Huo Chengjin nodded. He was about to say some more inappropriate sweet words when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm!
He looked down and saw an arrow deeply pierced into his upper arm!
He looked again at Princess Qin Zhao, who was still in the posture of aiming her arrow at him!
"Your Highness, you..." he said in disbelief.
Princess Qin Zhao coldly said, "If you want to snatch something from this princess, you have to be prepared to pay the price!"
She readied a third arrow, and this time no one stopped her.
The arrow pierced through the forehead of the tiger, and it finally collapsed to the ground.
Huo Chengjin was still in shock from being shot by Princess Qin Zhao.
Princess Qin Zhao heaved the tiger's corpse onto the horse's back. The horse could not bear the tiger's weight and could not stand up.
Princess Qin Zhao had to abandon the idea of getting the horse to carry the tiger. She dragged the tiger's body herself and walked forward, gesturing for Cong Han, Shen Xue and Qi Yan Su Luo, who were still standing there in a daze, to follow her.
They were shocked by Princess Qin Zhao's great strength. Cong Han asked, "Your Highness, did you take some kind of strength-enhancing pill?"
Princess Qin Zhao calmly said, "I was born with divine strength."
Qi Yan Su Luo was the most shocked. She could not understand how Princess Qin Zhao, possessing such strength, could willingly submit to another.
Thinking thus, Qi Yan Su Luo decided to bite Princess Qin Zhao a little less in the future, lest she anger Princess Qin Zhao and get slapped to death with one strike!
Huo Chengjin heard their distant conversation. Anguished, he pulled the arrow out.
Fresh blood spurted out, but he seemed unfazed by the pain. His eyes were blank as he let the horse carry him back.
The horse was very understanding and took a different path from Princess Qin Zhao's group.
When Princess Qin Zhao returned to the tent, there were few people in the camp. They must have all gone hunting.
She placed the tiger inside the tent and covered it with a black cloth.
Qi Yan Su Luo sat on the edge of the bed watching her busy movements.
After a while, Qi Yan Su Luo spoke, "Princess Qin Zhao, do you want to switch places with me?"
Princess Qin Zhao was puzzled. "Switch what places?"
Qi Yan Su Luo put her hands together, then made a flipping gesture.
Princess Qin Zhao understood instantly and laughed. "Let's keep the original positions. The one below is quite good."
Qi Yan Su Luo beckoned her over. "Come here."
Princess Qin Zhao walked over. "What is it?"
Without a word, Qi Yan Su Luo untied Princess Qin Zhao's belt and said, "I want to know what's so good below."
...
The next day, Princess Qin Zhao gradually awoke. The first thing she felt was sore fingers.
Yesterday from afternoon until midnight, she had been busy to the point of exhaustion. Her eyes couldn't stay open and her fingers cramped. Only then did Qi Yan Su Luo show some mercy and let her sleep.
This woman was obviously already addicted. She would probably never want to be on top again.
Princess Qin Zhao shed heartbroken tears, thinking: If Qi Yan Su Luo dared force her to be the 1 again for love, she must rise up and resist!
She was immersed in her own thoughts when she suddenly felt a cool sensation on her face.
Qi Yan Su Luo was wiping away Princess Qin Zhao's tears. She asked, "Why are you crying?"
Princess Qin Zhao blinked and said, "No reason. I probably didn't get enough sleep and still feel drowsy."
Qi Yan Su Luo's hand gently patted Princess Qin Zhao's lower abdomen. She said, "It's true that it's not bad below, but I like the scenery above more."
Princess Qin Zhao didn't understand. "What scenery?"
Qi Yan Su Luo's hand moved to Princess Qin Zhao's chest, going up and down, lingering in different spots. She said, "There are peaks, valleys, plains, and occasionally small streams..."
Princess Qin Zhao's face instantly turned fiery red. She pushed Qi Yan Su Luo away!
After hurriedly putting on clothes and fixing her hair simply, she fled this den of impropriety!
Once out of the tent she realized it was already afternoon.
