Listening to the Khan's provoking words, the King of Yu replied unhurriedly, "Indeed. Every year, Tuoba Wuyi and the King of Ruixian would fight to a draw. As a junior, I truly admire Tuoba Wuyi. I have absolutely no intention of being arrogant."
Although this remark of the King of Yu seemed to be elevating Gu Ruobai and Tuoba Wuyi, in fact, he was subtly disparaging both of them.
Everyone knew that during every autumn hunting, the Emperor would release a wild beast in the royal garden for everyone to hunt. If nothing unexpected happened, whoever managed to hunt down the beast would basically be the first - place winner of that autumn hunting.
In the past, although Gu Ruobai always emerged victorious, only once did he win the first place by hunting a wild beast, and that was a relatively less aggressive leopard.
Now, the King of Yu didn't act until he did, and when he did, he directly hunted a tiger without getting seriously injured. Such a stark contrast was like telling the Khan that Gu Ruobai was nothing in his eyes, and Tuoba Wuyi was even less of a thing.
The Khan's face immediately turned ugly. "You! You young whelp, how dare you speak so arrogantly! Is this your so - called etiquette?"
Seeing that the Khan was angry, the Emperor calmly took a sip of his tea and then said unhurriedly, "Young people tend to be hot - tempered. It's nothing. The time hasn't come yet. Let's wait a bit. Maybe Tuoba Wuyi will surprise us."
Everyone could tell that although the Emperor seemed to be soothing the Khan, he was actually subtly mocking.
All the wild beasts for this autumn hunting had already been hunted by the King of Yu. No matter what animal Tuoba Wuyi hunted, he couldn't possibly win.
Just as everyone was looking at the Khan with a look of anticipation for a good show, a man came galloping out on his horse in a flurry.
The man was covered in blood and looked extremely disheveled.
Perhaps he was too nervous, and when he dismounted, he almost fell flat on his face.
Hardly standing steadily, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground. "Khan!"
The Khan's face had been gloomy when he saw the man coming out, and now it was as black as if it could drip water. "What's the matter that makes you so flustered?"
The man trembled all over in fear. "The Third Prince... The Third Prince... He's dead..."
"What!"
As soon as he said this, the entire venue was shocked.
The Khan slapped the table and stood up, glaring angrily at the man. "What did you say? What happened to Yelv Yanqi!"
"The Third Prince... " The man's lips trembled in fright. "He was killed by that woman who insisted on participating in the autumn hunting!"
Before the Khan could say anything, the King of Yu immediately retorted, "Impossible!"
For a moment, everyone's eyes were on the King of Yu. Su Mingyu was the King of Ruixian's person. In such a serious matter, the first one to speak should be the King of Ruixian. Why was it the King of Yu?
After the King of Yu said that, he realized his gaffe, but there was no wavering on his face. He just stared coldly at the man. "Su Mingyu is just a woman, and your Third Prince is at least a full - grown man. How could it be so easy for Su Mingyu to kill him?"
"I... I saw it with my own eyes!" The man trembled all over in fear. "I got separated from the Third Prince in the forest. While I was looking for him, I suddenly saw signs of birds and beasts scattering in the middle of the forest."
"So I rode my horse over. As soon as I got there, I saw the ground covered in blood and in a complete mess. And that woman was holding the Third Prince's severed limb! I was so scared at that time that I turned around and ran away."
The King of Yu stared intently at the man, as if trying to tell whether he was lying.
But the man seemed really frightened. He stammered when he spoke, and his eyes were unfocused.
Seeing this, Gu Ruobai slowly wheeled himself forward to confront the man face - to - face. "You said you saw her holding the Third Prince's severed limb with your own eyes. Did you see the Third Prince's corpse?"
After being asked this by Gu Ruobai, the man fell silent for a long time. "At that time, the ground was full of corpses, both of horses and people."
"I didn't look closely at all, but all the people were dead. Only that woman was still alive, and she was holding the Third Prince's severed limb. It must be her who killed everyone and the Third Prince."
After hearing what he said, Gu Ruobai burst out laughing. The laughter was clear and full of contempt. "You keep saying that Su Mingyu killed someone, but you only saw her holding the severed limb. You didn't actually see her kill anyone."
"Don't you think your tone is too certain? Could it be that the Third Prince did something shameful to Su Mingyu? That's why as soon as you saw Mingyu holding the Third Prince's severed limb, you were sure that she must have killed the Third Prince."
Gu Ruobai's incisive words made the man unable to lift his head.
Looking at the man's face, everyone understood even without an explanation that Gu Ruobai had hit the nail on the head.
The Khan, who had originally wanted to vent his anger on the Emperor after hearing that his son was dead, seeing this situation, could only angrily slap the man in the face and then glare at him with wide - open eyes. "You good - for - nothing! Don't you explain clearly what exactly happened?"
The man was beaten dizzy. After a while, he covered his face and sobbed in a low voice. "R... Returning to the Khan, the Third Prince... The Third Prince just didn't like that woman being so arrogant."
"S... So he called us together and wanted to teach Su Mingyu a lesson. But before we actually made a move, Tuoba Wuyi came out to stop us..."
As soon as he said this, Gu Ruobai casually slapped his right shoulder and directly dislocated his arm.
The intense pain made the man's face turn deathly pale, but everyone present kept silent. No one dared to say a single word.
Gu Ruobai looked at the Emperor with a gloomy face. "Your Majesty, if this is really as he said, then I dare to request that Your Majesty send troops immediately."
"Why?" The Emperor's face was not looking good either. If Su Mingyu really killed the Third Prince, even if the Third Prince was in the wrong first, it wouldn't hold up.
Gu Ruobai of course knew the Emperor's concerns, but his tone was neither overbearing nor humble. "Father, I believe that Su Mingyu is definitely not a person who would kill innocent people indiscriminately."
"According to this man's description, I guess there must be another predator in the forest, a wild beast even more ferocious than a tiger. Otherwise, those birds and beasts wouldn't have scattered in a hurry."
"Moreover, a wild beast that has the strength to tear off a person's arm would probably be a threat even to Tuoba Wuyi, and he might not be able to get out unscathed."