If she could betray a mistress who treated her like a sister, did that mean she could just as easily turn on anyone else, betraying them without a second thought whenever it suited her?
Facing the Empress of Dongqin’s pointed question, Shiliang lowered her head as far as it would go, not daring to meet her gaze.
The Empress of Dongqin merely smiled coldly. “Don’t worry, girl. This one has always operated on the principle of never using someone I doubt, and never doubting someone I choose to use. Since I’ve chosen to employ you, I’m not afraid of betrayal! This time, I’ll trust you—for now.”
“Your Majesty is truly wise! Truly wise!”
Shiliang bowed repeatedly, kowtowing again and again. The Empress of Dongqin didn’t trust her out of any belief in her loyalty—rather, she held something over Shiliang that guaranteed her compliance. Over a hundred beggars, once under Xuanyuan Lige’s control, were now entirely in the Empress of Dongqin’s hands. Shiliang understood perfectly well that a single misstep on her part would mean over a hundred lives sacrificed in her place.
“Heh, girl, tell me more about Jun Beiyue. When he first discovered your poison-cultivating constitution, how did he react?” the Empress of Dongqin asked, idly stroking her long fingernails, eyeing Shiliang with disdain.
Having stumbled today at Jun Beiyue’s hands only made her all the more wary of him going forward.
“Prince Yao was extremely excited. That day, he rushed back to the estate himself, but had her test poisons for him afterward, then found some excuse to keep this servant at the estate to cultivate poison resistance. When a particular ingredient ran short, he took me to the Poison Den himself to find it!” Shiliang answered truthfully.
“Did you plead with him, as I instructed, to keep this a secret from Han Ziqing at all costs?” the Empress of Dongqin asked further.
“This servant pleaded many times! Even back in Da Zhou’s capital, this servant already begged him!” Shiliang replied at once. It was precisely through her display of wholehearted devotion and loyalty toward her mistress that she’d won Prince Yao’s sympathy and favor in the first place.
“Is that so? And did he agree right away?” the Empress of Dongqin pressed further.
“No, Prince Yao insisted he wouldn’t hide it from Her Highness. This servant then said… said that if Her Highness ever found out, she would absolutely never agree to it, and that this servant, sharing a bond as close as sisters with Her Highness, knew it would break her heart!”
Hearing this, the Empress of Dongqin immediately clapped her hands in delight. “Excellent! Excellent! You truly are a clever girl!”
She laughed, then turned to Xuanyuan Zhaoxi. “Zhaoxi, do you understand? The moment a man lets a woman into his heart, it means his heart has developed a vulnerability from that point forward—no longer impervious, no longer unbreakable!”
Xuanyuan Zhaoxi understood her mother’s meaning perfectly well, nodding in admiration. “Mother, your strategy is truly masterful!”
Jun Beiyue was no fool by any means—but for Han Ziqing’s sake, he was bound to have his moments of foolishness.
Using Han Ziqing’s most cherished maidservant to cultivate poison and search for an antidote, all while being unable to reveal the truth to Han Ziqing herself—eventually, should the truth ever come out, wouldn’t Han Ziqing come to hate Jun Beiyue with a passion?
And beyond that, Shiliang’s usefulness wasn’t limited merely to driving a wedge between husband and wife!
With this thought, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi lowered her voice quickly. “Shiliang, has my brother told you any other secrets about Han Ziqing?”
Shiliang glanced at Xuanyuan Zhaoxi but didn’t answer immediately.
The Empress of Dongqin, however, refused to allow any hesitation, her voice turning sharply cold at once. “What are you hesitating for!”
Shiliang flinched and hastily prostrated herself on the ground. “This servant was merely thinking—this servant hasn’t seen His Highness the Crown Prince in a very long time, and can’t quite recall everything His Highness once told this servant!”
“Is that so.” The Empress of Dongqin glanced at Xuanyuan Zhaoxi, then gave a cold smile. “Then you’d better think very carefully.”
“Yes! Yes!” Shiliang nodded repeatedly, yet a flash of sinister calculation flickered beneath her lowered eyes. She truly served only two masters—the first was Han Ziqing, who had saved her, and the second was Xuanyuan Lige!
