"Ah—"
"Ah!"
"Ah..."
Shrill screams echoed everywhere. I reined in my horse sharply and galloped out through a gap in the crowd. As soon as Aoqing saw me, she immediately chased after me from the outer periphery of the circle. Unfortunately, when I shot out the golden needles, Her Highness the princess refrained from charging forward in order to maintain her dignity, so she wasn't hit by the needles smeared with itching powder.
That's right. At the critical moment when I was almost violated, I fired the life - saving golden needles my mother had given me. These needles came in two types: poisonous and non - poisonous. The poisonous ones were further divided into those with deadly toxins and those with itching toxins for punishment. I didn't want to take lives, nor did I want to let them off easily, so I used the ones smeared with itching powder.
This threw the female archery team into complete chaos. The group of women cried and laughed hysterically. Aoqing whipped her horse and caught up with me, but didn't dare to get any closer.
"You witch! How dare you play dirty tricks right under my nose! Despicable!" Even though she was still about ten feet away from me, her voice was full of rage.
I sneered, "What? Your Highness chased me all the way here. Do you... want to have a taste too?"
After saying that, I made a gesture as if I was about to shoot another needle. She was startled and immediately turned her horse around, shouting, "You just wait for me..."
"Humph, coward!" I scorned her.
At this moment, Yu'er and Yinghan spurred their horses and caught up with me. But when they saw me, their faces were full of worry. "Princess Xihe, you've really caused a huge problem this time."
I didn't take it seriously. "What? They're allowed to bully me, but I'm not allowed to fight back?"
Yu'er and Yinghan just shook their heads and said, "The female archery team is not to be trifled with. You've caused such a big commotion today. I'm afraid they won't let you off easily in the future!"
I wondered what they could do to me even if they didn't let me off. Did they think I'd stay in Beihan forever? And if I had just taken their beatings today, would they really have let me go? I'm afraid they would have become even more ruthless. People always like to bully the weak, especially those who don't fight back.
I said, "I didn't start this. Even if this matter blows up, I'm not afraid." Then I spurred my horse and left.
I galloped freely for a while, feeling extremely exhilarated. But after the exhilaration came the loneliness of being in a strange place alone. All my victories seemed meaningless at this moment. So I let my horse walk aimlessly for a few steps, then turned around and rode back to the palace.
As soon as I entered the palace, I sensed that the atmosphere was off. Everyone looked at me with fear. I was suspicious but pretended to be calm. I returned to my residence. But just as I was about to rest, I was summoned to the Hetai Hall.
The Hetai Hall was the place where noblewomen in the Beihan harem were sent when they committed crimes. Usually, the Law - enforcing Lady Official would preside over such matters.
I guessed that Aoqing must have gone to complain to the Lady Official in the palace. I was about to go there and argue with her. But on the way, all I heard was...
"Alas, I never thought this princess could be so vicious..."
"Humph, it's just because she's a princess from Dayong that she acts so recklessly! What's so great about being a princess? The queen of Dayong was even executed by us..."
"Shh... keep your voice down!"
"Alright, I know!"
On the way, the maids who stepped aside when they saw my carriage all whispered about me behind my back. The gist of their gossip was that I was vicious. So I realized that something was wrong.
Sure enough, as soon as I entered the Hetai Hall, I saw Princess Aoqing sobbing while holding the Law - enforcing Lady Official's hand. Between sobs, she said that it was the first time she had seen such a terrifying scene.
The Law - enforcing Lady Official kept a cold face all the time. When she saw me, she asked what had happened today and why I had poisoned the female archers.
Just as I was about to speak, Aoqing burst into louder sobs and said, "It's because she accidentally intruded into a restricted area and had a conflict with the guarding female archers. By chance, we passed by and asked what was going on. Who would have thought that when she saw so many of us, she thought we were going to bully her and attacked us defensively..."
I was furious at her distortion of the truth. "I didn't intrude into a restricted area. It was you who brought a large group of people over and surrounded me, not letting me leave..."
Aoqing immediately interrupted me. "Yes, I did bring a large group of people over, but we had no intention of attacking. It was you who attacked first. The female archers who were responsible for protecting you at that time can testify!"
"Haha, ridiculous. Are you brave enough to summon them here to confront me face - to - face?"
"Why not?! Are you brave enough to let them come and confront you?" Aoqing retorted.
I was so angry that I laughed. "Let's have a confrontation then. Who's afraid of who?" At that time, I was still young and didn't understand people's hearts well. I just believed that the truth would always come to light. I never thought that a princess could be so arrogant because of her complicated background, which was powerful enough to determine many people's fates.
So when Yu'er and Yinghan were summoned and firmly insisted that I was the one who attacked first, I felt as if my belief in "justice will prevail" had been slapped hard.
"You're lying! You clearly saw that they bullied me first!" I was extremely dissatisfied. But the Law - enforcing Lady Official took out a golden needle and asked me, "Is this needle yours?"
"So what if it is?" I was still immersed in my anger and didn't notice the Lady Official's frown. The Lady Official glanced at everyone and said, "Alright, there's no need to say more about this. Please give them the antidote."
I was very indignant but said, "Why should I? It was her who bullied me first!"
The Law - enforcing Lady Official said, "Regardless of who bullied whom, the punishment you've given them is enough. Go and neutralize the poison. Otherwise, people will say that you're so young but already know how to use such a vicious poison."
"Vicious? It's just some itching powder." I thought the Lady Official was overreacting.
Unexpectedly, the Lady Official just shook her head and clapped her hands. "Come, bring them in!"
At this moment, more than a dozen medical maids carried in some women in female archery uniforms. They were all groaning in pain, and their faces were completely ulcerated. When the team leader saw me, she reached out to grab me but weakly cursed, "Bitch..."
I was startled by her rotten and hideous face and was about to step back, but the Law - enforcing Lady Official held me steady. The coldness of her hand seeped through my clothes and into my arm, but her voice was still formal. "Please neutralize the poison, Princess."
"I didn't administer this poison..." I murmured and shook my head. All I used was itching powder. When did it turn into this?
Seeing that I refused to step forward, Aoqing shouted, "You're still acting! Lady Official, look. She must be trying to shift the blame. She must be deliberately not wanting to cure them."
The Law - enforcing Lady Official's face darkened. She glared at Aoqing. "Princess Aoqing, don't be rude."
Then the Lady Official patiently explained to me, "Princess Xihe, you're a distinguished guest from Dayong. But since you're in Beihan now, you should abide by the rules here just like the other princesses and princesses in the Beihan palace. If you neutralize the poison today, we won't pursue this matter any further. You don't want such a trivial matter to affect the relationship between our two countries, do you?"