Xuanyuan Lige had left something behind for Ziqing?
The moment Mi’er said this, everyone was taken aback. Jun Beiyue seemed about to speak, then held back. Xiong Xiaobao, having no particular fondness for Xuanyuan Lige, was still pouting over his mother having been shouted at, and hadn’t quite recovered his good mood yet.
No one noticed Baili Weisheng, standing at the very back, now clutching his head with both hands, his features twisted in agony, enduring some tremendous pain.
Seeing Ziqing frozen in place, Mi’er continued, “Consort Yao, this is something the young master actually never told me himself—I discovered it on my own, in secret. Whatever this thing is, it must be very important to the young master. I’d rather you alone knew of it.”
“Very important?”
Baili Weisheng murmured to himself, suddenly lowering his hands, his face full of shock, as though something had just come back to him.
But just then, Ziqing had already begun walking toward Mi’er.
Her mind went utterly blank, her heart pounding so hard she forgot every ounce of caution she should have had. “All right, tell me alone, then.”
She said this while drawing close to Mi’er, and even the guards retreated well out of earshot.
What could it possibly be?
How important could it possibly be?
Jun Beiyue couldn’t work it out, and neither could Xiong Xiaobao—both father and son found themselves growing tense right along with Ziqing, watching intently.
Yet Mi’er hesitated, not speaking right away.
Knowing she was deaf, Ziqing deliberately lifted her head so Mi’er could read her lips clearly, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it absolutely secret.”
Only then did Mi’er nod, gently placing a hand on Ziqing’s shoulder, drawing her closer!
Mi’er lowered her head, angling herself away from Jun Beiyue and Xiong Xiaobao’s line of sight, and in that split second, a flash of malice flickered through her eyes!
The room fell utterly silent, everyone waiting for Mi’er to reveal the secret.
But then.
Suddenly—”shhk…”
The sound of a blade sinking into flesh rang out with terrible clarity in the silent room.
Mi’er said nothing at all—instead, she plunged a knife straight into Ziqing’s abdomen!
It all happened in a single instant.
“Uhh…”
Ziqing immediately spat up a mouthful of blood, her entire body frozen in shock—she’d never imagined anything like this could happen!
Mi’er had actually tried to kill her!
“Ziqing!”
“Mommy!”
Jun Beiyue and Xiong Xiaobao lunged forward almost simultaneously. Jun Beiyue caught Ziqing in his arms, while Xiong Xiaobao, in a fury, kicked Mi’er away with such force that he shattered the iron bars entirely, sending her crashing hard into the wall.
“Wicked woman! You dare hurt my mommy—I won’t forgive you!” Xiong Xiaobao’s fury blazed uncontrollably. Beside him, Jun Beiyue’s fists clenched so hard they cracked audibly, and he barked, “Someone, summon the imperial physicians, now!”
The small dagger remained lodged deep in Ziqing’s abdomen—small as it was, it had been driven in with tremendous force. Great sheets of blood poured out unceasingly, quickly soaking her clothes, soaking Jun Beiyue’s hands as well!
At a moment like this, Jun Beiyue had no thought to spare for Mi’er at all, roaring like a man possessed, “Summon the physicians! If you’re late, this king will raze the entire Imperial Physicians’ Bureau to the ground!”
He shouted furiously, tearing at cloth wildly to staunch Ziqing’s bleeding.
Ziqing’s face had gone deathly pale, blood still trickling unstoppably from the corner of her mouth. She looked at Jun Beiyue with pleading eyes, seemingly wanting to say something, but too weak to get the words out.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Xiong Xiaobao already raising a long whip against Mi’er.
“No… Beiyue… wait…”
Ziqing’s voice came out impossibly faint, and Jun Beiyue, consumed with fury, couldn’t hear her at all, didn’t even notice—he was frantically trying to stop her bleeding, and in that moment, Xuanyuan Lige’s old rebuke rose unbidden in his mind.
How many times was this now—unable to protect even one woman!
