Ziqing and Jun Beiyue exchanged a knowing look, while Situ Haonan blurted out, “Could it be that the orphaned survivors of the Lonely Island once left traces in every nation, every region, back then?”

Jun Beiyue immediately pulled out the map of the Longyuan Continent and counted carefully through it. Among the nations, there were Xijing, Xichu, Dongqin, and Nanzhao; among the regions, Liuxian Island counted as one — all bearing ruins of the Lonely Island. That left only Da Zhou and Xiliang.

“Should Yaoshun Island be counted as part of Dongqin, or as its own separate region?” Ziqing asked evenly.

Dongqin had only conquered Yaoshun Island a few decades ago, while the Lonely Island had vanished at least a century earlier.

“If Yaoshun Island counts as a region the same way Liuxian Island does, then that would mean Dongqin’s own territory very likely holds a ruin as well?” Situ Haonan said quickly.

Jun Beiyue silently marked the map, using musical note symbols — Nanzhao’s ancient music cave, Liuxian Island’s Qinse Sea Valley, and Xijing’s Mingsha Mountain. All three of these places were connected to sound!

Could it be that the painstaking efforts the orphaned survivors of the Lonely Island had made to hide their traces from Nanzhao were all somehow connected to Lishang?

Were all the secrets buried within Lishang, waiting for them to unlock?

Ziqing’s fingers lightly brushed her cheek. What musical note did this totem actually represent — was it perhaps half the secret held within Lishang itself?

Right now, they hadn’t even puzzled out half of the secret. When would they ever manage to uncover all of Lishang’s secrets?

Thinking of this, Ziqing said at once, “Let’s set out for Liuxian Island tomorrow. What do you think?”

“Exactly my thought!” Jun Beiyue said with a smile — if anything, he was even more impatient than Ziqing.

“I’ll get ready too, and come along with you both — the newly-risen-power ranking battle on Liuxian Island is one my father is bound to go watch anyway!” Situ Haonan perked up at once. He had no interest in court affairs or court people; what he loved were the affairs of the martial world, the people of the martial world!

Coming along to West Third City had very nearly bored him out of his mind!

Ziqing looked at him in surprise, about to say something, then held back — but Jun Beiyue spoke plainly instead. “Didn’t get to see Yelu Qianqian, and now you’re restless?”

“Pah! Not at all. If she’d come, I’d have to be dodging her — if her old man caught wind of anything, this young master here would be in for no end of trouble!” Situ Haonan said dismissively, utterly carefree, and without waiting to hear more from Jun Beiyue, whistled and turned to walk off.

Once he’d gone, Ziqing sighed helplessly. “Did you ask about the wedding date?”

She never usually concerned herself with other people’s business, especially matters of the heart — but this time she couldn’t help noticing the way Jun Beiyue had spoken with the Emperor of Xijing’s tone.

“It’ll be after the Mingsha Mountain rites. The Crown Prince of Xiliang intends to come in person to receive his bride, and take the chance to see Xijing’s Mingsha Mountain besides,” Jun Beiyue said evenly.

“Next year’s second day of the second month…” Ziqing said thoughtfully.

“Don’t go meddling — Situ Haonan’s heart isn’t set on Yelu Qianqian anyway,” Jun Beiyue said plainly. As childhood companions who’d grown up together, he didn’t need to look to know what was on Situ Haonan’s mind.

“I was just asking.”

“This matter concerns the relations between Xijing and Xiliang as nations. Xiliang is the second most ferocious and savage people on the Longyuan Continent, second only to the Xiongnu.”

With Jun Beiyue’s reminder, Ziqing understood at once that this wasn’t something to meddle with carelessly. She smiled and changed the subject. “You were only halfway through telling me about Yelu Chenyi earlier! What happened there? He didn’t say a single word the whole time.”

“Withdrawn and reclusive since childhood, yet able to commune spiritually with Xichu’s wild wolves. Born of the empress, and deeply valued by the Emperor of Xijing. After the empress died, to keep him from becoming a sacrificial pawn in the harem’s power struggles, the emperor issued an imperial edict…”

Jun Beiyue paused as he spoke. Ziqing grew uneasy, a faint sense of unease creeping over her.

