After Chu Tiange left, Jun Beiyao found himself puzzled as well, unable to figure out exactly where the Empress of Dongqin had gathered so much information—including why Chu Tiange had been detained in the first place!

The reception ministers had only revealed that the wedding would be postponed, without specifying any reason, and no official notice had come down yet either!

The Empress of Dongqin had specifically mentioned Yelu Qianqian just now—could the problem somehow trace back to her?

Jun Beiyao knew there was no point asking further, and took his leave at once.

By now, dawn was nearly breaking. In this season, had they been in Dongqin or Western Chu, snow would already have begun falling. Nanzhao remained warm year-round, but mornings and evenings still carried a chill, especially just before sunrise, when the cold grew truly bitter.

At the entrance of the envoys’ compound, a small, slender figure sat alone on the icy stone steps, curled tightly into herself, shivering violently from the cold!

Who else could be foolish enough to do such a thing besides Yelu Qianqian?

Having sent her reception minister away, she’d sat alone at the gate, stubbornly waiting for Situ Haonan to appear. She knew that even though Jun Beiyue had already arrived without him, Situ Haonan would surely be following soon after!

Cold and exhausted, shivering and drifting in and out of sleep, her head kept nodding forward like a fishing bobber, sinking down, then jerking back up, over and over.

Yet she insisted on waiting out in the cold, terrified that if Situ Haonan arrived, he’d simply avoid her.

This time, the conflict between her and Chu Feiyan had sparked the war between Western Chu and Xijing. Her father had already declared that once the war ended, he would grant the Crown Prince of Xiliang’s request and marry her off to Xiliang!

Once the war was over, Xijing would have little strength left to resist Xiliang’s demands. If she married into Xiliang, Xijing would at least be free of that particular worry.

In truth, she’d been kept under house arrest back in Xijing. Her father had said that allowing her to come as an envoy to Nanzhao this one time was her last taste of freedom.

A gust of wind swept past, making her already slight frame curl in on itself even further, and rustling the white robes of a man not far away.

Situ Haonan was originally meant to arrive only in the early morning. He’d gone through considerable trouble—even borrowing Jun Beiyue’s name without permission—just to persuade the reception minister to let him arrive early!

And all of that simply to avoid Yelu Qianqian, that clingy presence who stuck to him wherever he went.

Yet, for some reason he couldn’t quite explain, as Situ Haonan gazed at that small, frail figure from a distance, something tightened uncomfortably in his chest, a faint bittersweet ache. He’d meant to take a different path around her, but somehow he found himself stopping in his tracks, staring for a long, long moment.

Finally, he muttered irritably under his breath, “Idiot.”

With that, he strode over. By the time he stood right in front of her, Yelu Qianqian still hadn’t woken, utterly without any guard up at all. Situ Haonan raised a foot as if to kick her, then pulled it back, setting it down beside her instead, and turned to stride inside!

But he’d barely taken a few steps before he stopped again, frowning, and turned back—this time actually delivering a kick to Yelu Qianqian’s back. “Get up! You think this is your own front door?”

The kick looked forceful but was actually quite light. Yelu Qianqian lurched forward and shot upright at once, thinking at first she was dreaming, then spun around. “Situ Haonan!”

Situ Haonan had spent years chasing after and dodging this girl—no one knew her temperament better than he did. He rolled his eyes at her. “Sleepwalking now? Coming all the way out here to sleep?”

Yelu Qianqian instantly realized this was no dream, and without a hint of pretense or coyness, said plainly, “I was waiting for you. Hehe, don’t be mad at me!”

Situ Haonan rolled his eyes again, pulling off his outer robe and tossing it straight at her face before sitting down beside her without another word. Yelu Qianqian brightened at once, wrapping herself unabashedly in the white robe and settling in close beside him. “I knew you’d come.”

“Princess, noble Princess, can’t you just give this humble one a break?” Situ Haonan asked earnestly.

Yelu Qianqian remained cheerfully unbothered. “No can do. Who told you to peek at me bathing? You owe me for that.”

“Princess, I wasn’t peeking—I stumbled into it by accident. If neither of us mentions it, no one will ever know. You shouldn’t keep bringing it up all the time—you’ll be getting married someday too, you know!”

“I’ll just marry you then. As long as you don’t mind, it’s fine. Han Ziqing had that whole Beauty of the Nation incident happen to her, and Prince Yao didn’t mind either.”

“Yelu Qianqian, you’re not the same as Han Ziqing, and I’m certainly not the same as Jun Beiyue, understand?”

“No.”

“Fine, then let me ask you this—why hasn’t your father the Emperor forced me to marry you?”

“Alright, alright, just come hunting with me, and I’ll stop clinging to you after this, I promise!”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I really mean it! Let’s pinky-swear!”

“Not even a written oath would work—you have zero credibility whatsoever!”

Yelu Qianqian shot Situ Haonan a disdainful look and pulled out a pendant—a wolf fang strung on a coarse rope.

“Here, this is the only thing my mother left me. I’m supposed to wear it when I marry. You hold onto it. If I ever go back on my word, don’t give it back to me, and then I won’t be able to marry anyone else either.”

Situ Haonan hesitated, reaching out for it, then quickly pulling his hand back. “Wait, that’s backwards—if I don’t give it back, then you can’t marry anyone else either!”

Yelu Qianqian nodded earnestly—this was her mother’s blessing, meant to be worn at her wedding without fail. Without it, it wouldn’t count as a true marriage.

“Fine, you’d better hang onto it yourself then—that’s too much responsibility. If the Xijing royal family comes looking to settle scores with me over it, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Situ Haonan refused at once!

Yelu Qianqian’s expression darkened, and she reached into her sleeve again. Seeing this, Situ Haonan quickly said, “Alright, alright—what hunting trip? Tell me about it.”

“I saved the Beast Clan’s Second Young Master in the imperial garden out of pure loyalty, and to repay me, he invited me to go hunting at the Beast Clan’s hunting grounds. Hehe, the Beast Clan’s hunting grounds!” Yelu Qianqian said, unable to hide her secret delight.

There was no denying it—Situ Haonan’s interest was piqued at once. The Beast Clan’s hunting grounds in Nanzhao were renowned as the greatest hunting grounds under heaven; whether judged by terrain or by the sheer variety of game, no other hunting ground dared claim to rival it, let alone surpass it!

“How exactly did you save him?” Situ Haonan asked, suspicious. He’d heard of the Second Young Beast Master, Moha Guyi, and had even met him once or twice—the boy was something of a hothead, and some even predicted the position of Beast Clan Elder wasn’t likely to pass to him.

Yelu Qianqian recounted the entire incident in the imperial garden, and of course made sure to voice her displeasure with Ziqing along the way.

Situ Haonan rolled his eyes throughout. “Alright, alright, there’s no point arguing with you about it. You’re not in Ziqing’s position—you don’t understand the stakes involved here.”

“So are you coming or not!” Yelu Qianqian said, not caring in the least about right or wrong—that was the only thing she cared about!

Once she returned to Xijing, she’d be kept under house arrest until the day she was sent off to marry. Let this hunting trip be a farewell ceremony, then, marking the end of her carefree, unburdened days!

Situ Haonan felt the temptation gnawing at him. After a moment’s hesitation, he offered a compromise. “Tell you what—I’ll invite Beiyue and Ziqing along too. As for you, don’t be so combative with her. Use this as a chance to get along better with Ziqing, how about that?”

Yelu Qianqian hadn’t held any grudge at all over what had happened at the gate the previous night. She brightened immediately. “Deal!”