This man, the one who had left without so much as a word during their earlier disagreement, was now looking at her, his eyes softened in a way that made it impossible not to fall into them.
That question, “Does it hurt?”
Hadn’t he already asked that once before? Just moments ago, upon first seeing her, he’d asked it casually before hurriedly leading her away.
Now that he was asking again, Ziqing understood—asking it a second time wasn’t quite so simple anymore.
Ziqing didn’t answer right away, watching Jun Beiyue silently. Seen from a distance, this must have looked like such a warm, tender scene—her nestled in his arms, him looking down at her, both of them entirely absorbed in each other, oblivious to everyone else.
Chu Feiyan’s eyes couldn’t help but redden watching this. What was she, in this moment, if not utterly irrelevant?
In the end, she couldn’t contain her temper any longer, stamping her foot in furious indignation. “Jun Beiyue, you’ve come to see me in the dead of night—what exactly is your business here?”
But Jun Beiyue, far from acknowledging her, didn’t so much as spare her a glance from the corner of his eye, focusing entirely on Ziqing, waiting for her answer.
This woman was clever enough—how could she not understand what he was waiting for? He was waiting to see whether she was willing, whether she dared, whether she would.
He loved her bashful, shy side, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed her keeping her distance from him—especially when she looked at him like this, with timidity, uncertainty, even a hint of guardedness in her eyes, which was exactly what he disliked most!
Ziqing couldn’t help but grit her teeth, seemingly lost in thought over something.
“Hmm?” Jun Beiyue asked again, completely ignoring Chu Feiyan off to the side.
“Jun Beiyue, what exactly do you mean by this? Is this how you treat your guests?” Chu Feiyan stamped her foot so hard it nearly cracked the floor!
Here at the envoy’s residence, he was Da Zhou’s prince, she was West Chu’s princess and Nanzhao’s princess consort—in a setting like this, he was holding Han Ziqing in his arms, completely ignoring her!
But Jun Beiyue still paid her no mind at all. Then, suddenly, Ziqing spoke up. “It hurts, it hurts so much, Beiyue—she bullied me, she threw a teacup at me!”
She pouted, looking utterly pitiful, acting spoiled and coy in Jun Beiyue’s arms.
Chu Feiyan’s foot froze mid-stomp, not even reaching the ground before her whole body went rigid.
Han Ziqing was… she was actually… acting coy and filing a complaint at the same time!
She quickly recovered, pointing accusingly at Ziqing, shouting furiously, “Han Ziqing, have you no shame at all? You clearly fell into it yourself, I never meant to hit you!”
But who was paying attention to her?
Ziqing pouted, pulling Jun Beiyue’s hand up to her forehead. “Right here, it hurts so much, Beiyue, look, the blood’s still seeping out—I don’t know if it’ll leave a scar or not. I don’t want a scar!”
Seeing Ziqing act so coy, Jun Beiyue nearly burst out laughing, his mood lifting considerably as he gently caressed her wound, still aching inside for her. “Be good, Imperial Physician Gu is here, it won’t scar!”
“But it really hurts!” Ziqing said, feigning genuine anger.
“I’ll blow on it for you.” Jun Beiyue said, actually cupping Ziqing’s face carefully and blowing gently on the wound.
Chu Feiyan watched, torn between fury and desperation, practically ready to leap up from her seat. She finally understood—tonight, Jun Beiyue hadn’t come looking for her at all. It was Han Ziqing who had sought her out, dragging Jun Beiyue along to flaunt her position in front of her!
Ziqing kept her head lowered, feeling the warmth radiating from her forehead, that distinctive scent unique to him, and she relaxed considerably, entirely setting aside the worry that had been weighing on her mind about the poison cultivation matter. The corner of her mouth couldn’t help but curl into a secret, satisfied smile—this was the very first time in her life she’d acted coy and spoiled like this.
