step. “Where were you just now? Why did it take you so long to return? Speak!”

I said softly, “This servant went to follow you and His Highness, but your riding skills are superb. I truly could not keep up. In my haste to catch up, I lost my breath and had to dismount for a while to recover before returning.”

“Who can testify for you?”

“This servant was alone. No one can testify.”

“You wretched girl, you dare lie to me? Was it you who tried to murder the Prince? Speak!”

She raised her hand and slapped me across the face.

My cheek stung with a burning pain. I immediately knelt down, my eyes brimming with tears.

“This servant doesn’t even know how to use a sword, let alone act as an assassin.”

The Princess Consort paused.

The maidservant behind her whispered, “The person who assassinated the Prince used a Sleeve Arrow.”

The Princess Consort confirmed that I was not the assassin.

However, her lingering anger was hard to dissipate.

She desperately wanted a plausible explanation to deflect the blame for Prince Zhao’s injury away from herself, but no matter how she thought about it, there were holes in every story.

It wasn’t until a messenger arrived from the palace stating that the Eldest Princess had been injured-and that the Sleeve Arrow that hit Prince Zhao belonged to the same assassin who attacked her-that the Princess Consort finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

She slumped into her chair and said with a hateful tone, “How unlucky to be dragged down by that jinx.”

The Eldest Princess and the Emperor were twins born of the same mother.

But though they shared a birthday, they did not share a destiny.

The Emperor had been named Crown Prince the moment he was born. His life had been smooth sailing for many years without the slightest ripple, earning him the reputation of being a lucky star.

But the Eldest Princess was different. She had been sickly since birth, and after finally surviving long enough to marry, she gave birth to a stillborn child.

A few years ago, her Consort died on the battlefield.

Now she was all alone, recuperating in the vast Princess’s Mansion.

Even so, she faced assassination attempts every few days.

But who would want to assassinate a princess who had nothing left?

I lowered my gaze.

I couldn’t understand it.