“You promise not to tell!” Baili Weisheng said very earnestly, seemingly not entirely trusting Meng Duo’er.
Meng Duo’er’s heart ached so much it felt like it might break, yet she somehow still managed to laugh. “You don’t trust me, yet you’re asking me this?”
Baili Weisheng had no response to that, his handsome brow furrowing tight. He surely had no idea how rare it was for him to be this serious, given his usual carefree, unserious habits—and it made him look genuinely striking.
A man was at his most handsome when serious, and that was exactly the look on his face right now.
“Damned scholar, you’re not afraid Prince Yao might find out and cripple you, are you?” Meng Duo’er teased, unconsciously slipping into calling him “damned scholar.”
“Ahem, ahem!” Baili Weisheng coughed repeatedly, about to explain, when Meng Duo’er suddenly leaned forward, pressing her fingertip against his lips. “Shh…”
That soft, gentle touch landing on his lips left Baili Weisheng, looking at Meng Duo’er now standing a full head shorter than him, feeling a strange, unfamiliar emotion stirring within—like a passionfruit bursting open in his heart, sweet and sour all at once, curiously strange.
Only when Meng Duo’er withdrew her hand did Baili Weisheng finally come back to himself.
“I was just teasing you. I promise I’ll never tell anyone, as long as you agree to one thing for me. Even with a blade at my throat, I won’t say a word—I swear it,” Meng Duo’er said, actually raising her hand to swear.
“What is it? Sounds so serious,” Baili Weisheng asked suspiciously. “It’s a small thing. From now on, let me call you ‘damned scholar,'” Meng Duo’er said with a smile.
This matter—one could call it small, or one could call it significant.
Whatever she wanted to call him, she’d just call him that. It was her own mouth, after all—who was going to stop her?
But being granted permission was an entirely different feeling altogether. Being granted permission, in a certain sense, represented a kind of exclusive claim.
When you loved someone, you wanted so many exclusive things—like an exclusive place in their heart, an exclusive spot beside their pillow, the exclusive warmth of their embrace, the exclusive indulgence in their eyes…
And this foolish girl, Meng Duo’er, only wanted one small thing—a nickname. That alone would be enough.
But!
Upon hearing her request, Baili Weisheng actually furrowed his brow, looking very serious.
“Miss Meng… isn’t this slandering this humble scholar?”
Meng Duo’er, who had been holding out hope, felt as though a bucket of ice water had just extinguished the last flicker of warmth within her—an unexpected, sudden chill.
“Miss Meng, please stop joking with me. That matter earlier… I was just asking casually. Just pretend I never asked,” Baili Weisheng said earnestly.
“Oh,” Meng Duo’er responded flatly, lowering her eyes, saying nothing further as she turned to leave.
“Meng—”
Baili Weisheng had originally meant to chase after her, but it seemed comforting people wasn’t something he knew how to do, and he simply sat back down in silence.
He mulled it over—damned scholar, damned scholar—this nickname didn’t seem like something Meng Duo’er had ever called him before. It felt like someone else had called him that all along, though he couldn’t remember who, and couldn’t be bothered thinking about it further. He lay down and fell asleep instead—he’d taken so many lives today, and he was exhausted.
The moment Meng Duo’er stepped outside, she’d barely walked a few steps before running straight into Old Meng Five.
“Father! What are you—” she said, startled. “What are you doing here!”
Old Meng Five hurriedly pulled her aside. “Shh… I just need to ask you one thing—tell me the truth!”
“Fourth Aunt?” Meng Duo’er said coldly. She’d never been one to hold grudges, but she truly, genuinely hated Meng Wanyue with everything she had.
“Where is she? Has she been placed under house arrest?” Old Meng Five, unaware of the truth, asked urgently.
“Father, do you know who betrayed the Meng Clan?” Meng Duo’er said coldly.
Old Meng Five was startled, a faint unease creeping in. “It wasn’t someone Xuanyuan Lige sent…”
“Fourth Aunt took Xuanyuan Lige hostage!”
