Search her?

Ziqing glanced briefly at Jun Beiyue, unable to fathom what this man, still utterly inscrutable, could possibly be thinking—not that she particularly cared to figure it out anyway.

This dart—Hongyi recognized it, Yingzi recognized it, and Jun Beiyue recognized it just as well.

The moment Jun Beiyue finished speaking, Situ Xin’er immediately objected. “Hongyi can’t be the one to search her! Hongyi’s her own maid—that’s hardly fair!”

“Then we can just find some other maid back at camp to do it!” Hongyi shot back at once. Having managed the Prince Yao estate’s household for so long, she’d long since whipped every servant in the camp into shape—did she have anything to fear from Situ Xin’er?

“Back at camp? Who’s to say she wouldn’t find some way to get rid of the evidence before then?” Situ Xin’er argued.

“There’s no one else here anyway!” Hongyi snapped, emboldened by Ziqing’s protection, daring to speak up loudly.

“I’ll search her myself!” Situ Xin’er declared, chin held high.

At this, Ziqing finally gave a cold laugh. “Miss Situ, how do I know you won’t take the opportunity to plant something and frame me instead?”

“I would never do that!” Situ Xin’er denied at once.

“Who’s going to believe that?” Ziqing swept a cold glance over everyone present, letting it settle briefly on Jun Beiyao’s face—in front of Jun Beiyue, even he didn’t dare say a word.

“I absolutely would not!” Situ Xin’er stamped her foot, desperate for someone to believe her.

“Ha, well then, let me tell you this—go ahead and search me back at camp instead. I certainly won’t take the opportunity to dispose of anything either. Do you believe that?”

This time, Ziqing’s words left Situ Xin’er utterly speechless. Jun Beiyao gave an inward, cold smile, having already worked out his own strategy, and was just about to speak up—when, to everyone’s surprise, Jun Beiyue said flatly, “I’ll search her.”

The moment these words left his mouth, the whole clearing fell silent at once. Ziqing’s heart skipped slightly—for some inexplicable reason, she felt a flicker of nervousness.

With Jun Beiyue himself speaking up, who would dare cast doubt on it now—or rather, who would dare voice such doubt openly? Even Situ Xin’er, for all her earlier bravado, had no choice but to hold her tongue, eyes wide, waiting to see what would happen.

Everyone waited. Jun Beiyue had spoken—surely there’d be no question about how this would play out now.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, Jun Beiyue didn’t move to act immediately, instead turning to Ziqing and asking, “May I?”

Ziqing stared at him in silence, her mind swirling with suspicion—she genuinely couldn’t read him, and yet she found herself unable to resist wanting to know exactly what he was calculating.

Ziqing didn’t answer. Instead, she slowly spread her arms open.

Search her?

Aside from a woman, he was likely the only man in the world with the right to search her at all.

As Jun Beiyue’s large hand settled gently on her shoulder, sliding slowly downward, Ziqing found herself truly, fully registering for the first time that this man was, in fact, her husband.

She’d curled up feigning comfort in his arms several times before, had been led by the hand through long, long stretches of road—yet none of that could compare to the intimacy of this very moment.

There was nothing suggestive or ambiguous about it at all—his stern face remained entirely focused, entirely serious, his large hand starting at her shoulder and moving slowly, steadily down along her arm.

The whole area fell utterly silent, everyone’s attention fixed entirely on his hand.

And yet, even under the watchful eyes of everyone present, what should have been a search instead felt uncannily like a gentle massage, working its way down inch by inch along her aching arm, all the way to her sleeve cuff.

His warm, large hand slid briefly over her hands without lingering, immediately pulling away, raising both hands openly for all to see, proving her sleeves held nothing at all.

Ziqing let out a deep breath of relief, only then realizing she’d been holding her breath the entire time without noticing.

With her arms searched, next would be the front and back of her body. Ziqing glanced up without thinking, only to find Jun Beiyue looking right back at her at the very same moment—their eyes met for barely an instant before both looked away at once.

