The door creaked open, and Guxi’s hand froze mid-air, still raised to knock. There stood Xiong Xiaobao, his expression stern and cold, his eyes deep and composed — the once lively, playful child seemed to have transformed entirely into someone else, his whole bearing weighed down with gravity, not a trace of his former self remaining.

The unfamiliarity left even Guxi momentarily at a loss — and in that brief instant, he seemed to catch a glimpse of his master as he once was, long ago.

Seeing him emerge, Yingzi and the others, who had been keeping watch nearby, were overjoyed, rushing forward eagerly, their hearts brimming with excitement — but the moment they reached him, they all stopped short, unsure of what to say.

Xiong Xiaobao gazed at them in silence, his expression almost entirely blank.

They would rather he cried, rather he threw a tantrum — anything but this unbearable silence!

“Xiong Bao…”

Jue Mingzi spoke gently, but before he could get any further with his words of comfort, Xiong Xiaobao cut him off coldly. “From now on, no one is to call me Xiong Bao. My name is Jun Buli.” At these words, Jue Mingzi drew in a sharp breath, suddenly struck with the feeling of being utterly rejected by this child — a distance opening up between them in an instant, one he might never again be able to close.

Jue Mingzi, still struggling to collect himself, murmured without thinking, “Xiong…”

But the moment the word left his mouth, Xiong Xiaobao shot him a cold, sidelong glance, a flash of dark, merciless malice flickering through his deep black eyes — impossible for anyone to miss.

Jue Mingzi froze, not daring to say another word, and the others fell silent as well.

“Hongyi, that scorpion-shaped ring my mother gave you — do you still have it?” Jun Beiyue asked.

“I do!” Hongyi answered at once, hurriedly pulling the ring from her sleeve. She knew full well the significance of that scorpion ring — she had never once taken it out until now, having kept it safely hidden on her person all this time!

Throughout all of Da Zhou, throughout all of Longyuan, everyone knew: to see the scorpion ring was to see Prince Yao himself, present in person!

As Xiong Xiaobao looked at the ring, a flicker of sorrow passed through his eyes — one no one else noticed — before his expression quickly settled back into cold detachment. He took the ring, turned it over in his fingers for a moment, then slipped it on.

This was his father’s ring, worn on the pinky finger. His father’s hands were large, and his were still small — it fit perfectly on his thumb instead.

The moment he put it on, he slowly closed his fist. His entire manner grew so silent, so unreadable, that no one could guess what he might be thinking at this moment, nor what he intended for the future.

“Guxi, come with me. And summon General Ouyang, Eunuch Xu from the Imperial Study, and Murong Bohai, commander of the palace guard.” Jun Buli spoke coldly, then turned and walked away.

Guxi stood frozen for a long moment before finally coming back to himself, a faint, appreciative smile curling at his lips as he watched Jun Buli’s retreating figure. He’d known it all along — a tiger’s cub was never a dog. No burden, no matter how heavy, no realm, no matter how vast, was beyond this child’s ability to shoulder.

General Ouyang, commander of the Eighteen Riders of the Dark Night, was the leader of this elite guard — a force Prince Yao had assembled in his teenage years, one that had guarded the safety of the capital ever since.

Eunuch Xu of the Imperial Study had once been the most favored eunuch at Emperor Tianhui’s side, and had also been a piece Jun Beiyue had planted beside Tianhui himself — for the truth was, no one understood the inner workings of the palace, the affairs within its walls, better than the eunuchs who served at the emperor’s side, not even the emperor himself.

A single head eunuch, a single commander of the palace guard — together, they could control the entire imperial palace. And Murong Bohai was precisely that commander.

These very individuals were, in fact, exactly the ones Guxi himself had been quietly considering these past few days — he hadn’t expected the young lord’s thinking to align so precisely with his own.

Guxi quickly brought the men Jun Buli had named to Prince Yao’s estate — with the front gate blocked, they had no choice but to enter through the back.

Along the way, General Ouyang, already aware of the situation, kept his silence, while Eunuch Xu and Murong Bohai peppered him with questions without pause.

“Where exactly have His Highness and Her Highness gone?”

