Dawn broke, morning light spilling through the entirety of the Wuxie Ravine, shining directly down onto Jun Beiyue’s Three Realms camp. At this hour, the camp lay in complete silence.

Behind the main camp, Jun Beiyue stood at the cliff’s edge in black combat attire, hands clasped behind his back, gazing down into the bottomless chasm below. On the day Chu Tiange had fallen from the Three Realms Bridge, he had immediately sent men down to search — even a body had to be recovered. But those who returned the day before reported finding only the corpses of the crossbowmen; there was no sign of Chu Tiange’s body.

“My lord, let this subordinate lead men down there instead. The Seventh Prince hasn’t arrived yet — leaving camp to the Princess isn’t…” Yingzi advised in a low voice, not out of distrust for the Princess, but out of wariness toward Prince Jun Beiyao. Among all the princes, he was easily the most cunning fox of the lot! With his lord giving no specific instructions, he worried the Princess wouldn’t know the full picture and might struggle to handle him!

“Hah. Your princess happens to be a fox in her own right,” Jun Beiyue said with a cold smile.

Yingzi was about to press further, but Imperial Physician Gu came hurrying over. “My lord, there’s news! News about Meixiang!”

“Is there an antidote?” Jun Beiyue asked at once. The Meixiang poison had lingered in Ziqing’s body all this time. When he’d brought her back this time, Physician Gu had taken the opportunity to check her pulse again — before, he’d been unable to find any trace of it, but this time he’d finally located it.

This woman’s constitution was truly unusual — that she could keep Meixiang dormant in her body without it ever taking effect.

Never mind Meixiang — even ordinary potent aphrodisiacs would inevitably flare up while their potency remained active.

It had been over three months since this woman was exposed to Meixiang — and it had never once flared up!

“My lord, there’s no possibility of an antidote for Meixiang. The one who originally formulated this aphrodisiac never developed a cure — this drug can only pass from one person to another until death!” Physician Gu said helplessly. Seeing Jun Beiyue’s eyes turn dangerously cold, he added quickly, “My lord, but the fact that no antidote has been developed doesn’t mean one can’t be developed.”

“Enough nonsense! What exactly is the situation?” Jun Beiyue said coldly.

Physician Gu started, then reported concisely, “My lord, this subordinate has traced Meixiang’s origin to the Lonely Island of Nanzhao — the descendants of the one who formulated this aphrodisiac are there!”

What Physician Gu meant was clear — they could find these people and attempt to develop an antidote!

“Do we know who they are?” Jun Beiyue asked.

“My lord, the Lonely Island is one of Nanzhao’s most powerful factions. Never mind us — even the people of Nanzhao themselves find it difficult to gain entry to the island. This subordinate could only uncover this much,” Physician Gu answered honestly.

Jun Beiyue hesitated for a moment, then said flatly, “Yingzi, tell the Princess — if any letters concerning Nanzhao arrive from the capital, she is to receive them all. This prince will travel to Nanzhao personally.”

“Yes!” Yingzi accepted the order at once.

Jun Beiyue was about to leave, but stopped, his handsome brow drawing tight, hesitating uncharacteristically before Physician Gu — so unlike his usually decisive, sharp self!

Physician Gu and Yingzi exchanged glances, both sensing that something had been off about their lord ever since he’d left camp the night before. No — to be precise, ever since he’d carried the Princess back, something had been off.

“Imperial Physician Gu, this Meixiang lying dormant in Ziqing’s body — could it flare up periodically without us knowing?” Jun Beiyue asked, suspicious.

“That… how should I put it… actually…” Physician Gu stammered.

Jun Beiyue shot him a cold glare at once, and Physician Gu flinched, nodding quickly. “It’s possible. Like certain chronic poisons that linger in the body, flaring periodically without proving fatal. Meixiang is both medicine and poison, so this… this possibility is fairly significant.”

Hearing this, Yingzi’s eyes lit up. “My lord, let this subordinate take men down to search instead. You should stay behind — that would be… more appropriate.”

To their surprise, Jun Beiyue looked faintly embarrassed, avoiding Yingzi’s gaze. Seeing Physician Gu looking at him too, he avoided his eyes as well, saying coldly, “Just three days. Hold the camp well.”

