Lin Qing was also in severe pain. In his state, even if he stayed, he probably wouldn’t be able to hunt any prey.
Hearing the Little Fifth Princess’s words again, he couldn’t help but nod as he spoke with a pale face, “I will go back to the palace once I report to the emperor.”
Lin Feilu patted the hare hanging on her horse’s back, “Then I’ll return with you!”
Emperor Lin knocked a bow and arrow in front of him as he eagerly scanned for any signs of prey. He turned around with a frown plastered on his face when he heard a guard inform him about the Crown Prince’s unfit condition that resulted in his early absence. Originally, the Emperor wanted to criticise the Crown Prince for ruining his mood, but as he got closer, he saw that the boy truly didn’t look well, so he left it at that.
After the two children reported their intentions to leave early, they were escorted back to the palace by a small group of guards.
It was still early in the morning as the sunlight shone through a layer of dense foliage, adding a sense of remoteness to the already silent mountain forest.
Lin Qing was unwell and had no strength to speak. Lin Feilu rode her horse beside him, but she didn’t try to stir conversation as she was worried that it might worsen his condition. From time to time however, she turned her head around to look at him for fear that he might fall off his horse’s back out of pain.
The speed of the group was rather slow. Lin Qing noticed his sister’s worried look and couldn’t help but smile, “I’m fine, I feel much better than before.”
Lin Feilu saw that his facial expressions actually seemed to appear to be slightly better, so she pursed her lips and nodded before asking, “Brother Crown Prince, have you eaten something bad? Or do you always have stomach pains?”
Stomach pains were no trivial matter. In this era, if an issue occurred with one’s internal organs, they would have no choice but to wait for their impending death.
Lin Qing recalled the food he had yesterday and shook his head, “Everyone in the Royal Food Sector examined the food and there was no problem at all; perhaps I just caught a bad cold last night.”
Lin Feilu said, “Okay, but you should still see the imperial doctor later.”
The two were still talking to each other when a large group of birds suddenly sprang up from the silent woods, rushing to fly towards the sky as the leaves of the trees swayed and rustled. Immediately afterwards, the horses under their saddles also began to neigh uncomfortably whilst circling around in their positions.
Lin Qing’s expression froze as he looked around.
The guard next to him also spoke vigilantly, “The birds and the horses are uneasy; I am afraid that there might be beasts around.”
Another guard said, “But we’re already on the edge of the forest— there shouldn’t be beasts lingering here at all.”
Lin Feilu’s little white horse kept raising its hooves. She was not good at riding and could barely control its anxiousness. Hence, she could only hold on to the reins and speak to Lin Qing tremblingly, “Brother Crown Prince, let’s hurry up…”
Before she finished speaking, a deafening roar of a tiger suddenly resounded from the depths of the forest.
Barely a second later, a huge and ferocious tiger suddenly jumped out from the dense bushes. Everyone in the group wasn’t even able to react when the tiger immediately pounced towards Lin Qing.
Several horses were startled at the same time. Facing the intimidation of the king of beasts, the horse that Lin Qing rode on let out a panicked neigh as it raised its front hooves upwards and ran wildly.