Xi Shaoyuan now felt like he was participating in a singing competition, watching the other contestants trying their best to perform, hoping to catch the eye of the boss, which was the emperor. He didn't really want to participate and wanted to slack off on the side, but his fans were expecting him to take the stage.

Oh well, he should perform once. As an idol, he couldn't be too lazy. He still needed to put on a show for his fans.

Prince Yuling, Xi Zhuoyu, walked out leading his horse after changing into his hunting outfit. He immediately became the most dazzling among the group of men in hunting attire. There was a small commotion in the women's viewing stands, with many ladies abandoning their restraint and leaning against the railings to look at Xi Zhuoyu below.

It was because Xi Zhuoyu already had top-notch looks and an extraordinary temperament. With the addition of this hunting outfit that looked so good on him, his slender waist and long legs were fully displayed, making him so handsome that people couldn't take their eyes off him.

That waist was too amazing, making people really want to hug it! And those legs, how could they be so long? Look at those boots, the arc must look super good when kicking someone.

Jiang Yuchao almost couldn't help screaming out loud. Her hands subconsciously reached for the flower on her head, wanting to throw it over, but her rationality hadn't completely left home and very timely stopped her actions.

There were too many excited ladies on this side, so Jiang Yuchao's reaction wasn't the most intense one and didn't attract much attention. Right now, the most eye-catching people on the field were Prince Yuling and Prince Yu.

"Prince Yuling is also here."

"Yeah, this is rare."

The young lords in hunting outfits also discussed excitedly, and a few glanced at the stern-faced Prince Yu. The conflict between Prince Yu and Prince Yuling had long spread, and now they all felt that since Prince Yuling had entered the field, he must be going after Prince Yu.

Prince Yu himself also thought so. Sitting on his horse, he looked down at Xi Zhuoyu who was still standing beside his horse, reaching out to stroke the horse's mane. He said haughtily, "Prince Yuling is going hunting without bringing anything? Can't those beasts you raise be of use at a time like this?"

Xi Zhuoyu glanced back at him. "Prince Yu doesn't raise fewer beasts than me. I remember last year, Prince Yu brought a hunting falcon, was it that one?" He raised his hand and pointed at a black shadow circling in the sky.

Prince Yu snorted and pinched his two fingers together, blowing the falcon whistle. The circling falcon in the sky immediately let out a loud cry and flew down to land on the fur bracer Prince Yu was wearing.

When nobles went hunting, they all liked to bring various fierce beasts and birds. Prince Yu's falcon was the most vigorous and vicious, and had even gone to the battlefield with him, once killing a person. This hunting falcon, like its master, stared at Xi Zhuoyu with that kind of sharp hostility.

Xi Zhuoyu stepped on the stirrup and mounted his horse. Straddling the horse, he also blew a whistle. Almost immediately, several large dogs ran over from the camp. Their size was larger than ordinary dogs and they looked very intelligent.

Xi Zhuoyu bent down and affectionately patted each dog's head. "Let's go, I'll take you for a run." Although he didn't participate in the autumn hunt, he often privately took the dogs into the mountains for some activity. These few especially liked this kind of outing.

Prince Yu curled his lips and, holding the falcon, said, "Prince Yuling better keep an eye on these beasts, don't let them get carried off by some fierce animal in the mountains. After all, once in the hunting grounds, it's hard to tell which ones are the ones you raised. If we mistakenly kill a few, Prince Yuling mustn't be heartbroken."

He maliciously glanced at those large dogs, the implication in his words being that he wanted to kill a few to vent his anger.

However, Xi Zhuoyu didn't even look at him and was still carefully petting the dogs' heads. "There's nothing to worry about, mine's bigger than Prince Yu's bird."

After saying that, he felt it wasn't quite right and could only add, "I mean my dogs are bigger than Prince Yu's bird."

It would have been fine if he didn't explain, but with that explanation, Prince Yu's face darkened. He snorted coldly and was the first to turn his head and enter the hunting area.

"Brother Yu, I didn't expect you to be so good at insults; it's truly eye-opening." The Sixth Prince rode his horse over, looking shocked.

Xi Zhuoyu: I'm not, I didn't... I'm really not.

The Seventh Prince also came over. "Brother Yu, I heard you and him are fighting over Minister Xiao's third young lady, is that right?"

Hearing this, Xi Zhuoyu felt even more of a headache. What was all this? He clearly hadn't done any such thing.

Xi Zhuoyu: "No, don't talk nonsense."

The Seventh Prince laughed, "What are you being shy about? I support you! Third brother isn't the type to cherish beauties; Brother Yu, you're definitely better."

