It seemed that Lu Baiwei's act of feigning death with her eyes closed had worked, for Caiyu didn't wake her up.
However, after a while, she smelled a strong odor of smoke in the carriage.
It wasn't the ordinary fragrance of incense, but a pungent smell of smoke.
Lu Baiwei's heart skipped a beat. Thinking there was a fire, she opened her eyes in a hurry, frightened.
To her surprise, as soon as she opened her eyes, a hideous mask of a ghost with a green face loomed large before her eyes.
The ghost's face looked grotesque and distorted in the light of the fire - starter, and its fangs were almost touching the tip of her nose.
By the time Lu Baiwei realized what was going on, a scream had already escaped her throat. "Ah! Ghost!"
Her pupils contracted sharply, and her eyes rolled back. She really fainted.
Caiyu snorted, threw away the mask in her hand, blew out the smoking fire - starter, and lifted the car window to let in some fresh air.
Still too inexperienced to compete with her.
Although she had to pick Lu Baiwei up in the carriage, Caiyu saw through Lu Baiwei's attempt to freeload a ride right away.
There was no free lunch in this world. Lu Baiwei could hitch a ride, but it was absolutely out of the question for her to lie on Caiyu's soft couch for the whole journey.
Caiyu pushed the unconscious Lu Baiwei off the couch and let her lie on the floor for the rest of the journey.
When Lu Baiwei woke up again, she felt as if her bones were falling apart. The carriage had just arrived at the Mulan Mountain Hunting Ground.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Song Yinghuai lifting the car curtain and helping Caiyu out of the carriage. Immediately, she let out a whimper from her mouth, struggled to get up, and rushed towards Song Yinghuai.
"Xuanyao! Xuanyao, save me! There's a ghost in the carriage!"
Song Yinghuai frowned and dodged her pounce. Then, he grabbed Caiyu, who was trying to jump out of the carriage on her own, by the waist. "What ghost?"
Lu Baiwei looked around in a fluster, babbling incoherently, not knowing how to explain.
Caiyu, with her eyes fixed on her nose and nose on her heart, said meekly, "This servant doesn't know. On the way, this servant saw Lady Lu fall out of the Crown Prince's carriage, so out of kindness, this servant gave her a ride. There was only this servant in the carriage. The ghost Lady Lu mentioned must be referring to this servant, right?"
She had already thrown the mask away on the way. There was no evidence, so she wasn't afraid at all.
Lu Baiwei remembered the terrifying scene before she fainted. That ghost face was the one Song Yongzhen had worn before he rode off.
Putting the pieces together, she immediately realized that Caiyu had been playing tricks on her.
She pointed at Caiyu and accused, "Yes! It's you! You pretended to be a ghost to scare me!"
"Xuanyao, you don't know how horrible she was. She scared me into fainting... I'm so scared."
Song Yinghuai's gaze quickly swept across Caiyu's and Lu Baiwei's faces.
Lu Baiwei's face still hadn't regained its color, which obviously meant she had been really scared.
Caiyu looked calm, as if nothing had happened.
But Song Yinghuai knew her too well. The calmer this girl seemed, the more likely there was something fishy going on.
He curled his lips into a smile and looked at Lu Baiwei.
"Junior Sister, how could there be ghosts in broad daylight? If there were ghosts, why would they only pester you and not scare Caiyu? There are no ghosts in this world. The so - called ghosts only exist in people's hearts. Junior Sister, you should do more good deeds and accumulate virtue."
Lu Baiwei stared at Song Yinghuai in disbelief. "Xuanyao... I was almost scared to death! What are you talking about?"
Even though he had been cold to her during this encounter, he had never spoken to her so harshly before.
She hadn't done anything to Caiyu either! Yet Xuanyao was so biased in protecting this dead girl!
Caiyu was also a little surprised.
She knew that Song Yinghuai had always been fair. When they were in Yanjing before, she had played a prank and pretended to be a ghost to scare the maids in the mansion, and she had been punished for it.
She never expected that this time he would protect her without bothering to find out the truth.
Even though she was still angry, her heart fluttered a little at his behavior.
Lu Baiwei wanted to cling to Song Yinghuai again, but he had already told Han Fen to pack up the carriage and left with Caiyu directly.
Lu Baiwei had been kicked out of the carriage by Song Chengyuan. But if she didn't go to serve him in time when they arrived at the hunting ground, she would be scolded again. So she had to go to Song Chengyuan's camp first.