“There are rumors going around that His Highness took Her Highness and fled to the ends of the earth, abandoning Da Zhou entirely! Surely that can’t be true!”

“Down in the southern territories, there are rumors saying His Highness took Her Highness off to search for the deserted island, abandoning the whole realm of Da Zhou!”

…

Guxi gave no answer, until finally General Ouyang couldn’t hold back any longer, cutting the other two off. “Guxi, what exactly does the young lord want with us?”

“This one does not know. The lords will understand once they arrive,” Guxi answered respectfully.

The group remained puzzled — but the moment they entered the main hall and saw the figure seated in the position of honor, everything became clear at once.

There, in the empty hall, sat Jun Buli in the seat of authority, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees, one hand idly turning the scorpion ring on his thumb, his eyes fixed coldly on them.

In that instant, General Ouyang, Murong Bohai, and Eunuch Xu all felt as though they’d been transported back through the years, as though they were seeing the young Prince Yao of old, standing before them once again!

Whether it was that commanding, domineering posture, or the cold, resolute expression on his handsome young face, or the unassuming yet unmistakable nobility radiating from his brow — every bit of it mirrored Jun Beiyue exactly as he had once been. If anything, compared to the young Fourth Prince of that era, this child carried an even sharper edge of untouchable, forbidding majesty!

All three men were seasoned, shrewd individuals, and the moment they saw the scorpion ring on Jun Buli’s hand, they understood, more or less, exactly what was happening.

They entered together and offered a formal bow. “Your servants pay respects to the young lord. Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand thousand years to the young lord!”

“Rise, all of you. Sit.” Jun Buli said flatly, his composed, elder-statesman tone earning a look of genuine surprise even from Guxi.

Once everyone was seated, Jun Buli spoke again, his icy tone carrying a faint edge of something wicked, leaving everyone increasingly unable to read him. “My father has taken my mother home to visit her family. Before he left, he instructed me to ascend the throne, to settle matters at home and abroad. This young lord was feeling a bit playful, and wandered off for a few days — I hadn’t expected the entire court to be so displeased about it.”

At these words, never mind the other three — even Guxi himself was taken aback, never having expected him to adopt such a tone, to say something like this at all!

Home to visit her family? Feeling playful? The entire court displeased?

The words sounded like a joke — and yet somehow, everyone present found them chilling to the bone.

For a moment, no one dared speak.

Jun Buli rose to his feet, took a sip of tea, and continued, “This young lord wishes to ascend the throne, and yet the entire court is displeased about it. I wonder — do the three of you have any good counsel to offer?”

For a long while, none of the three knew how to respond.

Finally, it was Eunuch Xu who broke the silence. “Young Master… His Highness and Her Highness — when exactly will they be returning?”

Jun Buli’s brow lifted at once. “Oh? And if he doesn’t return, does that mean I have no right to rule Da Zhou?”

“No, no, no!” Eunuch Xu denied at once. Hearing Jun Buli’s tone, he realized further questions would be pointless — it seemed all but certain that something had happened to Prince Yao.

“Young Master, with Prince Yao absent, things will inevitably prove more troublesome. At present, there are two particular difficulties. First, there is the matter of the road being built through the northern territories, which the officials strongly oppose. Second, there is…” Eunuch Xu considered his words carefully, then decided to speak plainly, “the Second Prince holds considerable standing among the officials these past years.”

A cold, disdainful smile crossed Jun Buli’s lips. “In that case — why don’t Eunuch Xu and Commander Murong do this young lord a favor, and bring Jun Ge here to me? It’s been a while since he’s seen Consort Yi, after all — with the Second Prince away, let him come keep her company, ease her loneliness a bit. And while you’re at it, bring Jun Chengtian along as well — Consort Yi does love a lively household…”

As Xiong Xiaobao spoke, Eunuch Xu and Murong Bohai both went pale with shock, only now understanding what the young master intended — this was nothing short of taking the imperial grandsons hostage! Ruthless, utterly ruthless!

Amid the swirl of rumors sweeping the capital, everyone had been watching and waiting, playing their own quiet games behind the scenes — and yet, with Jun Beiyue absent, no one had expected his son to strike first, more ruthlessly than even his father might have!