Movement caught Jin qing's eyes.

Without moving her body, her eyes followed the small bird that has wandered into her sight.
Moving her body only slightly, she notched an arrow, and began to wait for the bird to settle down and stop moving.

Zip

Thud

Jin qing smiled, bird's eye.

Dismounting her horse, she slid down and picked up her prize. It was a nice sized bird worth a few points. Tossing it into her basket, Jin qing continued her search.

She believed the best way to hunt was to limit any sort of movement from the head down. Any slight sort of movement can scare any game away, and keep speaking to the minimum.

Jin qing is used to it anyway, not speaking, so this is purely a simple game of shooting and aiming.

She urged her horse slightly, and they inched forward, her faithful steed's hooves barely making any noise besides soft thumps on the ground.

Her horse stopped, and Jin qing listened.
The wind blew slightly to the east, tossing her hair around, blowing softly at her horse's mane.  A small rustle to her left, but she knew it was because of the wind.

A soft crunch and snap of a tree branch.

Jin qing's eyes flew open, and only moved her eyes. 
Her hands moved as fast as lightning, neatly killing the small bird.

Another arrow pierced the dying animal, and Jin qing turned to see who it was.

Shang ye came riding in with a handsome brown horse. His basket almost full and his bow was at his side.

"If it isn't the second daughter of the advisor Li. Your skill at the bow is quite formidable." 

"Greetings to the Prince Shang ye. And thank you." Jin qing replied, some of her usual shyness coming back to her.

Shang ye laughed softly. "Why did your expression suddenly change? You looked so confident before."

Jin qing lowered her eyes and lowered her bow, thinking how should she form her words. "I was so concentrated on the prey that I forgot to worry."

"That happens to me, too." He replied, then nodded at her basket. "You've got quite a basket there."

"Thank you."

His servant and body guard handed him the bird they shot. He took his arrow out and placed the bird in Jin qing's basket. "You shot the bird first, you keep it."

"But your highness shot the killing arrow, the bird belongs to the highness" Jin qing replied politely. 

"I insist." 

"Thanks to the highness" 

He let out a genuine and hearty laugh. "You are always so stiff and formal, unlike your sisters! So hard to read! What's underneath that gentle smile and pretty face?"

Jin qing faked a shy smile. "I am an open book."

"Or are you? Then that book must be quite mysterious."

Jin qing didn't reply.

"A shy little lady." He nodded, then looked in the opposite direction. "My brothers are over there, would you like to join us?"

Jin qing had a feeling she couldn't say no, so she nodded.

Following closely behind, she wondered why could Shang ye possibly want her with his brothers. 

Hospitality, She guessed. Or perhaps it's because he didn't want a lady to be alone. Ooh~ how gentlemanly!

When she arrived, everyone but the sisters is present. Xi Jian, the eldest sat on a spotted horse, talking to his younger brothers, Fu Chen and Min yin.

"Greetings to the highness" Jin qing said, and they all turned around.

"If it isn't Jin qing!" Min yin said first.

"Brother, you are familiar with her?" Fu Chen asked. 

"I was talking to her this morning." Min yin said, looking at Jin qing's basket. "She did tell me she is quite skillful at the bow, but that is quite impressive for a lady."

"Thank you" 

"No need to thank me. So? Shang ye, did you get the bird you saw?"

Shang ye laughed. "No, Jin qing shot it before I did."

"A person who can beat Shang ye in archery is one who should be watched." Fu Chen replied, "Now I'm curious about how good you really are."

"Exactly why I bought her here!" Shang ye answered, then turned his horse toward Jin qing. "What do you say? Would you like to join us?"

Jin qing lowered her eyes. "How can I say no?"

<>

Jin qing urged her swift black horse on a full gallop, chasing after the deer that she and Fu Chen has sighted.

As the rules state in these games, only the people to sees the prey can chase after it, and the first to kill gets the animal.

