The northernmost point of the Three Realms was the far end of the Wuxie Ravine. Jun Beiyue’s main camp was built here, backed against the ravine, flanked on both sides by cliffs tens of thousands of feet deep — Western Chu to the west, Eastern Qin to the east. The camp faced south, its back to the north.
This location was, in a sense, the very heart of the entire continent of Longyuan. As long as walls could be built along the eastern, western, and southern sides of the Three Realms, this would undoubtedly become a city every warlord would fight to control.
Jun Beiyue’s main camp was formidable, sprawling across a vast area, situated due south. Behind the camp lay a sheer cliff, dropping into a bottomless chasm.
Ziqing had been left in this main camp. After Jun Beiyue departed, she sat quietly, unmoving for a long while, her eyes lowered and thoughtful — who could say what was on her mind?
After a long while, a familiar voice came from beyond the curtain — Hongyi.
The moment she entered, she was overcome with emotion. “Miss, you’re finally back safe! That child Shiliang has cried several times already!”
“Cried?” Ziqing said flatly, her fine brows knitting slightly, seemingly still lost in her own thoughts, as if she’d half expected this and felt little joy at Hongyi’s arrival.
“She cried in secret — never in front of me,” Hongyi added quickly.
“How foolish. If I really had died, her crying wouldn’t have done any good,” Ziqing said flatly, her brow furrowing further.
Hongyi had nothing to say to that, though she was used to her mistress’s reactions by now, and muttered to herself, “Good thing I didn’t cry, then.”
“What?” Ziqing turned to look at Hongyi, her expression suddenly serious.
Hongyi panicked and clapped a hand over her mouth — her mistress seemed lost in thought, how had she still heard that?
Ziqing didn’t press the matter, only asked flatly, “Did everything go smoothly with what I told Shiliang to handle? A month has already passed of the three-month training. That batch of beggar children should have thinned out quite a bit by now. It won’t be long before she can take the examination herself.”
“Everything’s gone smoothly,” Hongyi answered honestly.
Ziqing nodded and fell silent again.
Hongyi waited nearby. If it had been Shiliang, she could have stayed silent alongside Ziqing for an entire day without issue — but Hongyi couldn’t manage that. Before long, she asked timidly, “Miss, what are you thinking about?”
Ziqing didn’t answer. After a long while, Hongyi asked again, timidly, “Miss, is something wrong?”
Only then did Ziqing come back to herself. “Mother’s keepsake… can it really be used so casually to deceive someone?”
Hongyi blinked, then shook her head at once. “How could it be used casually at all, Miss? What happened?”
“Nothing. Prepare me a bath,” Ziqing said flatly.
Hongyi hurried off and soon had everything ready. Ziqing had her wait outside and soaked alone in the steaming tub, eyes closed, head tilted back amid the rising mist.
Her mother’s only keepsake — how could that possibly be a lie? A man like Jun Beiyue would certainly never use his mother’s keepsake to fabricate such a story. If he wanted to win her heart, he had countless other ways to do it.
Ziqing didn’t even know why she was so caught up in this, or why she’d been dwelling on it for so long.
Suddenly, amid the swirling steam, a self-mocking smile touched her lips. Hadn’t Jun Beiyue said it himself — he didn’t know what it meant to like or not like someone. He only recognized titles, not people. Giving gifts was probably no different.
As for liking — she was truly troubling herself over nothing. He had a thousand reasons for anything he did, but “liking her” would never be one of them.
Because — he minded very much about the matter of her purity that night, a stain that could never be erased. So, from now on, she would stop entertaining that word “like” at all.
At that thought, Ziqing suddenly opened her eyes, her heart giving a startled jolt, and the word slipped out before she could stop it: “No.”
That wasn’t right. Why was she thinking about all this? Why was she getting tangled up over liking or not liking? It made no sense at all!
She shook her head and was about to rise when, just then, the tent flap was suddenly kicked open!
“Who’s there!” Ziqing snapped sharply, grabbing at her clothes to cover herself.
“Me,” Jun Beiyue said flatly. Beyond the screen, he didn’t so much as glance in her direction, sweeping his robe aside as he sat and poured himself tea.
“Did Hongyi not tell you I was bathing? Or does Prince Yao not even understand basic courtesy?” Ziqing demanded coldly. The screen was nothing but a thin veil — it hid nothing at all, really.
“This prince has urgent matters and no time to wait for you. This prince must leave camp for three days. I’ve had your things sent over. During these three days, everything in camp is entrusted to you — all military reports are yours to handle,” Jun Beiyue said coldly, then turned to leave.
Only then did Ziqing catch sight of the guqin resting on the low table — it was indeed Wuzheng. Did he really carry it with him everywhere?
“Wait!” Ziqing stopped him.
“A problem?” Jun Beiyue halted. He genuinely seemed to be in a hurry.
“Step outside first. Let me change and I’ll come out at once — there’s an urgent matter to discuss,” Ziqing said flatly.
To her surprise, Jun Beiyue only scoffed and turned his back to her. “This prince has no time for that. Say your urgent matter now. This prince doesn’t touch women casually, nor does he look at them casually — you can rest assured of that.”
At this, Ziqing’s eyes went cold at once. What exactly did that mean?
Insulting her again? Did he think of her, then, as some casual woman?
Ziqing didn’t answer right away. Jun Beiyue grew impatient. “If it’s not urgent, report it when this prince returns.”
“Wait a moment!” Ziqing called out at once, then said flatly, “When you return, I need to request three days’ leave as well.”
“For what?” Jun Beiyue asked immediately.
“A personal matter.” She was, of course, going to go kill Jun Beiyao — once the war ended and the troops returned to the capital, killing him would no longer be easy.
Jun Beiyue’s eyes turned colder still. Rather than leave, he sat down, his back still to her, and said flatly, “Put your clothes on and play me a song.”
“What, is Prince Yao not in such a hurry anymore?” Ziqing scoffed.
“Whether this prince is in a hurry or not is this prince’s own personal matter,” Jun Beiyue shot back at once, using her own earlier words against her. A knot tightened in Ziqing’s chest, and she refused immediately. “It’s rare for Your Highness to be in such good spirits, but Ziqing isn’t willing.”
At those words, Jun Beiyue slammed his hand down on the table with a loud crack. “Han Ziqing, you are a soldier under this prince’s command. What is this attitude?”
“Your Highness, there are many kinds of soldiers. Ziqing belongs to the hired kind — I only carry out major missions. Entertaining Your Highness isn’t part of my job,” Ziqing said without any courtesy at all. With her obedient mask torn off, she didn’t care whether he was god or demon — she gave face to no one.
His back still to her, Jun Beiyue didn’t even realize that he — a man who never let emotion show on his face — had already been thoroughly enraged by this woman. He said coldly, “Han Ziqing, this prince will count to three. Sit at the zither stand at once, or your three days’ leave is denied.”
Her personal affairs were beyond his control — but time, he could easily control.
He wouldn’t force her into submission over the matter of that night — but he refused to believe he couldn’t bring this woman to heel.
With that, he began counting. “One, two—”
Ziqing’s cold, composed eyes went so icy they might have pierced straight through the screen and killed the domineering man before her — but she still, briskly, put on her clothes and moved to the zither stand.
Fine, she’d play. Once she’d dealt with Jun Beiyao, if this man wanted to play games, she had plenty of time to spare!
Dressed in white, without a trace of powder, her cheeks still flushed pink from the bath — the beauty, fresh from the water, looked like a lotus rising from a pond. When Ziqing looked up, Jun Beiyue found himself, for just a moment, quietly stunned.
…