Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Liu San Niang accepted the order and left, the door panel closing gently behind her.

Xi Yueli stood alone beside the desk. Moonlight streamed in through the open window, covering the floor. She looked down at the white cloth wrapped around her ribs, where blood had seeped through the cloth, leaving a faint red stain.

Her heartbeat was steady, her palms were dry, and her wrists, which had been marked with purplish-red welts by hemp ropes in Jinxian Courtyard, remained motionless as she gripped the hilt of the knife.

In the past, she could only be tied up and put on a mule cart.

In the past, when she was forced to drink talisman water, she could only bite her wrist to keep herself from making a sound.

In the past, she even had to feign madness to fool two servants when she escaped from the Xi family mansion.

She stood in the Imperial Preceptor's Hall of the Northern Shuo Royal Court, her feet resting on the fallen assassin's dagger, with members of the Dark Pavilion cleaning up her mess. She no longer needed anyone to untie her ropes.

Xi Yueli looked down at her hands, spread them out on the table, palms facing up, her ten fingers relaxed and stretched out. Since the day she left Jinxian Courtyard, these hands had been gradually regaining their own strength.

The autumn hunt is the biggest event for the Northern Shuo royal court every year before winter.

According to the rules established by the late king, on the day of the autumn hunt, civil officials would accompany the troops to observe the ceremony, military generals would ride horses to hunt, and members of the royal family would display their skills. This was not only to test the cavalry and archery of the border troops, but also to set a good precedent for the spring hunt in the following year.

After Tuoba Lie took over the autumn hunting affairs, this day gradually became an important occasion for him to demonstrate his military strength and win over the hearts of the soldiers.

When Xi Yueli received the imperial decree to accompany him, she was behind her desk copying the remaining pages of the military supplies accounts.

The scroll handed over by the eunuch read, "Three days of autumn hunting in the hunting grounds, the Imperial Preceptor accompanied the procession to observe the ceremony." According to the custom of the Northern Shuo, the Imperial Preceptor was always required to accompany the procession in order to preside over the prayer ceremony during the hunting grounds sacrifice.

But Fu Yuan's memories told Xi Yue Li that Tuoba Lie would arrange "accidents" during the autumn hunt every year. Sometimes it was a horse getting spooked, sometimes it was an arrow going astray. They were not fatal, but they were enough to embarrass the person targeted in front of the entire court.

The day we set off was sunny and clear. The autumn in the north was drier than in the south, and the wind carried the scent of withered grass and earth.

A long line of soldiers stood on the official road outside the royal court, their armor gleaming coldly in the morning light, their banners fluttering in the wind.

King Tuoba Zhao rode at the very front of the procession on a pure white horse. His Xuanqing cavalry attire was neat, and he wore a long sword that was two fingers narrower than an ordinary sword, a standard design for hunting grounds.

Xi Yueli's carriage followed half a step behind the king's entourage. With a corner of the curtain lifted, she could see the king's back as he rode his horse.

Tuoba Zhao rode at the head of the procession on a white horse, dressed in dark blue riding attire, with a narrow-bladed longsword at his waist, and his hair was tied up tightly with a silver hairpin with a dragon pattern.

Her posture was as upright as a mountain, controlling the horse's speed. Her hands on the reins were steady yet relaxed, a posture that Fu Yuan had taught her for three years. Her back was slightly leaning forward, her knees were close to the horse's belly, and the reins were loosely draped between her fingers, ready to deal with any sudden events.

Before setting off, Tuoba Lie rode his tall, chestnut horse past the side of the procession. As he passed by her, he reined in his horse, the sound just loud enough for the officials in the rows in front and behind to hear.

"Your Majesty's horsemanship seems to be more stable this year than last year. Grand Preceptor Fu Yuan went early and taught you everything you needed to."

The words sounded like praise, but Tuoba Zhao understood that he was reminding her that the person who used to stand up for her was no longer there.

What good would it do to remind her that she has learned riding skills? The Beishuo riding and archery tradition emphasizes the decisiveness and aura on the hunting grounds, the imposing presence on horseback, and the courage to suppress an entire team during a charge. These are things that Fu Yuan has never taught her, because Fu Yuan himself does not possess them.

