While the other princes all stood waiting respectfully, only the tenth prince strode forward casually, his face fawning, though his mouth, ever clumsy, couldn’t manage to produce anything particularly refined. “Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, you’ve finally made it back! I’ve been standing out here the whole day waiting for you—I kept saying you two wouldn’t be back this early, but they wouldn’t believe me, insisted on waiting anyway!”
Such blunt, unceremonious words left Jun Beiyue entirely expressionless, but Ziqing laughed instead. “Let’s go, let’s go, shall we head back? Can’t wait for the welcome-home banquet, can you?”
Ziqing’s words hit the mark exactly, and the tenth prince nodded eagerly, laughing in his good-natured, slightly foolish way. “Exactly, exactly!”
Everyone knew that with Jun Beiyue’s return, sweeping changes were about to sweep through the entire Da Zhou imperial family and court—countless webs of interest, all interconnected, one move affecting everything else.
Tonight’s welcome banquet might well mark the beginning of a coming storm.
Just as everyone braced themselves nervously for that impending storm, to everyone’s surprise, once Jun Beiyue entered the city, he didn’t head for the palace at all. He simply exchanged a few words with Jun Beichen, then took Ziqing straight to the Prince Yao’s Residence instead.
The carriage pulled up before the residence gates, and before Ziqing had even stepped down, a familiar voice rang out. “Your Highness, my lady, you’ve finally returned!”
It was Hongyi!
Overjoyed, Ziqing hurried down from the carriage.
She hadn’t thought much of it when Jun Beiyue had said they’d return to the Prince Yao’s residence, but the moment she saw the familiar gates, the familiar servants standing at the entrance, a wave of homecoming washed over her—it felt wonderful.
“This servant greets Your Highness, greets my lady, greets the young master!” Hongyi said, overjoyed, having kept watch over the residence day and night, longing for her masters’ return!
She’d known—no matter how far they traveled, even if they’d found the lonely island itself, they would surely come home in the end!
This, after all, was truly their home!
“Mommy, we’re home!” Xiong Xiaobao exclaimed loudly. Not just Ziqing, but Xiong Xiaobao too felt exactly the same way—home at last!
Though they’d never lived here for very long, this place carried a genuine sense of belonging all its own.
Baili Weisheng, watching from the side, found himself moved by that warmth too, a faint, gentle smile curling at his lips without his meaning to. Home—how good it felt.
That night, Jun Beiyue truly did leave everyone at the palace waiting, sitting down instead with Ziqing, Xiong Xiaobao, Baili Weisheng, and Jue Mingzi for dinner, before turning in for the night.
The next morning, Ziqing assumed he’d finally head to the palace, but to her surprise, he still showed no sign of intending to.
“Now that we’re back, the palace’s affairs need attending to as well.” Ziqing said flatly.
“No rush. Come, I’ll take you somewhere.” Jun Beiyue said, taking Ziqing’s hand and leading her outside.
Ziqing looked at him suspiciously. “Where are we going?”
“Yingzi’s been holding two people prisoner, waiting for you to come back and deal with them.” Jun Beiyue said.
Only then did Ziqing recall the matter. Mi’er and Yu Xiaomeng were still locked away in Prince Yao’s Residence’s dungeon—captured back when Yingzi had been tracking down Baili Weisheng!
A complicated look flickered through her eyes, and she hurried off with Jun Beiyue at once.
To her surprise, just as they were about to reach the dungeon, they found Xiong Xiaobao and the others also heading that way.
Seeing them approach, Xiong Xiaobao suddenly bowed with elaborate formality. “Father, Mother, your son offers his greetings!”
Jun Beiyue said nothing, merely smiling, while Ziqing rolled her eyes repeatedly. “Who taught you that?”
“Now that we’re in the capital, we ought to follow the capital’s customs. Father, the whole capital’s abuzz with rumors that you’ll ascend the throne the moment you return—you wouldn’t want to disappoint the common people’s expectations of you, would you?”
Xiong Xiaobao’s glib little speech left Jun Beiyue with little doubt now that this brat himself had been the source of those capital rumors.
