Whether or not Meng Duo’er could truly be relied upon wasn’t really the point.
However much Baili Xiaosheng and Xiong Xiaobao disliked Meng Duo’er, neither of them could have guessed that her sealing technique would end up unable to help Baili Weisheng at all.
By now, the entire area around the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake had grown lively once again. Jun Beiyue and the Prince of Nanzhao sat together in the seats of honor, conversing quietly about something, seemingly in great spirits.
Ziqing sipped her tea while glancing occasionally toward the Beast Clan’s section, still unable to guess what form that final natural sound would ultimately take.
To produce a sound of such overwhelming power—capable of breaking ice, echoing across the heavenly lake’s waves—what else could it possibly be?
Ziqing truly couldn’t imagine it, and naturally paid extra attention to the sounds of the ice breaking and the waves.
While keeping an eye on the developments between the Sheng and Xiao clans, she chatted occasionally with Jun Beiyue and the Prince of Nanzhao.
Meanwhile, Qinji, seated among them as well, had not said a single word the entire time.
Ziqing couldn’t recall ever having offended this Qinji in any way. If it was about the time she’d once schemed to bring Chu Feiyan to Nanzhao and thereby offended Qinji, surely this woman wouldn’t still hold a grudge over it now—Chu Feiyan had been locked away in the cold palace all this time, hadn’t she?
Glancing casually at Qinji, Ziqing kept feeling as though the woman were watching her, her gaze strange.
Ziqing didn’t think much of it, continuing to take part in Jun Beiyue and the Prince of Nanzhao’s conversation, which had turned to the medicinal herbs at the bottom of the lake.
Just then, an attendant hurried over, whispering something into Qinji’s ear, and Qinji’s expression changed instantly.
Once the guard finished speaking, he hurried off, while Qinji sat frozen for a long moment before quietly informing the Prince of Nanzhao, “Your Highness, something has come up with the servants at Qianning Palace—this concubine will go see to it.” The Prince of Nanzhao, deep in conversation with Jun Beiyue, simply waved his permission.
Ziqing watched with suspicion as Qinji’s hurried figure retreated, feeling that something was off.
Unexpectedly, just as Qinji reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly turned her head and looked straight at Ziqing!
Ziqing remained composed, feeling no guilt over anything, and didn’t look away, simply offering a polite, faint smile in return.
But Qinji’s face turned cold, her lovely phoenix eyes brimming with hatred—if looks could kill, Ziqing would surely already be dead.
It had been a long time since she’d faced a look like that!
She remembered facing plenty of such hostile glances back when she’d first been with Jun Beiyue.
But Qinji—Ziqing truly hadn’t done anything to provoke her!
What did she mean by this?
Faced with such a situation, Jun Beiyue wouldn’t have even glanced at Qinji to begin with; Xuanyuan Lige wouldn’t have offered her a polite smile in the first place; Baili Weisheng, the more he was hated, would only smile more brilliantly still.
Ziqing, however, had her own way of handling things.
Faced with Qinji’s hostility, she immediately dropped the politeness, staring back at her with an expression of utter seriousness, all innocence and harmlessness, even looking rather intrigued.
This attitude left the already furious Qinji nearly boiling over, choking with rage to the point of madness!
Han Ziqing, just you wait!
If anything happens to Xuanyuan Lige, I will stake my very life and never let you go!
Qinji roared inwardly, abruptly turning to follow the attendant.
The moment she descended the stairs, what Qinji felt most was not anger, but panic!
“What exactly happened? How could he be in a cave! Where is he now? Is he alone? Is he injured?”
A string of increasingly anxious questions left the attendant hurrying alongside her at a loss for how to answer!
Earlier, afraid Her Highness couldn’t bear it, he’d only mentioned that a lead had been found, in a cave in the back mountain.
Now, with Her Highness asking like this, what was he supposed to say?
There was no “him” to speak of at all—they hadn’t even found a person, only a set of clothes and a pool of blood!
“Where’s Meng Wanyue? Was she with him? Why would they have come here? Who took him captive?”
Before the attendant could even answer, Qinji fired off more anxious questions.
Yet no matter what she asked, the guard gave no answer, simply hurrying to keep pace with her.
At last, Qinji sensed something was wrong and stopped abruptly.
The guard, caught off guard by the sudden halt, nearly stumbled trying to stop in time.
“Answer my question!” Qinji suddenly grew calm, staring coldly at the attendant.
Though she had no particular skills of her own, relying on her looks and figure to earn favor, she was no empty-headed beauty either.
The guard’s reaction meant something terrible had happened.
“Your Highness… you… the cave…” the attendant stammered. Qinji didn’t interrupt, didn’t press him, patiently waiting to hear him out.
But in the end, the attendant didn’t dare say it, not knowing how to put it into words, only managing, “Your Highness, you should hurry over there. You’ll understand once you see it yourself.”
Qinji froze, clasping her hands tightly together just to keep herself standing.
In truth, she’d been anxious and afraid the entire time—if Young Master Xuanyuan had sent her a distress signal, it had to be something enormous, something life-threatening, or he never would have done it!
Someone so proud, so aloof, so detached from the world—how could he possibly turn to a woman like her for help?
If Qinji had known that Xuanyuan Lige’s distress signal hadn’t been meant to save himself at all, but rather to save Han Ziqing, heaven only knew how deeply she would come to hate Ziqing!
Of course, as for that man, there was much she would never come to know in this lifetime.
Qinji took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down, though her voice still trembled slightly. “Exactly how serious is the injury? Tell me honestly—I won’t punish any of you.”
At this, the attendant suddenly looked pained, whether out of sympathy for Her Highness Qinji or for Xuanyuan Lige, it was hard to say.
The attendant’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, still unable to bring himself to say it. “Your Highness, please hurry over there. If that place isn’t dealt with, this will become a very serious problem.”
The attendant looked almost ready to kneel, and his reaction left Qinji feeling utterly uncertain.
Her mind went blank. Not daring to think further, she hurried off at once.
By now, the smell of blood from within the cave had already begun spreading outward from the entrance in all directions. If not for the shelter of the mountainside, the whole slope would surely have reeked of it by now!
But even though it was on the mountain’s shaded side, valley winds did blow up toward the summit!
Once the wind carried the smell over the valley and up to the peak, everyone at the summit would inevitably know!
The guards, not daring to disturb the scene, had blocked off the cave entrance, leaving only enough space for a single person to pass through, in an effort to contain the smell.
The closer Qinji drew to the cave, the paler and more silent she grew, until finally, just as she was about to enter, she instinctively covered her mouth and nose, unable to stop herself from retching.
Just how much blood would it take to reach a smell this overpowering?
How severe could his injury possibly be?!
Even now, the worst outcome Qinji could bring herself to imagine was still just an injury!
“Your Highness, please decide quickly. The later it gets, the more the valley wind will carry the smell up to the summit, and then this will become a much bigger problem,” a guard urgently reminded her.
In truth, Qinji was even more anxious than the guard. Fighting back the urge to gag, she stepped straight into the cave.