That night, Ziqing and Jun Beiyue remained in the Black Dragon Hall, deep in secret discussions of state affairs, well into the dead of night. And yet, though everyone else really ought to have been resting, one by one, they were all still wide awake.

At this moment, Xiong Xiaobao was sprawled across the massive, warm back of the giant bear, rolling around — a scene that rivaled tumbling around in bed for sheer chaos.

Baili Xiaosheng stood off to the side, arms crossed over her chest, looking every bit the world-weary adult, nothing but helpless exasperation showing beneath her silver-white mask.

Just how much longer was this kid going to keep being this restless?

He was actually narrating their entire journey’s adventures to the giant bear. Unlike the four poisonous beasts, this bear had no spiritual intelligence at all to begin with, and on top of that, it was hopelessly dim-witted — could it possibly understand a single word of Xiong Xiaobao’s endless “speech”?

The giant bear did understand, of course — just not entirely.

Still, it kept responding to Xiong Xiaobao in every way it could, letting out various low grumbling sounds in time with his tone. Ever since Xiong Xiaobao was born, hadn’t this always been how they communicated?

The giant bear had been wishing and hoping for what felt like forever, and had finally gotten its little master back.

What it couldn’t understand, though, was why the little master had brought back some strange kid along with him — and why this kid was standing off to the side, arms crossed, giving them the cold shoulder, clearly none too friendly.

Finally, Baili Xiaosheng couldn’t take it anymore. Too tired to even bother saying goodbye to Xiong Xiaobao, she backed away a few steps, intending to slip off.

“Big Brother Sheng!”

No such luck — Xiong Xiaobao’s sharp eyes caught her instantly.

“Little Prince, it’s late, my master has business to attend to — I’ll head over there first,” Baili Xiaosheng said, making up an excuse. She had no idea where her master actually was.

“You found Uncle Scholar? Where? Where is he?” Xiong Xiaobao got excited at once — so excited, in fact, that Baili Xiaosheng couldn’t help but suspect the kid was doing it on purpose. He really was frighteningly sharp.

Realizing the lie was quickly becoming impossible to maintain, Baili Xiaosheng dodged the topic instead. “It’s late, I’m tired, I’m off!”

With that, without waiting for Xiong Xiaobao’s agreement, she turned and walked away.

“Hey!” Xiong Xiaobao shouted. “Wherever you’re going, I’m coming too!”

The moment he said it, he flipped over and chased after her. Baili Xiaosheng didn’t dare turn her head, remembering the word “sidekick” Xiong Xiaobao had used earlier, and couldn’t help a shudder!

Heavens, this kid couldn’t be serious about that, could he!

At that thought, Baili Xiaosheng picked up her pace. Behind her, Xiong Xiaobao chased with all his might, while the giant bear, taking a good long moment to process what was happening, suddenly realized its little master seemed like a completely different person since coming back!

Before, it had always been others chasing him — the four poisonous beasts, and the bear itself, chased him all over the poison-beast world every single day. Today, somehow, he’d become the one doing the chasing!

And that attitude — was that a faint hint of sidekick energy?

Heavens… little master, aren’t you worried about losing status, losing fans?

The giant bear snapped out of its daze and immediately charged after them in a mad dash, tearing along the corridor, through the garden, across the courtyards — one chasing the other, an almighty racket!

Baili Xiaosheng was genuinely terrified — this was the first time in her life she’d ever been chased by a child, and also the first time she’d ever been chased by a bear!

A flash of movement, and she darted instantly into an alley on the right — but Xiong Xiaobao’s eyes were as sharp as ever, spotting her from a distance and cutting straight through a shortcut to catch up!

The giant bear, barreling straight ahead, suddenly slammed on the brakes at the sight, and despite its dim-wittedness, its movements were remarkably nimble — it immediately turned to follow into the alley too.

The moment it entered the alley, who knew what exactly happened inside — but in any case, the commotion only grew louder, chaos enough to make “chickens flying and dogs jumping” sound like an understatement!

