Seventh Brother, I heard you haven't ridden a horse much. It's the perfect time for your third brother to teach you, the Third Prince laughed, holding a heavy bow in his hand.
The other princes followed behind the Third Prince, their eyes full of malice.
The Second Prince frowned slightly. Consort Shu had said that the Third Prince bullying Xiao Yanchen was instigated by Little Shunzi. Now that Little Shunzi wasn't here, wasn't he still bullying him just as happily?
To be honest, he really did dislike Xiao Yanchen, but to hover around him all day long just to torment him, wasn't it tiresome...
The Third Prince watched the Second Prince ride away and called out, Second Brother, aren't you going to play with us?
The Second Prince rode on and said impatiently, I'm going to practice archery with the instructor.
The other princes exchanged glances, and a few followed the Second Prince.
They didn't know if this was just a casual conversation or a matter of taking sides between the Noble Consort and Consort Shu.
The Third Prince's face turned incredibly ugly as he cursed inwardly, Hypocrite.
He must be thrilled that Imperial Father praised him today.
Thinking about what happened in the Imperial Study, the Third Prince felt a surge of pent-up anger.
He rode his horse in a circle around Xiao Yanchen and smiled, Seventh Brother, have you ever played cat and mouse? Today, you are the mouse. As long as you can run past this fence, you win.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Third Prince and the princes beside him instantly surrounded him.
The game had begun.
This wasn't archery; it was a hunt.
Xiao Yanchen clumsily gripped the horse's back with his legs. Imitating how he had seen others ride, he gripped the reins tightly, desperate to break out of the encirclement.
However, the other princes were all riding fine tribute horses. They deliberately rode close to Xiao Yanchen and viciously whipped the old horse beneath him.
The old horse neighed continuously in pain and darted around wildly.
Xiao Yanchen held onto the reins tightly, tears swirling in his eyes. If he hadn't chosen this horse, it wouldn't be bullied like this.
But he had no other way now. He leaned tightly against the horse's back. The hands gripping the reins were already torn, blood directly dyeing the reins red.
Run! Run faster! Run, Seventh Brother!
The Third Prince screamed, his face filled with excitement. Looking at the limping horse in front of him, he couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.
Doesn't he know how to ride a horse now?
While screaming, he plucked the bowstring in his hand, constantly intimidating Xiao Yanchen.
Not far away, the Second Prince glanced in the direction of the racecourse and then went back to completing his own archery coursework.
The Third Prince's study companion had been watching coldly from the sidelines. Just as Xiao Yanchen was about to break through, he rammed his horse directly into Xiao Yanchen's.
Get lost!
Xiao Yanchen's eyes were terrifyingly red. He drew the bow and arrow from his back, wanting to resist.
But in the next second, the Third Prince swung his riding crop, sending the arrow in Xiao Yanchen's hand flying, and leaving a bloody welt across his brow bone in the process.
The scrawny horse finally couldn't hold on. Rammed by the other horses, it crashed heavily onto the frozen ground.
Xiao Yanchen was thrown directly off. He rolled several times on the grass, his body twitching continuously as he curled up in the snow, barely breathing.
Several horses galloped up to him, kicking up dirt that splashed right onto him. The riders looked down at him from above, sneered, and then rode away.
The cold wind blew endlessly, and a thin layer of snow gradually covered his frail body.
The sound of hooves had faded away. Xiao Yanchen's face was pressed against the frozen earth. He could only hear the howling wind and his own labored breathing. He was in so much pain that he didn't even have the strength to stand up.
He watched the snow drifting down from the sky, his gaze unfocused.
He used to think that as long as he didn't cause trouble, reading by himself in the corner of the Imperial Study, and not even bothering the teacher with questions, everything would be fine.
But now he knew that it was all just him deceiving himself...
Even if he hid in the furthest corner and tried his best not to anger anyone, they would still come to bully him, and even worse than before.
He tried hard to recall his mother's face, but her face was like this snow, entirely melted into the ground; he couldn't see it clearly at all. During these years in the Ru Hui Palace, through countless dark nights, anyone could beat or curse him at will.
Xiao Yanchen struggled to turn his head. Looking at the dying old horse beside him, he felt his heart suddenly clench.
I'm sorry...
If it weren't for him, this horse wouldn't have suffered at all. It was all his fault...
Xiao Yanchen felt his eyelids growing heavier. Just as he curled up his body, his fingertips accidentally brushed against the red string on his wrist.
He thought of Ji Zhaoxi again.
He thought of her lowering her head to apply medicine for him under the dim candlelight; he thought of her bringing him food; he thought of her holding his hand, going together to the archery tower to watch the fireworks...
If he died, he would never see Xiao Xizi again.
Xiao Xizi...
Xiao Yanchen finally burst into tears. Large teardrops fell onto the snowy ground. All his despair finally found an outlet. He curled up into a ball, crying so hard that his whole body trembled.
One day, one day he would repay the suffering he endured a thousand, ten thousand times over to them...
The wind wasn't very strong tonight, and it was quiet outside, but the courtyard was extremely lively. An impatient cat flicked its tail and jumped out the window.
Hoo—hoo—snore!
Eunuch Liu's snoring was deafening, the final trailing sound even carrying a little trill that made the window paper vibrate along with it.
He lay flat on the bed, mouth wide open, snoring incessantly. Occasionally he would choke on his own breath and mutter something incomprehensible.
Ji Zhaoxi stood beside Eunuch Liu waiting for quite a while. Seeing that he truly had no reaction, she held her breath, hunched over like a cat, and opened the door.
The door suddenly let out a creak. Ji Zhaoxi froze and listened carefully to the sounds in the room. Seeing that the snoring had gone up another pitch, she finally felt relieved enough to slip out.
She knew it was Eunuch Liu snoring. She had previously complained that Eunuch Liu's snoring was too loud, keeping her awake, but Eunuch Liu insisted that she was the one snoring and that she had woken herself up.
She really should get someone else to listen and act as her witness!
Ji Zhaoxi brought a bottle of medicinal ointment and a fox fur collar. The fox fur collar was something she had pieced together bit by bit from the defective goods in the Internal Affairs Department.
Although the patchwork was a bit ugly, it was still a fox fur collar after all. Her little underling didn't even have a collar, leaving his neck completely bare.
When Ji Zhaoxi ran to the Ru Hui Palace, she didn't see Xiao Yanchen. She found it a bit strange; could it be that Xiao Yanchen had been kept back by the teacher again?
She wanted to go out and look for him, but she happened to run into guards patrolling with lanterns, so she had to hide in a corner.
Seeing the guards leave, she sneaked out. Just then, she suddenly saw a familiar silhouette by the rockery.
Xiao He was hiding by the rockery, covering her mouth, her shoulders trembling continuously.
