Princess Wanping refused to give up and insisted on walking to the stream, claiming it was simply because she wanted to eat fish.
ng Qianqian: "I don’t know how to fish."
Princess Wanping: "This princess will fish herself."
At this point, what else could ng Qianqian do? She had no choice but to follow her.
When they arrived at the stream, it happened to be lunchti. After walking such a long way, everyone was exhausted and famished, so ng Qianqian suggested they rest and have so dry rations.
But Princess Wanping’s gaze remained fixed on the stream, her ardent ambition to spear a ferocious tiger practically radiating from her.
ng Qianqian interrupted her thoughts: "Princess, aren’t we fishing?"
"Then let’s fish."
Princess Wanping commanded casually, "Bring the fishing equipnt."
The accompanying guards imdiately presented a variety of tools: nets, baskets, spears, fishing lines, and even makeshift fishing rods made from bamboo.
ng Qianqian’s mouth twitched: "You may lack skills, but your gear is impressive."
Princess Wanping frowned: "What did you just say?"
ng Qianqian replied solemnly, "As the saying goes, ’To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools.’ The Princess’s preparedness is comndable. Little Nine admires you."
In the end, Princess Wanping chose a fishing spear.
ng Qianqian: What gave you the illusion that you’re skilled enough to choose the trickiest tool?
But, to be fair, Princess Wanping did have so degree of martial skill.
The bad news? Only "so."
Standing by the stream, Princess Wanping thrust the spear down—only for all the fish to scatter—and ended up spearing the helt of an Imperial Guard instead.
The guard stared in terror at his punctured helt, nearly wetting his pants from fright!
Princess Wanping coldly demanded, "Why were you hiding underwater?"
Utterly wronged, the guard explained, "I was lying in ambush, hiding from enemy troops! And hoping to seize an opportunity for a sneak attack."
Who could have anticipated that while avoiding the enemy, he’d end up skewered by you!
Feeling incredibly jinxed, Princess Wanping moved to another spot to continue fishing.
Fifteen minutes later.
She had speared every scout of the three military divisions, without missing a single one.
Where others might catch a single fish per spear, she managed entire clusters of scouts with each jab.
The entire three divisions were exposed—now who could they complain to?
All by herself, Princess Wanping had transford a routine autumn hunting expedition into sothing akin to hell-level difficulty.
And the soldiers couldn’t even get angry.
Surely this must be so sort of test from the Emperor—or maybe the Supre Emperor!
"This is infuriating! I’m done fishing!"
Throwing away the spear, Princess Wanping sat under a large tree, sulking.
ng Qianqian, already ahead of the ga, had built a fire and roasted a rabbit. She sprinkled it with salt and spices she carried with her.
This season’s ga was at its plumpest, its thick fat glistening and sizzling over the fire. Add to that a topping of wild scallions picked along the way, and the whole scene was mouthwateringly fragrant.
ng Qianqian tore off a rabbit leg and handed it to Princess Wanping. "Here, my disciple... I an, Princess, please enjoy your al."
Good thing she corrected herself quickly.
Princess Wanping frowned suspiciously, as if she’d heard sothing strange, but could find no logical explanation and dismissed it as ng Qianqian being off-kilter: "What’s wrong with you today? You seem scatterbrained."
ng Qianqian maintained a poker face as she explained, "Oh, I’m just worried about my cousin’s marriage. My family’s pressuring , saying that if I can’t find her a match within a month, they’ll arrange sothing randomly. You know how it is in our remote You State—decent n are hard to co by."
Princess Wanping snapped indignantly, "Ridiculous! How can such a serious matter be treated so carelessly?"
"Exactly! So you must help find her a husband?"
Every conversation ng Qianqian had ca back to matchmaking.
Princess Wanping sighed, "Fine. After we hunt the ferocious tiger, this princess will make sure to find your cousin a worthy match."
ng Qianqian flopped onto her back.
