After the Crybaby Married the Disabled Villain - Chapter 28

The second day of the autumn hunt had arrived.

Unlike the first day where all the youths gathered together, the princes and sons of noble families entered the hunting grounds as they arrived. Many went in early, eager to secure a larger haul.

In this hunt, the prey was not to be harmed; one only needed to retrieve the token attached to them. It was perfectly acceptable to lure the animals close to remove the token peacefully. However, for the noble sons in their prime, the most popular method remained using arrows to shoot the tokens off.

An Yu sat like a huddled quail next to his Highness, just as he had yesterday. Watching the young men file into the grounds, he sighed helplessly: “Another day of enduring the elements out here.”

Lu Shiyan rubbed the boy’s fluffy head to comfort him and pressed an “orange” into An Yu’s hand.

“It’s warm?”

It was an orange-shaped hand warmer made of red fox fur, incredibly soft to the touch. An Yu grinned and cradled it in his arms. This furry orange stayed at a constant warm temperature, far more useful than a standard hand warmer that would cool down quickly.

Lu Youqi emerged from a side path with a group of noblemen, but he didn’t head straight for the hunting grounds. Glowing with health and confidence, he stood before the viewing platform and spoke in a clear voice:

“Imperial Father, Imperial Mother. Although the Crown Princess is married to my Third Brother, he is still a man. Not long ago, the Crown Princess displayed his literary talent in court; I wonder how his martial skills fare?”

An Yu looked down at the protagonist who was clearly looking for trouble. What, are we target practice? Once yesterday, once today. Is he going to try and drag us into it together tomorrow too?

“This son requests that Imperial Father allow the Crown Princess to join the rest of us for the remaining two days of the hunt.”

Emperor Hongchang looked at Lu Youqi, then turned his gaze to An Yu. “I have no objection. What does the Crown Princess think?”

An Yu wondered if it was just his imagination, but Emperor Hongchang’s gaze toward him had become much more solemn and affectionate lately.

“Imperial Father, this child knows nothing of martial arts, let alone archery. If I go to the hunting grounds, I will return empty-handed. I would rather stay here and cheer for Second Brother.”

Emperor Hongchang nodded, but Lu Youqi spoke up again from below:

“The hunting grounds are not only for archery; there is no need for the Crown Princess to worry. Furthermore,” he paused, then continued, “Third Brother’s legs are currently afflicted, and he cannot participate. Why doesn’t the Crown Princess participate on his behalf? It would be a waste of Imperial Father’s kind intentions otherwise.”

An Yu raised an eyebrow. The protagonist was definitely plotting something. “Very well then.”

Just as he finished speaking, An Yu felt a tug on his sleeve from Lu Shiyan beside him.

“Xiao Yu, do you remember? He asked for that white tiger yesterday.”

An Yu only just remembered. However, since the words had already left his mouth, Meng Hai had already sent people to prepare the horse and gear. The man beside him frowned, clearly worried.

“Don’t worry, Highness. I’ll be fine. His Majesty wouldn’t let anything happen to me either.”

An Yu didn’t know what the protagonist was planning, but since it had come to this, he would go with the flow. He changed into a set of martial attire and tied his hair into a high ponytail, flipping onto his horse with clean, agile movements.

Lu Shiyan watched the boy, who didn’t forget to wave at him even while on horseback; his worry was nearly overflowing. His gaze instinctively fell on the boy’s cinched waist—it looked so thin that it seemed he could wrap both hands around it. How can he be this thin?

As his gaze followed the boy into the hunting grounds, Lu Shiyan’s eyes darkened completely. He made a silent hand gesture behind him, and Moying vanished from the viewing platform without a sound.

An Yu was jolted a bit when he first set off, but he quickly stabilized himself. Luckily, he had gone to riding stables with his eldest brother when he was a kid, or he would have made a fool of himself today. He looked down at his martial outfit. “This young master is actually quite handsome!”

An Yu urged his horse slowly into the depths of the forest. Lu Youqi, who had entered a few steps before him, was already nowhere to be seen. Better that way; seeing him is annoying.

He looked around curiously. Before he had gone very far, he saw plenty of prey: rabbits, sika deer, monkeys… “This outer perimeter is basically a free-roaming zoo.”