“Turn around,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, his already unreadable eyes now downcast and even more impossible to fathom.

Ziqing did as told, slowly turning her back to him. She waited for a long while, but the man behind her made no move at all. As the moments dragged on, her heart couldn’t help but tighten, little by little.

Suddenly, that same familiar large hand settled gently on her shoulder once more, and in that instant, her tightly wound heart finally loosened.

But barely a breath’s worth of relief later, the hand on her shoulder began to move, and she found herself tensing up again without meaning to.

As that large hand slowly moved down her back, inch by inch, her heartbeat quickened along with it, faster, and faster still.

His technique was every bit as skilled as before, all ten fingers nearly pressed flush against her back, sliding down slowly in a manner that felt remarkably pleasant, gradually reaching the small of her waist.

Suddenly, both his hands closed around her waist at once, and Ziqing sucked in a sharp breath, her whole body going rigid.

What did it mean to have a waist small enough to be fully encircled by two hands? In this very moment, her slender waist was held entirely within his grasp!

Ziqing’s breath caught, not daring to move at all. What was he trying to do?

Yet, barely a moment later, his hands loosened, and Ziqing felt an odd, hollow emptiness on either side of her waist at once—an unexpected, faint sense of reluctance at losing that touch!

But soon enough, his hands returned, gentle and unhurried this time, the base of his palms pressing against either side of her waist, sliding slowly upward, all the way to just beneath her arms.

Ziqing’s whole body trembled faintly with tension, just about to speak up, when Jun Beiyue, seemingly sensing her ticklishness, stopped abruptly right at her limit.

The moment his hands lifted away, Ziqing felt her whole body relax at once, her shoulders nearly slumping in relief.

But she barely had a moment to catch her breath before Jun Beiyue’s hands closed gently around her waist once more.

Ziqing’s eyes widened slightly, staring straight ahead, her thoughts entirely fixed on what was happening behind her, suddenly desperate to see what expression Jun Beiyue might be wearing in this moment!

His hands moved slowly down along the outside of her thighs, continuing their inch-by-inch search downward, his technique still remarkably skilled—so much so it looked entirely like a massage, leaving no one the wiser.

Ziqing found herself glancing down without meaning to, and only then did it dawn on her—this man had, in fact, been on her side all along!

Before long, her entire back had been searched. Jun Beiyue straightened up, a flicker of wicked amusement crossing his lips unnoticed by anyone, raised both hands, cast a cold glance at Jun Beiyao and Situ Xin’er, and, without a word, moved to stand in front of Ziqing.

Next, it would be the front of her body.

Ziqing’s fine brows drew together faintly, her heart beginning to pound. How would he search this part?

Jun Beiyue’s downcast eyes gave nothing away as his hands settled once more on Ziqing’s shoulders—he clearly paused for a moment before beginning to move downward.

Ziqing couldn’t help but widen her eyes. She desperately wanted to ignore this pair of hands roaming across her body, but she simply couldn’t—she even found herself unable to stop from glancing downward.

Watching his hands draw closer, and closer still, to that lovely expanse at the front of her body.

Inch by inch they moved lower, Ziqing’s breath growing more and more ragged, until finally, his wrists reached that point first, her breathing having grown as rapid as it possibly could—just about to make contact!

But—!

In that split-second instant, his technique somehow remained just as skilled as before. Ziqing had no idea what had happened, and by the time she came back to herself, Jun Beiyue had already bent down, his hands sliding slowly along her ribs.

It was only when his hands paused briefly at a particular spot beneath her ribs that Ziqing finally snapped back to full awareness, her heart lurching sharply!

That was exactly where her dart was hidden!

And yet, Jun Beiyue didn’t actually pause there for real, continuing on down, feeling his way down to the hem of her trousers before straightening up and raising his hands, saying flatly, “Nothing.”