It was now the tenth day. Everything had proceeded exactly according to Xuanyuan Lige’s plan. There was still no word from Imperial Physician Beiqiu’s side, but today, Yelu Qianqian and Yingzi could no longer bring themselves to care about anything else — their entire focus was fixed on Situ Haonan!

Over these ten days, not just at night but during the day too, whenever Yelu Chenguang’s men weren’t around, Xuanyuan Lige had been applying acupuncture and clearing the drug from Situ Haonan’s system.

Today was the final day Xuanyuan Lige had promised. Yelu Qianqian had stayed at Situ Haonan’s bedside the entire time, never leaving even a step, refusing even a drop of water. Yingzi paced anxiously back and forth by the bed, wringing his hands.

Xuanyuan Lige, by contrast, remained perfectly calm. Having put away his silver needles, he checked Situ Haonan’s pulse once more, said nothing, and stepped aside.

It was now the depths of winter, the long night stretching on in utter silence.

Yelu Qianqian waited, and waited, and waited, the hours slipping away, yet Situ Haonan remained just as silent and still as ever, as though he’d been asleep for a thousand years and would never wake.

Gradually, Yelu Qianqian’s breathing grew heavy, and Yingzi stopped his pacing too.

As time passed, her heart pounded faster and faster, growing more and more uneasy. Surely Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t lied to them — could something have gone wrong?

Yelu Qianqian clenched her hands tight, and just as she’d gritted her teeth, resolving to press Xuanyuan Lige for answers once more, Situ Haonan’s hand suddenly moved!

Yelu Qianqian instantly held her breath, aching to grab hold of his hand, but she forced herself to hold back, just as she forced back her tears, enduring, waiting, watching.

His right hand, hanging limp at his side, twitched — the movement small at first, but gradually growing larger, until his fingers curled into a fist, as though grasping for something. Soon his head began to move too, his brow slowly furrowing, his lips parting slightly, somewhere between sleep and waking!

Yelu Qianqian kept holding her breath, watching over him with the utmost care, terrified that if she made even the slightest sound, Situ Haonan might stop moving entirely.

Yingzi clenched his fists tight with excitement, not daring to make a sound either, and at that moment, a look of relief finally spread across Xuanyuan Lige’s face.

But unexpectedly, Situ Haonan’s grip tightened further and further, as though caught in some agitated dream!

Soon he began murmuring, “No… you can’t… don’t…”

Finally, Yelu Qianqian could hold back no longer, letting out a sob and throwing herself forward. “Haonan, wake up! Wake up! Haonan!”

At her push, Situ Haonan jolted awake at once, snapping upright in bed, staring at the person before him in shock, exactly like someone startled awake from a dream.

Seeing this, Yelu Qianqian threw all caution aside and burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs, throwing herself against him.

“Haonan! sob Haonan!”

“Haonan, I thought you’d never wake up again!”

“sob Haonan, hold me, Haonan!”

…

Nearly a year’s worth of longing, of heartache, of fear, of grievance, of every tear she’d held back — all of it burst out at once!

In this moment, Yelu Qianqian seemed to become, once again, the princess she’d been a year ago — the one who cared for nothing else in heaven or earth, as long as she had her Situ Haonan.

She clung to him tightly, sobbing so hard her tears nearly drowned her small face, smearing tears and mucus all over him.

Clinging tighter and tighter, before long Situ Haonan could no longer sit upright, and the two of them tumbled together onto the bed.

Without even a chance to ask what had happened, seeing the girl in his arms crying her heart out, Situ Haonan felt as though his own heart had been bitten clean through, the ache almost unbearable.

He pulled Yelu Qianqian close, pressed her against his chest, kissing her forehead over and over, kissing the tip of her nose, kissing her tear-streaked eyes. “There, there, don’t cry, don’t cry, it’s all right now.”

“I’m awake now, aren’t I? Don’t cry, be good…”

“There, there, that’s it, don’t cry, everything’s fine, everything’s fine now!”

…

Helplessly, this time Yelu Qianqian had truly been hurt, truly frightened — no matter how Situ Haonan tried to comfort her, nothing worked. She simply clung to him and refused to let go, unable to hear a single word he said, knowing only that he’d woken, and that was enough.

A full hour passed before Yelu Qianqian’s tears finally stopped.

Women, in front of the men they love, are always like this — either crying or laughing.

Now, Yelu Qianqian was laughing, gazing at Situ Haonan with a silly grin, her small hands cupping his face, pinching here, touching there, terrified none of it was real.

Seeing her so pitifully lovely, tears still glistening, Situ Haonan felt both tender ache and delight, unable to resist pressing kisses to her lips.

But just then, Yingzi finally couldn’t hold back any longer. “Young Master Situ!”

That single call was enough to yank Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan out of their private world at once — not that Yingzi lacked any sense of romantic decency, but this truly wasn’t the moment for it.

Situ Haonan finally pulled himself out of his tenderness, and Yelu Qianqian too realized their current situation, pouting, wiping at her tears, still nestled against Situ Haonan, sobbing intermittently, unable yet to speak.

Situ Haonan, however, was different. He glanced suspiciously at Xuanyuan Lige, then at Yingzi, and asked in alarm, “Where is this place? How long have I been asleep? Where’s Jun Beiyue! Have you found Ziqing?”

Several questions came tumbling out one after another — he had no time for sentimentality now, his expression tense with panic, his brow furrowed. His memory remained frozen at that moment right after the tornado struck at Mingsha Mountain.

He remembered seeing Bai Mengmeng’s dagger plunge into Jun Beiyue’s chest, remembered shoving her away, putting every last ounce of strength into dragging Jun Beiyue to safety, but he couldn’t move him, could only keep struggling until Yelu Qianqian arrived — after that, he remembered nothing at all.

His head still ached faintly, a heavy, dull pressure, as though something were pressing down on it.

But faced with all of Situ Haonan’s questions, Yingzi had no time to answer, instead demanding urgently, “Young Master Situ, who wounded Prince Yao? What exactly happened during the tornado? Do you know where the Princess Consort went?”

Both of them were desperate for answers, firing questions back and forth — Yingzi especially seemed on the verge of madness, ready to lunge forward and shake Situ Haonan just to make him speak faster.

But the moment Ziqing was mentioned, Situ Haonan’s face immediately filled with fear. “You still haven’t found Ziqing? How long have I even been asleep? Where’s Jun Beiyue!”

“Ah, Young Master Situ, tell us quickly, what exactly happened to the Princess Consort — you’ve been asleep for nearly a year now!” Yingzi couldn’t help but shout.

At this, Situ Haonan froze completely, murmuring to himself in disbelief, “A year… nearly a year?”

Finally, even Xuanyuan Lige couldn’t help but press urgently, “Situ Haonan, was Ziqing caught in that tornado? Why is it that all of you survived, but she vanished?”

Even though they knew there was a hidden chamber beneath Mingsha Mountain, and the world of poison beasts beyond it, all of it had still just been their own speculation — no one could be certain Ziqing had actually been there.

For all of this, they needed Situ Haonan to give them a definitive answer.