Jiang Yuchao returned to her tent very calmly. Her maid Lan Qiao, who she had brought with her, was already anxious. Seeing her return, she hurried over to greet her: "Mistress, where did you go? I couldn't find you anywhere and was so worried!"

She saw that the princes and nobles who had been hunting earlier had all left, but couldn't find her mistress nearby. She was worried that something had happened to her and wanted to report it to Madam Xiao to look for her. But she was also worried that if her mistress had gone to meet with Prince Yuling in private, it would be embarrassing if they were caught. She didn't know what to do.

Jiang Yuchao didn't speak to her. She directly rummaged through the things she had brought, found a dagger, felt it was too big and threw it back, then took a smaller one, tested its fit in various places, and finally tied it to her leg. After doing this, she felt it wasn't safe enough, so she took apart a few needles and hid them in the soles of her shoes.

"Go and bring me the jewelry box," Jiang Yuchao ordered.

Lan Qiao knew that she always had ideas and didn't dare say more. She ran over with the jewelry box. Jiang Yuchao selected a few hairpins with sharp ends, tried them out, and inserted them into her hair with satisfaction.

She didn't like wearing hairpins, but today's incident reminded her that there were still so many dregs in a society ruled by law, let alone in a feudal society where slaves were legal and killing was just at the whim of those in power. She shouldn't be too careless.

If she had a dagger when facing those two strong slave girls earlier, she wouldn't have been so easily subdued. Of course, it's not to say that she could have beaten them, but in that situation, she only needed to delay for a moment and attract attention, and the subsequent events wouldn't have happened.

"Mistress, what happened to you?" Lan Qiao asked cautiously, feeling that something was wrong.

Jiang Yuchao showed no expression. "Nothing happened."

Her clothes were a bit dirty, with a few bloodstains on the cuffs. She took off her clothes and found a new set to change into. When Lan Qiao saw her take off her clothes, she gasped at the red and swollen whip mark on her shoulder and back. "Mistress! Your injury! Did something happen to you?"

Jiang Yuchao: "I said, nothing happened. Don't ask more." After changing clothes, she took Lan Qiao to Madam Xiao's tent.

On the way, there were many patrolling soldiers. Lan Qiao followed closely behind Jiang Yuchao, somewhat timidly. "Mistress, why is everyone in such a hurry?"

Jiang Yuchao: "I don't know." She entered Madam Xiao's tent without looking sideways, said she wanted to pay her respects, and then stayed inside.

At this time, Princess Chunxi's miserable state should have been discovered. Now it was just a matter of whether she had the guts to expose this matter.

If she really spoke out, someone would probably come to find her soon. If she stayed with Madam Xiao, then no matter what, Madam Xiao would have to go with her. When the two sides confronted each other, she hadn't killed the princess, and the other party had committed evil first. There was a high probability that nothing would happen.

If nothing happened today, then either Princess Chunxi didn't dare to say anything, or her family was too embarrassed to say anything. In that case, she was temporarily safe, and what she needed to worry about was whether there would be retaliation in the future.

To avoid retaliation, she might need to come up with some plan.

At this time, Princess Chunxi was brought into the tent of her mother, Madam Li. Seeing her like this, her mother was furious and asked her, "What happened? Did you encounter villains?"

Princess Chunxi didn't answer. Madam Li pressed the two slave girls who were brought in, "You speak! Weren't you told to watch over her? How could this happen?"

One slave girl mumbled, not knowing whether to speak or not. Princess Chunxi, with her hair loose, suddenly screamed, "Don't you dare speak!"

Madam Li shouted, "Speak, or I'll have you tied up and beaten to death!"

The two slave girls looked at the fierce princess and the stern-faced Madam Li. They couldn't help but say, "It was the princess, she..."

Princess Chunxi suddenly grabbed a square pot beside her and smashed it on the head of the slave girl who spoke. "Damn slave! I said not to speak!"

The slave girl let out a miserable cry, blood gushing from her head. She collapsed softly to the ground, her breathing soon becoming faint. The slave girl beside her, seeing her companion wailing on the ground with blood flowing everywhere, was so scared that her whole body trembled and she couldn't say a word.

"Alright, drag them down and deal with them." Madam Li saw this and had a headache. After giving orders, she pressed Princess Chunxi to sit beside her and looked at the various red marks on her neck and the wounds on her body. "Tell your mother, who exactly did this? If the status is comparable, he must marry you."

With a distorted face, the usually arrogant and fierce Princess Chunxi shook, her fingers turning white as she gripped her lapels. "Don't ask anymore, don't ask, it's no one, I don't have..."

No matter how Madam Li asked, she kept her mouth shut. Madam Li angrily gave her a hard slap. Princess Chunxi looked at her resentfully, but still kept her mouth shut. In the end, Madam Li had no choice but to deal with all those who knew about it.

Those who couldn't be dealt with also had their mouths sealed. Although this matter didn't become known to everyone, there were still people privately saying that Princess Chunxi seemed to have encountered villains and lost her chastity.

Jiang Yuchao sat in Madam Xiao's tent for half a day and didn't wait for anyone to come and take her for questioning. When it was almost dark, the sound of rumbling horse hooves came from the hunting ground, and many people cheered. She finally got up to take her leave and took Lan Qiao to the hunting area.

Sure enough, the men who had entered the hunting ground were back, each carrying spoils, just varying in amount. The most eye-catching was Prince Yu. His spoils were abundant, piled together, drawing admiring exclamations from the onlookers.

Although others also had outstanding performances, they were all overshadowed by him. Jiang Yuchao didn't spare Prince Yu a glance. She searched the field but didn't find her idol, so she focused on the exit of the woods.

She didn't look at Prince Yu, but Prince Yu was paying attention to her. Seeing her calm expression, Prince Yu picked up one of his kills and walked over, throwing the bloody thing at her feet.

"This thing is for you," Prince Yu said.

Jiang Yuchao was startled and looked at him in surprise, thinking what does this bastard male lead want to do? He had an expression earlier that looked like he wanted to kill her, so how come he's giving her something now? Could it be that this thing is poisonous and she'll die if she eats it?

She lifted her skirt to avoid the blood splashing from the thing, her tone very indifferent: "No need, Prince Yu can keep it for himself."

Prince Yu: "...You'd better accept it. This is the first time I've given something to a woman."

Jiang Yuchao: "Prince Yu, I still have that divorce letter you sent me. It was written so well. Do you still remember the line 'no entanglement allowed in the future'? Next time, I'll have someone make a copy and send it back to you as a reminder."

Prince Yu: "..." He held back his urge to curse, only letting out a light snort before turning and walking away.

The people who witnessed this scene had various expressions. Jiang Yuchao didn't know what they were thinking, but the envious and hateful gazes from the surrounding women were very clear.

Jiang Yuchao couldn't care less about these people. Her eyes were all on Xi Zhuoyu, who had arrived late. Xi Zhuoyu brought several large dogs and six deer with him.

Other people's prey were all brought back dead, but he was different. He brought back six live deer, their necks and legs tied with ropes, as if he was bringing back captives.

Jiang Yuchao burst out laughing at the sight. Her face, which had been tense since encountering Princess Chunxi, finally softened, and her mood lifted along with it.

The power of her idol was that he could always lift her out of her lows and irritation at any time.