Governess Hsu was strolling through the courtyard behind the kitchen. Compared to the lively scene in the early summer when she brought Xi Chen to the kitchen, the courtyard was now gradually turning bleak with wilting flowers and a smattering of brown leaves on the balding trees. However, the governess wasn't there to take in the view, she was there to inspect the meats that were left to dry by the royal cooks.

As summer bid its last farewell, the yearly tradition of preserving food for the coming colder months returned. Rows upon rows of drying racks carried an assortment of food of which meats took up most of the space. It had always been Governess Hsu's responsibility to ensure that the food was preserved properly to prevent them from turning moldy before spring came. While examining the preserved meats, the governess's mind wandered to Ye An, wondering if she was doing well at the hunt. As her thoughts connected like the webs of a spider, the governess suddenly recalled a long-suppressed memory from the last and only summer when she had served the late Empress which made her sigh sadly.

*******

"Your Imperial Majesty!" Xi Chen shouted as he took his sword out, skillfully blocking the second arrow in its course. Following the direction of the arrow, he spotted a dark figure retreating from behind a tree and started bolting towards the silhouette.

Before Xi Chen could reach the dark figure, the person vanished like he was never there. Xi Chen turned his attention back to the emperor and realized that Ye An was crouching and holding onto her wound. The blood around Ye An's wound bloomed like a red flower on the white shirt underneath her armor.

"Your Imperial Majesty, let me take you back. I'll call for the royal physician." Xi Chen said, panic rising in his chest.

"NO! C-call Governess Hsu! She'll know what to do!" Ye An ordered. The royal physician would need to take Ye An's top off to tend to this injury, she couldn't let him do that.

"But Governess Hsu is in the palace! It would take too long!" Xi Chen pleaded.

Ye An grabbed Xi Chen's collar and held his face so close to hers that their breaths mingled. "Get. Governess. Hsu. No one else. No one."

"But-"

"Just get me back to the tent! You can help before Governess Hsu arrives." Ye An hissed at the effort it took to speak to Xi Chen. On the inside, she cursed at how the usually compliant lieutenant decided that this was the time to be stubborn.

To Ye An's relief, Xi Chen immediately agreed. He also thought that they didn't have time to argue right now. No matter what the course of action later, he still needed to bring the emperor back to the tent site. Xi Chen proceeded to break the arrow off to shorten the part that was jutting out of the emperor so that the arrow wouldn't be jostled as much. As he was doing that, Xi Chen realized that unlike the arrows allocated to the participants of the Annual Hunt, the feather on this arrow wasn't colored. He gently carried the emperor, trying his best not to touch whatever remained of the arrow.

The coachmen of their open chariot heard the commotion and came thundering with his horses. He was shocked by the scene that greeted him. "My goodness!"

"You! Get down from the chariot!" Xi Chen pointed to the coachman authoritatively, his usually gentle face was now feral in his anxiety over Ye An's wellbeing.

Intimidated by the look in Xi Chen's eyes, the coachman instantly descended the chariot, bringing the carcass of the rabbit that Ye An had hunted earlier with him. "Y-yes, my lord."

Xi Chen carried the emperor over to the open chariot and placed Ye An there before climbing up the chariot himself. His brows furrowed at how pale the emperor had become in that short amount of time.

He then turned to the coachman and ordered, "Go get our horses and bring them back to the stables. If anyone asks, tell them His Imperial Majesty fell sick and would be dropping out of the hunt. I will hunt you down myself if I hear anyone spouting anything else. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, my lord."

Xi Chen pulled at the reins of the chariot horses towards the direction of the tent site. With Xi Chen's relentless urging, the chariot was back at the tent site in no time. Since the hunt was still going on, the tent site was practically bare of people. Xi Chen steered the chariot towards the royal tent and was greeted by the grand eunuch.

"Lieutenant Yun! What-"

Xi Chen cut off the grand eunuch. "Quick! Send for Governess Hsu!"

The grand eunuch paused at the scene in shock before running off to send a messenger to the Imperial Palace.

