The Cang Ni dog seemed to want to come out, its bloody maw agape, causing the cage to shake violently. The chain tethering it struck the cage, emitting a loud clang.
Xue Zining took a few steps back. Suddenly, she saw another person inside the cage, curled up there, their disheveled hair obscuring everything.
"There's someone inside?" Xue Zining asked in surprise.
The maid, accustomed to such sights, replied, "That's someone the Prince captured. It's for the Cang Ni dog to play with."
Xue Zining's heart leaped, and she blurted out, "It eats people?"
The maid shook her head. "The Cang Ni dog doesn't eat people, it just plays with them."
However, it would kill them after playing, a fact the maid kept to herself. It was best not to let the future princess know such a bloody matter, thought she.
Xue Zining nodded. The Cang Ni dog, seeing that it could not harm the people outside the cage, focused all its attention on the person in the corner within the cage.
This person had been sitting there, motionless, since their arrival. If it weren't for the scent of him that it could detect, it might have believed this to be a dead man.
It disliked people without the will to fight. Yet, now, it wished to test its sharp teeth, to sink them into this person's neck.
Thus, it lunged, pinning the person to the ground and exposing their neck. It moved forward, intending to bite off his neck.
Xue Zining watched as the Cang Ni dog, its maw agape, lunged towards the neck of the person it had pinned to the ground.
That person's eyes were dull and lifeless, like dead ashes, devoid of all color.
Suddenly, Xue Zining's gaze tightened. This person, "Xuesong?"
The person's eyes flickered, then turned to look at the person outside the cage.
"Xuesong..." Xue Zining became even more certain that the person in the cage was Xuesong.
Seeing the Cang Ni dog about to bite, she swiftly drew the silver whip from her waist and lashed out at the dog.
The silver whip blocked the Cang Ni dog's bloody maw, coiling around its mouth. Xuesong, with a carp's agility, sprang to his feet from the ground.
"Open the door," Xue Zining said coldly to the maid beside her.
The maid trembled, looking at her, and took several steps back in fright. "Princess Consort, only the Prince can open it."
"Go find Prince Xi Xia," Xue Zining shoved the maid aside and leaped into the air, heading into the distance. She dragged the Cang Ni dog with her using the silver whip, eventually wrapping it around a nearby tree, firmly securing the dog to the cage.
She breathed a sigh of relief. At least, until Prince Xi Xia returned, the Cang Ni dog should not be able to harm Xuesong.
The Cang Ni dog let out a howl, expressing its displeasure towards her.
Xue Zining's gaze turned cold as she looked at the Cang Ni dog. The dog stared back at her with red eyes, as if intending to tear her apart. But she had no time to attend to it now.
She approached Xuesong. "How did you get here? Where are the others?"
Xuesong's gaze faltered, his expression filled with an indescribable sadness.
Xue Zining did not press further but waited. A vague sense of unease was already dawning in her heart.
She knew that something must have happened to someone.
Was it Feng Wu? Or Xue Yan? Xue Feng?
After a long pause, Xuesong finally spoke. "After we parted ways with you, we encountered people from Xue Jing Yuan. However, we were outnumbered. Xue Yan was hit by an arrow and fell off a cliff; her fate is unknown. I don't know about the others. When I woke up, I was left in this cage."
Xue Zining knew Xuesong was keeping the explanation brief, but the situation must have been brutal at the time.
"Xue Yan will not die," Xue Zining said, looking up at Xuesong.
Xuesong remained silent, his gaze merely dimming.
Xue Zining's heart sank to the bottom, yet she still held onto hope, hoping that Xue Yan would indeed survive.
"My dear concubine, what is this?" Prince Xi Xia arrived in a hurry, seeing his beloved dog harshly leashed to the cage with a silver whip.
The Cang Ni dog, upon seeing its master, let out a plaintive cry.
"Who has done this to my Prince's beloved dog? Damnable..." Prince Xi Xia stroked the Cang Ni dog and said angrily, "Little Ai, don't be afraid. This Prince will certainly bite whoever hurt you for you to play with."
"I did it," Xue Zining said calmly, looking at Prince Xi Xia's angry face.
Prince Xi Xia's lips twitched. He quickly said, "So it was my dear concubine. Then this beast must have provoked her, and it deserved it."
The Cang Ni dog: ...
Who was it just now that said they would bite whoever hurt it for it to play with, and now they've changed their tune?
The Cang Ni dog let out a dissatisfied yelp. Prince Xi Xia slapped it. "What are you yelping about? This is your future mistress. She is someone you must protect, do you understand?"
The Cang Ni dog turned its head away in displeasure.
Prince Xi Xia leaned closer, a smile on his face. "My dear concubine, look how I've reprimanded this beast."
The Cang Ni dog yelped again, as if to say, I am not a beast, I have a name.
"Release this person," Xue Zining said, pointing at Xuesong in the cage.
Prince Xi Xia paused, his gaze slightly tightening, his expression turning cold. "My dear concubine, to ask for a man in front of this Prince, is that not improper?"
"Your Highness, this is my former servant," Xue Zining replied.
Prince Xi Xia blinked. "Since he is my dear concubine's servant, he naturally must be returned to my dear concubine."
Prince Xi Xia then ordered the cage to be opened. The Cang Ni dog tried to pounce out but was restrained by the silver whip still coiled around it.
Xuesong walked out. Xue Zining looked at his soiled appearance. "Go clean yourself up, then find me. I have something to say to you."
Xuesong nodded and left.
Prince Xi Xia leaned in. "My dear concubine, how was my act just now?"
Xue Zining glanced at Prince Xi Xia indifferently. "Is it not tiring to pretend like that?"
Hearing this, Prince Xi Xia let out a low chuckle and whispered, "If I don't do this, how can my seventh brother believe me when he returns?"
"Do you want the throne?" Xue Zining suddenly asked.
Prince Xi Xia's gaze froze, then he smiled. "That supreme position, who wouldn't want it?"
"Is the Seventh Prince's target also this?"
Prince Xi Xia's gaze turned cold. "To return at this time, I suspect his intentions are unclear."
"Given our cooperation, I hope you can thoroughly investigate where the Seventh Prince was and what he did. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory."
Prince Xi Xia's eyes lit up. "My dear concubine is right. My dear concubine is indeed more thoughtful."
Xue Zining looked into the distance. This Seventh Prince gave her a very bad feeling. That sense of familiarity made her feel instead repelled.
"My dear concubine, please prepare yourself. The banquet will begin shortly," Prince Xi Xia said.
Xue Zining nodded and returned to her chambers. Shortly thereafter, Xuesong arrived. He suddenly knelt on the ground and said in a low voice, "I failed to protect Xue Yan..."
Xue Zining paused, then stepped forward to help him up. "This is not your fault. I will seek revenge from Xue Jing Yuan for this. You must also believe in Xue Yan; she will not easily give up her life."
Xuesong trembled, his gaze slowly lowering.
He did not say the words: the arrow shot by Xue Jing Yuan had hit Xue Yan in the heart.