Hearing Eunuch Xu’s words, no trace of urgency showed on Jun Buli’s face—he still looked thoughtful, as though still absorbed in state affairs.

Seeing this, Eunuch Xu grew puzzled. After all, in the past, the moment His Majesty heard anything about Consort Li, he never used to react with such indifference!

“Your Majesty, Consort Li… she asked for you to come keep her company!” Eunuch Xu ventured, working up his courage to remind him.

Only then did Jun Buli seem to snap back to attention, immediately furrowing his brow as though this were quite troublesome, and with a sweep of his sleeve, strode off toward Consort Li’s palace.

Watching that hurried figure disappear into the distance, Eunuch Xu finally set aside his doubts.

Yet even as Jun Buli headed toward Consort Li’s palace, he had already dropped the urgent expression from moments before, resuming his usual cold indifference—an indifference so complete that no one could possibly guess what he was actually thinking.

At the corner just before reaching Consort Li’s palace, he turned right without the slightest hesitation, heading instead toward the Xuanwu Hall to attend court directly.

By the time court ended, a full two hours had passed.

Aside from Guxi and Hongyi, he seemed to have no other close personal attendants—Hongyi had remained at Prince Yao’s estate all along, while Guxi had been sent away by him a year earlier.

At this moment, he walked alone through a grove of trees toward Consort Li’s palace. The moment he reached the entrance, Nanny Xu, Consort Li’s personal attendant, hurried anxiously to greet him. “Your Majesty, you’ve finally come! If you’d delayed any longer, my lady would have… would have… oh, my lady is so pitiful!”

Nanny Xu, halfway through her words, tugged at her sleeve and began to weep.

Jun Buli let out what seemed a troubled sigh, then hurried inside.

The moment he entered, he found Consort Li curled up on the heated couch, head buried, trembling continuously, apparently still crying.

“My lady, His Majesty has come to see you, my lady!” Nanny Xu called out at once.

Yet to everyone’s surprise, at these words, Consort Li cried out in alarm, “Don’t come near! Don’t come closer! Your Majesty, I’ll frighten you!”

“All of you, leave,” Jun Buli instructed flatly, his handsome face written all over with reluctance to part from her—anyone watching could see plainly just how deeply he cherished Consort Li.

Nanny Xu immediately led the entire room of servants out, carefully closing the door behind them.

Though Nanny Xu served Consort Li closely, she rarely had the chance to witness scenes of the Emperor and Consort Li together. His Majesty, consumed with state affairs, mostly visited Consort Li at night, and whenever he did come, he insisted only Consort Li attend him personally, with everyone else required to withdraw!

Despite having served her for so long, Nanny Xu had genuinely never once seen the Emperor and Consort Li sit down together for a meal, nor had she ever had the chance to overhear the Emperor and Consort Li simply chatting idly together.

As a result, rumors had spread among the servants that Consort Li possessed some kind of seductive, bewitching arts, which was how she’d secured such exclusive favor and frequent visits.

Once the door closed, no one outside had any idea what actually happened within. Nanny Xu and a few other servants waited outside the door, exchanging glances loaded with insinuation, seemingly guessing at something, though none dared voice it aloud.

After quite some time, the creak of the door opening finally pulled everyone back from their wandering thoughts. Jun Buli emerged, his once-immaculate dragon robe now visibly disheveled.

His head was lowered, his expression unreadable—though had Nanny Xu and the others possessed enough courage to look closely, they would surely have noticed a trace of blood at the corner of his lips.

But it was quickly, effortlessly wiped away, leaving no trace.

“Eunuch Chen, go make arrangements—Consort Li will be staying here. Also, summon Imperial Physician Murong to come change her dressings,” Jun Buli said flatly, and with that, he personally closed the door before striding off.

The moment he left, the servants behind him erupted into whispers at once.

“Has Consort Li stopped crying?”

“With His Majesty’s favor bestowed upon her, who wouldn’t stop crying!”

