Fish hunting (3)

When the name of the winner was announced, Shin Zuzhou's face did not move a muscle. With a graceful and confident walk, she stepped onto the platform and, straightening her chest, stood facing the crowd.

After the announcement of the results, it was only when she heard Mei Baijie's name that the Empress, who had been sitting quietly on the throne until then, suddenly jumped up from her seat and turned purple with anger. She naively assumed that the second prince, after grabbing the jade tiger, would give his winnings to Shin Zuzhou. At least out of respect for her and her country, which was going to sign a military agreement with them. However, the prince, despite the desperate hopes of his mother, spat on all the rules of decency and in front of a whole crowd of onlookers nobly covered his mistress from prying eyes with a long black cape when a flurry of indignation poured out on the girl.

«What a bunch of idiots.»

Shin Zuzhou involuntarily rolled her eyes and looked away from what was happening at the imperial throne. These people were so stupid that the girl could not take the picture presented to her seriously.

The only thing that interested her at the time of her ascent to the stage was only one person. Shin Zuzhou cast a glance into the crowd and began to look for the right person. And the search didn't last long. A short skinny guy in a silly carnival mask, which stood out strongly from the general background, stood hiding behind other people and was violently discussing something with the first prince.

The girl continued to look at him, as if hoping that he would look back at her. But the guy continued to stubbornly ignore her existence.

Shin Zuzhou was sure that the masked stranger would be watching her every move. This guy gave her a flower, caught and thrown away during the solemn victory day, he also gave her the first place in the competition, which caused her only terrible boredom and indignation. What could be his motive, if not to attract her attention.

Shin Zuzhou absolutely couldn't understand the patterns of this guy's behavior and it was starting to piss her off.

At this point, it is also worth noting that when Shin Zuzhou first heard the name of Mei Baijie, who, as she knew, was the mistress of her future legitimate husband, she was ready to leave the event immediately. She didn't need extra attention and sidelong glances. However, the girl did not even have time to get up from her seat when she heard her name among the winners. She did not show her confusion, but at that moment a storm were raging in her soul. After the surprise, a slight feeling of satisfaction suddenly came. If she had been ready to explode with anger before, now the situation with the prince's mistress angered her much less. Shin Zuzhou couldn't understand the nature of this feeling, so she just continued to drill into the mysterious guy with her inquisitive gaze, hoping to find all the answers she needed in this way.

In turn, Yang Yulan's head exploded from the sound of the system's alerts.

[Attention! Attention! Plot violation..]

The girl froze in shock when the first place was announced. It already began to seem to her that this world was doing everything to prevent her from seeing all the romantic scenes of the book. Yang Yulan was afraid to look at the girl who had just stepped onto the stage, so she looked away from the stage and turned to her brother.

– Why do I have the first place? I've only caught one little squirrel in all this time! – the girl complained, almost breaking into a scream from the stress she had experienced.

– Oh, stupid! It's not just a squirrel – the guy replied and patted the girl on the shoulder.

– This is the great forest spirit. Even if my dumb brother caught ten jade tigers like that, he wouldn't be able to even the score with you.

Yang Yulan shifted her shocked gaze to the fluffy baby, who was comfortably perched on her shoulder and curiously watching their dialogue and could not help but wonder what her new temporary pet was like.

The girl massaged her temples, not knowing what to do next. At that moment, a crowd ran up to her, who seemed ready to crush her with their sick enthusiasm.

– Congratulations on your victory!!

– How did you manage to capture this spirit? I've heard that it's impossible. You are a great hunter!

– Your Highness, introduce us to your friend.

Yang Yulan did not intend to have any small talk, especially in her current situation, so she immediately tried to escape from annoying people. At that moment, her brother apologized to the others and ran after his sister away from the main square.

– It's so inconvenient that you have to hide, isn't it? – said the prince, walking with his sister on the way to his tent.

Yang Yulan nodded, not understanding what he was getting at.

– I've come up with something to help you not reveal your identity ahead of time. I'm sure it's an ingenious solution.

– Here you go.

The guy handed the girl a small leather bag. Yang Yulan picked it up and looked at the contents curiously. There was some finely chopped red grass inside the bag.

***

At the end of the day, before the people who quarreled over the situation with Mei Baijie ate each other alive, the servants of the palace announced a festive feast. The imperial family had one large residence in this forest, which was rarely used and which was finally useful today.

Yang Yulan, as usual, took a seat at the table next to Yang Yusheng, slightly lifted her mask and began to greedily devour everything that lay on the porcelain plates in front of her.

After the dinner party, some of the girls went to a tea party, where they had previously been invited by Shin Zuzhou. She was going to arrange a kind of reception for the residents of southern Nan, meet other girls of noble blood, and establish the necessary connections. So, after the announcement of her marriage to the first prince, she will become as much a resident of this country as they are.

Strangely enough, despite the seemingly spoiled plot, Shin Zuzhou still invited the main character to go with them.

– So the plot is still not so spoiled – Yang Yulan exhaled, watching as a group of girls dressed up from head to toe went together to the tent of the northern princess – Shin Zuzhou was still angry at the main character

The girl was ready to cry with happiness, realizing this. She gathered up some of the remaining sweets from the table and discreetly followed the other ladies towards the right building.

The tent where Shin Zuzhou was placed deserved to have a girl of royal blood living there. In terms of size and luxury, the building was not inferior even to the residence where the Empress settled down.

The girls stayed outside. Where the table was set for them and there were some treats for tea.

Evening began to fall. The orange sun was already sinking below the horizon, decorating the already bright leaves of the trees with fabulously bright colors. Purple, gold and red highlights jumped on the jewels of noble ladies, on expensive porcelain and even on the white tablecloth. Yang Yulan admired the view in front of her so much that time flew by almost imperceptibly for her.

