Ziqing had her own many concerns, but Yelu Qianqian simply couldn’t understand them.

“What palace matter? Even if Consort Qin doesn’t respect you, she’d respect Jun Beiyue’s standing. If you insist on stopping this, what could Consort Qin possibly do? Besides, now that Chu Feiyan has arrived, she’ll soon lose favor anyway—let’s see how arrogant she can still be!” Yelu Qianqian urged again.

Ziqing sighed helplessly. “The Beast Clan Elder is still in the main hall right now. Consort Qin is clearly not showing anyone’s face any deference—can’t you see that?”

“You! You have no sense of loyalty!” Yelu Qianqian grew angry.

“He’s nothing to me—why would I owe him any loyalty?” Ziqing said, exasperated. Yelu Qianqian really was the first woman who could actually get under her skin.

“You broke the seedling too—you’re partly responsible!” Yelu Qianqian insisted seriously.

Ziqing’s patience wore thin, and once it did, she stopped responding entirely, letting Yelu Qianqian mutter on beside her while she said nothing, drinking her tea in silence.

Finally, Yelu Qianqian’s anger boiled over. “Han Ziqing, I never expected you to be this kind of person. This Princess is disappointed in you!”

With that, she slammed her hand on the table and stood up. “Enough! Consort Qin, I’ll take the rest of his punishment for him!”

At these words, the Second Young Beast Master immediately looked up, and even the guards paused, stunned for a long moment before he insisted seriously, “There’s no need!”

“Princess Qianqian, this is a matter within my palace. Princess Qianqian, please, sit back down,” Consort Qin said flatly, gesturing for the guards to continue!

Yelu Qianqian lunged forward at once, positioning herself over the Second Young Beast Master, careful not to touch him, bracing her hands on either side of him to shield him, insisting stubbornly, “Whether I shield him is my own business!”

The Second Young Beast Master, sweating profusely from the pain, turned to look at her. “I don’t need your pity—get lost!”

“I’m not pitying you—I just despise people who stand by and do nothing when someone’s in trouble, people with no sense of loyalty,” Yelu Qianqian said, looking pointedly and without hesitation toward Ziqing.

Ziqing avoided her gaze, feeling helpless. Yelu Qianqian was truly cut from an entirely different cloth than her.

“Princess Qianqian, please step aside. Remember your station!” Consort Qin scolded her.

“The beating is your palace’s business—shielding him is my own business, and has nothing to do with you.” She turned to the Second Young Beast Master again. “And it has nothing to do with you either!”

“You—!” Consort Qin was left speechless with fury, while a flicker of amusement flashed across the Second Young Beast Master’s eyes—though no one noticed it. He was still furious, though. “Get away from me!”

“Not a chance! If you’ve got the strength, push me off yourself!” Yelu Qianqian taunted—after all, the Second Young Beast Master couldn’t even crawl right now!

With the standoff at this impasse, Consort Qin truly had no way to deal with Yelu Qianqian. Consort Qin was no fool—Nanzhao had married a Western Chu princess, yet had also invited guests from Xijing, clearly attempting to maintain neutrality between the two nations. At such a delicate moment, if Yelu Qianqian were beaten in Nanzhao over something this trivial, wouldn’t the King of Nanzhao surely hold her responsible?

Consort Qin hesitated for a long while before finally speaking. “Very well. Today, for Princess Qianqian’s sake, this one will let it go! But if there’s a next time, this one will show no mercy!”

With that, she flung her sleeves and stormed off in bitter anger. Only then did Yelu Qianqian hastily get to her feet—aside from Situ Haonan, she had no interest whatsoever in being so close to any other man!

Seeing Yelu Qianqian like that, the Second Young Beast Master, ignoring his pain entirely, said with great earnestness, “Princess Qianqian, you’re truly… quite loyal. I like you!”

Hearing this, Ziqing couldn’t help but frown. What kind of loyalty was this supposed to be? Yelu Qianqian barely even knew him, for heaven’s sake!

But Yelu Qianqian had no time to think about any of that, her mind still full of resentment toward Ziqing. “Of course—unlike some people!”