Would soone kindly rescue this ntor of yours?
For Princess Wanping, it was the first ti trying roasted rabbit in the wild. Expecting it to taste awful, she was pleasantly surprised when her first bite exploded with juicy, savory richness. It was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and totally lacked the gamy taste she had feared. The heavy seasoning slightly overpowered its natural flavor, but it was otherwise delightful.
"When did you learn to cook like this?"
"Oh, just sothing I picked up," ng Qianqian replied lifelessly, lying flat on the grass without a care.
Suddenly, a woman’s scream ca from the eastern woods: "Help! Soone, help—"
Princess Wanping froze mid-bite and ordered the guards, "Go check it out!"
The Guard Commander assigned four skilled fighters to investigate, ard with their weapons.
About fifteen minutes later, the group returned, escorting three frazzled noblewon—Miss Li from the Minister of Rites’ family, Miss Huo from the Minister of War’s family, and Tao Shiyu, who was soon to beco ng Qianqian’s sister-in-law.
It turned out the three had also entered the woods for hunting.
Miss Huo, the daughter of a general’s family, trained in martial arts and accompanied by Imperial Guards arranged by her brother, had heard the roar of a black bear. Their horses panicked, and they beca separated from the guards.
The one who scread for help just now was Tao Shiyu.
"There was such a big snake," Tao Shiyu quivered tearfully.
"It wasn’t even venomous," Miss Huo retorted.
Princess Wanping said, "I’ll have soone escort you back shortly."
The three won thanked her profusely: "Thank you, Princess Wanping."
Miss Li, who’d t ng Qianqian in the Empress’s palace and admired her wit, greeted her warmly.
Miss Huo, unfamiliar with ng Qianqian, focused her attention solely on Princess Wanping.
As for Tao Shiyu, having suffered humiliation at ng Qianqian’s hands before, she wasn’t even acknowledged by ng Qianqian.
"Are you hungry?" Princess Wanping asked.
The three won nodded slightly.
Princess Wanping turned to ng Qianqian.
Taking the hint, ng Qianqian tore off a rabbit leg and offered it to Miss Li.
Overjoyed, Miss Li accepted it. "Thank you, Young Madam Lu!"
With two rabbit legs left, Miss Huo and Tao Shiyu both gazed expectantly at ng Qianqian, already guessing who would get one first.
ng Qianqian took the remaining two rabbit legs, bit down firmly on one, and declared, "The rest, share amongst yourselves."
The two of them: "..."
ng Qianqian not only kept the rabbit legs for herself but also hoarded the fruits she had picked earlier, handing out just one each to Princess Wanping and Miss Li. The rest were saved for herself.
She sat under a large tree, leisurely snacking on the wild fruits as a palate cleanser.
Tao Shiyu approached and sat down beside her.
ng Qianqian glanced at her strangely, clutching her stash tighter. "Miss Tao, we’re not exactly close."
Tao Shiyu opened her mouth wide to speak: "I’m not here to take your fruit."
ng Qianqian said, "Even so, we’re still not close."
"Little Aunt—"
"Ah—" ng Qianqian cut her off, "Your master was expelled ages ago. I’m not your martial aunt, so stop clinging to ."
"Young Madam Lu, I was wrong before. I’m here today to apologize and hope you can forgive , giving us a chance to start again."
ng Qianqian replied, "Once a betrayer, always untrustworthy!"
On the verge of tears, Tao Shiyu pleaded, "I know I’m being presumptuous, and I understand you won’t easily forgive , but I... I have no other options, I beg you."
ng Qianqian was resolute: "Rely on yourself rather than others. Even Buddha only helps those who help themselves!"
Tao Shiyu was so taken aback she was tongue-tied for a mont before finally speaking: "Aren’t you curious about what’s happened to ?"
ng Qianqian declared firmly, "Everyone should sweep the snow from their own doorstep instead of worrying about the frost on their neighbor’s roof!"
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