Days In Quest Of Honor

Life with Royalty, End of Freedom (4)

Han Baozhai had an incurable illness. According to what she knew, the real owner of the body was the one affected by the cold poison when she was just a child. Being a Princess of the fallen Kingdom, it wasn't uncommon to get poisoned so as to end the entire generation with her being the only heir to the throne. So in fact the transmigration probably happened when the real owner couldn't take the effects and ended up succumbing to the poison in her body. That was when her body was taken over by another soul, the soul of the present Han Baozhai.

Han Baozhai stood behind a pavilion while catching her breath. Her entire body was shivering and while running, the cold wind against her body worsened her current state. She sighed knowing that her illness would relapse soon, but now wasn't the time. She somehow had to manage to get back home, change into warmer clothes and take her suppressants.

Finally having reached home she rushed inside her room and swollowed the pills which helped to supress the poison. After all it was just used to supress extreme effects, but discomfort and pain was inevitable. She sighed thinking that her vacation would be a waste now, but then thinking about the earlier incident, she felt creeps against her body. A child of that age, and exquisite garments on top of that. He couldn't be some commoner so he was obviously some noble." Just how could the parents be so reckless?"was all she thought.

Her mother wasn't home so she didn't know the current condition of her adoptive daughter. The poison would take time to come into action. After all the cold poison was such that it would make the victim fall into a state of hypothermia and the body temperature will become extremely low accompanied by breathing problem. Han Baozhai was experienced when it came to the sufferings caused by it but at times it could be serious enough to take her life. And hence, if her mother got to know what happened, she wouldn't have been able to stand still and ponder somewhere in her mind if there was still time left to atleast visit the event as an audience.

********

On the other side, it was time for Guizhong to shine because of her archery skills. The Emperor and the Empress were also present to witness the tournaments. After all it was more or less a selection for candidates for upcoming Royal Marriages. Guizhong swiftly mounted her horse and got ready on her tracks. She had eleven other competitors with her which included seven boys and four girls including herself. She didn't bat an eye to her opponents, but the ones who studied with her in the academia knew well of her talents. Many audiences were a bit surprised seeing women taking part. Even though their existed equality in this alternate universe, there was always some gender discrimination present.

As soon as the signal was given, the competitors dashed towards the target. There were obstacles on the track and one was to aim for the bullseye while riding their horse. Three targets in total. The lead was taken by a young male scholar followed by Guizhong. The boy in front scoffed seeing Guizhong right behind him. He aimed and his shot hit slightly away from the bullseye. And with a smirk on his face he dashed forward without looking back. Guizhong soon aimed for her target and as expected, it was a bullseye. She was someone who was always poised and took her time but did things with accuracy. What mattered in the tournament wasn't just speed but also accuracy. Her main strategy was to hit all three accurately and earn more points instead of focusing on speed.

The others who followed behind, already felt nervous seeing the two in lead. And sadly enough some either gave up due to obstacles or hardly hit the target. The audiences gaped at Guizhongs accuracy. Those who were mocking her because she was a woman now had their lips tightly shut.

And finally, as expected, Guizhong was hailed the winner. The other boy was extremely dissatisfied as he looked over the fact that hitting the target on spot held more points than coming first. After all he never expected a woman to accurately hit all targets while actually riding a horse at full speed. Hence, in the end he focused on speed and only hit one target perfectly while Guizhong hit three.

*****

The eighth prince laid motionless under the gaze of the royal physician. His brothers whom he eagerly wanted to greet were now by his side, panic clearly written over their faces. After all he was just a child who was only nine years old, so it was highly possible to slip down due to excitement while running. It wasn't his fault, but the main defect was in the fact that there was no adult accompanying him. There would obviously be an investigation as to where his personal maid was but at that point of time his health was of the greatest importance.

The physician checked his pulse and sighed in relief.

" Reporting to his Highness, the Eighth Prince has a stable pulse now and will be fine with some rest. He fainted due to the chilling water but don't worry he is out of danger now...
He will regain consciousness soon but as far as I can see, he needs to rest a bit longer. However... if it was even a bit late to rescue him, I am afraid that it could have led to serious consequences."

Both the Princes nodded in acknowledgement and thanked the physician. Even the General was present in the room.

Suddenly Xia Huang exclaimed in shock. " That girl!!"

The Second Prince stared at him after hearing his words, " Which? And why are you thinking of a girl at this moment?"

" Ahh, I mean his saviour! I told you right, that someone saved him before I arrived there. It was a young girl who had jumped down in that freezing water to save him. But then she ran away as soon as she finished speaking about his condition...We don't even know about her condition...After all the water was freezing cold."

Xia Xiaowen sighed on hearing the first Prince's word. " You should have thought about it before. If she is gone now nothing can be done. She will be fine don't worry... And yes, father must have been informed by eunuch Li by now. You better hurry up to his side. I and Pei Zhi will wait and look after him."

" Finee... And I truly hope that girl got home saf-"

" Enough thinking about her... This is why you don't get along with your wife! Just go and meet our father now."

Xia Huang's face turned gloomy with the mention of his 'wife'. He looked away and walked out in somewhat a dejected way.

General Han PeiZhi was worried the entire time but couldn't help but let out a chuckle on seeing the two brothers bicker. After all, the three grew up together and were like best friends.

But what he never knew was that the girl mentioned by Xia Huang was his very own sister...