Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were indeed benefactors to the Sheng family—more precisely, it was Baili Weisheng who was their benefactor, and a great one at that.

Without Baili Weisheng, there would be no Baili Xiaosheng today, and no honor for the Sheng family within the Beast Clan or throughout Nanzhao’s various clans.

The moment Ziqing said this, both the Medicine Clan head and the Jiaoren clan head’s expressions changed instantly, yet Elder Sheng remained just as composed as before.

“Yes, you are benefactors to the Sheng family. That’s precisely why I didn’t bring Xiaosheng along,” Elder Sheng answered Ziqing with perfect composure.

The Beast Clan had pledged loyalty to the Nanzhao royal house for centuries—”loyalty to the sovereign” wasn’t just words spoken for show, but centuries of actual conduct proving it.

To betray Prince Nanzhao, to be disloyal to him for the sake of one daughter, was not the Beast Clan’s way, nor was it the Sheng family’s way.

“To have such a loyal subject is Nanzhao’s great fortune! Han Ziqing, did you hear that!” Prince Nanzhao said, proud and quite pleased with himself.

Yet Ziqing, far from getting angry, ignored Prince Nanzhao entirely and instead burst out laughing. “Excellent, Elder Sheng—as long as Baili Xiaosheng isn’t here, that’s all that matters! I think this battle will be quite satisfying indeed.”

Why would Ziqing want Elder Sheng to repay his debt in this way? If Elder Sheng had immediately switched sides to join them, she would have privately looked down on someone with so little principle.

She admired Elder Sheng’s stance—but at the same time, she also intended that one day, this man with such firm principles would submit before Da Zhou.

“You—!”

At Ziqing’s laughter, both the Medicine Clan head and the Jiaoren clan head spoke up almost simultaneously, and Prince Nanzhao grew even angrier.

“Han Ziqing! Take your hands off! Let me tell you—stop wagging your clever tongue. Today, neither of you shall leave this temple, not one step!”

“You be quiet!” Ziqing shot back coldly, finally looking Prince Nanzhao dead in the eye. “I’m warning you—if you don’t release the Meng Clan’s people today and reveal the truth about the isolated island, you can forget about leaving this place.”

Turning the tables so decisively—what audacity! For a moment, even Prince Nanzhao, high above them all, felt as though he were the one being looked down upon, the one being warned.

Where did this woman get such confidence, facing off against three clans at once?

And more importantly—just how much of the truth about the isolated island did this woman actually know?

Prince Nanzhao instinctively avoided Ziqing’s cold gaze, feeling a flicker of guilt, and immediately gave the order, “Three clans, heed my command! Seize these two at once!”

“Yes!”

The three clan heads answered in unison—worthy indeed of being Nanzhao’s most loyal clans.

“Not so fast!” Ziqing scoffed coldly.

“Seize them!” Prince Nanzhao shouted urgently.

The Jiaoren clan head lunged forward at once, the Medicine Clan head attacked with poison aimed at Jun Beiyue, while Elder Sheng instantly summoned three white tigers.

Never mind the three-clan army surrounding the temple—these three clan heads alone were formidable enough.

Ziqing shot up into the air at once, dodging the Jiaoren clan head, while Jun Beiyue swept in as well, fighting back to back with her.

“Prince Nanzhao, why the urgency? Feeling guilty, are we?” Ziqing said coldly.

“Three clan heads, don’t you want to know why the Meng Clan betrayed the Nanzhao royal house?” Jun Beiyue countered.

The couple remained on the defensive throughout, questioning even as they fought.

Though it was only a couple of sentences, the three clan heads’ movements visibly hesitated.

Seeing this, Prince Nanzhao grew urgent, shouting angrily, “The matter of the Meng Clan is mine to handle—I’ll give every clan an accounting. Jun Beiyue, what right do you have to inquire?”

“And what about my isolated island?” Ziqing shot back coldly at once. “I certainly have the right to inquire!”

With that, she flew straight at Prince Nanzhao—she understood the principle of capturing the leader to defeat the group, and as she went, Jun Beiyue immediately covered her.