Cong Han and Shen Xue were chatting outside. Seeing Princess Qin Zhao come out, Cong Han asked, "Your Highness, are you hungry? I'll go cook some porridge for you."
"Thank you."
Not long after, Qi Yan Su Luo also came out.
The two tacitly did not look at each other. They separately finished their porridge, then basked in the sunlight outside the tent.
The people who had gone hunting gradually returned to the camp.
The camp slowly became lively again.
Princess Qin Zhao idly waited for evening to arrive. Suddenly she heard an old man's scolding voice!
"Where did you go? It's dangerous outside, don't you know?"
Having nothing to do, Princess Qin Zhao pricked up her ears and listened to a few sentences.
"I'm sorry, Father. Your child lost composure for a moment. Please punish me."
The voice belonged to Huo Jun!
Princess Qin Zhao stood up and followed the voice to find Huo Jun's tent.
She hid behind a thick tree and observed in secret.
She saw Huo Jun standing with lowered head before a hunchbacked old man. That old man must be her father, the Supreme Commander Huo Xiaosu.
Huo Xiaosu finished scolding Huo Jun, then took out a whip and lashed her.
Although Huo Jun didn't make a sound, based on the force of the old man's blows, she must have been in severe pain!
Princess Qin Zhao could not bear to continue watching. She came out from behind the tree and walked over.
Huo Jun was the first to see Princess Qin Zhao and couldn't help crying out, "Your Highness!"
Huo Xiaosu stopped hitting and didn't turn around until Princess Qin Zhao was near. He then gave Princess Qin Zhao a perfunctory bow.
But it was very perfunctory. His tone held no hint of respect.
A high official like Huo Xiaosu who had been a general for decades naturally did not take a young royal like Princess Qin Zhao seriously.
Princess Qin Zhao had no intention of haggling with him. She said, "General Huo, what are you doing? Miss Huo is grown up now. Educating her in this way is simply inappropriate."
Huo Xiaosu looked at Princess Qin Zhao with a somewhat fierce gaze and said, "Your Highness, this is an old subject's family matter."
Princess Qin Zhao said: "Family matters, state matters, matters of the world - as a member of the imperial family, I should be concerned about them all."
Huo Xiaosu let out a cold snort and turned to enter the tent.
Huo Jun still had her head lowered without speaking a word.
Princess Qin Zhao grasped her wrist and asked, "What are you thinking?"
Huo Jun said, "That day when Your Highness said you'd take me with you, I was really happy."
The previous events made Princess Qin Zhao understand the deeper meaning in Huo Jun's words. She said, "I was sincere. When that day draws near, I will come for you."
"Alright, I'll wait for Your Highness."
After bidding farewell to Huo Jun, Princess Qin Zhao returned to her own tent.
An attendant came to notify everyone to go to the square.
Princess Qin Zhao said a few words to Cong Han and Shen Xue before going to the square with Qi Yan Su Luo.
The young masters and ladies had all brought their prey.
This excited the onlookers.
After being judged, most of these animals would be cooked and eaten.
Everyone discussed what methods could be used to prepare these ingredients.
Comparatively few people talked about the Night Pearl. They probably realized they had no chance of obtaining it, so they didn't mention it to avoid feeling disappointed.
Zhou Quande stood on a high platform, conveying the emperor's words: "His Majesty decrees - the ranking in this contest will be determined by the beasts' body weight! Please bring out the prey you've chosen for the contest and place them in front."
After Zhou Quande finished speaking, everyone sprang into action.
Around twenty people participated.
The prey brought out were all kinds of ferocious beasts, including wolves, cheetahs, hyenas, and even pythons.
It was a dazzling array that made one's eyes blur.
Among them was actually a black bear!
Everyone focused their gaze on the black bear.
Cong Han and Shen Xue dragged the tiger forward, diverting most of the attention as people cried out in surprise!
Yet Princess Qin Zhao was still looking at that black bear.
The black bear's size was comparable to the tiger Princess Qin Zhao had hunted, and it even looked a bit bigger!
Princess Qin Zhao felt a sense of crisis!
Seeing everyone had arrived, Zhou Quande shouted loudly, "Come, weigh them!"
