Ever since Yingzi and the others had escorted Yanzi here, she had been shrieking nonstop, as if gone mad.

Sha Qiuzi had originally planned to have the antidote prepared before Ziqing returned, but forget getting the antidote ready — it was hard enough just to get a word out of Yanzi.

If Yanzi had simply been screeching senselessly, that would have been one thing. What was truly infuriating was that the moment she arrived, she’d started cursing and hurling insults at Ziqing nonstop — genuinely enraging to listen to.

“Han Ziqing, you shameless woman, you don’t deserve Jun Beiyue — how dare you treat me this way!”

“Han Ziqing, let me tell you — you were born ugly! Born that way!”

“Go ahead, keep pretending! You think dog-tail grass covered in powder can pass for a peony! Go look in a mirror and see your true face! You want to be restored to your real face? Fine, I’ll grant you your wish!”

“Han Ziqing, if you’ve got the guts, come out here and compare real faces with me! I was born prettier than you, born a cut above you — you’ll never measure up to me…”

…

Each shrill cry grated on everyone’s nerves. Sha Qiuzi, fuming, suddenly yanked out a syringe from nearby. “I’ll seal your mouth shut, see if you can keep yapping then! You ugly hag!”

“Ah… old man, you’re the ugly one, you’re the ugly one!”

Yanzi grew even more frenzied, her mouth stretched impossibly wide — if she hadn’t been bound, she really might have lunged at someone to bite them.

But just as Sha Qiuzi rushed at her, she suddenly fell silent, staring blankly at him, and then abruptly smiled. “I’ll tell you the antidote, shall I?”

“Speak!” Sha Qiuzi barked coldly.

Instead, Yanzi erupted into a fit of shrieking laughter, spraying spittle all over Sha Qiuzi’s face. “Ugly hag! You’re the ugly hag, you’re the ugly hag!”

Sha Qiuzi scrambled backward, not daring to get close again. “She’s gone mad, gone completely mad, this wretched woman’s truly lost her mind.”

Outside the curtain, Ziqing heard every word of it clearly.

Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed tightly; he moved to go in, but Ziqing stopped him. She knew Yanzi wasn’t actually mad — Yanzi was only feigning madness. Every single word she said had a purpose.

“What is it?” Seeing Ziqing’s bowed head, Jun Beiyue felt a flicker of unease.

“There’s something… I’ve never told you.” Ziqing said flatly.

Jun Beiyue was slightly startled — this woman still had something she hadn’t told him? It seemed… somewhat serious.

“I… before my face was disfigured, I was already ugly to begin with…” Ziqing said flatly. Jun Beiyue cut in. “What do you mean?”

Ziqing gently touched the side of her face, at the cheekbone, and said flatly, “Here — there was originally a birthmark, present from birth. It’s exactly the shape of the totem we’ve been searching for, about the size of a fist. Very ugly. I always kept it hidden under a thin film.”

Once she’d finished speaking, Ziqing finally raised her head to look at Jun Beiyue, feeling something like apology, something like guilt. If she’d said something sooner, perhaps so much wouldn’t have happened.

If — if she’d had the courage to speak up earlier, perhaps today she wouldn’t even need to cover her face in front of Jun Beiyue.

It wasn’t affectation, it wasn’t awkwardness — it was simply that, because she cared about him, she had come to care about herself too.

Jun Beiyue looked at Ziqing for a long, long moment before finally uttering two words: “A totem?”

“I always thought it didn’t matter much — at least, we still don’t even know what the totem means. And my face… doesn’t spell anything out either.”

Ziqing said this with a touch of helplessness, even managing a wry joke of it. Did he really not care at all? Yanzi’s insults had reminded her of something — even with the poison on her face cured and her looks restored, she was, after all, still an ugly woman.

This man — of all things, it was only the totem that made him react?

Jun Beiyue seemed lost in thought, mulling it over for a long moment before asking, “Was it there from birth?”

“Yes. Before my mother passed away, she told me never to lift that thin film.”

“Why?”