At that, the figure who’d been lying on the rooftop asleep this whole time was finally jolted awake, sitting up lazily and glancing down below.

He hadn’t known what to expect — but what he saw gave him quite a shock.

There was his disciple, sprinting madly as though being chased by a dog!

Baili Xiaosheng’s mouth twitched, but he had absolutely no intention of going down to help. He glanced over a couple of times, watching two figures and a bear’s shadow race off into the distance, his sleepy face showing little expression, and lay back down lazily.

The moment he lay down, he vaguely heard someone calling for him, but he paid it no mind at all, slowly closing his eyes to keep sleeping.

That lazy, careless posture of his — as though even if the sky fell, he’d simply use it as a blanket and go on sleeping.

“Son… Baili Weisheng… son!”

“You little brat… where are you, come out, Mother has something to tell you!”

“You little brat, playing hide-and-seek isn’t fun at all, come out! Mother really does have something important to tell you!”

…

Madam Jinjiao searched the entire palace, calling out everywhere, occasionally even letting out cries only jiaoren could understand.

They were all staying in the inner palace, the most central area of the imperial grounds, right around the newly built Black Dragon Hall. Jun Beiyue had long since decreed that no one was permitted to enter the inner palace without authorization, and all the attendants stationed there were Shadow Guards.

So the inner palace was normally quite tranquil — but tonight, their very first night there, it had erupted into pure chaos, not remotely quiet at all!

Madam Jinjiao searched everywhere, while Meng Duo’er stayed dutifully in her room — not out of obedience, but because her injured leg made even walking a struggle.

At the moment, she was busy making the most of her time, practicing her instant seal technique. She had no intention of being dead weight — she wanted to prove herself to that foul-mouthed scholar, to make him stop looking down on her.

The only one who hadn’t stayed in the palace was Jue Mingzi. At this moment, he was at the former Han prime minister’s residence.

The Han residence had been sealed off for years, the entire estate abandoned and desolate, blanketed with dust and cobwebs. Jue Mingzi had wanted to ask Ziqing whether any trace of her mother, any of her belongings, still remained here.

But he hadn’t dared ask.

He didn’t even dare ask his daughter to call him “Father” — he simply followed silently behind them.

Jue Mingzi walked the entire Han residence once over, then left with a heavy heart, gazing toward the music parlor not far off, alive with song and dance, a bitter smile touching his lips.

So many years had passed, and the music parlors of the capital hadn’t changed much at all — and yet everything else had changed so completely.

“Mu Ci, I’ve failed you, I’ve let you down.”

Jue Mingzi murmured to himself, walking step by step toward the music parlor.

By now, the sky had nearly grown light.

Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had only just left the Black Dragon Hall, entirely unaware of everything that had gone on that night with the rest of the group.

“What’s that noise?” Ziqing asked, faintly catching a sound.

“A bear,” Jun Beiyue answered flatly, taking Ziqing’s hand and heading, unexpectedly, toward the palace exit.

“Are we leaving the palace?” Ziqing asked, confused.

“Taking you somewhere,” Jun Beiyue said, smiling mysteriously.

Ziqing was genuinely puzzled — what other place could there possibly be in the capital worth going to? And for what?

She studied Jun Beiyue suspiciously, but no matter how much she asked, he wouldn’t say a word, so she simply followed along, bewildered.

But when they finally arrived at their destination, and Ziqing saw the familiar gate before her, she froze, then laughed helplessly, at a loss for words.

It was Prince Yao’s residence. How had she managed to forget about Prince Yao’s residence entirely?

Ziqing laughed bitterly, in silence. It was rare of Jun Beiyue to think of this — he knew she disliked the palace.

Just as Ziqing was wondering what to say, the gate suddenly creaked open slowly.

A servant girl stepped out from within, delicate features, a sweet smile on her face. She crossed the threshold, stepped aside, and bowed. “Welcome home, Your Highness.”

In that instant, Ziqing froze. A sudden ache surged up behind her eyes, and she choked out, in a voice thick with emotion, “Hongyi…!”