Xuanyuan Lige had told her that with her particular constitution, once discovered by Jun Beiyue, she would inevitably be condemned to a life of poison cultivation with no escape. He had also told her that if she cooperated with him, he could guarantee the safety of those hundred-odd beggars, and could also ensure that… someday, she alone would remain by Jun Beiyue’s side.
Originally, she had genuinely been devoted and loyal to Han Ziqing. Though Han Ziqing had risen from an illegitimate daughter to become the exalted Consort Yao, she was, after all, still born of a prime minister’s household—hardly comparable to a lowly orphan beggar like herself. Shiliang had felt genuine gratitude and reverence toward her.
But the moment Han Ziqing had confided that she too had once been a beggar, that she’d once lived a life just like Shiliang’s own, stealing to survive at inns—that was when Shiliang could no longer sit still with her feelings!
She had no idea what kind of person Han Ziqing truly was, or exactly how she’d become the prime minister’s illegitimate daughter, but she knew one thing for certain: Han Ziqing was just as lowly as she was!
Why should Han Ziqing get to rise so effortlessly to the heavens, winning the favor of the most dazzling man in all the world, while she herself was condemned to spend her entire life as a maidservant to a mistress who’d once been every bit as much a beggar as she was—and worse, forced to cultivate poison for her sake?
She simply couldn’t accept it. She refused to live such a life. She too wanted what Han Ziqing had—she wanted to become a mistress in her own right, someday!
Xuanyuan Lige’s appearance had been nothing short of a godsend to her!
“Have you thought of something?” the Empress of Dongqin’s cold voice cut through from above. Shiliang finally snapped out of her bitter, resentful thoughts, and quickly said, “This servant just remembered something!”
“What is it!” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi asked, even more eager than the Empress of Dongqin herself.
“His Highness the Crown Prince mentioned once that he knew of a certain totem… that represents the most noble bloodline of Nanzhao’s Lonely Isle, the direct royal descendants of the isle itself! That totem is connected to a particular place…” Shiliang answered, still piecing the memory together.
The Empress of Dongqin and Xuanyuan Zhaoxi exchanged a glance, both clearly thrilled, neither daring to interrupt Shiliang’s recollection—they’d known all along that totem must hold further secrets!
The Second Young Beast Master had said something similar, that the totem represented the direct royal lineage of Nanzhao’s Lonely Isle—yet even he, let alone anyone else, knew no more than that much. Even the three clan elders themselves knew little beyond this basic fact!
The true secret was known only to the King of Nanzhao himself.
Xuanyuan Lige had been investigating Han Ziqing for so long now—he surely knew something significant, otherwise he would never have secretly drawn that totem on Han Ziqing’s carriage in the first place!
Seeing Shiliang still hadn’t answered, the Empress of Dongqin pressed urgently, “Have you remembered?”
Shiliang furrowed her brow, thinking hard, then suddenly startled. “I’ve remembered—His Highness the Crown Prince said that totem was connected to a certain place, called something like the Ancient Music Cave. His Highness said the totem’s secret lay hidden there!”
“Ancient Music…” The Empress of Dongqin frowned, puzzled—she’d never heard of such a place before.
“Mother, the Second Young Beast Master will surely come by shortly—we can simply ask him,” Xuanyuan Zhaoxi said quietly.
The Empress of Dongqin nodded, about to ask further, but Shiliang spoke up first. “Your Majesty, this servant feared you might not believe this servant and cause a critical delay, which is why this servant rushed here specially to explain everything in person. This servant must return now—if Prince Yao finds this servant missing, everything… everything will be ruined.”
The Empress of Dongqin nodded and let Shiliang go. Clutching her unmarked but deeply bruised cheek, throbbing with pain beneath the surface, Shiliang hurried away.
Not until she’d made her way back to Jun Beiyue’s residence and confirmed she was safe did she finally allow herself a deep breath of relief.
It was growing late now—she likely wouldn’t see her mistress again until the following day. Han Ziqing had genuinely treated her well, but Han Ziqing simply had no idea what it was Shiliang truly wanted.
Meanwhile, in Ziqing’s chambers, wisps of steam curled through the air, the soft sound of water rippling softly—this seemed to be the very first time Ziqing had ever attended to Jun Beiyue’s bath with such careful, genuine devotion.