Lin Lin couldn’t help but remember again that she was wearing only a nightdress, and her legs pressed even tighter together in nervousness.
That lecher—no wonder he’d been staring at her nonstop just now.
“You have an idea? What kind of game is it? Speak freely.”
Xiao Fusu, piqued by the man’s teasing words, urged him to hurry up and explain.
“Hehe.”
Sang Han gave a sly grin before explaining, “Since Your Highness is interested, why don’t we try something even more novel today—using a beauty as a human target for archery? What do you say?”
“What?!”
At these words, even Xiao Fusu’s other cronies were shocked. Though they were arrogant and loved to have fun, they still knew where to draw the line, and had never done anything as reckless as disregarding human life.
After all, while they followed the Crown Prince, the Emperor still held ultimate authority above them. The current Emperor was diligent in governance and cared for his people, with a keen eye for detail—how could he tolerate noble youths killing people for amusement?
The risk was far too great. If someone with ill intent were to make an issue of it publicly, they would all be in serious trouble. It was no wonder they felt hesitant and wanted to back out.
“What?!”
Lin Lin’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head in shock. These heartless monsters actually wanted to use her as a living target!
“I agreed to play with you, not to risk my life! Your Highness the Crown Prince, you promised me you wouldn’t kill me—you can’t go back on your word!”
With death looming, she panicked, pulling hard at his sleeve several times in her fear, casting aside all concern for proper decorum between ranks.
“How dare you! What status do you have to be so disrespectful to His Highness the Crown Prince?!”
One of the men glared and shouted at her. Terrified, she let go of Xiao Fusu’s sleeve.
Yet deep down, she felt a recklessness born of desperation—with her life on the line, she cared little whether Xiao Fusu was Crown Prince or not.
Thankfully, Xiao Fusu was not truly angry with her. He spoke calmly but sharply in return, “Oh? When did I promise you anything? I made no commitments to you—you were the one who insisted on clinging to me and coming along of your own free will.”
“You’re trying to weasel out of it?!”
She stared at him with innocent eyes, so wronged she was on the verge of tears.
Before his subordinates could scold her for her insolence, Xiao Fusu pushed her aside.
“Go on, women shouldn’t butt in when men are talking.”
“Ugh!”
In frustration, Lin Lin gave up trying to reason with them, found a shady spot under a tree, and sat down with her knees drawn to her chest.
Guards were everywhere—even if she wanted to run, she couldn’t escape. If she was going to die anyway, she would at least enjoy what little freedom she had left, rather than go near those hateful faces.
Scoundrels, all of them—disregarding human life, they might as well be utterly rotten!
Overwhelmed by grievance that soon turned to anger, she cursed them bitterly in her heart, even though they couldn’t hear her fury.
“Hey hey—while that girl is nothing special, she’s still a human being. Using her as a target to shoot at for fun is going too far, isn’t it?”
After a moment of silence, one of them spoke up first.
“The most important thing is how we’ll get past the Emperor. Even your aunt the Empress might not be able to help then. Even if we want to play, there’s no need to risk getting His Highness the Crown Prince punished just for a moment’s whim!”
The second young master of the current Minister of Revenue cleverly steered the conversation toward Xiao Fusu, leaving him with no choice but to speak up.
“Sang Han, if you’re itching for a beating, just say so—no need for murder and arson. I’ll be happy to teach you a lesson on behalf of my father and mother!”
His face was cold as he spoke.
The death of some unknown woman was trivial, but as Crown Prince, his every move was watched. If someone with ill intent were to make a big deal of it, the impact would be disastrous.
“Hehe—I haven’t finished talking yet. Why be so hasty and assume a living target means certain death? What I have in mind is to have her carry the target and run across the field while we ride horses and shoot at the bullseye. In the end, whoever has more arrows closer to the bullseye wins. This way, we can test our mounted archery skills and add some novelty—isn’t it more interesting than ordinary hunting?”
Seeing Xiao Fusu’s cold expression, Sang Han stopped keeping them in suspense and explained the rules in detail.
“Huh? That actually sounds good!”
Someone chimed in as soon as he finished, and everyone quickly grew interested.
“Your Highness, let’s play! Let’s play!”
Soon they were all urging him on.
“Besides, no one will get killed anyway.”
Someone else added offhandedly.
Even Xiao Fusu felt tempted now.
After all, as long as no lives were lost, even if word got out, it wouldn’t matter much to him—just a minor inconvenience at worst.
“Hmm, all right then—let’s play.”
With a nod, he agreed.
Lin Lin was soon dragged back over. A middle-aged eunuch thrust the target into her arms, then drew a long whip from behind him and cracked it against the ground, shouting sharply, “Hurry up and run with that target held high! If you don’t, I’ll whip you hard—our masters are ready!”
Lin Lin could have cried, but with no choice but to submit to their intimidation, she turned and ran.
She called out desperately to her system in her mind, but it had vanished without a trace last time and still hadn’t reappeared. She ran while holding the target as high as she could, terrified that a slight misaim or stray arrow would cost her life.
“Hyah!”
After she had run for a while and put some distance between them, she heard the crack of whips and whinnying of horses from far behind her. Soon the sound of hooves grew closer and closer.
An arrow cut through the air first, striking the top of her target so hard she nearly dropped it.
“Your Highness has excellent aim!”
“Haha…”
She could hear their voices and even catch faint traces of Xiao Fusu’s hearty laughter—sounds that felt like a curse to her.
Even though no arrows had hit her body, fear gripped her tightly. For the first time, death felt so close. If even one arrow were slightly off course, who knew if it would end her life?