This worked out perfectly for An Yu. He flipped off his horse and affectionately rubbed its head. After walking a few steps, two chubby rabbits hopped right over to him. He picked up one in each hand; they were incredibly soft and pleasant to pet.

“Such good bunnies. Give the tokens to big brother.”

An Yu removed the two tokens from the rabbits, each marked with a “1.” He tucked them into his bag and rubbed the rabbits’ heads again. “Hurry along now, or you’ll end up spicy and numbing.”

He continued forward. Within just fifteen minutes, despite not venturing far, a succession of prey seemed to “scam me” by running right into him. It started with small animals carrying “1” tokens, but soon even larger animals like sika deer with “2” tokens were following him.

“Alright, alright, I can’t carry any more.”

An Yu was flustered, frantically removing tokens from the animals while adhering to the principle of “all beings are equal” by petting every single fluffy head. Noticing footsteps not far away, An Yu’s eyes shifted. He lightened his movements and paid close attention to his surroundings.

As the footsteps drew closer, the voices of two people became clearer.

“Shen Heng, where could Imperial Sister-in-law have gone? If something happens, how will I explain it to Imperial Brother?”

“Mufeng, don’t worry. we only arrived a little later than the Crown Princess; he shouldn’t be far.”

It was them. An Yu stood up in relief, a small monkey still clinging to his arm. “Lord Shen, Fourth Brother! I’m over here!”

“Imperial Sister-in-law!”

The two hurried over. They had been blocked by a patch of shrubs and couldn’t see the scene. When they stepped into the clearing, their eyes widened.

“Sister-in-law, what on earth have you done?”

It looked as though every piece of prey in the vicinity had converged on him. Dozens of rabbits and monkeys were circling An Yu, while larger sika deer and hounds could only settle for nuzzling his pant legs.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m particularly popular with small animals.”

As he spoke, An Yu’s eyes lit up. Lu Mufeng and Shen Heng looked behind them; two foxes were trotting toward them as a pair—one a snowy silver fox, the other a fiery red fox. Both were quite large, reaching up to his mid-thigh as they approached.

“There are even foxes? I didn’t see any yesterday,” Shen Heng marveled.

An Yu’s final regret was gone; he finally got to pet live foxes in this lifetime. The two little foxes nuzzled An Yu’s hands submissively, their heads trying to burrow into his embrace.

“Hurry up and pet them! Foxes are so soft.”

The sensation of the silky fur against his face sent a wave of satisfaction through his entire body. Lu Mufeng marveled, “This truly is miraculous.”

“Aren’t you two riding?” An Yu asked, removing the tokens from the two foxes.

Shen Heng replied, “Our horses are nearby.”

An Yu told them to bring their horses over so the three could travel together. As the two walked away, An Yu became even more unrestrained in petting the group of animals, especially the two foxes that had won his heart. He liked them so much he wondered if it would be a problem to ask Emperor Hongchang to let him keep them.

Sough—

The sound of branches breaking came from the bushes behind him. At first, An Yu thought it was just the surrounding animals, but the sound grew louder until the heavy breathing of a predator could be heard.

Sough—

The small animals around him began to flee in all directions. An Yu spun around and saw a white tiger, half the height of a man, stalking toward him with predatory intent.

This is what Wu Song fought?! Looking at it now, that was truly fierce. Even though he had a snow leopard at home, An Yu didn’t dare relax. He stood up and began to back away slowly; the white tiger followed him step by step.

Finally, An Yu’s back hit a tree. He couldn’t retreat any further. He noticed the white tiger’s eyes were red! A cold sweat broke out on An Yu’s skin. This tiger has been drugged!

Man and beast stood in a standoff, the sounds of others fading away. “Friend, stay calm,” An Yu ventured, his voice trembling. Surprisingly, the tiger tilted its head and blinked curiously.

An Yu continued, “How old are you? Are you an adult?” At a time like this, he couldn’t think of anything productive to say, so he started questioning the tiger like an immigration official. “Do you have a wife?”

Seeing the crimson in the tiger’s eyes beginning to fade, An Yu’s heart started to settle. “Good boy, sit down.”

The tiger was about to sit at An Yu’s command when a sharp, urgent whistle sounded from deep within the forest.