This kid—using public opinion to pressure him, at such a young age, hadn’t learned a single proper lesson yet, but already knew how to play these kinds of games.
“A child worth teaching, indeed.” Jun Beiyue said, looking at Xiong Xiaobao thoughtfully.
Feeling a chill run down his spine under that gaze, Xiong Xiaobao didn’t dare meet his father’s eyes directly, quickly changing the subject instead. “I brought Uncle Scholar along to see those two prisoners—maybe he’ll remember something.”
“Good idea!” Ziqing said, pulling her son close, thinking to herself that Baili Weisheng’s affection for this boy over the years clearly hadn’t been wasted.
They walked deep into the dungeon together. Prince Yao’s Residence’s dungeon had gone unused for a long time, and the entire underground prison stood empty save for Mi’er and Yu Xiaomeng, locked away within.
Before Baili Weisheng had been found, no matter how Yingzi had interrogated them, questioned them, the two of them seemed to have agreed beforehand—they refused to say a single word!
And once Baili Weisheng had been found, aside from having meals delivered daily, no one had bothered with them at all since.
As they walked further in, they could faintly make out the sound of voices talking, and everyone unconsciously slowed their pace.
Ziqing recognized the voice at once—it was Yu Xiaomeng’s.
The very girl Xuanyuan Lige had once declared, right in front of her, that he intended to marry.
“Mi’er, eat something, please. Don’t worry, Young Master Xuanyuan’s martial skills are so formidable, nothing could possibly happen to him!”
“We need to keep our strength up, don’t we, so we’ll have the energy to wait for him?”
“Mi’er, I’m begging you, please eat at least a little! Or how about this—you take one bite, just one bite, and I’ll tell you how Young Master Xuanyuan and I first met, how does that sound?”
…
Hearing such earnest coaxing, everyone came to a stop.
In truth, Ziqing had come here specifically to release them. Silently, in her heart, she said, “Ali, someone still remembers you, all this time. Do you know that?”
Sniffing quietly, Ziqing strode forward, and only then did the others follow.
But the moment Yu Xiaomeng saw Ziqing arrive, she shot to her feet at once, brow furrowed tight, her face full of resentment. “Han Ziqing, what exactly do you people want from us? Keeping two helpless women locked up like this—what kind of hero does that make you? If you’ve got the nerve, go find Xuanyuan Lige instead!”
Yu Xiaomeng and Mi’er had been locked up together for so long now that they’d shared nearly everything they each knew with one another.
They knew that Han Ziqing had shattered Xuanyuan Lige’s dream of restoring his kingdom; they knew that it was Han Ziqing who had hurt him!
What could possibly drive one woman to hate another, if not a man?
“Han Ziqing, I once respected you as a heroine among women, but I never imagined you would exploit Xuanyuan Lige’s feelings so ruthlessly! What tremendous skill you have!” Yu Xiaomeng spat furiously!
Mi’er had said that Xuanyuan Lige could have conquered all of Xichu, if not for this woman’s arrival, which had cost him everything, leaving him to fall into Meng Wanyue’s hands instead.
Ziqing let Yu Xiaomeng’s tirade wash over her without responding. Beside her, Jun Beiyue’s dark eyes had grown fathomlessly, frighteningly deep, while Xiong Xiaobao seethed with indignation—if Ziqing hadn’t been holding his hand, the boy might well have already unleashed his beasts on her.
“Han Ziqing, yes, Xuanyuan Lige loved you! If you didn’t love him back, fine—but why did you have to trample on his feelings like this? Is it so wonderful that someone loved you?” Yu Xiaomeng grew more furious the more she spoke.
Finally, Ziqing spoke, her tone extremely flat. “Do you know that Meng Wanyue took Lige away?”
“Better than falling into your hands!” Yu Xiaomeng scoffed contemptuously.
Meng Wanyue had arranged for a Dream Clan ship to come collect them, only for Yingzi to intercept and bring them back partway through.
Ziqing tilted her head back slightly, biting down hard to keep herself calm. She’d promised herself—only to remember him, never to grieve, never to show grief in front of Beiyue.
She took a steadying breath, reining in her emotions, and said flatly, “Then do you know… Meng Wanyue took Lige away for good…”