She ran until she had no idea how far she’d gone, her strength rapidly fading, yet she dared not relax. Her head felt dizzy, and she was too exhausted to make out what they were saying anymore—only the sound of her own ragged breathing filled her ears as she ran against the wind.
She was almost in the lush green woods when they still wouldn’t let up. Arrow after arrow flew toward her—some striking the target hard, others grazing her cheek or landing at her feet.
She wanted to throw the target away, but lacked the courage, afraid of enraging those hotheaded men behind her and being shot dead on the spot.
After all, these arrogant scions were used to indulging themselves—who knew if they still had any sense of right and wrong? She had never been strong-willed or brave, and dared not gamble with the life she still held by a thread.
She didn’t dare stop running, even as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. Fixing her eyes on the woods just ahead, she dashed inside.
The terrain was complex there, with far less visibility than before. Once inside, she darted about like a panicked rabbit, her slender form hidden by shrubs—she truly felt like prey being hunted.
The men chasing her were all fired up; rather than growing tired of the game, they found it even more thrilling now that the challenge had increased.
But Lin Lin could hold on no longer. She was nearly exhausted, her legs as heavy as if filled with lead. Finally, her vision blurred, and she didn’t see a stone on the ground—her toes slammed into it, sending her tumbling to the earth.
She was so dizzy and tired she barely felt the pain, even giving in to a passive sense of resignation, as if waiting for death to come.
Yet instinct drove her to bite back the pain and try to stand up. Before she could even struggle to her feet, an arrow grazed her cheek and embedded itself in a tree trunk just ahead.
Panic seized her.
She had lost hold of the target when she fell, and it had been thrown far away—but even so, the arrows kept coming.
No… someone was truly trying to kill her in the chaos!
“Help! Help—!”
She screamed, turning back just as an arrow flew toward her chest.
She closed her eyes immediately, with no time left to feel fear or tension.
This was a sudden disaster, and with someone determined to take her life, there was no escaping it.
It was over.
Those were the only words that crossed her mind.
Yet the expected pain never came.
Clang—
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the arrow that had been heading for her had been knocked aside by another incoming arrow.
“Li Yi! How dare you—she is my person, yet you would kill her!”
Xiao Fusu’s roar rang out from the side, growing closer by the moment.
The handsome young man named Li Yi finally showed signs of panic as his scheme was exposed.
“Your Highness…”
Xiao Fusu reined in his horse and stopped. Before Li Yi could finish speaking, a sharp slap landed across his face.
“Do you want to rebel?! Hmm?! If you want to die, just say so—I’ll kill you right now! Even when you beat a dog, you look at its owner. If you dare shoot my people today, will you dare kill me tomorrow?!”
He pointed directly at her, snarling through gritted teeth, “Do you think I won’t touch you just because you’re from the Langya Li clan? Oh, I almost forgot—you and that one in the Cold Palace grew up as sworn brothers. But the deposed Empress Li is dying of illness now, and Father hasn’t even gone to see her once. Do you really think killing her will turn Father and his ministers against me, depose me as Crown Prince, and let Xiao Keyu rise to power? Don’t even dream of it! Since you’ve chosen to serve me now, do your duty properly and remember who your true master is. If I ever find solid proof of your betrayal, I will kill you—mark my words! I am not Xiao Keyu; I have no patience for traitors!”
“Your Highness, please calm your anger! You’ve misunderstood—this servant was just careless and nearly injured the young lady by accident. Please forgive me! I’ll never dare again!”
Seeing Xiao Fusu’s fury, Li Yi quickly dismounted and knelt at his feet, kowtowing to beg for mercy.
Xiao Fusu looked down at the young man—born into nobility, now prostrate and begging for his life—his chest still heaving with rage.
Li Yi had once served that man. The former Empress Li had come from a prestigious background—the Langya Li clan was not like other powerful families; as the foremost scholarly clan, they were renowned for their refinement, talent, and learning. But what good had that done them? Since his father had ascended the throne, the Li clan’s influence had waned sharply. After the Empress was deposed, the family had fallen into decline. What did noble birth matter then? In the end, they were cast aside like worn-out shoes, clinging to their outdated arrogance and living on memories of past glory—did they truly think they could reclaim their former splendor?
Delusions—all of it was delusion!
He was the Crown Prince now. These two-faced schemers would never again humiliate him or lord it over him and his mother.
How merciful he had been—after the Li clan’s fall, he had graciously accepted Li Yi’s service despite the young man once being Xiao Keyu’s trusted confidant. He had intended to win loyalty through kindness, but some people were like ungrateful wolves—no matter how much you cared for them, they would still try to deceive you. He had been vigilant, yet had nearly been outmaneuvered all the same.
Thankfully, he had arrived in time. If the woman had truly been killed, he couldn’t imagine what kind of rumors would have spread.
He had been too kind to his subordinates, letting his guard down and spoiling them until they had grown bold and greedy. Now even Li Yi—whose status made him the most cautious and sensitive of all—had dared to plot against him! He was furious; if not for the bigger picture, he would have cut the man down on the spot!
By nature, Xiao Fusu was hot-tempered and intolerant of betrayal. Only becoming Crown Prince had forced him to temper his impulses. But the thought that those around him might harbor hidden agendas, flattering him to his face while stabbing him in the back, filled him with anger.
If only he were still the man he once was…
He thought back to his past, then forced down his rage.
He couldn’t act on impulse anymore. Once, he had been nothing—a bastard son with no protector. He could fight, kill, and live freely, surviving by any means necessary, even the most brutal. But now he was different. He was Crown Prince, and he could live with dignity, as a true human being should.
He closed his eyes, and the violent fury within him gradually subsided.
When he opened them again, his gaze was calm and steady, showing no trace of emotion.