“Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!”
“Young Master Baili, wake up! If you don’t wake up soon, we’re going to break down the door!”
…
The pounding and shouting outside were deafening enough that the guards genuinely considered ramming the door down—their masters were waiting, the King of Nanzhao was waiting, and Young Master Baili was carrying on with far too much airs for someone in his position!
Even though his master had said they’d wait for him to arrive, that meeting was about the King of Nanzhao coming to plead for peace with them—the main players were his masters, not Baili Weisheng at all!
Who did this fellow think he was, putting on such airs?
A good half a day passed, and inside the room, Baili Weisheng finally rolled lazily over. This unshakeable ability to remain utterly composed even as the mountain crumbled before him hadn’t changed a bit since before his memory loss.
“Young Master Baili! Young Master Baili! Everyone’s waiting for you!”
“Young Master Baili! We’re breaking down the door…”
Ignoring the shouting that kept pouring in, Baili Weisheng dug at his ear, stretched his back a little, and paid no mind to the people outside, muttering to himself instead, “What could possibly need me specifically?”
Indeed, if Xiong Xiaobao hadn’t practically dragged him here by force, he never would have stayed at the front lines in the first place—he’d have slipped off to somewhere peaceful long ago. What business did he have here anyway?
He’d clearly already sat up, and yet he flopped back down lazily, hugging his thick blanket, furrowing his handsome brow, thinking hard.
The night before, he’d seemed to remember something.
But when he tried to recall it seriously, all that was left was the headache.
“There must be something!” Baili Weisheng said with certainty. “There must be something else, something important!”
Just as he was muttering to himself, a sudden loud “bang!” sounded from behind him, and the door was kicked clean off its hinges.
Baili Weisheng started, turned to look, and saw Xiong Xiaobao standing in the doorway, grinning darkly.
However urgent and furious the guards had been, none of them had dared kick down his door—they’d had no choice but to summon Xiong Xiaobao instead.
His train of thought thoroughly disrupted, Baili Weisheng leaned back against the bed, saying irritably, “What are you doing! Behaving so roughly at such a young age—does your family know about this?”
Seeing the two dark circles under his eyes, Xiong Xiaobao eyed him suspiciously. “Uncle Scholar, were you off thieving last night?”
Baili Weisheng genuinely couldn’t recall anything from the night before, and simply got up, muttering, “Let’s go, everyone’s waiting for me, right?”
Baili Weisheng had of course heard the guards shouting earlier—he simply couldn’t figure out what could possibly require him to be present.
But Xiong Xiaobao assumed he already knew, and was deliberately putting on airs for the King of Nanzhao’s benefit!
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Xiong Xiaobao said cheerfully, offering no further explanation, already looking forward to watching the King of Nanzhao lose his temper.
And so, the two of them, one tall and one small, walked hand in hand, sauntering leisurely toward the main camp.
However…
The moment Baili Weisheng walked through the door, he froze.
A room full of people turned all at once to look at him, and among them was one unfamiliar face—yet from his attire, his age, his bearing, it was immediately obvious this elderly man could only be the King of Nanzhao.
At that moment, the entire hall fell completely silent. Baili Weisheng froze in place, not only because he’d spotted the King of Nanzhao, but more importantly, because the King of Nanzhao’s face was contorted with towering rage—if looks could kill, Baili Weisheng thought, he’d surely be riddled with holes by now, bones and all reduced to nothing!
Terrifying!
Just as he was about to speak, suddenly, with a loud “bang!”, the King of Nanzhao slammed his hand on the table and stood abruptly, shouting furiously, “Baili Weisheng, what tremendous airs you put on!”
Baili Weisheng started, about to explain, but the King of Nanzhao roared again, “Baili Weisheng, and to think you call yourself a scholar—without even the most basic manners! We came here to sue for peace with Da Zhou, and you, a mere scholar, dare to put on such airs, show such contempt to us!”
The King of Nanzhao was so furious he could barely string his words together—having come here to plead for peace had already been humiliating enough, and now this scholar had dealt him yet another crushing blow to his dignity!
The King of Nanzhao, with nowhere else to vent his fury, was unloading it all onto Baili Weisheng—on the surface scolding him, but in truth, aiming every word at Jun Beiyue and Ziqing instead.