The Second Young Beast Master, however, was surprisingly reasonable about it. “Princess Qianqian, this was entirely my own fault. It’s already a blessing that Consort Yao wasn’t implicated. Consort Qin has been like a lit powder keg these past few months, picking on whoever crosses her path!”

“Whoever’s involved should still take responsibility!” Yelu Qianqian said, still pointedly implying something.

A flicker of impatience crossed Ziqing’s eyes, and she rose to leave. Yelu Qianqian didn’t stop her, only letting out a cold “Hmph.”

Once she’d walked some distance away, Ziqing quietly asked the maid, “The Second Young Beast Master is the young master of the Beast Clan, after all—why is he so afraid of Consort Qin?”

“Consort Yao, you have no idea—the Second Young Master has been disciplined by Consort Qin many times before. His blunt temper and odd personality have gotten him on Consort Qin’s bad side more than once. There was one time he nearly got beaten to a crippled state. If Princess Qianqian hadn’t shielded him just now, who knows what might have happened,” the maid said quickly, head lowered, though her expression carried a strange, sinister edge.

Ziqing stopped in her tracks, unable to resist glancing back, thinking to herself—perhaps her wariness of Consort Qin had been overblown after all?

Still, she didn’t dwell on it further and headed off toward another pavilion. Meanwhile, the Second Young Beast Master lay on the ground, chatting with Yelu Qianqian. “Princess Qianqian, mocking Consort Yao like that so openly—aren’t you afraid Prince Yao will come after you?” the Second Young Beast Master asked quietly.

“What’s there to be afraid of? So what if she has a man behind her? She’s just overly suspicious—worried Consort Qin might have ill intentions. She thinks I don’t understand, but I understand plenty,” Yelu Qianqian said with displeasure.

“Consort Qin, ill intentions?” the Second Young Beast Master asked, puzzled.

Yelu Qianqian was about to say something, but stopped herself, changing the subject instead. “Do you want me to call an imperial physician to look at you?”

“I’m fine—my people will be here soon,” the Second Young Beast Master said with a smile, his complexion rather pale, though his smile was still remarkably handsome.

“Well then, I won’t wait for you—I should get going,” Yelu Qianqian said, naturally eager to slip away, since she’d snuck out in the first place!

Just as she was about to leave, the Second Young Beast Master suddenly spoke up urgently. “Come with me to the Beast Clan’s hunting grounds sometime, won’t you? It’s not far from the royal capital! My Beast Clan’s wild wolves are a hundred times fiercer than anything you have in Xijing!”

Hearing this, Yelu Qianqian immediately perked up with excitement. “Really?”

“Of course—though just the two of us wouldn’t be much fun. We should invite more people along, preferably ones with strong martial skills,” the Second Young Beast Master said seriously.

“Why’s that?” Yelu Qianqian asked, puzzled.

The Second Young Beast Master immediately gestured mysteriously for her to lean in closer, and whispered something to her—no one could quite catch what. Yelu Qianqian’s expression first showed shock, then quickly turned to delight.

“Alright, leave it to me! Ha, I can’t wait—this is going to be so thrilling!”

“Hah, I’m looking forward to it too. It’s been a long while since the hunting grounds have seen such excitement,” the Second Young Beast Master said with a matching smile.

Hearing the sound of approaching guards’ footsteps, Yelu Qianqian quickly said, “I need to go. It’s settled then—no backing out.”

With that hurried farewell, she left.

Once she was well out of sight, the Second Young Beast Master leisurely climbed to his feet, the mangled, bloody wound on his backside seeming to be of no concern to him whatsoever. He sat there for a moment, the corners of his lips curling into a wicked, sinister smile. With a slight crook of his finger, the squirrel from before darted out at once, obediently prostrating itself at his feet.

At that moment, Consort Qin emerged from among the flower beds, her voice cold. “Second Young Beast Master, this one has even bribed the maidservant who serves at the King’s side for your sake. If you can’t secure this one’s position, don’t expect the Beast Clan to gain any benefit from this at all!”

Gently stroking the little squirrel, the Second Young Beast Master’s dark, handsome, sun-browned face—normally so bright and charming—now curved into a sinister, wicked smile. “Word just came in—Chu Feiyan’s been detained at the border gate. You can set your mind completely at ease.”