Ziqing and Jun Beiyue had already long since recognized Baili Xiaosheng as their goddaughter—so Baili Weisheng bringing up marriage now was completely absurd!
And more importantly, Baili Xiaosheng was at least three years older than Xiong Xiaobao.
There was an old saying about how a wife three years older brought good fortune, but three years and beyond… well, even someone as modern-minded as Ziqing couldn’t quite get behind that.
She still preferred the idea of Xiong Xiaobao finding a girl a little younger than himself—it just seemed like a better match.
Hearing Ziqing’s reasoning, Baili Weisheng immediately leaned in closer. “Hey, why let outsiders benefit when it could stay in the family? What’s a few years’ age gap matter anyway? In the imperial palace, wasn’t every prince’s first woman always older than him?”
At these words, Jun Beiyue’s expression, previously neutral, suddenly turned cold—colder than the surrounding air by a good three degrees.
Only then did Baili Weisheng realize he’d spoken carelessly again, and he shut his mouth, looking rather sheepish.
At that moment, Xuanyuan Lige, seated to the side, turned his head, glanced at Jun Beiyue, and gave a strange, cold smile—eerily unsettling.
Ziqing looked between them suspiciously, sensing something was off. She gave Baili Weisheng a shove, demanding, “What exactly did you mean by that?”
Baili Weisheng truly hadn’t expected Ziqing not to catch his meaning, but now he hardly dared to explain, waving his hands repeatedly. “Just talking nonsense, nothing to it.”
“Nothing to it, what do you mean nothing to it?” Ziqing pressed further, having clearly noticed the odd expressions on the two palace-raised princes’ faces.
Seeing Baili Weisheng stay silent, Ziqing turned to look at Jun Beiyue, who coughed lightly a few times and deflected the topic entirely. “The children’s marriage is their own decision to make. This prince has no intention of arranging a match.”
Seeing this, Ziqing turned to Xuanyuan Lige, but he avoided her gaze, pretending he’d seen nothing.
Ziqing narrowed her eyes, suddenly grabbing hold of Baili Weisheng. “Explain yourself clearly! What do you mean, ‘the first woman was never the younger one’!”
Baili Weisheng didn’t dare say more, deflecting instead. “I don’t know—ask those two, they’d know best!”
“All right, all right! Enough of this.” Jun Beiyue pulled Ziqing into his arms, shielding her, his large hand covering her small ones, breathing warmth onto them to keep her warm.
Ziqing remained deeply suspicious. “What are you two hiding from me? Don’t tell me your first woman…”
At these words, Jun Beiyue immediately spoke up to clarify. “Don’t listen to his nonsense—not every prince was like what he’s describing!”
At this point, Baili Weisheng, who had just been looking so innocent a moment ago, suddenly couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing—he’d clearly been toying with Ziqing and Jun Beiyue this whole time, and felt not a shred of guilt about it.
As for being afraid of Jun Beiyue, that was debatable at best.
“Little Qingqing, you’ve lived in the palace yourself—don’t you know that on the day a prince comes of age, palace maids are assigned to teach him about… certain adult matters? And they teach it quite thoroughly…” Baili Weisheng trailed off, smiling meaningfully instead.
Only then did Ziqing catch on, her face flushing bright red at once, furious enough to want to hit someone—this scoundrel had been making a crude joke the entire time!
Baili Weisheng, utterly shameless and unbothered by any topic, laughed like a carefree rogue at this very moment. Seeing Ziqing’s expression only made him laugh harder, while Xuanyuan Lige, off to the side, never once turned his head throughout—who could say whether such a refined, otherworldly figure might blush at talk of such matters?
As for Jun Beiyue, he certainly didn’t blush at all, instead glaring darkly at Baili Weisheng, saying without any courtesy whatsoever, “Stay alive and get us out of this illusion, and this prince will kill you first thing.”
The nerve of this man, joking about something like this at his expense—clearly bored out of his mind.
Ziqing, both embarrassed and furious, thought that if she’d known it was about this, she never would have pressed the matter so relentlessly!