Fweet—

The crimson instantly flooded the tiger’s eyes again, and the savagery that had just receded flared up once more.

Thump!

An Yu pressed himself against the tree, not daring to make the slightest movement.

“Roar!”

“Highness, take care!”

The tiger’s form suddenly grew larger in An Yu’s vision. He squeezed his eyes shut, babbling nonsense in his panic. Just as he thought he was doomed, he was suddenly yanked into an embrace and rolled across the ground.

The scent on the man was very familiar. An Yu didn’t have time to think as the man pulled him up and shoved him behind his back. “Hide.”

The man held a sword. As the tiger lunged again, he didn’t dodge. When the distance between them was nearly gone, he pivoted with extreme speed, driving the sword precisely into the tiger’s belly.

“Roar!”

The tiger let out another roar, its eyes locked onto the black-clad man. It tried to pounce again, but in the next second, the man’s sword was buried in its neck. The beast collapsed with a heavy thud.

“Thank you, you—Highness!”

An Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief. The man in front of him turned around and pulled down his black mask, revealing the handsome face he saw day and night.

“Xiao Yu, are you hurt?”

Lu Shiyan’s brow was etched with deep concern as he stared at the disheveled boy. Numerous tokens hung from An Yu’s waist, clinking together with every movement.

“I’m fine, Highness. But how are you?” Before he could finish, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

“I’m sorry, I came late.”

Wrapped in that familiar scent, An Yu felt no rejection only a profound sense of peace. Only now did he realize how terrified he had been. As he relaxed, he realized his palms were covered in cold sweat.

“It’s not your fault, Highness. You can stand now!” An Yu looked happily at the man who was a head taller than him—he looked nearly 1.9 meters tall. An Yu only reached the tip of his nose.

“My apologies. I have been able to walk for some time now.” As Lu Shiyan spoke, his apologetic gaze was laced with nervousness; he didn’t even dare look the boy in the eye.

“Highness, you’re so tall!” An Yu shook his head and circled Lu Shiyan in amazement, his eyes sweeping over the man’s long, straight legs. “I couldn’t tell you were this tall when you were sitting. Your proportions are truly excellent.”

Lu Shiyan was helpless, his gaze doting. “Xiao Yu.”

An Yu laughed. “I’m too happy that your legs are better to be angry. Why would I be?”

“I’m sorry.” The man apologized again, looking directly at the boy.

An Yu paused for a moment, then said, “Even though I’m not angry, you were still wrong, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

The boy’s eyes flickered with a hint of mischief. “You’ll definitely have to sneak back later. Why don’t you take some things with you?”

Lu Shiyan looked puzzled. “Hmm?”

An Yu had already noticed the two foxes behind another tree. Every other animal had scattered, but these two little foxes were hiding nearby, watching with concern. “There, I want those two.”

Lu Shiyan turned and saw the foxes—one white, one red—both exceptionally beautiful. An Yu beckoned, and after looking around, they trotted over and sniffed him.

“Good babies, big brother didn’t love you for nothing.” An Yu knelt to pet the foxes and looked up at Lu Shiyan, who seemed even taller from this angle. “Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

An Yu was immensely satisfied. Even though his hair was a mess, his smile was brilliant.

“Imperial Sister-in-law!”

Hearing the voice, An Yu immediately yanked Lu Shiyan’s mask back up. He used too much force, pulling it up over the man’s eyes. Lu Shiyan let out a light chuckle.

Lu Mufeng and Shen Heng galloped over. Seeing the dead tiger and the extra man, they cried, “Sister-in-law! What happened?”

“Nothing. A white tiger went mad, and this man dealt with it.”

Shen Heng bowed to Lu Shiyan. “Many thanks to this young hero for his assistance.”

“It was nothing.”

“Sister-in-law, who is this”

An Yu was about to say “personal guard,” but he stopped himself. A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes as he looked between Lu Mufeng and Shen Heng. He said in a low, mysterious voice:

“This is my secret lover from outside. We agreed to a tryst here, but I didn’t expect this to happen.

An Yu whispered again, “You must keep this a secret for me. Even though I like the Crown Prince very much, this is the ‘big brother’ I grew up with.”

Lu Mufeng’s face was vacant, his mouth opening and closing without a word. Finally, he said, “Alright.”