Walking into the cave, it was empty—nothing here but the ancient, unyielding stone, nothing else at all!
This place had clearly been cleared away by someone.
Baili Weisheng opened his mouth, then thought better of it, afraid that saying too much might send this woman off in a mad search for Nanzhao’s Consort Qin.
Though he’d lost his memory, from what Meng Duo’er had told him, he still knew quite a bit.
Ziqing stood there in a daze. In truth, she’d guessed there would be no trace left here, but she’d simply wanted to come, wanted to see it, without even knowing herself what exactly she’d hoped to find.
Baili Weisheng sat down on a nearby rock, watching patiently. He only hoped Jun Beiyue wouldn’t take his anger out on him.
Ziqing crouched down on the ground, gently running her fingers through the fine sand, and said quietly, “Wretched scholar, did he… say anything else?”
Baili Weisheng started slightly, wanting to speak, but held himself back, because he wasn’t certain!
He wasn’t certain whether there was something else he hadn’t yet remembered—what if it was just his imagination?
Withholding hope wasn’t the cruelest thing one could do—the cruelest thing was giving someone hope, only to let them watch that hope shatter before their eyes.
Until he was certain of something, Baili Weisheng decided not to give Ziqing false hope.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.” Baili Weisheng said, then changed the subject. “Han Ziqing, what exactly was the relationship between you and Xuanyuan Lige? And this matter with Yelu Qianqian—what exactly happened there?”
Ziqing looked over at him, momentarily at a loss for how to answer this wretched scholar’s question.
Suddenly, she found herself thinking—losing one’s memory was, in its own way, a kind of happiness.
“Friends! We were very good friends. He taught me to play the qin, gave me sheet music—he was something of a mentor to me.” Ziqing said flatly.
“Oh…” Baili Weisheng drew the word out long and slow, plainly unconvinced.
Everyone claimed to be just friends, and yet who else had he seen so devastated as this woman?
“Not just ordinary friends, I’d wager!” Baili Weisheng probed carefully.
Ziqing turned to look at him, her expression blank. Baili Weisheng swallowed hard and didn’t dare ask further, lowering his head.
But to his surprise, Ziqing remained calm, saying evenly, “Mm. Not just ordinary friends.”
Baili Weisheng started slightly, lifting his head again, pressing on. “Then it was…”
“Very, very good friends.” Ziqing said flatly, and Baili Weisheng found himself inwardly muttering the word “obviously” in response.
“We were also very, very good friends—unfortunately, you don’t remember any of it.” Looking at Baili Weisheng in his current, genuinely harmless state, Ziqing’s eyes were full of pity.
“Ahem, don’t look at me like that. I’ll get better eventually—losing your memory isn’t fatal.” Baili Weisheng quickly explained, that pitying look of hers thoroughly wounding his pride.
“Losing your memory isn’t so bad, actually. You forget a lot of unpleasant things, and you also forget a lot of… people you couldn’t cherish anyway.” Ziqing said flatly.
She would rather forget Xuanyuan Lige than know all of this.
“True enough. People you can’t bring yourself to love—better off forgetting them too.” Baili Weisheng nodded earnestly.
Cherishing and loving were two different things, and Ziqing didn’t notice the complicated flicker in Baili Weisheng’s eyes—she simply assumed he hadn’t understood what she meant, and didn’t bother explaining further.
Just then, footsteps sounded at the cave entrance. Baili Weisheng startled. “Quick, let’s go!”
Ziqing, however, remained perfectly calm. If she couldn’t recognize Jun Beiyue’s footsteps by now, would she even deserve the title of “Consort Yao”?
Sure enough, it was Jun Beiyue. The figure was entirely wrapped in the light streaming in from outside the cave entrance—all one could make out was a tall, slender silhouette, his expression completely obscured.
And yet, a man like this carried an intangible aura all his own!
Looking at that towering, backlit figure, even Baili Weisheng could feel Jun Beiyue’s fury radiating outward.
He thought, Han Ziqing was truly done for now—at a moment like this, after being coaxed for three days and three nights straight, three full days and nights of silence, and then to walk off without a word to anyone.
If it had been him, he’d have been furious too.
But to his surprise, Ziqing showed no fear at all, rising to her feet and walking obediently toward Jun Beiyue.
Nothing happened. Jun Beiyue didn’t even utter a single word of scolding—it was that quiet.
Ziqing simply walked up to him, reached out, and gently wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. That was all.
This man was like a harbor, like a true home!
You could run away from home, but as long as you were willing, you could always come back—come back to this embrace.
The moment Ziqing embraced him, Jun Beiyue finally let out a quiet breath. He’d been angry, furious beyond words, but seeing this woman looking so pitiful, so meek, all his anger simply melted away.
There was never anything he could do about her.
“Last time. Next time you want to leave, I’m coming with you.” he said flatly—such a calm, ordinary statement, and yet it held so much indulgence, so much tolerance within it.
Doting on someone was, in truth, a form of tolerance—tolerance for their imperfections.
Ziqing didn’t answer, hiding her injured hand out of sight, and simply nodded. She knew perfectly well how willful she’d been—she wasn’t taking his affection for granted, she simply knew that Beiyue understood her.
“Let’s go back. You need to properly rest.” Jun Beiyue said, glancing once at Baili Weisheng, then wrapped his arms around Ziqing and left.
Baili Weisheng rubbed his nose, shrugged, and trotted along cheerfully behind them.
Watching Ziqing and Jun Beiyue’s retreating figures, he found himself, for some reason, instinctively pressing a hand to his chest—it ached faintly, felt somewhat blocked up.
Memories could be lost from one’s head—but what about from one’s heart?
Had he, in this very cave, once said something about this woman named Han Ziqing?
It seemed as though Xuanyuan Lige had told him something, and he in turn had said something back to Xuanyuan Lige.
The more he thought about it, the more his head began to throb faintly again, and in the end Baili Weisheng didn’t dare push further. This woman already had a man and a child, anyway—what could possibly still be so important, concerning her?
Baili Weisheng shook his head and strode forward to catch up.
No—he wasn’t catching up, he immediately overtook Jun Beiyue and Ziqing entirely. He had no intention of lingering behind, alone, watching the two of them being affectionate!
Meanwhile, the King of Nanzhao was on his way to the front lines himself—whether he could no longer bear the mounting gossip at court, or whether he’d finally had some kind of realization, he’d decided he needed to make the trip in person.
Whatever the reason, once he learned that Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had long since been coming and going freely within Nanzhao’s own territory, he’d surely be so furious he’d cough up blood.
At the war camp, the peace envoy personally appointed by the King of Nanzhao had already been waiting before the tent for an entire day, leaving both Old Master Sheng and the elder Beast Clan chief at a complete loss for what to do!
Should they withdraw? What if Jun Beiyue changed his mind and refused the peace terms?
But waiting there like that was truly humiliating!
Though the decision to sue for peace had preserved what remained of Nanzhao’s strength, ever since Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing had stormed into the Ancient Music Palace and declared war, the Nanzhao royal family had already lost every shred of face there was to lose.
Finally, as evening fell, Ziqing and the others returned.
The moment the peace envoy saw Jun Beiyue and Ziqing approaching from a distance, he hurried forward. “Prince Yao, this humble servant, by order of the King of Nanzhao, has come to…”
Before he could finish, Jun Beiyue cut him off coldly. “Have the King of Nanzhao come in person, or there’s nothing to discuss.”
With that, he swept past, holding Ziqing close, and strode into the camp. He had no intention of dragging this out any longer—the secret of the lonely island needed to be settled here and now.