Seeing Chu Feiyan take hold of Ziqing’s hand, Yelu Qianqian immediately moved to break it, but Ziqing stopped her.

She glanced suspiciously at Ziqing, then at the cavern ahead, and at the three delighted women standing at its entrance, seeming to suddenly understand something. She trotted along after them without further protest.

Ziqing let Chu Feiyan lead her all the way to the cavern’s entrance, laughing so hard she practically shook like a flower in the wind. “Come, come, don’t be afraid, just follow this princess consort—nothing will happen to you!”

With that, she moved to personally light the lamp herself, but Consort Qin had already brought one over, shooting Chu Feiyan a displeased glance, giving a disdainful cold huff before leading the way ahead.

Chu Feiyan didn’t bother arguing with Consort Qin—right now, all she wanted was to watch Han Ziqing’s downfall unfold. Once Han Ziqing was dealt with, and she’d aligned herself with the Empress of Eastern Qin and the Second Beast Young Master, would she really have any trouble dealing with Consort Qin afterward?

Once inside the cavern, no one spoke a word. Ziqing, keenly perceptive, immediately noticed the stone walls covered entirely in musical notation, recorded in the ancient style.

As the lamplight moved forward, the notation gradually emerged line by line out of the darkness. Ziqing watched with her heart pounding—though there wasn’t nearly enough time to read through the entire piece, just from the opening lines alone, she recognized it at once. This was precisely the ceremonial music performed at the Prince of Nanzhao’s wedding to Chu Feiyan—and it was also the first ten scrolls of Lishang’s climax!

The score that Lord Bomiluo had never managed to find, the music passed down orally by generations of sacred musicians, was actually here!

That alone would have been enough to thrill Ziqing—but what truly sent her heart racing was that she found the missing note.

She hadn’t read through the entire score, but she quickly identified exactly where this score differed from the Lishang score she knew.

Ziqing thought that if she’d never come to this place in her life, had she never seen this score, she would never, ever have imagined that the missing note would turn out to be this.

Ziqing froze abruptly, staring silently at the wall, at the totem carved right among the notation—the very same totem etched onto her own face, the one that had made the Prince of Nanzhao so anxious.

It was actually a musical note. It was actually the missing note from Lishang!

In that moment, Ziqing’s heart churned like a stormy sea, unable to settle for a long, long while.

So this was the meaning behind the totem. So this was her secret.

What exact note this totem represented, how it was meant to be played, she didn’t know—but she knew this totem was something she’d been born with, like a birthmark.

Whoever had composed Lishang must have seen this very totem before—which meant the creator of Lishang must have encountered someone bearing this same totem birthmark.

A sudden thought flashed through Ziqing’s mind—could the creator’s own face have borne the same mark as hers?

Ziqing didn’t dare dwell on it further. With the Empress of Eastern Qin and the others so close by, she didn’t dare look too closely either—after all, they hadn’t come only for her and Jun Beiyue’s lives, but for the secret as well.

Like Ziqing, the Empress of Eastern Qin and Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had also been studying the musical notation on the walls, but neither of them was familiar with ancient musical notation, and they couldn’t discern anything unusual at all. Besides, that totem had only appeared once, and in such dim light, amid such a vast array of symbols, it was genuinely difficult to spot.

Understanding everything at once, Ziqing’s first instinct was to share this with Jun Beiyue—but she held herself back, letting the utterly self-satisfied Chu Feiyan lead her deeper into the cavern.

Soon, light shone through ahead. Chu Feiyan stopped, smiling. “Oh my, would you look at that—there’s more hidden inside. Han Ziqing, shall we go take a look?”

Yelu Qianqian suddenly grabbed Ziqing’s arm, gagging violently. “Ziqing, I can’t—I really can’t take this anymore!”

“What’s wrong?” Ziqing asked, puzzled.

“It’s disgusting, I feel like I’m going to throw up!” Yelu Qianqian said, without any pretense at politeness. Chu Feiyan’s current display of shameless enthusiasm was truly unbearable—clearly locked in a bitter rivalry with Ziqing, yet putting on such a show of intimacy, how could that not be nauseating?

Ziqing suppressed a laugh. “All right, all right, it’s stuffy in here, you’ll feel better once we’re out. Let’s hurry and go.”

Chu Feiyan, of course, caught the underlying implication in Yelu Qianqian’s words, sneering coldly. “Yes, once you’re out, I’m sure you’ll feel just fine!”

With that, she smiled with utter composure, still refusing to release Ziqing’s hand, leading her step by step toward the cavern entrance—she wanted to personally lead Han Ziqing by the hand, delivering her straight into a fate of utter ruin.

At last, step by step, they reached the entrance. For a moment, everyone froze, and the men waiting outside all turned to look as well.

There was the Prince of Nanzhao, his eyes red with fury; the beastfolk clan leader kneeling to one side, clutching at the Prince of Nanzhao’s robe hem; the Medicine Clan leader standing with his head bowed nearby; the merfolk clan leader shirtless, a vivid red footprint stamped across his midsection; Situ Haonan holding up a sandal for comparison; and the Second Beast Young Master, standing bolt upright, his head lowered.

Jun Beiyue was the most relaxed of all, lounging indolently on a large rock nearby, the very last to turn and look over. Though so many women now stood at the cavern’s entrance, his gaze found only Ziqing, and he winked at her with a smile that left even Chu Feiyan standing nearby nearly swooning.

Heavens, she had never once seen Jun Beiyue smile like that before!

The Empress of Eastern Qin and the others froze in shock. How could this be? Shouldn’t Jun Beiyue be the one lying injured right now?

What exactly was this scene unfolding before them?

What… what on earth had happened here?

But then, suddenly, the Prince of Nanzhao barked out sharply, “You beast, get on your knees!”

Everyone jumped in shock as the Second Beast Young Master dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.

That single command was devastating. The Empress of Eastern Qin’s legs went weak, nearly buckling as she almost fell to her knees as well, catching herself against the wall just in time, her once-flowerlike face suddenly looking a decade older. Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s mouth fell open in shock, her small face going instantly white.

Chu Feiyan’s legs weren’t the only thing that went weak—her hands lost all strength as well, releasing Ziqing’s hand and nearly stumbling. Ziqing quickly caught her. “Consort Yan, steady yourself—the Prince of Nanzhao has no time to look after you right now.”

She smiled brilliantly at Chu Feiyan, genuinely delighted, then turned and strode toward Jun Beiyue.

That single wind-blade kick from this man had blasted clean through the stone wall, delivering her not one, but two tremendous surprises!

Whether it was the musical notation on the wall or the Second Beast Young Master’s downfall, both were entirely unexpected delights!

Ziqing stood before Jun Beiyue, grinning happily like a fool, and Jun Beiyue shook his head helplessly at the sight. “The wall suddenly collapsed—I didn’t expect you all to come over. You weren’t frightened, were you?”

He’d used the wind-blade technique, which naturally produced the effect of a wall spontaneously crumbling—anyone unfamiliar with the Gu family’s internal energy techniques would never be able to tell the difference.

The Prince of Nanzhao simply assumed it was an aftereffect of the Second Beast Young Master’s kick.

As for the bloody red footprint on the beastfolk clan leader’s body—it had just been confirmed to match the Second Beast Young Master’s sandal print exactly. The Prince of Nanzhao, already furious, saw Consort Qin and the others arriving, and couldn’t help snapping angrily, “Consort Qin, don’t you understand the rules of this place? Do you think you can simply wander about freely here?”