Fu Chen was determined not to let this lady win again. This lady's eyes were incredibly sharp, and she almost always spots the prey right before he did. And the last few times, he acted like he had let her win, but he knew the lie was getting old.

Jin qing was aware that Fu Chen wanted to win, but she was having too much fun to care. She notched her bow while in full gallop and aimed.

Fu Chen watched her arrow fly from her hand and into the deer's head.

The poor animal fell with a screech and laid down, limp.

Out of breath, Fu Chen wondered how did he lose this many times in a row. Her shot while her steed is in movement should have been impossible, but she managed to do it every single time. Game as large as this is left in the woods for the servants to pick up and count, so they don't need to be burdened by the weight.

"Jin qing, your skill is incredible!" Fu Chen smiled.

"Thank you. Yours is greater, I got nervous and shot first. I simply got lucky that the arrow killed the deer." Jin qing replied.

"No, you had complete confidence," Fu Chen countered. "I can see it on your face."

Jin qing lowered her eyes shyly. "Thank you."

The went back in silence. 

"So?" Xi Jian asked. "Who got it?"

"Fu Chen ran off like a scared bird, and Jin qing followed right behind him." Min yin laughed, "Fu Chen probably got it. Did you?"

Fu Chen shook his head. "No, I didn't. You all need to race with Jin qing, her skill will put you all to shame!"

Min yin laughed. "Oh really?"

Xi Jian rubbed his chin, staring at Jin qing "Say, how about you and I have a race? A servant caught a bird, and we can let it free for us to chase down."

"Sure, if that's what your highness would like."

The servant let go of the bird's feet and both shot forward. Only one of Jin qing's hands were on the reins, and the other was clutching the bow. 

As soon as she got the rhythm of the pounding hooves, everything sharpened into focus. She can pretend this was the forest of where she grew up, Xi Jian was her childhood friend and brother, and the bird was simply dinner.

She straightened her back, and to Xi Jian's surprise, notched another arrow and let it fly, again killing the bird.

Xi Jian stopped his horse and stared at Jin qing dumbfound. "Fu Chen wasn't lying when he said your skill is great."

"Thank you"

"You haven't said much besides that the entire day, haven't you?" Xi Jian noticed.

"I don't like to speak much."

"Well, then you should speak more often. You have a beautiful voice."

Despite his compliment, Jin qing did not say anymore but another "Thank you."

<>

Jin qing knew today out of all days she cannot miss a banquet because then everyone will notice if she's gone.

Bai yan and Ye bing sorrowfully selected some simple robes for their mistress to wear. It was presentable, but it wasn't as extravagant as the others that their mistress' slender body and pale skin would have looked good in.
But being the Xue Xian had come with a price, and if their miss had nothing to say about it, they shouldn't either. After all, she had to go through and endure so much more.

The maids at home often teased and bullied the two for serving such a boring lady. Huan le's servants had boasted about serving the best, Xue Hua's servants bragged about their lady's sewing and dance. Even Xi yan's maids spoke of her talent of a  mesmerizing and childish look that resembled Chun ting!
What about them?
They cant say anything.

If they could, their miss would be the most respected person in the entire household- perhaps even above the father.

They knew Jin qing would never allow that and would get mad.
They do not want to see her mad, its very scary to sit by because of her silence and an unreadable expression.

Doing her hair tastefully and decorated with a lavender-colored bird pin that matched her robes, Bai yan added the final touches to her miss' outfit.

"Thank you," Jin qing smiled at the two, her eyes bright and cheerful. "For making me look so pretty"

"We can make you prettier if you allowed it" Ye bing replied slyly, a hidden meaning underneath her words that Jin qing understood.

"Perhaps one day" Jin qing smiled. "The only thing we need to do it wait."

"But what if the time never comes?" Ye bing asked

"Then what else can we do about it? We couldn't possibly keep this secret forever."

"One day..." her maids repeated, their voices dull.