Patriarch Bai felt thoroughly uncomfortable under Jun Beiyue’s scrutinizing gaze. He was just about to speak when Jun Beiyue asked, with utmost seriousness, “So you’re saying my Gu Shi clan is short on money?”

The words hit Patriarch Bai like a club to the head, leaving him momentarily stunned.

“Well?” Jun Beiyue raised an eyebrow, insisting on a clear answer.

“No, no, no!” Patriarch Bai waved his hands hastily. He had never imagined Jun Beiyue would be even more difficult to deal with than Han Ziqing—how was he supposed to answer this?

This was clearly a flat refusal with no room to maneuver!

If he answered that the Gu Shi clan was short on money, he would be giving offense.

If he answered that they weren’t short on money, then by Jun Beiyue’s logic, why would the Gu Shi clan need to lease out their fleet to the Bai Shi clan at all?

“Prince Yao, that’s not how it is. How could the Gu Shi clan possibly be short on silver…” As Patriarch Bai spoke, he actually bowed deeply and respectfully to Jun Beiyue, remaining bent at the waist without rising. “I beg Prince Yao to show mercy and spare the Bai Shi clan! If the ancestral estate isn’t rebuilt, the clan’s hearts will scatter, and the Bai Shi clan will be in peril!”

Seeing her father like this, Bai Feiyao was stunned speechless, unable to recover for a moment. She had never wanted to believe things had gotten so serious.

But the Bai Shi clan had lost the competition—not only had they failed to claim first place, they hadn’t even managed to hold onto second. Now, with the construction of the ancestral estate under the Gu Shi clan’s control at every turn, if this matter failed, the clan’s hearts would surely scatter. The Bai Shi clan’s lineage was vast, and there were no shortage of people waiting to watch father and daughter fail, no shortage of people waiting to break off and start their own branches.

Bai Feiyao’s gaze drifted unconsciously to Han Ziqing, who sat leisurely beside Jun Beiyue sipping tea. A surge of emotion rose in Bai Feiyao’s chest, choking her so badly she nearly lost her breath.

Only now, at this very moment, did she finally admit that she had lost—lost completely.

If even her father had come to this, what arrogance did she have left?

Bai Feiyao took a deep breath and stepped forward to bow alongside her father.

And yet, even so, Jun Beiyue remained utterly unmoved, saying coldly, “Why should the Gu Shi clan help you?”

A loser ought to have a loser’s dignity. What Jun Beiyue despised most was people like the Bai father and daughter—

Domineering and dismissive of everyone when they held power, and now, having lost their standing, shamelessly crawling to beg their enemy for help. People like that were destined to amount to nothing.

Why should she help them?

Patriarch Bai should have anticipated all of this before he ever came. Ziqing disliked indecisive people most of all, and seeing that Patriarch Bai still hadn’t spoken, she rose to leave first.

If Han Ziqing left, would Jun Beiyue stay?

Seeing this, Patriarch Bai finally spoke. “In exchange for the Liuxian Island port—the Bai Shi clan’s three shares!”

Liuxian Island had only one port, divided into ten shares. The Gu Shi clan held four, while the Bai Shi and Yu clans each held three. To dock and anchor at Liuxian, one had to pass through these ten shares of land.

The Yu clan had already ceded their three shares long ago. Patriarch Bai should have known exactly what Jun Beiyue was after!

As he spoke, he immediately drew the land deed from his sleeve and handed it to Jun Beiyue, his heart bleeding with pain even as he forced a respectful smile. “Prince Yao, please accept it.”

Jun Beiyue accepted it generously, and after carefully confirming its authenticity, nodded. “Old Gu, discuss the matter of the fleet with Patriarch Bai yourself. This prince is busy.”

With that, he left together with Ziqing.

Even after getting what he wanted, his attitude remained like this—not to mention Bai Feiyao, even Patriarch Bai nearly lost his temper. But there was nothing to be done; when one had to ask a favor of another, one had no choice but to bow one’s head.

Once outside, Ziqing couldn’t help but laugh softly, teasing him. “Prince Yao, you’re really petty. The man came begging at your door and you still wouldn’t give him any face!”

“Are you praising me or mocking me?” Jun Beiyue asked back.

“Praising you!” Ziqing laughed. She felt that a person ought to be petty exactly when pettiness was called for.

Only by being petty could one truly vent one’s frustration!

