Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

  Junjue suddenly cowered in fear. It was too scary. Should he just choose to kill her instead?

  The warmth in his arms caused him to throw away this idea. To his surprise, in the blink of an eye, the thought disappeared.

  Junjue was stunned for a moment. After that, he gave up and hugged Ming Shu.

  Ming Shu took the chance to put him down, but Junjue didn’t let her go. She could only lie against his chest.

  “Can you let go of me?”


  “No.”


  Ming Shu: “.……”


  Ming Shu pulled out the blanket that he was lying on and covered both of them with it. Junjue shifted to hug her waist.

  Ming Shu couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t want to play with him any longer and fell asleep on his body.

  Junjue knew that she had fallen asleep. Her breathing was calm. She was such a small girl, yet her aura was so huge.

  His fingers slowly moved upward and reached her neck.

  He just needed to use a bit more force and he could……

  Junjue’s heart pounded quickly. His fingers started shaking and his breathing got erratic. The air froze, as though waiting for him to make a decision.

  The time passed.

  A quiet sigh sounded in the night……

  Junjue didn’t have a good sleep. He was really tired the next day. When Ming Shu brought him to the hunting ground, he just lowered his head and didn’t look at anyone.

  When she woke up this morning, she gave him a strange look. He didn’t know if she knew what happened last night.

  There was another person that was very tired too. It was Ning Furong. She stood guard outside the palace the whole night.

  As for the other youngsters, they were very excited. They pulled their horses and stood below. Some officials entered the hunting too while others watched them from the platforms that were built beforehand.

  After the complicated opening ceremony of the autumn hunt and after Ming Shu promised a reward for the one that hunted the most animals, the autumn hunt officially started.

  The youngsters rode on their horses and rushed into the woods excitedly.

  “Don’t you want to try?” Ming Shu looked at the weary Junjue.

  Everyone in the Purple Moon Nation knew how to ride a horse and shoot arrows. However, the Afterglow Nation was different. Besides those people who learned martial arts, almost no one else knew how to do it. They advocated studying.

  Hence, of course, Junjue didn’t know how to ride a horse and shoot arrows.

  “Will you take me?”


  Ming Shu smiled. “I can ask General Meng Liang to take you.”


  Junjue looked toward Meng Liang. Meng Liang looked over too and their eyes met. Sparks seemed to appear in the air.

  Junjue sneered in his heart and looked away. He took the glass of wine on his table and drank it quickly.

  Ming Shu suddenly said, “Fellow subordinates, why are you all sitting here? If you want to have a chat, you can resign and go back home to do it. This is not the place for you to have a conversation.”


  The ministers: “.……”


  Why were they targeted when they didn’t do anything!

  For this autumn hunt, people above the age of 50 were banned from coming. Hence, all the officials present were people that were able to ride a horse and participate in the hunting.

  However, some of them were old officials from the Afterglow Nation. Even if they could ride a horse, they didn’t know how to hunt…… Was the Empress trying to shame them?

  “Prime Minister, why don’t you lead the way.” Ming Shu looked at Ning Furong.

  Ning Furong: “.……”


  She controlled her anger. “Yes, Your Majesty.”


  Ning Furong walked to the horse that the horseman brought over and flipped onto the saddle. Her handsome posture won a round of applause.

  “Your Majesty, shall we have a competition?” Ning Furong threw a challenge at Ming Shu.

  “No.” Ming Shu waved her hand, not caring about her image at all. “Tonight’s dinner depends on you, Lady Prime Minister. All the best!”


  Ning Furong: “.……”


  Junjue: “.……” What the hell!

  Such a quick rejection.

  What happened to your dignity as an empress! Was your dignity eaten!

  Ning Furong was a subordinate. If she still continued after Ming Shu had rejected her, she might be charged for being disrespectful.

  Once Ning Furong left, the other officials had to get onto the horses no matter how unwilling they were. They held their complaint towards Ming Shu and entered the forest.

  The surroundings quieted down.

  Ming Shu pulled at Junjue who was drinking wine and ordered people to help him onto a horse. She then sat behind him.

  “You all don’t have to follow me.”


  “That is not possible, Your Majesty!”


  “Your Majesty! You can’t act alone.”


  Lianxin and Meng Liang rejected her at the same time.

  “Jia!” Meng Liang kicked the horse’s side and the horse rushed out. Meng Liang had no way of stopping her.

  Meng Liang turned and got onto a horse. He shouted hurriedly, “Hurry up and catch up with the empress!”


  Lianxin got onto a horse too and chased their empress along with Meng Liang.

  It was easy for Ming Shu to lose them. Within a short time, there were no sounds behind them.

  After galloping for some distance, Ming Shu slowed down.

  The trees in the forest had turned yellow and the autumn breeze was refreshing.

  Junjue was still thinking about how to improve their relationship when Ming Shu suddenly pulled her arrow and fired it.

  A pheasant was hit. It struggled for a while and then died.

  Junjue though that she was here to hunt but after hitting two pheasants, she washed them with spring water and then started a fire to barbecue them.

  What!

  She even brought seasoning!

  The meat of pheasants was delicious. After adding in the seasoning, the fragrance floated far and wide. Little Beastie popped its head out of Ming Shu’s chest and stared at the barbecued bird on the fire.

  Poop-picker!

  I want to eat too!

  “What is that?” Junjue pointed at the ball that popped out of Ming Shu’s chest.

  Ming Shu took Little Beastie out and placed him at her side. Little Beastie jumped toward the fire.

  Junjue didn’t get any reply from Ming Shu and wanted to catch Little Beastie. Little Beastie immediately stared at him angrily and its fur exploded. It rolled to the side and even roared furiously.

  Junjue: “.……”


  What the hell is this!

  It is not in the storyline!

  Junjue looked at Ming Shu and the angry-looking creature as they fought for the barbecued pheasant…… My life feels so dark.

  Let me go back!

  “Don’t move!”


  Junjue froze on the spot. “Your Majesty?”


  Ming Shu grabbed Little Beastie from the ground and rolled it up. Then, she threw it at him.

  Little Beastie did a somersault in the air and struck the grass patch beside Junjue. Immediately after that, Junjue heard a weird scratching sound.

  Ming Shu took two steps and grabbed Junjue.

  Junjue looked behind him. He saw a colorful snake entangled around Little Beastie. Little Beastie’s fur stood up like needles and pierced into the snake’s body.

  The snake twisted its body in pain and slowly died. Little Beastie jumped down from the snake and ran into the spring water. It jumped inside. Water splashed everywhere.

  Junjue was very calm. However, when Ming Shu looked over at him, he immediately started acting and showed a scared expression. “Your Majesty, I am afraid.”


  Ming Shu smiled brightly. “I will cook it for you. Then, you will not be scared.”


  Junjue: “.……” This is a f**king venomous snake. Why don’t you eat it? Why is there such an evil woman? Why am I supposed to like her? Why!

  If I like this kind of person, I will die.

  Before Ming Shu could do anything to the venomous snake, Little Beastie, who finished bathing, rolled over and grabbed the snake in its mouth. It then ran into the woods.

  Ming Shu: “.……”