Xi Chen carried Ye An into the tent. With Ye An still in his arms, he pushed off everything that was on the large mahogany table in one movement, letting the items crash into the floor before gently placing the emperor on top of the table.

Ye An was now unconscious due to shock and moaning in pain as her blood made a small pool on the table. Xi Chen quickly took the helmet off the emperor before unstrapping and removing the armor that Ye An was wearing. After that, he removed the emperor's top carefully as to not agitate the wound and came upon the bandage that was bound over Ye An's chest.

"What- Is this?"

"Lieutenant Yun!" Governess Hsu came rushing into the royal tent, one hand holding the food that was packed neatly with a patterned cloth. She was already on her way to the site of the Annual Hunt with some snacks for Ye An when she bumped into the messenger who was dispatched to summon her.

Xi Chen tore his gaze away from Ye An's bandaged chest to look at Governess Hsu. Even through his helmet, the governess could see the shock and endless questions in Xi Chen's eyes.

Governess Hsu processed the scene as quick as light and curtly made an order to Xi Chen, "Leave us, Lieutenant Yun. I'll take care of it." Right now, the most important thing was to deal with the arrow that she could see was jutting out from Ye An's side.

Xi Chen looked at the governess indecisively and turned back to the emperor again before stepping away from the table.

"Lieutenant Yun." The governess caught Xi Chen by his arm as they passed by each other. "Ask the grand eunuch to pass me the herbs and tools that I've requested when he gets here." While Governess Hsu was running towards the royal tent, she managed to run into the grand eunuch and ordered him to get some herbs and supplies from nearby to stop Ye An's bleeding.

After getting out of the royal tent, Xi Chen stood guard by the tent entrance. He was in a daze as he tried to process what he had seen. The emperor was a woman all this time? What in the heavens is going on?

All those times when he felt that something was off with the emperor played in his mind like scenes out of a play. The time when the emperor first asked him to be a messenger during court meetings. The time when they were alone at the inn and the emperor adamantly stopped him from nearing the bath. And all the times when he noticed the slight changes in the emperor's voice but just blindly pushed them aside.

Putting those puzzles together, it was now as clear as day to Xi Chen. Was he such a slow wit? No, no one would have thought that this was possible. It was known that some women would disguise themselves as men to get more freedom to roam the city but he never heard of a woman who disguised herself as the emperor. This was an unprecedented occurrence.

Inside the tent, Governess Hsu was busy tending to Ye An's wound. She already had the bandage over Ye An's chest cut off with one of the daggers from the weapons rack. Without the herb from the grand eunuch, the governess couldn't yet remove the arrow for fear that she might not be able to stop the excessive bleeding that was bound to happen with such a deep wound.

"Grand eunuch, you're here!" The governess heard the urgent voice of the lieutenant.

"Don't come in! Just leave the items by the side of the entrance!" Governess Hsu barked. She knew how proud Ye An was and it would have killed her if her vulnerability was exposed to anyone this way.

The grand eunuch's hand reached in through the flap entrance and left a basket with the governess's requested items on the ground.

"Thank you." Governess Hsu uttered as she jogged towards the entrance to take the basket. She cleared the small side table of the teapot and teacups that were placed there by the grand eunuch earlier and pulled it towards the side of the large mahogany table before setting the basket of supplies on it.

Governess Hsu took a mortar and pestle out from the basket and started pounding on the herbs, mixing them into a rough paste-like substance. Once the paste was mixed enough, the governess put it aside and started preparations to remove the arrow.

She lit a candle and took a small blade out of the basket before placing the sharp end over the flame to sterilize the tool. Governess Hsu then waved the blade in the air for a few seconds to cool it off.

"Ye An, this is going to hurt a little. But I need your wound to open wider so that the arrow comes out smoothly, alright?" Governess Hsu's soft words fell to the deaf ears of an already unconscious Ye An.

The governess started to cut at the wound. This instantly jolted Ye An awake as she screamed in pain.

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