“Beiyue… don’t… stop…”
Ziqing kept trying to speak, straining with all her might to make Jun Beiyue hear her, but he simply wasn’t looking at her at all.
She wanted to know what Lige had left behind—she didn’t want Mi’er killed!
“Son… don’t…”
She wanted desperately to shout it out loud, but by now she couldn’t even see what was happening to Xiong Xiaobao from the corner of her eye, could only hear the sharp, repeated cracks of the whip.
Xuanyuan Lige had left nothing behind at all—Mi’er was their last remaining hope. She didn’t want to lose it!
“Beiyue… I beg you… I beg you, please… Beiyue…”
At this point, Jue Mingzi and the imperial physicians all arrived, rushing in as a group, and the moment they saw the pool of blood before them, they all froze in horror!
“What are you all standing there for!” Jun Beiyue snapped coldly.
And yet, the physicians still didn’t dare step forward, none of them knowing what had happened—all they knew was that Prince Yao’s fury had reached a boiling point, and if they made even the slightest mistake, if they failed to save the Consort’s life, their own heads wouldn’t be safe either!
Only Jue Mingzi, his face utterly bloodless with panic, hurried over carrying his medicine box, nearly stumbling as he ran.
“I’ve already sealed every one of her acupoints!” Jun Beiyue said urgently.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, no rush! No rush!” Jue Mingzi, clearly panicking himself, wasn’t really saying this to reassure Jun Beiyue—more likely, to reassure himself!
He hurriedly pulled out a hemostatic powder and, without measuring the dosage at all, used the entire vial at once.
Only then did he realize the dagger hadn’t even been removed yet, and he’d already applied the medicine!
“Beiyue, you do it! This dagger needs to come out immediately! You… you do it!” Jue Mingzi’s voice trembled.
If it had been anyone else, he’d have coolly calculated exactly how much medicine would be needed once the dagger was pulled out, to minimize the damage as much as possible.
But the person before him now was his own daughter—the daughter he’d failed for so many years.
Jue Mingzi couldn’t stay calm at all!
And it wasn’t just Jue Mingzi who couldn’t stay calm—Jun Beiyue couldn’t either. He gripped the dagger’s handle, and yet couldn’t bring himself to pull it free.
Neither of them knew what would happen once the blade came out!
“Crack… crack… crack!”
The sound of the whip lashing down, mingled with Mi’er’s agonized screams—aside from that, the room fell utterly silent.
Jun Beiyue and Jue Mingzi exchanged a glance, and in that moment, both men lost all their nerve.
Ziqing’s heart felt as though it were shattering in a hurry, feeling, for the very first time in her life, such utter helplessness—her body powerless, her spirit powerless too.
For the very first time in her life, she felt truly, deeply exhausted.
So exhausted she desperately wanted to close her eyes, to sleep, to drift away.
But…
She knew—she couldn’t sleep. If she let herself fall asleep now, she’d never wake up again.
She still had so many, many things left to do!
She had to raise Xiong Xiaobao to adulthood; she had to help the wretched scholar recover his memory; she had to support Jun Beiyue in building the Da Zhou empire; she still wanted to know what Lige had left for her.
She’d spent so many years searching for the lonely island, and though she’d given up that search now, there was so much, so much more still left for her to do.
She couldn’t afford to be exhausted. Couldn’t afford to sleep.
“Crack… crack!”
“Aaah… aaah…”
The whip cracked on, growing more and more vicious; the sobbing grew more and more wretched, right behind her.
Ziqing’s eyes fluttered faintly open, her gaze finally drifting away from Jun Beiyue’s panicked, ashen face, and lifting instead, she caught sight of Baili Weisheng not far off.
He had actually…
He had actually, without anyone noticing when, sunk down to the ground, clutching his head desperately, his whole body curling in on itself.
“Scholar…”
What was wrong with the wretched scholar?
Suddenly, Baili Weisheng flipped over abruptly, collapsing entirely onto the ground, curling into a tight ball, clutching his head, and let out an anguished howl. “It hurts…”