There was no getting through to them. Xi Zhuoyu also rode his horse and led the few large dogs into the hunting area.

Forget it, the innocent will prove themselves innocent, he thought.

...

"Why?!" Princess Chunxi kicked over a vase and smashed a jade pot with her sleeve, screaming, "Why is it Xiao Jinyue? What does she have that's better than me? Why did Brother Zhuoyu choose her and not me?"

"Enough, why are you throwing a tantrum? It's exactly this temper of yours, you never restrain it. Now look, making such a fuss, even the Empress won't speak up for you anymore." Princess Chunxi's mother scolded.

Princess Chunxi was still screaming, kicking the broken porcelain pieces on the ground. "Didn't the Empress say before that she would let me marry Brother Zhuoyu? Now she's going back on her word, how can she do this! Mother, go talk to her again, have Father go speak to His Majesty!"

"Enough! Do you want to lose even more face? Behave yourself. You've been spoiled rotten by your father, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. If you dare cause trouble again, I'll put you under house arrest!"

Ever since learning that she would be betrothed to Prince Yuling as his princess consort, Princess Chunxi had become insufferably arrogant, showing off everywhere. At the Chongyang Palace banquet, she made a scene with Xiao Jinyue in front of the Empress and Emperor.

She was a bit scared, but after laying low for two days, her old habits resurfaced. Who would have thought that news suddenly spread in the palace that her arrangement with Prince Yuling had fallen through.

How could she tolerate this? Princess Chunxi made a huge fuss, making her mother personally go to the Empress to inquire, and finally got the exact reason. It turned out Prince Yuling himself said he didn't like her, and the one he liked was the Xiao family's third young lady Xiao Jinyue. This was unacceptable. Princess Chunxi was even more furious, throwing massive tantrums in the residence, making it a place of chaos.

After finally quieting down for two days, she came to the autumn hunting grounds. Her mother repeatedly warned her not to cause trouble, but she wasn't that obedient.

She directly sought out Xiao Jinyue, preparing to vent her anger. Princess Chunxi was spoiled rotten, with a temper that was out of control. She acted without considering the consequences. She directly ordered two servant girls to find Xiao Jinyue when she was alone, gag her, and bring her to the princess's tent.

Jiang Yuchao had just finished seeing off the fashionable hunting idol as she entered the hunting grounds with great spirit. She was about to return to her tent to rest when she was unexpectedly pressed down by two strong servant girls and sent into Princess Chunxi's tent, then forced to kneel on the ground.

"Xiao Jinyue, do you know why you are here today?" Princess Chunxi raised her toes and kicked Jiang Yuchao's knees, then squatted down and used her sharp nails to scratch two lines on her face. "Because you fought with me over something, I'm very unhappy."

"All of you go out and guard from a distance. Don't let anyone hear the sounds and come over." Princess Chunxi stood up with a whip in her hand and ordered the two servant girls.

The two servant girls responded and withdrew, leaving only Princess Chunxi and Jiang Yuchao, whose hands were tied, in the tent.

"Smack--" Without further words, Princess Chunxi lashed Jiang Yuchao's body with the whip. "Who allowed you to fight with me over my Brother Zhuoyu? What qualifications does a woman like you have to aim so high for my Brother Zhuoyu?"

Jiang Yuchao didn't manage to dodge in time and took a whipping. She had just been pressed to kneel on the ground by the two servant girls, her knees heavily hitting the ground, and hadn't recovered for a while.

Princess Chunxi glared at her, whipped her again and cursed, "I'm going to beat you to death today, and use a knife to disfigure your face, then throw you into the woods to be eaten by wild beasts. Let's see what you'll use to fight with me over Brother Zhuoyu then!"

Jiang Yuchao recovered from that bout, jumped up without a word and kicked her, knocking Princess Chunxi to the ground. Jiang Yuchao's hands were tied by the two servant girls, but her feet weren't. The young ladies here were all weak, so they probably thought tying her hands was enough.

But Jiang Yuchao wasn't Xiao Jinyue, she had rich fighting experience. Now that she was in a fighting state, if she couldn't beat two strong servant girls, how could she fail to beat a princess?

Having her hands temporarily immobilized didn't hinder her performance. While Princess Chunxi was still dazed from the fall, she stepped forward and unceremoniously sat on Princess Chunxi's head, directly blocking her entire face including her mouth, lest she shout and attract the strong servant girls outside.

Moreover, the most brilliant part of this move was that it was disgusting enough. Jiang Yuchao remained motionless like a mountain, no matter how Princess Chunxi struggled with her hands, she pressed down hard on her face, not allowing her to breathe.