“A single edict banished every one of his imperial sons to the Mingsha Mountain temple, to serve as priests, forbidden from ever touching state affairs!”

The moment he said this, Ziqing’s heart couldn’t help but give a sudden lurch — that such a thing could even happen!

An emperor, for the sake of a single crown prince, banishing every other prince — no wonder there was no need for a succession struggle in Xijing; the palace held only one crown prince!

But even if this crown prince were exceptionally capable, that alone shouldn’t have driven the emperor to such an extreme, decisive measure!

There had to be a reason behind it!

Ziqing, sharp as ever, asked at once, “This spiritual bond of his with the wild wolves — is it something different from Nanzhao’s beast tribe’s beast-taming arts?”

A cold smile curved at the corner of Jun Beiyue’s mouth — he held nothing but disdain for Nanzhao’s beast tribe. “Taming beasts is merely a method of coercion and threat, forcing the hundred beasts into submission — and the moment that dominance falters, the beasts turn and strike back. But the gift of spiritual communion is innate, born with him. Untamed beasts will obey him, and even beasts already tamed by others are highly likely to submit to him as well.”

Hearing this, a chill ran down Ziqing’s spine. No wonder — the Emperor of Xijing’s act of banishing his sons was, in effect, a way of safeguarding an entire army of wild wolves for Xijing!

This was Xijing’s true trump card — and what was truly astonishing was that, throughout this entire war with Xichu, Yelu Chenyi had never once intervened!

Jun Beiyue seemed to see right through Ziqing’s thoughts and said with a smile, “That’s exactly what makes Yelu Chenyi so interesting. When it comes to war, to the greater balance of the Longyuan Continent, he has his own judgment. Even with how much the Emperor of Xijing values and cherishes him, he doesn’t put much stock in the emperor’s word — he has his own standards, his own freedom. Even the Emperor of Xijing finds him difficult to communicate with!”

In other words, Yelu Chenyi held a trump-card army in his hands, and to this day remained withdrawn, still living in a world of his own — a general who refused to play by convention. He would surely become the greatest future headache for Jun Beiyue, a man who wanted both a woman and the whole world.

The most fortunate thing of all was that, while the old Emperor of Xijing still sat on the throne, Jun Beiyue had already obtained a pass to Mingsha Mountain!

Jun Beiyue spread the map open, gazing at this Longyuan map he had marked and annotated since he was fifteen. Ziqing felt, in that moment, that he looked like nothing less than a ruler surveying the lands beneath his feet.

This man should rightfully be galloping across battlefields, should rightfully be triumphant in the court of politics — and yet he had given up so many opportunities, given up the throne, to wander alongside her in search of a single secret!

Was it worth it?

Ziqing was lost in thought when Jun Beiyue spoke up, brimming with excitement. “Tomorrow we set out for Liuxian Island. Woman, this time there’s no room for the slightest mistake — let’s make sure we get back to the capital for a peaceful New Year, and next year, we head to Xijing. How does that sound?”

He had arranged everything — and every bit of it revolved around her.

Watching him, brow slightly furrowed, focused on the map, Ziqing’s heart warmed, and ached a little too — her greatest fear was becoming a burden that held back his steps, that changed the course of his life.

“Jun Beiyue, do you truly not want the throne of Da Zhou?” Ziqing asked with a smile, her tone light.

Jun Beiyue looked up, and across that face, naturally handsome and cold, bloomed a warm smile — a smile so warm, so lovely, that even Ziqing couldn’t help but smile along with him.

But Ziqing saw it clearly — within that warm smile lay a domineering edge, a certainty of conquest.

He said, “Han Ziqing, Da Zhou already belongs to this prince. The throne is nothing more than a chair. What this prince wants is the whole world — and you.”

As he spoke, his slender fingers tapped against the border between Xichu and the Xiongnu on the map, a wicked curve at the corner of his lips. “Here — someone is even more impatient than I am.”