Emperor Jingren had been taking part in the autumn hunt since he was still a prince. He was quite interested in hunting and had seen many skilled hunters. But the empress’s hunting technique was manifestly better than anything Emperor Jingren had seen before. She observed the surroundings carefully and quickly located a tiger.

This was a white tiger with slanting eyes, of enormous size, larger than the largest tiger Emperor Jingren had seen before. The tiger regarded the two of them hungrily, while the aura emanating off the empress was in no way inferior to the tiger’s… No, it was a murderous aura strong enough to overwhelm the tiger!

The empress drew her bow. This bow was one of the weapons that Emperor Jingren had sent to the temporary residence in advance for the empress’s use during the hunt. This bow had been found among the common people. Emperor Jingren had asked people to try it out after obtaining it, and not one of his subordinates had been able to draw it. He had thought that the empress might not be able to draw the bow either, but anyone who enjoyed shooting from the saddle could appreciate such a good bow, if only for the sake of having it even if they couldn’t draw it. So he had brought it. But this morning the empress had chosen precisely this bow, and now here she was pulling back the string, drawing the bow lightly and easily!

Emperor Jingren was stunned.

Expression serene, the empress drew the bow into a full moon and aimed at the tiger. And the tiger, which had been watching them hungrily with murder in its eyes, retreated from the empress’s arrow, but it didn’t run away; instead it roared fearfully at the two of them.

This tiger was so magnificent. If the empress could take it down, first prize was sure to belong to Emperor Jingren. Actually, he didn’t care who took first prize, but when he thought of the empress winning it for him, he felt great joy.

But the empress looked into the tiger’s eyes, then turned her bow aside so the arrow was no longer aimed at the tiger. She said to the tiger, “Go.”

The tiger roared at the empress, then silently turned and left.

“Jinyi, why did you let it go?” asked Emperor Jingren hesitantly.

The empress lifted her chin. Emperor Jingren looked in the direction she was indicating and saw that the tiger had returned, carrying two cubs in its mouth. It nodded at the empress, then turned its head away and left for real.

“Motherhood brings strength,” said the empress. “Just now it met my eyes and knew it couldn’t best me, but it still didn’t run away. It stayed to protect those two little ones. A tiger with genuine feeling like that, I couldn’t bring myself to kill it, and I couldn’t stand the thought of those two future rulers of the bush dying in infancy. Let them go.”

Hearing this explanation, Emperor Jingren’s misgivings disappeared. All that remained were respect and love for the empress. “You have a gentle heart, well suited to the mother of a nation.”

The implication behind his words was, The two of us are well matched. This pleases us.

Hearing Emperor Jingren say this, the empress smiled at him, then raised her arms and released the arrow on her bowstring toward a big tree. The arrow penetrated the trunk of the tree and instantly split it in half!

Emperor Jingren was taken aback.

“An excellent bow indeed!” the empress said. “That arrow was already on the string. Given the power of this bow, if I had just let it go, the force would have done me an internal injury. Thank you for this gift, Your Majesty!”

Emperor Jingren automatically responded, “A mighty sword belongs to a hero just as rouge belongs to a beauty…”

No, no, no, that was completely wrong.

He couldn’t think of what to say and only stared at the empress, feeling that his descriptive powers had been very meager since he had started spending time with her.

The empress smiled slightly and considerately refrained from saying anything else. She patted the neck of her horse and slowly walked forward. Emperor Jingren, following after the empress, was rather subdued. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with the empress; he just couldn’t find the right words to praise her.

No one else had even been able to draw that bow, while the empress had simply drawn it to its fullest. This…

The empress was truly worthy of admiration!

This was the only praise Emperor Jingren could find in the end.

With an empress like this at his side, Emperor Jingren didn’t care whether the guards behind them could keep up. Eight hundred palace guards might not be able to match up to one empress, and he had only brought one hundred to the autumn hunt. Having the empress with him, Emperor Jingren became bolder. There were deep places in the hunting grounds that even the groundskeepers did not dare to visit, yet Emperor Jingren and the empress went into the depths of the dense forest.

Even the sun hardly reached these forest recesses, but the two of them knew no fear. Growing even bolder, Emperor Jingren reached out and took the hand of the empress, who rode beside him.

