Once they got further away from Prince Huo and his followers, Mingyue was no longer able to hold her laugh. "I did not expect Prince Huo could be," Mingyue coughed when she saw the princess' warning gaze. She bit on her cheek to stop herself from laughing. "Your Highness, where are we going next?"
Princess Lingchen pulled the reins, and the horse finally slowed down. She looked at the sky and said, "It's still too early to return to the camp." She turned to Yang Yun and continued, "Let's find a stream to wash up and rest."
Yang Yun nodded and guided the group towards the nearby stream. Once they unmounted their horses, a few soldiers and servant took the reins to feed their horses and rest.
The crown princess headed towards the stream with Mingyue following closely while the elite squad stood not far away from the princess to guard. Princess Lingchen crouched next to the creek and started to wash her hands.
"I guess Prince Huo is now out of the race," Mingyue commented as she sat beside the crown princess.
The princess let out a snort. Prince Huo's words just now made her cringe. It was as if thousands of ants crawling on her body. She could not handle a situation and chose to flee away. It was a good thing that Prince Huo decided not to follow her, or else, she would not know how to face him.
"I'm guessing that Prince Huo is not prince number five," The Princess said to Mingyue.
Mingyue laughed. She turned around to look at the path with worry. The Spring Hunt was organized so that the Princess could get to know the princes and perhaps marry one of them. But it seemed that other than Prince Huo, the other princes does not seem that they were interested in pursuing the princess.
"Stop worrying. We have plenty of time. The Emperor is organizing a feast tonight. There's still time to get to know the princes," Princess Lingchen said. Then, the two girls looked up when they heard footsteps approaching them.
"Your Highness," Yang Yun bowed. "What is your plan now?"
"I've caught a deer. That's good enough," Princess Lingchen said. "We still have a lot of time left. Let's stay here and rest. We'll return to the camp after a while."
Yang Yun bowed again before he went to his teams to brief them of the princess' intention. The two girls sat down beside the stream to cool down as the servants started to unpack their stuff to prepare a quick meal for the princess.
Princess Lingchen removed the binding around her wrist and let Mingyue examined her pulse.
Mingyue took a while to check on her pulse. After a while, she removed her fingers from the princess' wrist and smiled. "Everything seemed fine."
"Of course. I have the best physician looking after me," Princess Lingchen commented.
"Your praise humbles me," Mingyue said as she helped to tie the binding around the princess' wrist. When she was done, Mingyue went through her knapsack and took out a package. Then, she handed a small loaf of bread to the princess. "Eat this," Mingyue said. "It will be a while before they prepared lunch."
"Thank you," The princess grabbed the bread, tore it into small pieces, and popped it into her mouth. Soon, the sweet and savory, buttery taste spread into her mouth.
Princess Lingchen took a deep breath and enjoyed the peaceful scenery before her. It has been a while since she gets to relax and enjoy view such as this. As the Crown Princess, Princess Lingchen was always made to stay in the palace. Furthermore, the poison in her body forbade her from moving around too much or else the poison in her body would react again.
The princess leaned on the tree trunk and closed her eyes to rest. It was then that she sensed something was amiss. The Princess sat up when she noticed Mingyue's rigid body. "What is it?" The guards started to move towards her.
Mingyue placed a hand on the small dagger around her waist and frowned. "There's a heavy stench of blood," Mingyue said. "Someone's heading towards our location."