“Goodness, how exactly did our Consort Li manage to bewitch His Majesty like this—her face is ruined, and he still wants her?”

…

Never mind these servants failing to understand it—even Ziqing and Jun Beiyue couldn’t make sense of it. That very morning, Ziqing had questioned every single person around Jun Buli one by one, yet still learned absolutely nothing!

Nearly everyone believed Jun Buli genuinely, truly loved Consort Li, with no other explanation behind it.

In the tea room, Jun Beiyue sipped his tea while reviewing a decade’s worth of Da Zhou’s state affairs, while Ziqing sat restless, unable to settle.

“How about this—I won’t offend him, and I won’t cause trouble for Consort Li either. I’ll just send my son away, get him to leave for a while. What do you think?”

Ziqing grabbed hold of Jun Beiyue’s hand as he lifted his teacup, asking earnestly, “How do you plan to send him away?”

“I’ll send him to Nanzhao!” Ziqing blurted out, and then, as though struck by an idea, her eyes suddenly lit up with mischievous brightness.

“And then?” Jun Beiyue asked calmly.

“Xiaosheng!” Ziqing suddenly exclaimed. “Yes! Have him go find Baili Xiaosheng! Hasn’t that annoying bookworm always wanted us to become in-laws? Let that annoying bookworm take him along to find Baili Xiaosheng!”

Ziqing suddenly realized what a genius idea this was. Why should she, as a mother, confront her own son head-on? She could simply offer him another option instead. If she could get Baili Xiaosheng involved, she was absolutely certain that ruthless little poison-mistress would make Consort Li beg for mercy in no time!

Jun Beiyue looked at Ziqing in disbelief, clearly remembering how, back within the Lishang illusion realm, when Baili Weisheng had first brought up this proposed match, this very woman hadn’t approved of it at all!

“Well, isn’t this a good idea? Guxi, contact Baili Weisheng right away, tell him to turn back immediately!” Ziqing issued the order at once.

But no sooner had she finished speaking than Hongyi came hurrying in, holding an urgent letter. “Mistress, this is an urgent dispatch from young master Baili.”

Ziqing lit up with delight. “He must have found her!”

Yet the moment she eagerly tore open the letter, her expression instantly darkened. Jun Beiyue, seeing her reaction, uneasily took the letter from her, and after skimming through it himself, his own expression turned grave as well.

Something terrible had happened to Baili Xiaosheng!

The Sheng clan had descended into internal chaos. Baili Xiaosheng had actually gone missing a full decade earlier, Duku had been destroyed, the Medicine clan wiped out, and the Beast clan’s Xiao lineage now stood dominant above all others. Rumors circulated that the Xiao clan possessed some extraordinary weapon—invulnerable to blade and spear, immune to every poison—with strong suspicions that it might be a human gu.

As Ziqing and Jun Beiyue’s expressions changed dramatically, the entire vast hall fell suddenly silent. After a long moment, Ziqing finally murmured, “Shiliang. It must be Shiliang.”

Shiliang had been cultivated into a poison corpse by Baili Weisheng long ago, kept within Duku—though technically raised by Baili Weisheng, it had actually always been Baili Xiaosheng who managed and controlled him. In other words, Baili Xiaosheng was the one who could actually command Shiliang, his true master. For the Xiao clan of the Beast tribe to have destroyed Duku and wiped out the entire Medicine clan was simply beyond their own capability—clearly, Shiliang must be in their hands now, which meant, in turn, that Baili Xiaosheng must be in their hands as well!

Someone unfamiliar with Duku might not immediately suspect the Xiao clan, but for people like Baili Weisheng and Ziqing, the connection was obvious at a single glance!

But what exactly could have driven Baili Xiaosheng to obey the Xiao clan’s commands, using the poison corpse Shiliang to annihilate the Medicine clan?

Baili Xiaosheng, with that stubborn temper of hers—no one besides her own master had ever been able to control her.

Ziqing was taking deep breaths, trying to steady herself, when Jun Buli, dressed in resplendent white palace robes, strode in through the door…