Chapter 12
Has She Gone Crazy?
The steward froze.
On the night of the wedding, with the sky already dark, the bride wanted to return to her maiden home?
“Princess Consort, this is not appropriate. If you wish to return, you should wait until the third day, which is the traditional return visit day…”
“Can’t wait.”
Fu Zhao Ning suddenly felt her heartbeat becoming extremely fast. She had no time to explain further. Turning around, she looked at Hong Zhuo and Fen Xing.
“Where is the stable?”
Although the two maids did not understand what she wanted to do, hearing the urgency in her voice made them instinctively point the way.
“Over there…”
Fu Zhao Ning immediately lifted her skirt and ran in that direction.
“Princess Consort! Princess Consort!”
Fen Xing and Hong Zhuo were startled and hurried after her.
The steward finally recovered his senses and quickly instructed the guards,
“Go report this to Wangye!”
Then he also chased after Fu Zhao Ning.
What exactly was she trying to do?
Fu Zhao Ning ran extremely fast, but Prince Jun’s residence was far too large. By the time she reached the stable, dusk had already deepened.
The stable servant was shocked when he saw her.
“You…”
“Lend me a horse!”
Fu Zhao Ning’s heartbeat was becoming faster and faster. Her mind felt slightly blank, yet deep inside, a voice seemed to urge her repeatedly—
Hurry back. Hurry back.
Ignoring the servant, her gaze swept across the stable before immediately landing on a crimson-red horse. She rushed over and untied the reins.
The servant’s face changed drastically as he screamed,
“Don’t touch that horse! It’s still an untamed wild horse!”
One careless mistake and it could kick someone to death!
The horse had only recently been brought back and had not yet been trained. Nobody in the residence dared approach it. Earlier, even feeding it grass had nearly cost him his life.
But his warning came too late.
Fu Zhao Ning’s heart pounded violently. Her mind was blank, but that voice in her subconscious kept urging her to return quickly.
The crimson horse suddenly let out a loud neigh.
Just hearing that sound made the servant, who already feared the horse deeply, turn and run while shouting for help.
“Someone come quickly!”
He could never control this fierce horse by himself. Only those powerful guards skilled in martial arts could do it.
Prince Jun had already heard the guards report that Fu Zhao Ning wanted to return to the Fu family at this hour. Then another person rushed over using qinggong and anxiously reported,
“Master, Princess Consort wants that wild horse!”
“Has she gone crazy?!”
Prince Jun instantly stood up. His figure flashed like a phantom as he rushed out.
That horse had been extremely difficult to obtain. What he valued was precisely its fierce and arrogant temperament, along with its pure bloodline. Once trained, it would become a spiritual and powerful warhorse.
But it had not been trained yet!
Its wild nature remained strong, and it was highly aggressive.
Fu Zhao Ning was simply risking her life.
At the stable, Fu Zhao Ning had already realized how wild the horse was the moment she approached it.
But she had no time to choose another horse.
And among all the horses there, only this one caught her eye immediately. Perhaps only this horse could run fast enough.
The horse did not even have a saddle yet.
After rushing over, Fu Zhao Ning reached out and stroked its neck.
Just as the horse began showing signs of restlessness, she swiftly flipped herself onto its back. She stroked its neck again while lowering her body slightly.
“Be good. Listen to me. I need your help.”
The horse snorted heavily, lifted its front hooves, and charged out of the stable.
“Hiiih!”
“Good boy, let’s go!”
By the time the servant brought people over, the wild horse had already carried Fu Zhao Ning racing past them like a gust of wind, blowing dust into their eyes so hard they could barely open them.
“Stop her!”
Even the guards’ voices trembled.
By the time Prince Jun arrived, he was already one step too late.
All he could see was Fu Zhao Ning’s retreating figure.
Under the evening sky, the cold wind blew strongly.