She wasn’t entirely sure how to do it, even felt a bit clumsy at it, but it seemed to have infuriated Chu Feiyan quite thoroughly. Glancing at Chu Feiyan from the corner of her eye, she suddenly pushed Jun Beiyue away, pointing directly at Chu Feiyan, who was by now practically shaking with rage, on the verge of exploding.
“It was all her! She’s the one who hit me! I already apologized to her, and she still wanted to hurt me!”
“Beiyue, I don’t care, if I don’t get an explanation for this, I won’t let her leave the capital!”
Hearing this, Chu Feiyan’s first reaction was shock, quickly followed by explosive fury. “Han Ziqing, what did you just say? Say that again if you dare—not letting me leave the capital? Who do you think you are? How dare you say such a thing!”
“Beiyue, look, she’s still yelling at me!” Ziqing complained again!
What infuriated Chu Feiyan most wasn’t being falsely accused—it was Han Ziqing tattling to Jun Beiyue like this. “You! You! You’re the one who started yelling at me first!”
Ziqing immediately looked on the verge of tears. “Beiyue, look, it was her who came to our estate and bullied everyone. I don’t care, you have to stand up for me!”
As she spoke, Ziqing wriggled and nestled against Jun Beiyue in his arms. She’d been held in this warm embrace many times before, but this was the first time she’d allowed herself to nestle so freely, so without restraint. The feeling was a bit chaotic, but it was infinitely better than sitting there quietly and obediently.
She understood now—Jun Beiyue’s earlier question, “Does it hurt?”, had been an invitation for her to seek her own revenge. And what he offered her in return was this very embrace, the very thing others had always relied on to bully her—the privilege of “presuming on favor.”
Today, she’d finally indulge in that privilege too!
“Be good, don’t move around too much, you’ll bump your wound,” Jun Beiyue comforted her gently. “Tell me exactly what happened. If anyone truly bullied you, no matter who it is, I won’t let it go easily!”
Hearing this, Chu Feiyan immediately fell silent. “No matter who it is”? What exactly did Jun Beiyue mean by that!
But Ziqing wasn’t done yet, glaring furiously at Chu Feiyan, saying angrily, “It was all her fault. We’d agreed she’d arrive in four or five days, but somehow she showed up early. I never invited her to visit our estate, but somehow she came anyway. We’d already arranged for her to stay at the envoy’s residence, but somehow she insisted on staying at our home instead!”
Everything Ziqing said was entirely factual. Without even properly accusing her yet, that string of “somehow”s left Chu Feiyan utterly mortified, so furious she couldn’t even find the words to fight back.
However spoiled and arrogant Chu Feiyan was, she still had her pride, especially in front of Jun Beiyue—how could she possibly admit that she’d deliberately provoked this confrontation to claim Jun Beiyue for herself, to impose on him?
She could only offer an explanation. “I already explained this—I was worried Beiyue would have to wait too long, so I came ahead of schedule!”
Ziqing immediately shot back, “Who said anyone was waiting for you? You’re reading far too much into this!”
“You! You! Han Ziqing, you—!” Chu Feiyan nearly choked on her own fury, unable to counter, her heart aching with frustration to the point of tears.
She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down, sitting back, no longer furious, no longer erratic.
She decided not to argue with Han Ziqing anymore. She stopped even addressing him as “Beiyue,” choosing instead to negotiate with Jun Beiyue in her formal capacity as princess and princess consort. “Prince Yao, you’ve come to see this princess in the dead of night—is it purely over her injury?”
Seeing this, Ziqing quieted down as well. Jun Beiyue answered simply, “Yes.”
“Let me tell you—I threw it, but I didn’t mean to hit her!” Chu Feiyan said earnestly.
“You did it on purpose!” Ziqing immediately retorted.
“I was aiming at Imperial Physician Gu—you fell into it yourself. Are you claiming I threw it at you?” Chu Feiyan demanded loudly, full of confidence.
But Ziqing’s confidence surpassed hers entirely, her voice even louder. “But you frightened me, and I fell because you scared me! You did it deliberately!”
If there was ever a woman who understood how to use a favored position to make unreasonable demands, who could it be but her?
…