With that, he offered no further instructions, and with a single leap, vanished down toward the cliff’s edge!

Meanwhile, in the camp, Ziqing had already woken and now stood alone before a wall hung with a massive map, studying it intently, her fine brows drawn tight.

Western Chu was in chaos internally. Rebel forces attacked the capital from the east, west, and north. To the south stood Jun Beiyue’s two White Tiger armies and Jun Beiyao’s Western Chu cavalry.

“Report! Urgent military dispatch!” A sudden urgent voice came from outside the tent.

“Enter!” Ziqing called out coldly. Though a woman, her presence carried full authority.

She stood beneath the map in a white riding outfit, hands clasped behind her back, sharp and heroic — a rose of steel amid the army camp.

To her surprise, the guard returning from the front lines, upon entering and seeing Ziqing, frowned at once. “Where is the Prince?”

“His Highness has left camp for three days. All matters within the army are handled by this princess in the meantime. Present the urgent dispatch at once!” Ziqing said coldly.

“This matter is of great importance. Without seeing Prince Yao himself, this subordinate cannot report it,” the guard said earnestly.

“Someone — summon the White Tiger General!” Ziqing said coldly.

In moments, the White Tiger General arrived in haste. The instant he entered, Ziqing said coldly, “White Tiger General, Prince Yao has entrusted all military affairs of these three days to this princess. If anyone refuses to comply and delays the military situation, what should the punishment be?”

Since Jun Beiyue had entrusted everything these three days to her, this was her mission — and she intended to hold full authority and see it done as well as it could be done.

“By military law, execution,” the White Tiger General said earnestly. After that duel at the city gate, his admiration for Ziqing knew no bounds!

At this, the guard was startled — with Prince Yao absent, the White Tiger General’s word carried the weight of a military order!

He had no idea what exactly was going on with this camp, but he hurried to present the dispatch with both hands. “Reporting to the Princess — the rebel forces within Western Chu have, for reasons unknown, begun holding their positions and occupying territory rather than continuing their assault on the capital. With Western Chu’s army now freed up, they’ve turned their forces against ours in full. The Seventh Prince has already withdrawn his troops. Only the two White Tiger armies remain fighting. The two generals have urgently sent this subordinate back to ask whether we should retreat and hold, or press on into the Western Chu capital.”

“The Seventh Prince has withdrawn?” Ziqing said, a shadow of malice flickering through her eyes.

“Indeed!” The guard rose at once, pointing to the map. “Your Highness, the Seventh Prince did not join the two White Tiger armies in pursuing Prince Xiang’s ten thousand defeated troops. Instead, he took advantage of the chaos to seize three cities along the border between Western Chu and Western Jing. These three cities had almost no defenses left, as all their defensive forces had been redirected north to resist the White Tiger army!”

Ziqing frowned at the map. As it stood, the White Tiger army had only taken the two northernmost cities of the Three Realms and remained locked in a stalemate with the Western Chu cavalry at the third city, while Western Chu’s capital lay at the fifth city further north. If Jun Beiyao had thrown his full support behind the effort, Da Zhou’s forces might well have already reached the gates of the Western Chu capital before the internal rebellion could stabilize!

But that cunning old fox Jun Beiyao had instead gone west, fishing for easy gains, and had effortlessly seized three cities!

“Separated by nothing but the Wuxie Ravine, and yet the Three Realms hears completely different news — word from Eastern Qin certainly travels fast,” Ziqing said coldly.

“Your Highness, we cannot afford to delay on military matters. With the internal rebellion still unresolved, Western Chu will surely throw everything they have against our White Tiger army. Please, Your Highness, make a decision!” the White Tiger General urged.

Ziqing looked up, staring fixedly at the map, thinking to herself that it seemed her three days of leave could be spared after all — Jun Beiyao was in such a hurry to return, and she was just as eager to find him.

At that thought, a slow, vicious smile crept across Ziqing’s lips, and she scoffed coldly. “In a battle this large, unable even to take three measly cities — what’s the point of fighting at all?”