She rode atop the crimson horse, her black hair flowing like clouds, her wedding robes fluttering wildly in the wind. The breeze tightened the fabric around her slender waist, making it appear delicate enough to break with one grip.
She had already galloped away.
“Princess Consort!”
Qing Yi also arrived just in time to witness the scene, his face changing completely in shock.
“Master, Princess Consort actually knows how to ride a horse!”
“That horse doesn’t even have a saddle!”
Yet Fu Zhao Ning rode it at terrifying speed while sitting steadily and firmly.
That meant her riding skills were extraordinary.
Was this really the same Fu Zhao Ning they had heard about before?
“Prepare a carriage.”
Prince Jun gritted his teeth.
Fu Zhao Ning was now considered his Princess Consort. If anything happened to her outside on the very day of their wedding, he would not escape responsibility.
Besides, tomorrow she was supposed to enter Luo Yue Mountain. She had personally agreed to it before the Emperor. If something happened and she could not go tomorrow, the Empress would absolutely accuse her of deceiving the Emperor.
He had no choice but to chase after her.
Fu Zhao Ning rode through the long streets like a violent wind. Before people on the streets could even see clearly who it was, she had already passed them by.
Following the original host’s memories, she finally arrived at the Fu family residence.
It was said that the Fu family had once been extremely glorious. They had even elevated the entire clan. Old Master Fu had once been surrounded by followers everywhere he went, respected and praised by relatives and younger generations alike.
But more than ten years ago, disaster struck the Fu family, and their decline came shockingly fast.
Within only a few years, their enormous fortune had been sold away completely. Those clan relatives also hurriedly distanced themselves from the Fu family.
Now, although Old Master Fu still lived in a grand garden-style residence, most of the courtyards inside had been occupied by clan members using various excuses.
Old Master Fu and Fu Zhao Ning had moved to a simple small courtyard closest to the back gate.
They usually entered and left through the back gate as well, never using the front entrance.
Fu Zhao Ning rode directly to the back gate now.
Before the horse even fully stopped, she leaped down quickly and rushed over to pound on the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She knocked for quite a while, yet nobody came to open it.
Fu Zhao Ning’s heart suddenly sank.
Old Master Fu still had people serving him. There was an elderly couple who had followed him for many years, and their son also worked for the Fu family. There was also Xiao Tao, the maid who usually served Fu Zhao Ning.
But because Fu Zhao Ning had hurriedly married into Prince Jun’s residence, Old Master Fu lacked manpower, so Xiao Tao had also been left behind.
Their residence was very close to the back gate. The old servant Zhong Bo often guarded the gate personally. With knocking this loud, Zhong Bo should definitely have heard it.
In the past, he always came immediately to open the door.
So why was there no response now?
Fu Zhao Ning turned toward the wild horse and waved.
“Come here. I still need your help.”
The horse actually walked over obediently.
Fu Zhao Ning had it stand beside the wall. Then she climbed onto its back and stood upright.
The horse was tall, strong, and magnificent, its fur glossy and smooth, yet she still managed to stand steadily on its back. Suddenly, she leaped upward, grabbed the top of the wall with both hands, and skillfully climbed over it.
She jumped down into the courtyard, quickly opened the back gate, and led the horse inside.
This horse belonged to Prince Jun’s residence. She could not afford to lose it.
After closing the gate again, Fu Zhao Ning quickly headed toward Old Master Fu’s courtyard.
Everything along the way was silent and dark. No lamps were lit anywhere.
Two neighboring small courtyards stood ahead.
One belonged to Old Master Fu and Zhong Bo’s family of three.
The other belonged to Fu Zhao Ning and Xiao Tao.
At this moment, her own courtyard was completely dark.
But faint light could still be seen from Old Master Fu’s courtyard.
Fu Zhao Ning hurried over.
As she approached, voices from inside entered her ears.
“Elder Uncle, why don’t you go outside and hear how the entire capital is talking about Zhao Ning right now?”