Only when the person's struggles gradually weakened did she stand up and watch Princess Chunxi convulse on the ground. She quickly found a knife on the side table, cut the ropes on her hands, then went to take off Princess Chunxi's shoes, pulled off her socks and stuffed them into her mouth to seal it tightly, using the cut ropes to tie up her mouth as well as her hands and feet.

In a short while, the two had switched roles, and the domineering Princess Chunxi became the one at the mercy of others. She finally woke up from the dizzying suffocation, angrily and disgustedly mumbling, but unable to make a sound.

Jiang Yuchao took a deep breath, moved her whipped shoulders and back, grabbed Princess Chunxi's hair, and said in a low, sinister voice by her ear, "You're messing with me? Huh? It's been a long time since anyone dared to mess with me."

"You just said you wanted to kill me?" She picked up a palm-sized wooden board beside her. "Don't worry, I don't kill people, killing is against the law, but I want to play with you a bit."

Princess Chunxi's mouth was stuffed until it bulged out. She writhed and struggled on the ground, her eyes full of anger.

Jiang Yuchao picked up the knife again and pointed it at her chest. This time, Princess Chunxi finally knew to be afraid, and fear flashed in her eyes.

When she had lightly talked about killing someone before, she definitely didn't know how terrifying it was when the threat of death descended upon herself. She wanted to say that if something happened to her, her father and mother would definitely not let the matter rest, but she could only make muffled sounds.

Jiang Yuchao used the knife to tear open Princess Chunxi's dress, shredding her body's silks and satins, including her dudou and underpants, exposing her fair skin.

Princess Chunxi's eyes widened, her face flushed red, not knowing if it was due to anger or shame. She began to retreat in fear.

Jiang Yuchao picked up the wooden board, "Weren't you very fierce just now?" With a smack, she hit Princess Chunxi's body, leaving a red mark on her.

Princess Chunxi had the appearance of being violated. Even though the person in front of her was also a woman, Jiang Yuchao, she was almost dying of shame and anger. In her eyes, Jiang Yuchao showed no mercy, pinching countless red marks on her neck, thighs, and chest, then hitting her mouth with the wooden board until it was all red, and tearing at her hair bun.

"When you do something wrong, you should be punished, understand?" Jiang Yuchao lowered her voice and said in Princess Chunxi's ear, her tone cold and mocking. Princess Chunxi trembled all over, and in her gaze towards Jiang Yuchao, there was hate and anger, as well as fear.

"You think your status is noble?" Jiang Yuchao stepped on her face and picked up the whip. "Today, I'll teach you what it means to regret."

Jiang Yuchao had heard of this person, Princess Chunxi, and after coming into conflict with her, she had specially inquired about her. It's just that she still retained the mindset from a law-governed society and didn't expect this person to be so direct and crude. Well, since things had developed this way, she certainly wasn't going to stand there and take a beating.

Today's incident had deepened the grudge between them. In order to avoid this naive and vicious princess from retaliating in the future, she could only settle the score with her properly here.

It was best to make her recall today's torture and pain whenever she saw Jiang Yuchao in the future, and to be afraid upon hearing her name, completely unable to muster the intention to retaliate. Otherwise, even if she was retaliated against in the future, she had gotten her money's worth now. She would definitely become this princess' nightmare for life.

The servant girls guarding not far outside the tent glanced at Princess Chunxi's tent from time to time. As time slowly passed and no one came out, a servant girl hesitated, wanting to go forward and take a look. If the person was really dead, they probably had to prepare in advance.

Princess Chunxi had killed servant girls before to vent her anger, and they were the ones who dealt with it. It's just that the person this time had a status incomparable to servant girls. Although the master said they could directly throw the body into the woods and pretend it was eaten by wild beasts, it was after all a sinful deed, so they were also a bit apprehensive.

"Princess?" The servant girl asked cautiously outside the tent, hearing the woman's muffled sounds coming from inside. She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, thinking it was good that the person wasn't dead yet.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed before her eyes, and a person was pushed out of the tent, crashing towards her. The person was disheveled, with tears and snot streaming down their face, clothes torn, and body covered in red marks. They collapsed to the ground, legs weak. The sight greatly shocked the two servant girls, who cried out in alarm, "Princess?!"

At the same time, Jiang Yuchao also darted out of the tent. While the two slave girls were still in a state of shock, supporting Princess Chunxi, she had already run out.

As she ran, she shouted loudly, "Something terrible has happened! Princess Chunxi is in trouble! Come quickly! Princess Chunxi is in trouble!"

After shouting, she heard footsteps. Taking advantage of the chaos, she hid behind the tent and then left through another small tent. As for whether Princess Chunxi would be discovered on the other side and what would happen next, she had no idea.