The girls at the table continued to chat about some nonsense of their own, drink tea and laugh. The main character sat quietly all this time, as if she had filled her mouth with water. Yang Yulang haven't heard a word from her in all this time.

It's not surprising. According to the canon, Mei Baijie really felt ashamed towards the main villain. She blamed herself for falling in love with the prince, who was already engaged and dreamed of becoming friends with Shin Zuzhou or at least smoothing out the conflict between them.

«It's a pity it's not meant to happen» – Yang Yulan shook her head

Mei Baijie had finished her tea a long time ago and was now sitting quietly, not touching anything else on the table.

This seemed rather strange to Yang Yulan. After all, according to the plot, the main character was poisoned as soon as she drank just one sip of tea offered by the villainess.

Yang Yulan was completely confused, but she did not give up and continued to wait further. After a while, some of the girls had their cups refilled. And then it happened.

One of the ladies began to choke and fell to the ground, blushing from coughing.

Yang Yulan got goosebumps when she realized who was actually the victim of poisoning.

The girl lying on the grass turned out to be Shin Zuzhou herself.

– But why?

Yang Yulan's brain made an error.

The servants, seeing what had happened, immediately became alarmed, and were about to call for help when Shin Zuzhou stopped them with a wave of her hand.

– It's not worth it. I'm feeling better now.

Still red from a prolonged cough, the princess got to her feet on her own and stood right in front of the guests, as if nothing unusual had happened.

However, despite the calm expression on her face, the girl's gaze sparkled with undisguised malice. The atmosphere at the tea party immediately changed. No one spoke a word, for fear of accidentally getting hit. There was a dead silence in the air. It seemed that even the moon, which had just risen, threatened to fall on them with cruel punishment.

In the next half hour, Shin Zuzhou gathered all the servants who served the girls at the tea party in the main hall of the imperial residence and put them in a row, ordering them to look her straight in the eyes.

All the others who had not yet retired to their tents also witnessed the incident and also remained silent. Only the Empress, who had recently learned about the incident from her charges, was now walking up and down the hall, muttering curses to herself and fearing that all the country's plans to unite with its neighbors would go downhill because of one failed murderer.

The woman tried to do her best to help the northern princess find and punish the culprit.

Shin Zuzhou stood in front of the servants and took out an already empty cup of fragrant tea from her bosom and sniffed at it.

«Like a dog» – Yang Yulan couldn't help but think, having also witnessed this strange picture.

The villainess walked through the row of servants, moving from person to person and carefully sniffing at each of them.

The situation might have seemed funny enough from the outside, but only fear could be read on the faces of the servants, who were being checked for involvement in the murder at that moment.

Some of them even managed to sweat so much from excitement during the inspection that it seemed that they were not standing in a cool hall in the middle of the night, but under the scorching summer sun in the middle of the day.

Shin Zuzhou suddenly stopped in front of one of the maids and looked at her face. The woman looked to be about fifty or sixty years old. She was short in stature with a kind round face and awkward big hands. She looked at the princess, who stopped in front of her as if she were the very embodiment of death.

– Who hired you? – Shin Zuzhou asked, addressing her, but without raising her voice.

– I don't understand what you're talking about, Your Highness – the maid mumbled in response. Her round face was contorted with excitement. Her eyes darted from place to place, and her mouth trembled with fear.

Shin Zuzhou rolled her eyes and took out a small silver dagger from the pocket of her dress. She raised her hand above her head and immediately plunged the blade into the shoulder of the maid who did not have time to react. A heart-rending scream rang through the entire hall, making people's skin crawl. The girls immediately turned away and hid their eyes behind the wide sleeves of their robes.

– I won't say it twice – Shin Zuzhou threatened, looking straight into her victim's eyes, but she continued to stubbornly remain silent. The princess pressed the dagger harder and the maid began to sob, begging for mercy.

– It's me.. It's my fault. I poisoned you. No one sent me. Have mercy, Your Highness. I am ready to accept any punishment. Not death. I beg you. Save my life.

Shin Zuzhou did not listen to what she would say next. She forcefully tore the dagger out of the woman's flesh and slit her throat. Blood poured out in a fountain from the wounded place and drenched the princess's entire face and dress. But the girl continued to stand in place, watching her victim suffocate.

«Such a slow and painful death»

– That's what happens when you protect someone – the princess turned to the maid, – This person did not deserve your help.

Yang Yulan stood in some prostration. She had seen someone else's death before, but she had never witnessed such a cruel and bloody one. The girl wanted to turn away from the picture before her, but at that very second, Shin Zuzhou cast her sharp, burning gaze at her.

«She doesn't think I poisoned her, does she?»

In any case, the girl was ready to faint from fear. She couldn't stand that deadly gaze for a second longer, so she immediately retreated from the scene of the crime.

Yang Yulan went back to the tent to put her thoughts in order and rest for a while.

«If the villain is poisoned as a result, then in the original plot she was not the cause of poisoning of the main character. Why would she pour poison into her own mug and then kill someone? It doesn't make sense.»

The girl was racking her brain from another mystery that had befallen her.

«Obviously, that maid was just a figurehead. The real killer is still alive, and he's still somewhere in the forest. But who is he and why did he decide to make an attempt on the villainess this time, and not on the main character? »

Yang Yulan simply ignored the system's alerts. She believed that she still had the opportunity to save the plot.

«First of all, we need to find the real killer. This is the only way I'll understand what went wrong and how I can fix it.»

The girl went to the right tent and went inside. She knew for sure that she would not be able to sleep properly today.