Threatened by Jun Beiyue, Baili Weisheng only laughed all the more. Anyone who didn’t know him well would surely have taken him for some notorious womanizer at this moment.
Ziqing, mortified, buried her face against Jun Beiyue’s chest. To her surprise, he lowered his head and murmured quietly, “Don’t worry. This prince’s first woman was met at the House of National Splendor, not in the palace.”
At these words, memories of that night at the House of National Splendor, so many years ago, suddenly flooded back into Ziqing’s mind, and her face flushed even hotter. Fortunately, it was buried against Jun Beiyue’s chest where no one could see—otherwise, she truly would have wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground!
Off to the side, Xinyun watched Baili Weisheng, once again lost in a besotted daze without realizing it—watching his unrestrained, carefree laughter, his wicked crude jokes, the clean handsomeness beneath his roguish features, and her heart began aching bit by bit once more.
Once, there had been a man just like this, teasing her the exact same way, wicked and terrible, yet the kind of wicked that made you love and hate him in equal measure.
“Nangong Jun, are you waiting for me too?” Xinyun couldn’t help but murmur to herself. The wind was loud, and she sat far enough away that Ziqing and the others, still lost in their teasing, didn’t hear her at all.
Still, joking aside, Baili Weisheng soon turned serious. “Hey, are you two really not going to become in-laws with me?”
Ziqing, still nestled in Jun Beiyue’s arms, didn’t bother looking at him. Jun Beiyue shot him a glance but answered seriously all the same, “Interfering in our children’s marriages doesn’t seem right.”
“When the man is willing and the woman is willing, surely that’s not interference on our part?” Baili Weisheng said, entirely serious.
At this, Ziqing immediately sprang up from Jun Beiyue’s arms. “How would you know they’re both willing!”
“Your son follows my girl around every single day, chasing after her—the moment he doesn’t see her, he’s asking everywhere, ‘Where’s Baili Xiaosheng? Where’s Baili Xiaosheng?’ As for my girl, heh, I’m her master—I know exactly what’s on her mind!” Baili Weisheng said with total conviction.
Ziqing, however, frowned. “Are you sure you actually know what’s on her mind?”
Baili Weisheng was quite certain. “Of course—what kind of master would I be otherwise!”
A flicker of worry crossed Ziqing’s eyes, though she said nothing. Xiong Xiaobao was still far too young—when it came to matters of the heart, he probably only felt fondness for her, nothing that could really be called love yet!
If he’d been given an older brother figure like Baili Xiaosheng instead—someone with that kind of personality, that kind of worldly experience—he’d likely have followed after them just the same, tagging along happily.
But Baili Xiaosheng was different. That girl wasn’t young anymore—once she fell for someone, she wasn’t the type to change her feelings easily.
Xiong Xiaobao would grow up eventually, and once he returned to the palace, his growth would only accelerate. Who could say what kind of person he’d become once grown, or whether he’d even remember the fondness of his childhood?
For Baili Xiaosheng, that wouldn’t be fair at all—it could even end up hurting her, in the long run.
As Ziqing pondered this, Jun Beiyue tossed out a remark to Baili Weisheng. “In my view, that girl likes you more, anyway!”
“Heh, of course she likes me more—I’m the one who raised her, after all. She hasn’t even married out yet, why would her loyalty already turn toward outsiders?” Baili Weisheng said cheerfully.
Though he wasn’t the type of master who fussed over or doted on people, he was, at the very least, a master who genuinely cherished his girl.
“Let’s not meddle in their affairs. They’re both still so young—things could easily change,” Ziqing said flatly, mentally counting the days. Between entering the illusion of departed souls and then this illusion of Lament of Parting, it had probably been nearly a month by now, all told.
She had no idea how things stood back in the capital. A month’s time—surely the capital wouldn’t have descended into chaos yet, though she worried Xiong Xiaobao might grow sad if he couldn’t find them.
After all, no matter how sensible a child was, he was still a child in the end—even adults might struggle to bear their parents suddenly vanishing without a trace!