Here, where there were no people, Emperor Jingren could at last lay down the burden of being emperor and say to the empress what was in his heart.

“We never actually wanted a harem full of beauties,” said Emperor Jingren. “But there are customs for an emperor’s wedding. It is customary for four consorts to be appointed at the same time, and it is customary for other women to be chosen to join the harem if the emperor and empress have had no children after one year. We will tell you the truth. To this day, we do not understand how, after meeting you, we could have agreed to this system. We only ever wanted to be with you, Jinyi. All the beauties of the world, we…”

“Your Majesty.” Faced with Emperor Jingren’s confession, the empress spoke calmly. “Don’t move, don’t look behind you. There’s a brown bear there.”

Emperor Jingren was brought up short.

He didn’t need the empress to tell him that! He could feel the rancid breath on the back of his neck!

The empress meanwhile slowly raised her arms, bending her bow and aiming it at the brown bear, which was nine feet tall. The bear roared at the empress, and a chilly murderous aura poured off the empress. The bear roared again, but Emperor Jingren felt the pressure behind him lift.

Sure enough, he heard heavy footfalls behind him. The bear had turned away and left. And the empress’s arrow, which could have pierced a stone cliff, did not fly.

“It was too close to Your Majesty,” said the empress. “If I couldn’t take it down with a single shot, that beast might have injured Your Majesty in its death throes. I am confident I could have protected Your Majesty, but it still wouldn’t be good to allow Your Majesty to be sullied by the beast’s blood.”

His fear still dissipating, Emperor Jingren nodded. “We think it would be better to go somewhere with more people.”

“Your subject wife thinks so as well.” The empress nodded and left the depths of the forest with Emperor Jingren.

The two of them encountered a great deal of prey, such as wild boars and stags. If the animal showed no hostility toward them, the empress did nothing, simply letting it live. And if it did show hostility toward them, the empress mostly scared it away with a show of force rather than killing it. They went several times around the forest but in the end didn’t take down any prey.

But Emperor Jingren saw nothing wrong in that. The empress was benevolent and would not kill. Each time she drew her bow, it was to protect him. Though these roles were somewhat reversed, Emperor Jingren felt very pleased with the empress’s intentions. The only trouble was that he had lost the earlier atmosphere. If he brought up the subject again, it would feel a little pointed. And Emperor Jingren believed that the empress had taken his meaning. Though he had received no response from the empress, Emperor Jingren was still satisfied.

As if on an autumn outing, the two of them gently spurred on their horses and admired the scenery. It wasn’t very cold yet. This weather was perfect. Under a blue sky and fair-weather clouds, taking an autumn outing with the person he loved, without so many obtrusive guards in sight, Emperor Jingren felt very happy.

But such happiness could not last long for an emperor. Soon Emperor Jingren felt the atmosphere around them curdle. It was tense and still, without the earlier ease.

The empress pulled Emperor Jingren off his horse and into her arms, tightly shielding him. Quietly, she said in Emperor Jingren’s ear, “There are seasoned killers nearby, many of them.”

“Approximately how many?” Emperor Jingren asked quietly, thinking nothing of their positions under the circumstances.

“Five, ten, twenty…” The empress looked around. “Seventy-eight, and from their auras it appears they are all experienced fighters. A hundred imperial guards won’t be able to defeat them.”

They must have been prepared to attack even if Emperor Jingren was under guard. Seeing that the situation had turned ugly, Emperor Jingren took the empress’s hand and said, “You must focus on protecting yourself, Jinyi. They aren’t necessarily here to kill us. It is perhaps more likely that they wish to take us alive. We won’t die, but it’s different for you!”

Emperor Jingren’s analysis was right. Whether this was someone trying to usurp the throne or a foreign invasion, they would be better off if they took him alive than if he died. But not the empress; she was dressed as a guard. They would kill her on the spot.

“Your Majesty.” The empress wrapped her arms around Emperor Jingren’s waist. “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Neither of us is going to get hurt. Your subject wife will try if possible to leave survivors, so you can question them about the people behind this.”

Emperor Jingren was speechless.

The empress’s profound self-confidence made him feel instantly secure.