“She said… all men under heaven love beauty, and as a plain-faced woman, my looks were my only asset.”

“An excuse!” Jun Beiyue’s voice rose sharply, and only then did realization strike Ziqing like a thunderclap.

She had always refused to think too hard about the scar on her face, and that totem had already been confirmed to be connected to the lost island — confirmed, too, by Consort Yi, that someone on Yao Shun Island knew the secret of this very totem!

So she’d cared about it even less!

And thinking it through now — her mother had been Madam Ci, none other than Mu Ci, who had once been rescued all those years ago!

Madam Ci hadn’t loved the beauty-obsessed Prime Minister Han — she had loved Jue Mingzi of Qinse Sea Valley on Liuxian Island, the brilliant, extraordinarily skilled physician Jue Mingzi.

Madam Ci had never been hurt by anyone’s obsession with looks — so why would she have warned her daughter this way?

Anyone with sharp eyes could see it in an instant — this was an excuse! It wasn’t meant to protect her daughter from being seen as beautiful — it was meant to keep her daughter’s identity from being discovered, from being dragged into the affairs of the lost island!

“This scar must hold a secret. My mother never told me.” Ziqing murmured.

“If it’s a totem, then there must, by necessity, be another person out there who bears the same mark as you.” This was what concerned Jun Beiyue far more.

Now, only the last two missing notes remained in the “Lament of Parting.” Half of the missing notes belonged to her — the yin totem — and the other half must belong to a yang totem.

To place the totem into the twelve notes of Qinse Sea Valley and give those twelve notes meaning, one had to know the totem’s own meaning and what it represented within the “Lament of Parting.”

The twelve notes formed an incomplete code — once the code was complete, its exact meaning could be known, and with it, the true secret of the lost island.

In truth, the key to knowing the truth lay precisely in these two totems!

That other person — could they be critical?

Ziqing and Jun Beiyue spoke almost at the exact same moment. “Baili Weisheng?”

Without question, he was the most likely suspect.

“Let’s go — first, cure the poison on your face. That’s what matters most.” Jun Beiyue pulled Ziqing along, heading toward the door. From start to finish, he never once used the word “ugly.” He truly didn’t care at all.

Ziqing let him lead her, walking with long strides into the dimness, watching his tall figure from behind, his handsome profile, his earnest expression — and unconsciously, her heart warmed.

If the totem on her face held a secret, was there a chance the flesh mark could be removed?

As a woman, for the first time in her life, she found herself wishing for a face so beautiful it could topple cities and ruin kingdoms — not for her own sake, not to possess it herself, but for this man to possess it.

Soon, they reached the holding cell. The moment Yanzi saw Ziqing arrive, she froze for an instant, then screeched even louder — clearly deliberate.

“Han Ziqing, come here, I’ll give you the antidote! I’ll watch you become a great beauty! Everyone’s waiting to see it!”

“Jun Beiyue, you must be looking forward to it too, aren’t you! Fine! I admit it, I can’t compare to her — she was gorgeous before, and she’ll get it back soon! Here, the antidote’s right here, take it!”

Yanzi eagerly pulled the antidote from her sleeve and flung it over. Sha Qiuzi scrambled to catch it, and Yanzi burst into mocking laughter. “Just rub the antidote on your face, it’ll restore you right away — just like you turned ugly in an instant before! Han Ziqing, you’ll be beautiful again in no time!”

Yanzi was practically giddy with excitement, anticipating turning the tables, anticipating watching Han Ziqing’s true face revealed!

She hadn’t lost yet!

If Han Ziqing wanted so badly to be restored, well, Yanzi would gladly grant her that wish!

Sha Qiuzi had no idea what was really going on. He carefully checked the antidote for toxicity, then hurried over to Jun Beiyue — heaven knew how Jun Beiyue had come to know this man, or how he’d tamed him so thoroughly. The old man was erratic and unstable with everyone else, yet in front of Jun Beiyue, he was utterly deferential. “Prince Yao, this medicine should be fine.”