But before Ziqing could even get close, hundreds of white tigers suddenly leapt out from behind, blocking her path in front of Prince Nanzhao.

Several white foxes appeared too, all enormous—fully three times the size of ordinary white tigers—not only blocking the path defensively before Prince Nanzhao but quickly launching an offensive attack.

Forced to fight back, Ziqing unleashed a barrage of wind blades, sharp and merciless.

Yet even as the attacks came thick and fast, she continued her cold interrogation, each word ringing out with force.

“Prince Nanzhao, as the direct blood descendant of the isolated island’s people, do I have the right to ask? Answer me!”

“You! The isolated island…” Prince Nanzhao didn’t want to say “yes,” yet refused to back down either. After a long pause, he said coldly, “The isolated island has already been destroyed!”

“Nonsense!” Ziqing shouted even louder than him. “I, a direct blood descendant of the isolated island, stand right here before you—who says the isolated island has been destroyed?”

Prince Nanzhao was momentarily at a loss for words, only managing, “So what if it hasn’t! The isolated island’s Gu masters harbored evil intentions and plotted rebellion! The Nanzhao royal house long ago refused to recognize the isolated island—what right do you have to question me?”

“Nonsense, again!” Ziqing scoffed coldly. “What evidence does the Nanzhao royal house have to prove that the isolated island’s great Gu master plotted rebellion? And even if the great Gu master did plot rebellion, does that mean the entire island deserved to be exterminated for it? If that’s the standard, then when the Beast Clan’s second young master conspired with Xuanyuan Lige to seize the throne, should the entire Beast Clan be wiped out too?”

At this, Elder Sheng, who had been fighting Jun Beiyue nearby, finally turned to look over.

“Or perhaps, one day, if someone from the Medicine Clan or the Jiaoren commits a crime, should the entire clan be put to death as well?” Ziqing pressed further.

Both the Medicine Clan head and the Jiaoren clan head stopped fighting too, their attention now fully drawn.

None of the three clan heads were fools—if Prince Yao and his consort had come to Nanzhao at such risk to rescue the Meng Clan, there had to be a reason behind it.

They’d simply assumed this whole matter was connected to the isolated island, without giving it much more thought.

But helplessly, they had no idea what the true secret of the isolated island actually was.

“Han Ziqing, stop twisting right and wrong! The Nanzhao royal house would never exterminate an entire clan for the crime of one individual! Since you are the direct blood descendant of the isolated island’s people, you should know very well that the human-Gu constitution posed a grave threat to Prince Nanzhao and to the entirety of Longyuan! The Nanzhao royal house didn’t exterminate the entire island’s people—they merely killed those isolated islanders who remained on Nanzhao’s mainland, and cut off the route back to the island, nothing more!” the Medicine Clan head explained hastily.

Ziqing smiled. “If I told you my own son is immune to all poisons, but does not possess a human-Gu constitution, would you believe me?”

At this, everyone froze in shock. A flash of undeniable terror crossed Prince Nanzhao’s eyes, and he shouted urgently, “Impossible! Stop spreading such nonsense here to confuse the masses! Bring me a bow and arrow at once!”

He intended to kill Han Ziqing right there!

Han Ziqing must have learned the truth!

He had to kill her immediately—this secret concerned the reputation of the Nanzhao royal house, concerned Prince Nanzhao’s own credibility, and could never, under any circumstances, be allowed to become known!

Prince Nanzhao drew his bow, but Ziqing paid him no mind whatsoever, continuing her interrogation. “Back when the human-Gu constitution was first discovered, did anyone even consider whether it could be undone?”

All three clan heads’ expressions grew complicated—they had to admit that among all the secrets they’d been told, there had never once been any mention of the concept of “undoing the human-Gu constitution.”

All they knew was that back then, given the urgency of the situation, the Nanzhao royal house had made the swift decision to kill everyone who knew the truth, to prevent the secret from spreading, and had erased every record concerning the isolated island from the historical annals, decreeing that anyone who spoke of it would have their entire family put to death.

The true terror of rulers lay precisely in this—it took only a single generation to bury history completely clean, making the isolated island vanish as if by magic.

Back then, truly, no one had ever considered there might be a way to undo it at all.