The journey to reach Flame Mountain in West Liang had already been rushed to begin with, and now, with the news of unrest in West Jing on top of it, with still no word on Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan’s whereabouts, both Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were consumed with worry. The moment they reached the capital, they went straight to the palace, without even sparing time to stop by Prince Yao’s residence.

Of everyone, Jun Beiyue was by far the busiest, and the most exhausted.

Though he’d spent most of the year away from the capital, ever since the peace summit — nearly half a year now — he’d kept close watch over state affairs, staying up five nights out of every ten reviewing urgent dispatches sent by Jun Beichen, and spending the other five personally replying to secret correspondence from the various frontier generals.

Though there was no internal unrest, no external threat, managing a nation’s domestic and foreign affairs was never an easy task.

Whenever Ziqing tried to share the burden, he always refused.

At this moment, Jun Beiyue was in the imperial study, discussing the unrest in West Jing with Jun Beichen and a group of ministers and intelligence officers.

Ziqing had been sitting quietly for a long while. She’d wanted to personally brew a bowl of soup for her husband, but it was the middle of the night, and he had a habit of not taking soup in the evening.

Noticing the cup of tea on his desk had already gone cold and been replaced several times, untouched each time, Ziqing couldn’t help the ache that welled up in her heart.

She couldn’t help but wonder — if this man had never met her, and had instead married Prime Minister Han’s own daughter, Han Xi’er, as originally ordered—

Perhaps everything would be different now!

Perhaps the whole of Da Zhou, the whole of the Longyuan continent, would look entirely different too!

It had been, what, five or six years now, since that chance encounter outside the Han residence, that public selection of a consort?

And yet, thinking back on that scene outside the residence, it still felt like it had happened only yesterday — except that between yesterday and today, in the blink of an eye, everything had changed completely.

At this moment, Jun Beiyue was listening intently to a minister’s report. Ziqing knew he disliked being interrupted while working, but seeing his lips had gone pale, she couldn’t bear it any longer. Quietly, she had his tea replaced with a fresh, hot cup, and personally brought it to him, saying softly, “Have a sip of tea.”

But Jun Beiyue showed no displeasure, and without even turning around, he reached out and took it naturally, taking a few sips before finally turning to look at her, saying quietly, “Go get some rest. It’s late.”

Warmth flooded Ziqing’s heart. She smiled and shook her head, saying nothing.

Jun Beiyue frowned, about to persuade her further, but Ziqing gestured toward the minister still reporting with his head bowed, signaling him to stay focused.

Jun Beiyue smiled helplessly, gently pulling her into his embrace, indicating she should rest against him.

To anyone who didn’t understand, the scene might have looked like this Princess Yao was some scheming seductress, daring to come charm and vie for favor even while the king was discussing state affairs!

But anyone who truly understood would only feel their heart ache for the two of them.

This woman had it hard. This man had it even harder.

Once the discussion of West Jing’s unrest concluded, Jun Beiyue handed the matter over to Jun Beichen to monitor, and the ministers withdrew. But the officials from the Ministry of War and several generals immediately entered next.

“Your Highness, there’s activity in the northern frontier highlands.”

“Oh?”

“A scout spotted Xuanyuan Lige taking a detour through the Innocent Abyss, heading toward Xiongnu territory.”

“Alone?”

“He brought only one maidservant.”

“And now?”

“Unclear. The scout lost track of him. We can’t confirm who he went to meet, nor whether he’s returned to the northern frontier highlands.”

Jun Beiyue nodded and continued questioning.

At this, Ziqing, who had been growing drowsy, snapped instantly alert.

She’d always known their greatest threat came from South Zhao, and the two men capable of igniting that force were Xuanyuan Lige and the Beast Twins!

Xuanyuan Lige held leverage over them and had refused to attend the peace summit, yet had shown no further activity since — what exactly this man was thinking was genuinely hard to fathom!

But one thing Ziqing was certain of: they had to stay on guard.

Him going to the Xiongnu — could he be seeking an alliance with them?

Ziqing thought as much, though she didn’t say it aloud. But Jun Beiyue, it turned out, was thinking exactly the same thing, saying quietly, “Keep a close watch on Gu Nanny.”