With the Bai Shi clan’s three shares of the port now in hand, the entirety of Liuxian Island’s port belonged to the Gu Shi clan’s rule. In a sense, Liuxian Island would from now on fall within Jun Beiyue’s sphere of influence.

From this point on, no matter who it was, anyone leaving or entering Liuxian Island would not escape Jun Beiyue’s watchful eye.

Jiao Cha and Mu Fusang remained on Liuxian Island. Officially, they were there to assist the Gu clan patriarch; put plainly, they were Ziqing’s two pairs of watching eyes.

Soon after, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing set off to return to Da Zhou. As the ship weighed anchor, the couple kept a low profile, not alerting many people—not even Situ Xin’er, who had been preparing to depart these past few days, noticed.

Only one person sat upon a rooftop, gazing far off into the distance after them. He wore clean snow-white robes with the air of a scholar, yet his sly black eyes gleamed with sharp light, looking nothing like a pedantic, honest scholar—more like a dashing, flirtatious young master.

Watching the ship’s silhouette gradually vanish, he murmured to himself, “Almost there, almost there. We’ll be home soon.”

On deck, Ziqing watched Liuxian Island grow smaller and smaller, letting out a faint sigh of relief. Compared to Nanzhao, where one had to be cautious about everything, she disliked this place, Liuxian Island, even more.

Such a beautiful island, blooming with flowers year-round, its air perpetually fragrant—a paradise, and yet filled with far too many petty troubles and complications.

If not for all of that, Liuxian Island truly would have been beautiful, so very beautiful.

“Beiyue, we should cultivate someone to take over the Gu Shi clan,” Ziqing said lightly.

“Right now we need people elsewhere, and we won’t find the right person in a hurry.” It wasn’t that Jun Beiyue hadn’t considered this problem before—there was no suitable person to be found within the Gu Shi clan itself, and the people of Liuxian Island couldn’t be trusted with such a role.

This was the world of martial arts, not a place where one could simply station troops and call it settled. The Gu Shi clan’s current strength existed only because he and his wife propped it up. Left to its own weakness, the clan could collapse in an instant.

How could the two of them possibly remain on Liuxian Island for the long term? To truly and permanently hold Liuxian Island, they needed someone capable of standing on their own, and it would take enormous time and effort to properly set the Gu Shi clan in order.

Ziqing knew this too—such a person wouldn’t be easy to find.

“Unless…” Jun Beiyue mused, quite seriously.

“What idea do you have?” Ziqing asked quickly. She hoped this island would never know strife again, that its flowers would bloom forever, and that one day, when she grew weary, she could slip away here silently, unnoticed.

“I do have an idea. I’m just not sure there’s enough time,” Jun Beiyue said earnestly.

“What is it?” Ziqing eyed him suspiciously.

“Let’s… have a baby.” Jun Beiyue said, glancing sideways at her, his smile mischievous.

Ziqing immediately rolled her eyes, though her small face couldn’t help but flush a bright red. A child—the Charm Fragrance in her body hadn’t even been cured yet. Where would a child come from?

“Once the Charm Fragrance is cured, we’ll have a baby, how about that?” Jun Beiyue had meant it as a joke, but as he spoke, he found himself growing unconsciously excited.

“We don’t even know when the Charm Fragrance can be cured.” Ziqing sighed helplessly, then, after a moment’s thought, asked, “Beiyue, if we find the Solitary Island but can’t find the cure for the Charm Fragrance, what then?”

This was the question that worried Ziqing most. Finding the Solitary Island—for the sake of her origins, for the secret of the Solitary Island, and more importantly, for the Charm Fragrance within her body.

There wasn’t much of the Charm Fragrance left in the world, but at least it still existed, still could be found.

But there was no cure for the Charm Fragrance. To find a cure, to have one made, they absolutely had to find the people of the Solitary Island—this remedy belonged to the Solitary Island alone.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be soon.” Jun Beiyue said, drawing Ziqing close and letting her lean against his shoulder.

More than a month had already passed. The poison body he had been cultivating with such care—there should be news of it by now.

Thinking of this, a faint trace of malice curled at the corner of Jun Beiyue’s lips. The poison body he had so carefully nurtured had nearly caused a misunderstanding between him and Ziqing. That girl—how could he possibly say he’d give up just because he said so?

Just because he hadn’t gone looking for her didn’t mean he didn’t know where she was.