Everyone took a rest for a night, and the hunting began the next day.
Caiyu was in a feud with Song Yinghuai, so she refused to stay in the master's camp at night. Instead, she squeezed in with the maids of the Yan Prince's Mansion for the whole night.
Song Yinghuai went to wait outside the camp early the next morning. Only to find out that Caiyu had prepared her luggage early and set off with Song Yongzhen and those young rascals.
Song Yinghuai rubbed his temples. Well, it was rare for this girl and the others to come out and have some fun. With him around, they wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Moreover, he had other important things to do today. Let Song Yongzhen and the others accompany Caiyu to relax!
Xu Buyue rode her horse closer to Song Yinghuai. "Fourth Brother, where are you going? Let's go in a group."
She glanced at the direction Song Yinghuai was riding towards. That dense forest was outside the hunting ground, deep in the primeval forest. She couldn't help but frown.
"You're not going into the mountains to capture that giant python, are you?"
Mulan Mountain was a large mountain range covering hundreds of thousands of acres. There were criss - crossing mountains and lush vegetation, and many rare and precious animals lived there.
But the area around the hunting ground was on the edge of the mountainous area. It was enclosed for the nobles and aristocratic families to hunt and have fun. Beyond the hunting ground and deeper into the mountains, it was extremely dangerous.
The giant python Xu Buyue mentioned was just one of the dangers.
The giant python originally lived in a deeper and unknown area, but during the summer flood last month, it was washed to the outer area of the mountain.
This outer area was usually frequented by people. Sometimes, merchants traveling from south to north would pass through the outer area of the hunting ground to save time. Who would have thought that there was a giant python here.
In just one month, more than twenty people had disappeared in this area.
Liu Wangfei, the Prefect of the Capital, organized a group of government officials to search for the python in the mountains. They almost suffered a complete defeat. So this matter was reported to the court.
Song Yinghuai replied, "The prescription Master Guangzhi prepared for my mother lacks a snake gall of a century - old giant python. I just heard that there's a giant python in Mulan Mountain, and it has taken the lives of innocent people. Naturally, I have to go and find it. On the one hand, I can get the gall, and on the other hand, I can also eliminate harm for the people."
Xu Buyue looked at Song Yinghuai with her heroic eyes, and the admiration in her eyes grew stronger.
The reason why she had taken a fancy to Song Yinghuai was that the Yan Prince was not only a man of great talent and strategy but also had a compassionate heart.
He was filial to his mother and dedicated to the country and the people.
"I'm going too." Xu Buyue urged her horse forward. "It's extremely dangerous outside the hunting ground. I'm not at ease if you go alone."
Seeing that Song Yinghuai seemed to be about to refuse, she added, "I'm the organizer of this hunting. I must be responsible for your safety. If Fourth Brother is going outside the hunting ground, of course I have to follow."
"Don't worry. I was born into a military family. I'm as capable as a man and will never hold you back."
Song Yinghuai glanced at her.
The brocade cloak on the girl's shoulders fluttered in the wind. Her eyes showed a solemn and cold light, exuding a kind of sharpness.
Well, since she was the organizer of the hunting, he had no right to refuse. Let her follow.
"As a guest, I'll follow your lead, Princess. Please." After saying that, Song Yinghuai clamped his horse's belly and rushed into the dense forest like a shooting star.
True to her reputation as a heroic woman, Xu Buyue was not willing to be outdone. She urged her horse to follow closely behind and was not left behind by Song Yinghuai.
On the other side, Wen Zilong was on his horse, listening to the intelligence gathered by the servants of the Wen family.
"This humble one has found out that the nine - colored deer was last seen in the northwest direction outside the hunting ground."
Wen Zilong looked in the northwest direction. That was the most desolate area of the entire hunting ground, which was indeed the kind of place where timid creatures like deer liked to hide.
He had a clear goal and was afraid that someone would steal the credit and hunt the deer first. So he immediately led the servants of the Wen family in that direction.
Xiao Rencheng watched him leave from behind. His sharp eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a confident smile on his lips. Then he also rode his horse and followed Wen Zilong.
At this time, Han Fen and the others were driving a precious elk.
The elk's fur had been dyed colorful with nine - colored dyes and was running around in the forest.
But this area was full of people from the Yan Prince's Mansion. They were lurking in all directions, preventing the elk from running out of the encirclement.
And in the area where the elk was running now, there were many hunting traps set up by the hunters.
They were just waiting for Wen Zilong to walk into the trap.