Baili Weisheng, who hadn’t even known the King of Nanzhao was coming, let alone that everyone was waiting here for him, found himself berated out of nowhere, utterly bewildered, unable to get a single word in edgewise.
“Young man, what do you think you’re putting on airs for? Guard against arrogance and pride, guard against recklessness—show mercy where mercy’s due, don’t press a cornered enemy too hard. You know, even a dog will leap over a wall if pushed too far!”
The King of Nanzhao had genuinely lost all coherence now, forgetting entirely the dignity befitting a king, his words growing blunter and blunter, every single one of them aimed squarely at Jun Beiyue and Ziqing.
And yet, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing remained perfectly unmoved, privately amused—like Xiong Xiaobao, they’d long since assumed Baili Weisheng was doing all this on purpose!
“This fellow—even having lost his memory, he hasn’t lost his shameless streak.” Ziqing thought, stifling a laugh.
“Baili Weisheng, you must apologize to this king!” the King of Nanzhao slammed the table again, hard. However things stood, he had to salvage at least this much face—otherwise, how would he ever hold his head up in Nanzhao again?
Baili Weisheng froze for a moment, looking entirely innocent and bewildered, and finally, with a chance to speak, cleared his throat softly before saying, “That… this would be the King of Nanzhao, correct?”
At those words, the King of Nanzhao felt a rush of fury surge up, stuck halfway, unable to go either up or down.
He’d been ranting for so long, and this fellow wasn’t even sure who he was?
Seeing the King of Nanzhao’s face flush deep red, Baili Weisheng grew alarmed. “King of Nanzhao, please, don’t be so upset, don’t be upset just yet. I didn’t arrive late on purpose, truly. Let me apologize to you, all right? You’re already up in years—please don’t strain your health over this.”
At those words, the King of Nanzhao’s stifled breath finally released—at least now he was talking about apologizing.
“Heh, not on purpose, and yet you managed to delay us for the better part of a day?” the King of Nanzhao scoffed coldly.
“I knew everyone was waiting for me, but I had no idea you’d come to sue for peace, and more importantly…” Baili Weisheng’s expression twisted with conflict and difficulty, “More importantly, I had no idea why anyone would be waiting on me at all! I’m just a humble scholar—this matter of peace talks… doesn’t have much to do with me, does it?”
“You…” The King of Nanzhao’s rage caught in his throat all over again, jabbing a finger straight at Baili Weisheng, his whole body trembling.
Baili Weisheng pressed his lips together, saying timidly, “Why don’t… you all take your time talking, and I’ll just be on my way?” With that, he glanced once at Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, and genuinely turned to leave.
“Bang!”
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The King of Nanzhao was too furious even to speak, pounding the table wildly, entirely forgetting his own status and the setting he was in!
After pounding the table several times, he barely managed to compose himself, and no longer directed his anger at Baili Weisheng, instead turning it squarely on Ziqing. “Consort Yao, keeping an irrelevant party waiting like this—don’t you owe this king an explanation! I may represent the Nanzhao royal family in coming here to sue for peace, but I represent the sincerity of all of Nanzhao’s peoples in doing so—will Da Zhou give Nanzhao an explanation in return?”
An explanation?
Ziqing smiled faintly, and rather than answering the King of Nanzhao directly, she said flatly, “Baili Weisheng is the King of the Jinjiao, the merfolk. It was because of him that the merfolk defected—the very reason the King of Nanzhao has come to sue for peace today. How is he an irrelevant party? What’s more, he carries a Yang Gu body, one of the orphaned survivors of the lonely island. The King of Nanzhao has come today to reveal the secret of the lonely island publicly—of course he must be present.”
At those words, Baili Weisheng looked utterly helpless, shooting the King of Nanzhao an apologetic glance of pure innocence before obediently taking a seat off to the side.
And the King of Nanzhao… was instantly struck dumb!
He’d come in such a hurry, no one had told him Baili Weisheng’s true identity!
Jinjiao… Jinjiao—this fellow was Jinjiao too?!
Had he just… had he just offended the Jinjiao Clan? If the Jinjiao sealed off Nanzhao’s coastline, wouldn’t Nanzhao be…
The King of Nanzhao collapsed back into his chair, feeling as though his whole world had just come crashing down, while beside him, Baili Weisheng was already quietly feeling guilty—frightening a poor old man like that hardly seemed right.