Ziqing smiled. How should she answer? What she really wanted to say was that everything was fine, everything was wonderful — but in the end, it all came down to one thing: you, Jun Beiyue.

The couple smiled quietly together, watching in silence as the chaos and devastation unfolded before them, waiting for it to run its course.

Meanwhile, Prince Nanzhao sat in his seat, utterly stunned, unable to believe that such a thing could have happened so suddenly. This kind of attack was absolutely not something the merfolk would do.

This wasn’t their style at all — and besides, there wasn’t a group of merfolk in the world capable of wreaking such havoc within Nanzhao’s own merfolk waters.

“Impossible! There’s no way this was the merfolk!” Prince Nanzhao muttered in shock to himself.

Beside him, Yelu Chenyi had nearly fallen into the water at the moment of the explosion. In that instant, he’d thought immediately of the shattered walls of Akbachu.

It was that terrifying weapon in Han Ziqing’s hands — the one she called gunpowder!

He never imagined that weapon could be used underwater as well!

Just what else could that weapon do? How much of it did she still have on hand?

Never mind anything else — just these two uses alone were enough to prove that she could help Jun Beiyue conquer the entirety of Longyuan!

Yelu Chenyi slumped back into his seat, utterly defeated.

As for the Empress of Dongqin, she was equally stunned. She refused to believe it — she absolutely refused to believe it wasn’t the merfolk. If it wasn’t the merfolk, then what else could it be?

“No… no… I don’t believe it! It’s impossible!”

After a long while, the explosions finally ceased, and the sea gradually grew calm once more. The outcome was decided. Jun Beiyue finally set Ziqing down and gave the order to return to port. The poison Physician Gu had administered was merely a sedative, and only in small doses. By now, the Black Jiao who had regained consciousness were fishing the merfolk who’d fallen into the water out and swimming back toward the harbor in a bedraggled state — the surface of the sea presented quite the spectacular sight.

Prince Nanzhao let out a long, heavy breath, glanced once at the Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi, said nothing, and turned to walk away.

Soon, once the ships had returned to port, Prince Nanzhao held a banquet on the deck — a banquet that felt rather ironic, as if meant to honor Jun Beiyue’s triumphant return.

“Empress of Dongqin, is this explanation clear enough for you?” Prince Nanzhao finally spoke, raising his cup and looking coldly at the Empress.

Could the Empress of Dongqin possibly say it wasn’t clear enough? If Dongqin had had sufficient strength, perhaps she could have said she was unsatisfied.

But Dongqin was already teetering on the brink as it was. To make such an accusation before the world, to question Prince Nanzhao so boldly, had only been possible because she’d relied on Longyuan’s established customs, relied on believing she was in the right.

Now, she had nothing left to rely on at all.

Though reluctant, she quickly raised her cup. “This was all a misunderstanding — I misjudged the Jiao clan. But regardless, Da Zhou bullied Dongqin, refused negotiations, and executed our prisoners — this matter…”

Before she could finish, Prince Nanzhao cut her off coldly, without courtesy. “Your Majesty, my humble Nanzhao is no overlord of Longyuan — I have no obligation to manage the grievances between Da Zhou and Dongqin. If you’ve come here to settle scores, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

Now that it had been proven Jun Beiyue had no connection to the Jiao clan, Prince Nanzhao had no further interest in the matter at all.

Blocked so thoroughly, the Empress of Dongqin, mortified, had no choice but to sullenly drink three cups as self-punishment.

“Your Majesty, I’d trouble you to return home tomorrow and draft another public statement to the world, clearing my Nanzhao’s name,” Prince Nanzhao said. Not holding the Empress accountable was already a courtesy on his part — and the word “tomorrow” made it quite clear he wanted her gone.

No matter what the Empress of Dongqin said, she would only humiliate herself further. Unwilling to accept defeat, she lowered her head and shot a cold glance at Yelu Chenyi, as if to say, “Isn’t it time you played your final card?”

