Autumn Hunt

Zhao Mingyu knelt down as nature's scent wafted into his nose and assessed the forest floor. He was preparing for a nice hunt.

His brown eyes searched for any evidence of large animals: broken branches, damaged trunks, chewed-up leaves, game trails—anything that would show an animal had been there. He was sure that the fourth prince had assigned him the least favorable hunting trail, and he was happy for it. But his inspection proved the opposite.

The amount of evidence of large animal activity was overwhelming, and this would surely disrupt the plans he had for the grounds.

Zhao Mingyu walked deeper into the forest, trying to find a place with the least presence of game, and there it was. The place he discovered had large paw prints, indicating predators nearby, but this wasn't a hindrance. In fact, it was the perfect spot.

Mingyu scanned the assortment of trees, looking for a nice spot to relax, and he found it—a large tree with strong-looking branches. He had prepared some scented pouches with repellent spices that might deter predators and other nuisances from disturbing his rest.

He climbed up the tree and soon made himself comfortable. The speeches and the fanfare of the whole Autumn hunt ritual had bored him. Who wanted to kill a stag for 20 points, or a bear for 40, or a tiger for 50? It was too much work. It was better for him to relax and enjoy his free day without any of the stupid royal duties. Not that he cared to do them well, but it was good to have a free day that he didn't have to create for himself, just to nap and laze around.

Instead, he could hunt a 3-point rabbit or a 5-point pheasant—or, if an eagle did show up, he wouldn't mind challenging it. But 25 points was as high as he would go. For now, he was content to sleep and let the other princes, the emperor, and those haughty nobles enjoy this so-called hunt.

The cool breeze, the quiet surroundings, and the taste of fresh forest air made a suitable environment to take Mingyu to dreamland, and that it did. There, like many times before, he met his 'twin sister.'

The conversation had become so recurrent that he could practically recite it line by line. Accusations of stealing her life, her family, and her chance to be human were always what greeted him, but recently, she decided to change her tune. Of course, she still reminded him of the life he stole, but it was as if she also knew these past three years had been the worst time of his brother's life, so how could she not comfort her twin brother?

But today, she was not there to complain or offer comfort, but to warn him.

"Brother, you are about to lose yet another dear person in your life."

Mingyu's lips widened, almost breaking into laughter.

"Who is this other dear person? You?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

"It's not me, but the one who took my place as your sister," the voice replied before the strange female apparition, which had quite a striking resemblance to his mother, disappeared, and Mingyu was back from slumber.

He sat up high in the tree, his mind contemplating whether to believe the figure from his dreams or to go back to sleep and continue enjoying his nap. He was about to do the latter, but the thought of losing Li Xiulan was unbearable. He couldn't afford to lose another loved one, so even if the source was an apparition, if there was a chance his loyal maid was in danger, he was going to make sure to stop it.

Zhao Mingyu climbed down the tree before hurriedly turning back toward the direction he had come from. He headed to the camp where the participants, staff, and all other attendees of the Hunt—such as the empress, favored consorts, favored concubines, and some noble daughters, most of whom were there for marriage purposes—were.

He scrambled, looking for her in the sea of maids and other staff, but he couldn't find her anywhere, which slightly panicked him. But he soon calmed himself before questioning other maids and attendants who might know her, and after a lot of "I haven't seen her" responses, he finally got a lead, even though it was a weak one.

A young maid, maybe 13 or 14 years old, said she had spotted Li Xiulan heading toward the direction of the hunting grounds, pointing back toward the trail Mingyu had come from. Although she knew the general direction, that was all she knew.

As soon as Mingyu heard that, he took a horse, which he had previously refused to ride, and headed back to his trail, moving forward with it, scanning the areas he rode through for signs of Li Xiulan.

As he rode, he passed a stag, 7 pheasants, and 5 rabbits, but none of those creatures caught his eye. He was focused on looking for Xiulan's silhouette through the simple plain hanfu that maids wore. He then searched for her facial features: long black hair, an oval-shaped face with a soft but slightly pointy chin, grey eyes, and a straight nose.

He searched thoroughly, but nothing more than trees or game appeared. Finally, after a while, he found them. Mingyu climbed off his horse to analyze the clues.

Torn fabric from a maid's tunic, he thought. This must have belonged to Xiulan. He studied the area carefully, and the scene told him all he needed to know. It was a chase, but from the type of footprints on the ground, Xiulan was not being chased by animals, but by humans.

Mingyu jumped back onto his horse, preparing his bow for an attack as he followed the mixture of human and horse footprints.

At the far end of a cliff was a girl dangling like a piece of meat, surrounded by men like hyenas, waiting for a piece of meat to drop so they could devour it.

Mingyu had noticed them and had already climbed down from the horse, hoping to approach them as stealthily as possible. He had not seen the face of the girl, but the clothes and torn fabric were a huge giveaway.

Before Mingyu could do anything, however, another person arrived at the scene, like a knight in shining armor. It was General Su's daughter, Su Mei, the only girl participating in the hunt. What was she doing here?