What had happened, that the whole hall had gone so silent?
Why were Jun Beiyue’s eyes filled with fear? In that instant, Ziqing anxiously turned to look behind her, wondering if something was there.
But at that very moment, Jun Beiyue suddenly stood up, his voice cold. “Where is the Consort of Prince Yao?!”
What?
What was he saying?
Wasn’t she right here?
Ziqing was about to speak, but just then, the crowd, jolted awake by Jun Beiyue’s furious shout, erupted all at once!
“A monster!”
“So hideous, so terrifying!”
“Ah… I can’t bear to look!”
“Is that even still human? Is that even still a human face?!”
“Good heavens, I’ll have nightmares!”
Cries of shock rose one after another, and many people covered their eyes!
Ziqing seemed to sense something. She immediately reached up to touch her own face—but the instant she made contact, she instinctively yanked her hand back, gooseflesh rising all over her body, a chill running down her spine!
Heavens!
What had she touched? She had touched her own face—and it wasn’t just the side of her face, but nearly her entire face was covered in uneven, ridged scars!
How could this be?
She hadn’t felt a thing—how could this have happened all of a sudden?
The women beside her, seeing her, screamed and fled one after another. In just that single instant, the scene had spiraled almost entirely out of control!
In that same instant, Ziqing’s mind went completely blank. She didn’t even try to shield herself or flee—she simply stood there, dumbstruck.
She stood there, dumbstruck, watching as Jun Beiyue issued cold commands while walking toward her.
“Seal off the entire Flower Queen Palace, the imperial palace, the capital! Let no one leave! Find the Consort of Prince Yao at all costs!”
His voice was cold, sharp, cutting through the chaos with startling clarity—almost everyone present heard it.
He… he was still going to look for her?
Did he think she’d been kidnapped, swapped for someone else?
Was she so hideous that he no longer recognized her?
Only then did Ziqing come back to her senses. Her first instinct was to cover her face and turn to flee—but just then, a sharp long whip suddenly struck from behind her, and without warning, wrapped around her and yanked her away!
Jun Beiyue leapt forward like an arrow, reaching out to grab her, but couldn’t get hold of her. Ziqing tried to resist, only to discover that her entire body had gone weak and powerless, as if she were nothing but a hideous puppet doll, completely at the mercy of others. In an instant she was dragged to Old Woman Qiu’s side, seized by the throat in a claw-like grip!
“Let her go this instant, or you will never leave this place alive!” Jun Beiyue said coldly, his expression as blank as ever—yet his deep eyes had, at some point, turned a terrifyingly bright red!
The guards arrived quickly. Yingzi and Situ Haonan rushed over as well, unsure at first what was happening, and simply surrounded the old woman and the “monster” together.
The two sides fell into a tense standoff, while the crowd’s murmuring never stopped.
“Who is she?”
“Where did she even come from, so ugly—where’s the Consort of Prince Yao?”
“She… she couldn’t be the Consort of Prince Yao, could she?”
“No, no, didn’t you hear? The prince sent people to look for his consort! She must have been swapped out! This person has some nerve!”
“Daring to act wild here—she’s just asking to die!”
…
Almost everyone in the hall believed there was no way the old woman could walk out of here alive. Yet Old Woman Qiu showed not the slightest fear, laughing in a strange, sinister tone. “Prince Yao, your consort has gone missing—shouldn’t you be off looking for her instead of bothering this ugly hag here?”
Situ Haonan recognized Ziqing’s clothing at a glance—this was absolutely Ziqing. How could her face have become like this?
Could she really have been swapped out? For a moment he couldn’t make sense of what was going on, only noticing that Jun Beiyue’s breathing beside him had clearly changed.
Yet Old Woman Qiu kept right on provoking. “Could it be… that she is the Consort of Prince Yao?”
At these words, the whole hall erupted in an uproar. Every official of the court, every noble and prince of Da Zhou, every member of every prestigious family was here, all watching, all utterly horrified by this “monster”!
How could anyone say such a reckless thing!
“She is not!” Jun Beiyue denied it at once. No one knew just how anxious, how much pain, he was in at that very moment.
Hearing those three words, Ziqing—already weak and short of breath—felt her heart sink, sink so heavily it felt like it might stop beating altogether, her breath nearly ceasing along with it.
The man who had lived with her day and night, shared hardship with her, shared her bed night after night—because of a single face, he hadn’t recognized her!
Had this man only ever recognized her by her face? Only her face?!
Ziqing suddenly wanted to touch her own face, but she was too weak even to lift her hand. Amid the mocking laughter, amid Jun Beiyue’s denial—
She lowered her head, silently, without a sound.
Seeing Ziqing lower her head in dejection, Jun Beiyue’s heart ached as if carved with a knife. How could he ever fail to recognize Ziqing? Even if she were reduced to ashes, he would still know her!
But he understood full well—if he acknowledged her in a setting like this, the whole world would truly learn that Han Ziqing had become a monster.
Disfigurement was something no woman should ever have to bear!
The mockery of the entire world—even the strongest heart would still feel the pain!
Even with a thousand people watching, he had to protect Ziqing’s secret!
And so his first instinct had been to order a search for the Consort of Prince Yao, to tell everyone present that the woman before them was not Han Ziqing.
“Since she’s not, then… this old fool will take her away!” Old Woman Qiu smiled a sly, feminine smile, sickening enough to make one want to retch—yet his movements were so swift and sharp that no one could keep up!
He seized Ziqing and instantly shifted position!
Even Yingzi couldn’t react in time. Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan gave chase, one in front, one behind—but with so many guards around and a hostage taken, Jun Beiyue couldn’t give any orders at all.
Yet the old man, strangely, did not flee. Instead, he instantly shifted into the crowd, sending a group of people scattering in fright!
Jun Beiyue chased ahead to cut him off, while Situ Haonan moved to intercept from behind.
“You will not take even a single hair of hers away!” Jun Beiyue said coldly, immediately unleashing several blades of wind qi. The old man immediately shoved Ziqing forward to block them, forcing Jun Beiyue to withdraw his attack—and Situ Haonan seized the chance to strike from behind!
But at that very moment, a sharp whooshing sound of cutting wind came fiercely from behind Jun Beiyue!
Ziqing looked up sharply, and saw, not far behind Jun Beiyue, a woman in purple slowly descending, wearing a butterfly-shaped mask—the very woman who had kidnapped Xuanyuan Lige that day!
The whip’s ferocity forced Jun Beiyue to divert his attention to defend himself, and Old Woman Qiu seized the opportunity, easily dodging Situ Haonan!
For a moment, both sides were locked in fierce combat. The purple-clad woman’s martial skill was astonishingly good, and Jun Beiyue, torn between defending himself and protecting Ziqing, gradually found himself at a disadvantage!
Just then, Situ Haonan turned sharply and struck at the purple-clad woman with his sword. Jun Beiyue, in his final moment of opportunity, kicked viciously at Old Woman Qiu’s shoulder, the pain forcing the old man to release his grip at once!
Jun Beiyue, overjoyed, was about to grab Ziqing—but just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the crowd, moving as swift as the wind, and snatched Ziqing away!
These people had truly come prepared!
Jun Beiyue, ignoring the whip Old Woman Qiu lashed at him, immediately tried to give chase—but the purple-clad woman freed her left hand and lashed her whip fiercely at Jun Beiyue’s face, while her right hand still fended off Situ Haonan. Even so, she found the composure to say to Jun Beiyue with delight, “Haven’t you seen clearly yet? Is a hideous monster really worthy of being your woman?”