Should be fine?

Hearing this, Yanzi suddenly burst into laughter. “Guaranteed to be fine! If there’s a problem, you can do whatever you like with me! Jun Beiyue, I’m not so lacking in credibility as all that! I’m looking forward to seeing Han Ziqing’s beauty restored too — maybe once she’s pretty again, she’ll be in such a good mood she’ll let me go! And another thing…”

Yanzi truly was insufferably noisy.

Ziqing’s eyes turned cold. “Yingzi, gag her.”

“What, are you scared? An honest person fears no shadow! What are you afraid of? Did I say anything wrong?” Yanzi was thoroughly brazen — she’d already made up her mind. Having sunk this low, she had nothing left to lose, and she certainly wasn’t afraid of Han Ziqing anymore.

At worst, Han Ziqing would kill her — but she was certain Han Ziqing wouldn’t.

In the face of Yanzi’s deliberate provocation, Ziqing paid her no mind at all, staring thoughtfully at the medicine in Sha Qiuzi’s hand — a white powder, its scent somewhat similar to the rouge Yanzi had used.

Jun Beiyue, however, wasn’t looking at the powder at all — his gaze fixed strangely on Sha Qiuzi instead.

Sha Qiuzi had been about to say something more, but under Jun Beiyue’s stare, an involuntary chill ran through him, and he didn’t dare make another sound.

Meanwhile, Yingzi had grabbed a wad of cloth and was about to gag Yanzi. Furious, Yanzi spat repeatedly. Yingzi wanted nothing more than to strike this vile woman dead with a single slap, but he knew Yanzi couldn’t be allowed to die just yet.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Yanzi kept shouting, kept cursing.

Then, suddenly, Jun Beiyue spoke coldly. “Sha Qiuzi. What do you mean by ‘should be’?”

What he wanted was certainty — not “should be.”

Ziqing’s face wasn’t something to be used as a test subject.

Sha Qiuzi’s legs trembled with fright. He hurried to explain, “Prince Yao, the rouge itself contains no poison. As for why the Princess Consort’s face turned out this way — this old man truly doesn’t know. I can only confirm the antidote has no toxicity, so… it should…”

Before Sha Qiuzi could finish, Yanzi shouted, “Jun Beiyue, don’t worry — I’m not the type to hide something this important.”

Every single time, it was aimed at Ziqing. Every word was laced with venom.

Finally, worn thin with irritation, Ziqing strode forward. But at that moment, Jun Beiyue caught her arm and said flatly, “Sha Qiuzi, go fetch a mirror. We’ll soon know whether this antidote is really an antidote.”

A mirror?

What did that mean?

Sha Qiuzi didn’t understand.

“A mirror — what does that have to do with the antidote? What are you planning to do?” Sha Qiuzi genuinely had no idea.

But to everyone’s surprise, Ziqing — who had been serious and sharp-edged the whole time — suddenly let out a soft laugh. She understood.

Jun Beiyue offered no explanation, only said coldly, “Well? Go. Find me a large one.”

Sha Qiuzi didn’t dare ask further and immediately withdrew to fetch one himself. Yanzi, meanwhile, went instantly silent, staring at Jun Beiyue with terror in her eyes, unable to speak for a long moment.

A mirror — without question, it was the thing she feared most right now. She would rather die than see her current appearance.

Jun Beiyue led Ziqing over and, with rare patience, sat down, watching Yanzi coldly. “Why did the rouge cause my wife’s disfigurement? What does this powder have to do with the scar on her face?”

At these words, Yanzi’s jaw dropped even further. He knew? Since when had he known Han Ziqing was already ugly to begin with?

And he didn’t care at all?

Weren’t men supposed to love beauty above all?

Weren’t heroes always supposed to fall for a pretty face?

Han Ziqing wasn’t beautiful at all — so why did he still dote on her like this, even now, sitting beside her, still holding her hand?

Just as they were speaking, Sha Qiuzi had already wheeled in a large mirror — big enough to reflect a person’s entire body.

As it slowly approached her, Yanzi immediately covered her eyes. She didn’t want to look!

Ziqing understood exactly what Jun Beiyue meant. A rare mischievous smile curved her lips as she rose, turned the mirror aside, and then pushed it directly in front of Yanzi’s face.

She stood right beside the mirror, waiting to hear the secret behind her own scar.

Yanzi truly couldn’t be allowed to die — Mingsha Mountain held no secret about the “Lament of Parting,” but it hid plenty of crucial clues.

“Not going to talk?”

Jun Beiyue’s voice turned cold, and he immediately gave the order. “Yingzi!”

The moment the name left his mouth, Yanzi screamed, “I’ll talk!”

She’d learned firsthand — this man’s methods of threatening people never gave anyone a chance to reconsider.

If she didn’t agree now, agreeing later would be useless.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk, just take the mirror away, I’ll tell you everything!” Yanzi’s scarred little face went pale with terror. “Han Ziqing was born with a totem-shaped growth on her face. That growth contains a deadly poison. Once that poison comes into contact with the scent of the rouge, part of the toxin spreads out and destroys the entire face!”

The moment these words left her mouth, Ziqing’s hand, pressed against the mirror frame, tightened sharply, a vague sense of unease creeping over her. She didn’t dare ask — but Jun Beiyue immediately did. “Why is the totem present from birth? Why does it carry deadly poison? Why is she immune to all poisons, yet still susceptible to being disfigured by this one?”

Yanzi had thought she could get away with concealing a few details, but she had underestimated Jun Beiyue — this man was simply too clever. He had actually connected it to her poison-immunity.

Yanzi hesitated. Jun Beiyue suddenly slammed his palm down on the table. It looked like fury, but Ziqing knew — he was frightened.

“Speak!”

Yanzi’s body shuddered. Not daring to delay, she hurriedly explained, “Among the people of the lost island who are immune to all poisons, there are actually two — whenever a generation produces someone immune to all poisons, it will always be a pair: one man, one woman! Both are born with a fleshy growth on their face, and within that growth lies a deadly poison. It’s precisely because of this poison that their bodies can achieve immunity to all toxins — because nothing is more poisonous than the toxin within the growth itself! They can withstand that poison, so how could any other poison touch them? But their face — their face is not immune. It’s their one fatal weakness. So from the moment they’re born, a thin film is placed over the mark — concealing this mark of their identity, while also warding off all manner of toxins and protecting their face.”

At this point, Yanzi didn’t dare continue. If, until now, she hadn’t been able to fully feel Jun Beiyue’s true fury, she could feel it now, unmistakably — even without looking at him, the killing intent radiating off this man before her was unmistakable.

Jun Beiyue gave her no time to think, continuing coldly, “What exactly is this business of cultivating a human gu?”

“It’s… it’s a form of gu cultivation, similar to regular gu techniques.” Yanzi began to hedge.

But Jun Beiyue kicked out at her directly, sending her flying backward, slamming her into the wall. “Don’t tell me that disfiguring Ziqing’s face and cultivating this human gu have nothing to do with each other!”

Unable to help herself, Yanzi let out a sharp, involuntary gasp. She could see it now — there was no hiding it any longer.