The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

He quickly said, "Don't worry, it's hot, let me blow on it for you."

After Shangguan Hanque finished telling his story, he led her through the conversation little by little, and also took the opportunity to ask her about the general events that had happened to her recently.

After understanding the situation, he sorted things out.

She was being chased, and then a gray wolf named Baby saved her. However, the gray wolf died, and the wolf pack lost a large portion of its members. In the end, Hua Xiangrong survived, but she lost her memory.

Hua Xiangrong looked at him suspiciously, and after a long while, she sat down again, but her eyes never left the chicken.

Shangguan Hanque had no time for teasing anymore. Faced with his suffering sweetheart, he patiently tore off pieces of roast chicken and placed them on a large leaf before handing them to Hua Xiangrong. Then, seeing Hua Xiangrong enjoy the smell and devour the meat, his heart warmed as well.

After finishing her first meal of cooked food, Hua Xiangrong's wariness of Shangguan Hanque finally vanished without a trace. She leaned lazily against him, her eyes filled with deep satisfaction.

Shangguan Hanque then began to tell her their story, from their first meeting to their growing understanding and love. Although the process was simple, it was very interesting. Hua Xiangrong listened with great interest, and was very curious about how she had fallen in love with the person in front of her back then.

No, it should be said that he lost part of his mind.

At this moment, Hua Xiangrong was like a child, not understanding many things, let alone what liking or love meant. She felt that she didn't want Shangguan Hanque to leave, but she didn't know how to express her feelings. So, whenever Shangguan Hanque showed any intention of leaving, she would glare at him with a cold glint in her eyes, and the stone awl in her hand would be ready to strike.

This flower, like Xiangrong, is as if it were raised by wolves, possessing wolf-like habits and desires.

Shangguan Hanque never intended to leave; he only wanted to provoke Hua Xiangrong to see if he could restore her memory. However, he failed every time. After the two spent a few days peacefully in the cave, they were still threatened.

People from the foot of the mountain, having lost their belongings, flocked to Riliang Mountain, carrying hunting tools and going up in groups to search for the thieves. They also caught wild animals whenever they encountered them. Because these people were all poor, the men of Qilin Pavilion guarding the foot of the mountain did not stop them from going up. However, this leniency brought a threat to Shangguan Hanque.

On this day, the two were barbecuing meat on the mountain as usual when they suddenly heard the pitiful howls of wild beasts and the howling of wolves as a warning. Hua Xiangrong immediately rushed out, with Shangguan Hanque following closely behind.

When they arrived, they witnessed a bloody massacre.

Wild beasts were tearing at people's throats, while people drew their bows and shot arrows, killing the innocent beasts one by one.

Hua Xiangrong's eyes turned red with rage. Without thinking, she rushed out and killed the two archers.

Everyone was startled by Hua Xiangrong's sudden appearance, assuming it was a double-cross, and turned their attention to her. Hua Xiangrong, however, merely gave a cold laugh and lowered all their bows and arrows. At that moment, Shangguan Hanque caught up.

Seeing this, he quickly stopped Hua Xiangrong from continuing to kill, and then, through their conversation, they understood why the other party had come up the mountain.

The leader of the group said, "We are not wealthy to begin with. Riliang Mountain is Rong Ye's territory, and we have never set foot there. However, we often lose things at home and cannot survive, so we have no choice but to come here to take risks."

Some of these people wanted to pursue the thief, but most of them just wanted to try their luck on the mountain, so they came together, thinking that with so many people, it would be inconvenient for Master Rong to punish them.

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Hanque looked at Hua Xiangrong and said, "We will definitely compensate double for what we stole. As for the wild animals in the mountains, you said they belong to Master Rong. Hunting them now is against the rules. I will let you go today. Go down the mountain quickly."

The group exchanged bewildered glances, while Hua Xiangrong stepped forward, looked at them, and said expressionlessly, "I left something behind; it was a replacement."

Shangguan Hanque was taken aback, but then he understood and said, "Rong'er, don't be angry. Just because you left something doesn't mean they'll remember it. We'll find out if they're telling the truth once we go down the mountain and have someone investigate."

Upon hearing this, someone said, "The night my things went missing, there was indeed game left in my yard. Could it be the exchange that you mentioned, young lady?"

Upon hearing this, many people seemed to suddenly understand.

"Oh right, how come I didn't think of that? There are wild rabbits in front of my house too."

“We also have some at home, they’re wild chickens. The only thing we lost was a piece of clothing, the one the girl was wearing.”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Hanque said, "If that's the case, what else do you have to do with this? Go down the mountain quickly. We will control the wild beasts so they won't attack you again. Otherwise, if any wild beasts attack again, we will not be responsible."

Upon hearing this, some people wanted to leave, but the leader looked at Shangguan Hanque and hesitated, saying, "The matter has been explained, but young master, several of us died on this trip up the mountain. We can't leave empty-handed!"