Meng Duo’er had already been in a foul mood, and bringing up this matter only made her angrier. In one breath, she told Old Meng Five the entire truth, leaving him utterly dumbfounded, as if his very soul had been shattered.
How… how could this be possible?
“You… you’re certain?”
“I saw it with my own eyes. I nearly died at her hands. Baili Weisheng lost his memory because of her. Xuanyuan Lige died because of her. If it weren’t for her, there would be no war right now! If it weren’t for her, Lishang would have been played out long ago, and Jun Beiyue and Ziqing would have already found the isolated island’s secret! All of this is because of her!” Meng Duo’er shouted furiously.
Old Meng Five was completely stunned. He’d always known his fourth sister harbored great ambitions, but ambition was entirely different from ruthlessness.
Fourth Sister, she had actually…
After a long silence, Meng Duo’er finally calmed herself and said flatly, “Father, you should tell Grandfather about this yourself. Ziqing and the others probably don’t want to talk about it further.”
With that, Meng Duo’er turned and walked away, too angry to even bother paying attention to Old Meng Five’s reaction anymore.
Old Meng Five stood frozen for a full half hour, until the sky nearly began to lighten, before finally walking away in a daze. If he’d known this would happen, he would rather have kept Meng Wanyue sealed forever within that dagger’s flowing light, rather than let her out to bring harm to the children.
Old Meng Five regretted this to the point of nausea, but the world offered no medicine for regret. Dawn broke, and the two armies remained locked in a standoff, with no movement all through the night.
Yet, just as Ziqing and Jun Beiyue had predicted, chaos had indeed erupted within the Nanzhao royal court.
The Jiaoren clan’s defection forced Prince Nanzhao to seriously reconsider the cost of this war.
Even though, based on the current balance of power, Jun Beiyue and his group wouldn’t win outright, neither would they lose.
Similarly, Prince Nanzhao wouldn’t lose either, but he wouldn’t win either.
Prince Nanzhao had to consider the consequences of both sides suffering catastrophic losses—he simply didn’t have Ziqing’s willingness to go all in, nor could he match Jun Beiyue’s boldness.
Ever since news of the Jiaoren clan’s impending defection had arrived, Prince Nanzhao hadn’t left his study for a moment, and the entire study, inside and out, was packed with officials.
Only two paths lay before him now: either fight Jun Beiyue to mutual destruction, or negotiate peace.
At that moment, Prince Nanzhao was repeatedly weighing the costs and benefits of both paths with his officials, when suddenly, a young eunuch came flying in like the wind.
This eunuch happened to be Qinji’s personal attendant!
Ever since Qinji had confessed her collusion with Xuanyuan Lige, she’d been imprisoned in the cold palace, and this young eunuch had accompanied her there to attend to her. At such a critical moment, no matter how urgent, he wouldn’t dare come here.
“Please let this servant in, Eunuch Xu. This servant has urgent news to report to His Majesty.” The young eunuch was frantic, desperate to rush inside.
“You wretched thing, don’t you know where you are? Do you think this is a place for you to shout and cause a scene? Get lost this instant. What urgent business could possibly come from the cold palace? His Majesty is already furious. If you want to keep your worthless little life, scram now!” The chief eunuch, naturally, refused to let him through.
But the young eunuch stamped his feet on the spot, hesitating for a moment before, no longer holding back, saying in a low voice, “Eunuch Xu, Lady Qinji has hanged herself… she’s dead!”
At these words, Eunuch Xu’s expression changed instantly. “What?!”
They had no idea about Qinji’s collusion with Xuanyuan Lige at all—they’d simply assumed she’d fallen out of favor, and that favor would surely return to her someday.
But never could they have imagined that Qinji would actually hang herself!
Eunuch Xu grew frantic, momentarily at a loss, and could only tell the young eunuch to wait while he hurried in to report.
At that moment, the study fell into complete silence—no one knew what had just been discussed, but every official’s face looked grim, and Prince Nanzhao’s expression was even worse.
Eunuch Xu swallowed hard, gathering his courage to step forward, saying quietly, “Your Majesty… regarding the cold palace…”