After swallowing my anger and taking the blame, I became the lucky little queen

Nian Susu ignored him, crossed his arms across his chest, and turned back to the camp.

Xuan Ji watched her back disappear into the dark night, and then returned to his tent.

He came out a quarter of an hour later, still lurking outside Concubine Ning's tent in the identity of Xuan Ji.

Concubine Ning was deeply favored by the emperor and was the mother of the second prince. The location of her tent was also excellent, right next to the queen.

Xuan Ji avoided the guards and hid behind the window.

Lifting a corner, one can see Concubine Ning sitting with her back to the window, combing her hair in front of the dressing table. She is wearing a white inner garment, and a charcoal tray is burning brightly next to her. It looks like she is preparing to take a rest.

Xuan Ji pulled up his sleeves, revealing a hidden arrow on his arm. He passed the prepared note through the arrow, aimed it at the table behind Concubine Ning, pressed the switch, and with a "whoosh", the arrow shot in and pierced the wooden table steadily.

"Ah!" Concubine Ning was startled. She dropped the comb, stood up suddenly and looked at the wooden table behind her, her heart pounding.

She thought the arrow was aimed at her, but she no longer thought so when she saw the note nailed to the table.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps at the door.

"Empress Ning, has something happened?"

Concubine Ning covered her pounding chest and looked in the direction from which the arrow came - the window. The wind blew up a corner of the cloth window, and there was no one outside.

She calmed herself down and said loudly, "It's okay. I was just frightened by a wild cat. Go search nearby and catch the cat before it runs to the emperor's tent and disturbs him."

The guard responded, and the footsteps hurried away.

Concubine Ning walked to the table and pulled out the arrow. On the paper were six words written in neat small characters: Tonight, Stable, Queen.

She hid the arrow under the bed and sat on the couch holding the note, pondering it carefully.

What did these four words mean? To remind her that the Queen would go to the stables tonight? What would the Queen do in the stables? She couldn't ride a horse...

Tomorrow the Emperor will go hunting in the woods with all the princes and young masters. Could it be that the Queen wants to do something about it?

When she thought of this possibility, Concubine Ning stood up in shock and immediately wanted to tell the emperor, but then she thought, what if this was a setup?

It is still unknown who tipped her off, and it is also unclear whether the other party is an enemy or a friend. If she notifies the emperor to arrest the person, if she fails, she will be accused of framing the queen in order to win favor.

She couldn't be so impulsive...

But if the news is true, wouldn't she be wasting an opportunity to deal with the queen if she doesn't take action?

To be on the safe side, Concubine Ning sent a confidant to take a small team to the stable to secretly investigate the situation.

After the confidant left, Concubine Ning glanced at the words on the note, then placed the note in the charcoal basin. Although there was no open flame, the note was quickly ignited, and the remaining ashes melted into the charcoal, leaving no trace.

She also asked her confidants to deal with the arrows under the bed. Nothing that could put her in danger could be left behind...

Not long after, the confidant came back.

Concubine Ning sat on the couch with her coat on, listening to his report. She had no desire to sleep and even broke out in a cold sweat.

The confidant bowed his waist, clasped his hands together, and said, "Your Majesty, when we arrived, we did see someone sneaking around in the stable, but we were too late. The person had already tampered with the emperor's horse and seemed to have fed it some kind of drug."

At this point, he paused, looked up at Concubine Ning, and asked tentatively: "The person has been brought back. Do you want to hand him over to the emperor?"

Concubine Ning hesitated for a moment and shook her head, "Let's hold him first. We don't know what the queen is going to do yet, but since she is in our hands, she can't run away. We will use the same tactics against her and catch her off guard."

The confidant asked again: "What should we do with the horse?"

After all, it is the emperor's horse. If anything goes wrong with it, the consequences will be disastrous.

Concubine Ning sneered, "Don't worry about it. You didn't see anything. You just saw someone sneaking around the stables while patrolling, so you arrested him."

Even if someone questioned why she arrested the person and did not hand him over to the emperor for handling, she would have reasons to exonerate herself.

The confidant nodded and left the tent.

The smile on Concubine Ning's face became increasingly gloomy.

She thought the queen just wanted to help Qin Fengtian seize the position of crown prince, but she didn't expect that she would actually set her sights on the emperor.

If anything happens to the emperor, whether it is the accident in the hunting ground or the problem with the horse, Qin Junyu cannot be separated from the responsibility.

This move kills two birds with one stone, which is really smart.

Concubine Ning blew out the candle in the tent and lay on the couch. Facing the darkness, she felt more and more uneasy.

Tomorrow is destined to be restless...

……

Xuan Ji avoided the searching team, returned to his tent, hurriedly changed his clothes, and waited for Nian Su Su to come and ask for help.

But at this time, Nian Susu had already lain down.

The lights were still on in the tent, so she couldn't sleep, worrying about what to do tomorrow night.

She turned over, resting her head on her arms, her eyes bigger than lanterns.

"Miss, are you asleep?" Zhihua's voice came from outside the door.

Nian Susu sat up immediately. She was bored and Zhihua came at the perfect time.

"I'm not asleep yet, come in quickly." Her voice was full of excitement.

Zhihua lifted the thick felt door curtain and walked in while nagging: "Miss, why aren't you asleep yet? You have to get up early tomorrow."

She blew out a few candles, leaving only two by the bed, and the tent suddenly became dark.

Zhihua walked to the bed and squatted down, "Miss, are you used to your bed? How about I sing a ballad to coax you to sleep?"

Nian Susu touched her nose and said, "It's not that I'm used to my bed, I'm just not sleepy." She pulled Zhihua's arm and said excitedly, "Come and talk to me!"

Zhihua agreed reluctantly, but before a quarter of an hour had passed, she was sleeping like a dead pig.

Nian Susu was lying flat on his back, chattering incessantly. When he saw that there was no one to support him, he looked up and saw that the person had fallen asleep on the side of the bed.

Zhihua was petite, and Nian Susu easily carried her to bed. The two of them were covered with a quilt and huddled together, feeling warm.

She couldn't remember when she fell asleep. It was almost dawn when Zhihua woke her up.

Zhihua dragged her to put on clothes, comb her hair, and put on makeup. She did not open her eyes the whole time, looking like she could fall asleep at any moment.

"Miss, don't sleep any more. We will be out soon." Zhihua went to the door, lifted the curtain and looked outside. The grooms were leading the horses in an orderly manner towards the open space in the center of the camp. There were already many young ladies there joining in the fun.

Nian Susu reluctantly opened his eyelids and asked, "Can I not go?"

Zhihua: "No, today is the emperor's first expedition, everyone must go to watch the ceremony."

Nian Susu was speechless: "What kind of ceremony is this? Why is it so formal? It's just a cannon shot and everyone whips their horses' butts and rushes into the woods."

Nian Susu is not a local, so he doesn't have much feeling about the customs of Liuli Country.

Zhihua was different. In her memory, hunting was a sacred thing, showing masculinity and bravery of soldiers. Many common people didn't even have the chance to participate in it. Yet her own young lady devalued hunting as worthless!