The king's fingers tightened slightly on the reins, then slowly loosened. From the side and behind, one would only think that the king was riding his horse as smoothly as ever, his light amber eyes calmly fixed on the end of the official road ahead.

The hunting grounds were set up on a wide meadow thirty miles north of Shuojing City. After the camps were set up, the drums for the first hunt of the afternoon sounded.

Tuoba Lie stood at the entrance of the hunting grounds on his horse and gave the order. His dark red python robe was covered with a layer of light armor. When he reined in his horse and looked back, his voice was like a bell. Behind him were more than thirty hunters, half of whom were military officers and half of whom were members of the royal family. Their horses were strong and their bows and arrows were in good order.

Tuoba Zhao's mount was led to the middle of the hunting party, near the front. She mounted the horse with a swift movement, and her figure in dark blue riding attire stood out as particularly slender among the armored figures in the sunlight.

Shen Qingya rode his horse to the left of the hunting party. As the eldest son of the Left Prime Minister, he was dressed in a dark blue outfit, his back hunched over his shoulders, with a quiver hanging from his left waist.

After mounting his horse, he did not straighten his back and show off his riding posture like the other generals. Instead, he sat loosely on the saddle, but beneath that relaxed posture was the confidence of someone who had been immersed in archery and horsemanship for many years.

He lowered his head to straighten the bowstring, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the back of the figure in dark blue riding attire ahead. The smile on his lips was so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

As before, the Regent led the way, surrounded by royal guards and generals. The Queen was nestled in the safest spot in the middle of the procession, where she neither needed to rush to the front to hunt nor worry about wild beasts attacking from the flanks. Everyone was clearing a path for her.

Shen Qingya lowered his head and continued to straighten the bowstring, suppressing his dissatisfaction. The autumn hunt in Beishuo happened every year, and it was always the same scene.

The king has been sitting on his throne for ten years, reciting the words "approved." But does she know who holds the military power in Beishuo, whose people have infiltrated the border defenses little by little, and how the 230,000 tael hole in the military supplies department was dug?

As he nocked his bow and looked up, a commotion arose at the front of the hunting party.

A wild goose was startled from the depths of the bushes, its two gray plumes rising from the ground and soaring into the sky. Shen Qingya's horse had already moved before he even thought of it. Raising his hand, nocking the arrow, and drawing the bow, the three movements flowed together as naturally as water.

When the first arrow caught up, the flock of geese had already flown into the air. The arrow pierced the air and struck the chest and abdomen of the goose on the left wing. The second arrow followed closely behind, and the goose on the right wing was caught by the arrow tail just as it changed direction.

Two wild geese landed one after the other on the meadow, and cheers erupted from the hunting party. Someone from the royal family shouted praises, and the generals reined in their horses and glanced back at him, their eyes showing a hint of reassessment.

Shen Qingya put away his bow, his face still bearing that gentle, smiling expression, and glanced sideways in the direction of the king.

He saw Tuoba Zhao sitting upright on her horse, sunlight falling on her profile as she raised her wrist to clap. He turned his gaze back to his bowstring, and his dissatisfaction deepened.

Suddenly, a roe deer startled by an arrow leaped out from the depths of the bushes. Tuoba Zhao's white horse was positioned in the middle of the hunting party, near the front.

She was originally escorted by two guards on horseback on each side, with the four riders forming a diamond shape to protect her mount in the center, which was the usual arrangement of the royal entourage at the autumn hunting grounds.

Half an hour earlier, Tuoba Lie, citing the reason that "the hunting party's formation is too dense and it is easy to accidentally injure others", dispersed two of the four guards around the king to the flanks to block the gap in the bushes.

The remaining two riders simultaneously pulled on their reins and tried to get closer the moment the horse was startled. However, the white horse veered off course and got stuck on the edge of a shallow ditch. The rider on the left had his legs blocked by the ditch, while the rider on the right was stopped half a step by the roe deer's second charge. Both guards were too slow.

In that brief moment, the white horse's hind hooves stepped on the loose gravel.

Shen Qingya was closest to her. The moment the white horse swerved, he turned sideways, reached out with his right hand to grab the queen's waist, and pulled her off the saddle.