Chapter 142
If You Save Me, You’ll Be Unlucky
“Zhier, Fen’er, stay here!”
Zhao Chen called out to the two girls dressed as men.
He drew his sword and then said to Fu Zhaoning,
“Treat him. Just don’t let him die! The rest of you, come with me. We’re going to hunt wolves!”
“Hunt wolves!”
The other young men immediately became excited.
“If we can bring back a few wolves, we’ve definitely won this competition!”
“No, after that we’ll still have to steal Jiang Yu’s little black bear!”
With the help of that masked man, Jiang Yu’s group had managed to hunt a small black bear.
Their side would need to kill at least ten wolves to surpass them.
“We want the wolves and the bear.”
Zhao Chen declared domineeringly before charging forward.
“Light the torches! Light them all!”
Wolves feared fire.
If they wanted to hunt wolves, they first had to frighten them.
Fu Zhaoning heard two more wolf howls.
Her expression changed slightly.
Were Zhao Chen and the others truly this fearless?
Or had they failed to realize that what was coming was very likely an entire wolf pack?
Wolves were extremely good at working together.
And they held grudges.
If they killed some wolves but failed to eliminate the alpha wolf, they would suffer greatly afterward.
Just as Fu Zhaoning was about to speak, they had already rushed off into the distance.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
Zhier was somewhat frightened by the wolf howls, so she tried to distract herself by talking to Fu Zhaoning.
Fu Zhaoning ignored her.
She crouched down and quietly asked the boy,
“Your leg is broken?”
“Yes.”
The boy finally spoke.
His voice was in the middle of changing. It was slightly hoarse but not unpleasant.
“Let me take a look. Your injury is serious. If it’s left untreated, this leg may become useless.”
As she spoke, she reached toward his injured leg.
But suddenly, the boy grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer.
He lowered his voice and spoke quickly, clearly afraid that Zhier and Fen’er would overhear.
“My name is Helian Fei. I’m from the Helian Tribe. Your Empress hates the Helian Tribe. If you’re the daughter of an official from the capital, don’t save me. Otherwise, you’ll be implicated too.”
Fu Zhaoning froze.
A moment ago, he had silently mouthed the words “save me.”
Now he was suddenly saying this?
Someone from the Helian Tribe?
There were many small countries around Zhao Kingdom.
Some were so small they barely had official names, like the Helian Tribe.
The Helian Tribe lived mainly as nomads.
More than ten years ago, one of their envoys had come to the capital and somehow challenged the Empress with a difficult problem.
Without realizing it, she ended up losing a piece of territory.
Although the land was barren and poor, it still belonged to Zhao Kingdom.
In order to preserve the dignity of being the nation’s Empress, she could not go back on her word.
She had no choice but to beg the Emperor to approve the transfer of the land.
The Emperor had been furious.
For half a year afterward, he never once visited her palace.
Instead, he favored many new concubines.
The Empress had completely lost face because of that incident.
As a result, she hated the Helian Tribe intensely.
Fu Zhaoning recalled all of this from her memories.
She had once overheard Fu Ruoxue and others secretly discussing the matter in the garden.
Many people in the capital had talked about it back then.
She had never expected this boy to be from the Helian Tribe.
“You should leave. Don’t bother with me anymore.”
Helian Fei pushed her away.
Fu Zhaoning had been distracted by her thoughts.
She was also exhausted and hungry, and her legs were sore from walking all day.
Caught off guard, she was pushed backward and fell onto the ground.
“Ha!”
Zhier had been trying to listen to their conversation.
When she saw Fu Zhaoning get pushed down, she immediately laughed.
“This little brat isn’t a good person at all!”
She snorted and looked at Helian Fei with disgust.
“But Brother Chen told you to examine him, so examine him. Listen carefully—just don’t let him die.”
Fu Zhaoning remained seated on the ground and did not rush to get up.
She looked at Helian Fei.
The moment he pushed her, panic had flashed across his face.
There was even a trace of apology in his eyes.
But when she looked at him, he immediately lowered his head again.
He was obviously in terrible pain.
His face was pale.
His entire body was drenched in sweat.
He had bitten his lips hard enough to draw blood.
His injuries were severe.
Even without examining him, Fu Zhaoning knew that if his leg was not treated quickly, he might survive the infection, but his leg would be ruined forever.
Looking at such a young boy becoming crippled, she felt somewhat unwilling to see it happen.
At least he did not seem like a bad person.
He had even warned her that saving him could bring trouble.
“Was it Zhao Chen who broke your leg?”
Fu Zhaoning suddenly asked.
“How did you know?”
Zhier immediately asked in surprise.
Then she put her hands on her hips and shouted,
“Hey! Don’t talk nonsense! Brother Chen didn’t do it on purpose!”
Fen’er also came over.
“That happened when Brother Chen was hunting a muntjac. This boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Brother Chen had already thrown the stone and couldn’t stop it in time, so it accidentally hit his leg!”
“That’s right! Brother Chen accidentally injured him, but instead of leaving him behind, he brought him along and planned to take him back to the city to see Divine Doctor Li!”
Brother Chen was such a good person.
Fu Zhaoning looked at Helian Fei’s horribly twisted leg.
An accident?
Hatred flashed through Helian Fei’s eyes.
But he did not explain anything.
“I think you don’t know medicine at all. Stop pretending and get lost.”
Zhier stepped forward and tried to pull Fu Zhaoning to her feet.
Fen’er grabbed her.
“Zhier, Brother Chen didn’t tell her to leave…”
“Are you stupid?”
Zhier glared at her.
“Can’t you tell that Brother Chen only kept her because she’s somewhat pretty? If we don’t send her away, what if she clings to Brother Chen? What if Brother Chen brings her into the residence too? Then we’ll have another woman competing with us for favor!”
Fu Zhaoning felt that she had truly broadened her horizons.
She had assumed these girls were daughters of noble families.
Instead, they were Zhao Chen’s concubines?
Or perhaps his bedchamber maids?
Zhao Chen had brought his own women along for the hunting competition and even dressed them in men’s clothing.
But when Zhier grabbed her, Fu Zhaoning immediately understood something.
Zhier was quite strong.
She clearly knew martial arts.
These two girls were not only here to compete for Zhao Chen’s favor.
They were also capable enough to accompany him on hunts.
That was why Zhao Chen felt comfortable leaving them behind to watch both her and Helian Fei.
“You have a point.”
Fen’er nodded.
“Let’s just let her leave. Later we’ll say she ran away and we couldn’t stop her.”
At worst, Zhao Chen would scold them a little.
That was still better than gaining another romantic rival.
Fu Zhaoning pushed both girls away.
At the same time, colorless powder quietly scattered from her hand.
“I’ll bandage his leg before I leave. Otherwise he’ll die. I can’t just watch someone die right in front of me.”
“Haha! I didn’t expect you to be such a little Bodhisattva.”
Zhier laughed again.
The way she looked at Fu Zhaoning was as if she were looking at an idiot.
Fen’er suddenly clutched her stomach.
“Fine, fine. Go ahead and bandage him. Zhier, my stomach hurts. Come with me while I go relieve myself.”
“You’re always causing trouble.”
Just as Zhier finished speaking, she suddenly grabbed her own stomach.
Her face immediately changed.
“How come my stomach hurts too?”
