In the courtyard, Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian both wore complicated expressions. Situ Haonan clutched the letter Xuanyuan Lige had sent, waiting for Yingzi to arrive.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye another two and a half months had passed. The weather had long since warmed, and summer was about to arrive.

Unfortunately, in these two months, they still hadn’t found Bai Mengmeng.

“Haonan, do you think Bai Mengmeng might be in the army?” Yelu Qianqian suddenly asked.

“Not likely. I know General Bai Hu’s character very well.”

Situ Haonan’s mind was preoccupied with the confidential letter from Xuanyuan Lige, and he had no time to think about Bai Mengmeng at that moment.

“Why not likely? How would General Bai Hu know so much?” Yelu Qianqian retorted.

Situ Haonan couldn’t help knocking her on the head. “You’re a fool. If I went to tell General Bai Hu that Bai Mengmeng had wounded Jun Beiyue, do you think General Bai Hu wouldn’t hand her over? Bai Mengmeng must have been hidden away by Physician Gu himself, and she must be somewhere in the capital. We must have missed some place!”

Just as they were speaking, Yingzi rushed over from the distance. “There’s news from Prince Baxian’s side — you’ll never guess!”

“Prince Nanzhao has sent the Meng clan to the capital first…”

Before Situ Haonan could finish speaking, Yingzi was startled. “How do you know that?”

Situ Haonan raised the letter in his hand. “I’d guess Xuanyuan Lige and the Second Young Beast Master will also be arriving at the capital before long.”

“Heh, the capital of Great Zhou is going to get lively!” Yelu Qianqian remarked with feeling.

This was clearly a bit of gallows humor to cope with the bitterness, and both men were too lazy to pay her any mind. Prince Nanzhao having the second and third elders of the Meng clan come to the capital first to see Jun Beiyue was surely done with some purpose in mind!

In his letter to Prince Baxian, Prince Nanzhao had only said he was sending two Meng clan elders to check on Jun Beiyue. Since Prince Baxian didn’t know about the matter of the dead barrier, he naturally thought nothing was odd about it.

But to Yingzi, who did know about the dead barrier, something felt off immediately!

Prince Nanzhao placed so much importance on the dead barrier — how could he possibly let the second and third Meng elders split their attention and spend time in the Great Zhou capital!

The Meng clan certainly wasn’t short on people — they could have sent someone else entirely!

“Look, it’s all written clearly here. Heaven knows where Xuanyuan Lige gets all this information!” Situ Haonan handed over the letter.

The moment Yingzi looked at it, he understood immediately!

So that was it!

They wanted the territorial maps in Jun Beiyue’s possession!

Across the vast continent of Longyuan, to search for the dead barrier, one needed the territorial maps of all the various kingdoms — otherwise, in such a vast land, there would be nowhere to even begin searching!

Not every location could conceal a seal; where a seal could be hidden was tied to the terrain!

Territorial maps of the various kingdoms could be found readily in any marketplace — so why specifically want the one in Jun Beiyue’s hands?

Common folk wouldn’t understand, but men like Situ Haonan and Yingzi naturally did.

The maps circulating in the marketplace were all incomplete and inaccurate. The truly accurate and complete maps were held only by the rulers of each kingdom!

Because these maps concerned a nation’s mines, and more importantly, its military strongholds!

If the terrain were thoroughly known to outsiders, what safety could there be?

Jun Beiyue had fought in campaigns for so many years and had also lived through the chaos at Longyuan — he naturally possessed good materials.

Not only did he have the most detailed and precise map of Great Zhou, but also the maps of the three kingdoms of Dong Qin, Xi Chu, and Xi Jing.

Of course, the Meng clan people knew nothing of this — all they wanted was the map of Great Zhou.

If they obtained the Great Zhou map, it would surely save the Meng clan a great deal of effort — at the very least, they wouldn’t have to search blindly like looking for a needle in a haystack, and could instead quickly narrow down a few targets within Great Zhou’s territory.

All of this reasoning was also written clearly in Xuanyuan Lige’s confidential letter!

In short, the second and third Meng elders were already on their way to the capital, with Xuanyuan Lige and the Second Young Beast Master following close behind.

Situ Haonan and Yingzi knew they had to prepare to welcome the arrival of these two barrier masters of the Meng clan.

However, the key to winning their favor lay in the maps.

If, after Prince Baxian handed over the Great Zhou map, they could also privately offer maps of the other kingdoms, that would count as a favor owed to them.

But suddenly, Yingzi slapped his thigh. “This is bad!”

Yelu Qianqian jumped, startled. “What’s wrong?”

“Where are Master’s maps?!” Yingzi cried out in alarm. The moment he said this, both Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian’s faces turned white.

Jun Beiyue’s belongings… surely couldn’t have just gone missing that easily, especially something so important!

“You don’t know where they’re hidden?” Yelu Qianqian asked hurriedly.

“Master always carried these things on his person!” Yingzi said anxiously. Now it seemed the only people they could ask about what Jun Beiyue carried on him were Sha Qiuzi and Physician Gu!

The three of them hurried toward Xuanlong Palace, but Sha Qiuzi knew nothing about it — it had been Physician Gu who changed Jun Beiyue’s clothes, and the old clothes had long since been discarded by the servants.

Just then, Prince Baxian also hurried over, asking about the very matter of the Great Zhou map!

The moment he heard it involved Physician Gu, he rushed straight over to find him.

Situ Haonan and the others all deflated. They had thought they could still use the maps to win the Meng clan’s favor, but now it seemed that chance was gone again.

However, at Physician Gu’s place, they received an equally disheartening answer — Physician Gu hadn’t seen them either!

On this matter, Physician Gu wouldn’t lie, so then — whose hands were the maps in?

While Prince Baxian and the others anxiously puzzled over it, Yingzi slipped away silently from behind the group without anyone noticing.

He made his way straight to Second Prince Jun Beichen’s quarters, arriving just as Jun Beichen was about to head out.

Seeing Yingzi’s hurried expression, Jun Beichen asked at once, “Is there news of Han Ziqing?”

“Second Prince, there’s a matter… a matter of great importance. I hope you’ll tell me the truth.” Yingzi was very serious. Back then, besides Physician Gu and Sha Qiuzi, only the Second Prince had been close to Master — and he didn’t want to give up this hope.

Seeing Yingzi’s seriousness, Jun Beichen immediately invited him inside. However, when Yingzi explained why he had come, Jun Beichen admitted it outright. “The things are all with me.”

“You—” Yingzi’s heart skipped a beat. If it had been Physician Gu who took Master’s belongings, that would be normal enough — but Jun Beichen was different!

Although he had submitted to Master, Jun Beichen had once been a rival contender for the throne. For him to admit this so readily, wasn’t he afraid of suspicion? Could it be he had some other agenda? But if he did have ulterior motives, he wouldn’t have admitted it today.

Seeing Yingzi’s wary gaze, Jun Beichen remained quite calm. For one thing, he was grateful for Jun Beiyue’s mercy in sparing his life before. And besides, though his mother had been settled quite comfortably, in a certain sense she was also under house arrest —

That fellow Jun Beiyue — when had he ever made a losing deal?

“Yingzi, I meant to fetch something else, and happened to see those maps, so I took them along at the same time. I meant to give them to Situ Haonan long ago, but I went twice and couldn’t find him, so I just kept holding on to them,” Jun Beichen said calmly.

“Something else?” Yingzi didn’t understand. What could Master have had on him that would be something the Second Prince needed to take?

“If this thing had fallen into Physician Gu’s or Prince Baxian’s hands, that would have been trouble…” Jun Beichen said, rising to go fetch it.