Before coming to see Prince Nanzhao, Yelu Chenyi had assured her that no matter what method it took, he would not let Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing have the chance to leave! Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come so readily — Yelu Chenyi had better not go back on his word!

Yelu Chenyi was just about to speak when Prince Nanzhao turned to look at him instead. “Crown Prince of Xijing, whatever grievances exist between Xijing, Dongqin, and Da Zhou are of no interest to me. In the future, kindly refrain from bringing your disputes to Nanzhao — my Nanzhao is not some tribunal for all of Longyuan!”

Prince Nanzhao had no idea whether Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s body had truly been sent to Xijing or not — he simply had no interest in the matter, real or fake. This was a dispute between Xijing and Da Zhou from before, and it had nothing to do with Nanzhao.

Right now, he wished nothing more than to send the Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi away so he could sit down and properly share a drink with Jun Beiyue, to clear up this misunderstanding between them.

Thinking back on the more than a dozen letters he’d sent questioning Jun Beiyue about the merfolk affair, he felt embarrassed. Nanzhao and Da Zhou had always been allied nations, and he and Jun Beiyue were close friends across generations — how could he have doubted him so?

Prince Nanzhao had assumed Yelu Chenyi would have nothing left to say either, and was about to raise his cup to toast Jun Beiyue. But to everyone’s shock, Yelu Chenyi suddenly rose to his feet and, without warning, lunged at Ziqing’s arm, yanking her roughly to one side.

The speed of it caught everyone completely off guard.

“Let go of her!” Jun Beiyue erupted in fury, springing up and drawing his long sword with a resounding clang.

Yelu Chenyi, gripping Ziqing’s throat, issued a cold warning. “Don’t come any closer!”

“Crown Prince Yelu, restrain yourself. If you dare harm even a hair on Nanzhao’s honored guest, I will absolutely not let you leave this place alive!” Prince Nanzhao, too, was enraged — he hadn’t expected Yelu Chenyi to dare commit violence here.

“Heh. Even if I die today, she’s coming with me,” Yelu Chenyi sneered coldly, one hand tightening around Ziqing’s throat, the other reaching up to touch the silver-white mask covering the side of her face.

A complicated look flashed through the Empress of Dongqin’s eyes as she rose to her feet as well, saying nothing, betraying no reaction.

“This prince will say it one last time — let her go, now.” Jun Beiyue’s voice was low and steady, the long sword gripped in his hand still lowered toward the ground, yet trembling with a resonant hum that betrayed the full extent of his fury.

Yelu Chenyi glanced at the sword and felt, despite himself, a surge of fear he didn’t want to face. He hastily avoided Jun Beiyue’s gaze and spoke coldly to Prince Nanzhao instead. “Prince Nanzhao, if you want to kill me, fine — but hear me out first. Han Ziqing is from the Isolated Island — in fact, she’s a direct-line orphan of the Isolated Island! She’s immune to all poisons, which makes her perfect for raising a human Gu. The guardian of Mingsha Mountain, Yanzi, is my accomplice. They captured her out at sea precisely to use her to raise a human Gu! And do you know why that naval battle happened? Because Xuanyuan Zhaoxi helped us abduct Han Ziqing!”

The moment these words left his mouth, even the Empress of Dongqin froze. She’d known Xuanyuan Zhaoxi must have had some ulterior motive, but she’d never imagined it would be this.

Prince Nanzhao, meanwhile, was utterly stunned, momentarily unable to comprehend what Yelu Chenyi was even saying.

Weren’t these words revealing half of the Isolated Island’s greatest secret?

With her throat gripped tightly, no matter how capable Ziqing was, she couldn’t break free. She hadn’t expected Yelu Chenyi to go this far, burning every bridge behind him.

But at that moment, Jun Beiyue suddenly raised his sword and said coldly, “Nonsense!”

“Nonsense, is it?” Yelu Chenyi said coldly. “Prince Nanzhao, you should recognize this, shouldn’t you!”

With that, he gave a sudden, violent tug, ripping away half of Ziqing’s silver-white mask!