Shangguan Hanque paused, looking at the corpse on the ground. Someone suddenly burst into tears, saying, "My poor brother, he still has two children at home. He died here, and his body is not even intact. How will my sister-in-law and her children survive?"

"Yes, yes, Father, how could you die? What are Mother and my sister going to do?"

The crying stopped everyone from leaving, putting Shangguan Hanque in a difficult position. Then the leader said, "Why don't we take all the prey here, and then the young master can give the families of the deceased some compensation so that these families can make a living?"

Shangguan Hanque frowned slightly and was about to nod when Hua Xiangrong grabbed his collar and threw it behind her. She looked at the leader with a stern gaze, and the leader immediately felt his hair stand on end, staring at Hua Xiangrong in horror.

"roll."

The leader took two steps back, wiped away a cold sweat, and said, "Miss...you can't do this. We're the ones who killed these animals. You can't double-cross us."

"roll."

Hua Xiangrong's voice grew louder, startling several timid people behind her who immediately turned and ran. The leader, still harboring malicious intent, continued, "This young lady is being unreasonable. Someone has died. If you don't compensate us, we'll report you to the authorities."

Hua Xiangrong's brows furrowed even deeper, her impatience obvious. She raised the stone awl in her hand, intending to take his life. Seeing this, Shangguan Hanque immediately stepped in front of Hua Xiangrong and said, "Rong'er, you mustn't."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he felt a dull pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a sharp iron arrow piercing his chest and protruding before his eyes. The leader he had been protecting behind him had already turned and run away.

Hua Xiangrong's eyes turned bloodshot instantly. With a shout, the wolf pack howled and rushed off, tearing the leader, who had only run a few steps, to shreds in an instant.

"Hanque, no, Hanque."

Hua Xiangrong called out Shangguan Hanque's name, the redness in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by tears that streamed down her face. Shangguan Hanque raised his hand to wipe them away, but he couldn't lift it at all.

He gave a stiff smile and said with difficulty, "Don't cry, I'm fine."

As she was speaking, blood began to flow from her lips, startling Hua Xiangrong into a panic. She instinctively tried to stop the bleeding with her hand.

Shangguan Hanque smiled, took her hand away, and placed it on his face, saying, "I'm sorry I can't stay with you, but I still hope you can remember me, come home with me, and we can get married. However, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait until that day, cough cough."

"Let's get married, let's go down the mountain, let's go down the mountain, there's a clinic down there."

Hua Xiangrong seemed to remember something. Ignoring what Shangguan Hanque was about to say, she helped him up, used both hands to cut off the exposed arrows, and then picked him up and ran down the mountain.

However, the mountain pass and Han gate were, after all, men, and had a certain weight. Hua Xiangrong's strength couldn't support them for long. Before long, she was already panting and unable to walk anymore.

Shangguan Hanque advised, "Rong'er, don't leave. Sit down and talk to me!"

"No, there's a clinic down the mountain that can cure illnesses."

Hua Xiangrong kept her eyes fixed on the mountain path, walking forward step by step, giving Shangguan Hanque no chance at all. Finally, she stumbled and the two fell to the ground. Shangguan Hanque coughed up blood again because of the sudden fall.

Hua Xiangrong was stunned. She stared blankly at Shangguan Hanque and murmured to herself, "Don't die, don't die, can't die, can't die."

Shangguan Hanque looked at her helplessly. At this moment, he didn't even have the ability to raise his hand, let alone speak a complete sentence.

Rong'er, I'm sorry. If I hadn't come looking for you, this wouldn't have happened. You were in the mountains, living with wolves, and no one would have hurt you. It was me who put you in this dilemma.

After I die, you should go back to the mountain. I'm really worried about you being out there, Rong'er. I love you.

Shangguan Hanque ultimately did not utter these words. He opened his mouth, but it was filled with blood. He could only look at his beloved and smile slightly.

Hua Xiangrong was completely unable to move, as if she were trapped in a nightmare, just staring blankly until an old man walked over with faltering steps.

The old man cautiously approached Shangguan Hanque, but was stopped by Hua Xiangrong's low growl just as his hand was about to touch him.

The old man looked up and saw Hua Xiangrong staring intently at his hand as he was about to touch Shangguan Hanque with fierce eyes. He immediately withdrew his hand, bowed to Hua Xiangrong, and said, "Master Rong, the second son is a healer and can save him."

Hua Xiangrong's eyes lit up: "Can he be saved? He won't die?"

The old man nodded quickly and said, "Yes! He can be saved, he can be saved."

The arrows in Shangguan Hanque's body were not removed, and he did not lose too much blood. With Hua Xiangrong's permission, the old man gave him the century-old ginseng and lingzhi that he had brought with him, which kept Shangguan Hanque alive and allowed him to return to the foot of the mountain.

By the time Shangguan Hanque regained consciousness, seven days had passed.