In the silence, Ziqing continued sipping her broth, movements languid and elegant, letting Situ Xin’er glare furiously at her all she liked.

She’d brought this trouble on herself—she’d have to be capable enough to handle the consequences herself too!

Ziqing felt not the slightest guilt about it. In full view of everyone, even if Jun Beiyue had wanted to show favoritism, he couldn’t easily do so now—after all, Ziqing carried real standing and authority within the army.

Jun Beiyue had, after all, so mercilessly punished Ziqing with thirty cups just moments ago—if he now showed favoritism toward Situ Xin’er instead, it would surely invite gossip.

Having leisurely finished her broth, Ziqing glanced sideways at Jun Beiyue again, only to find his expression cold and stern, drinking on in silence, his deep, fathomless eyes giving no one any clue as to what he was truly thinking in this moment.

No one else present made a move either—clearly a silent signal to Situ Xin’er: “You still have to follow through.”

Ziqing didn’t press her either, but a single provocative glance was enough to send Situ Xin’er into a fury, and she immediately reached for another jar.

Fine, she’d drink it—Situ Xin’er certainly wasn’t one to back down from a drink either!

“Sister Ziqing, here, another toast for you! Drink as you please!” Situ Xin’er declared boldly, tilting her head back to drink again—but without Ziqing’s earlier composure, she was unsteady on her feet before she’d even gotten through half the jar, staggering, most of the liquor spilling wastefully rather than actually going down.

No one paid any attention to how much she’d actually managed to drink—everyone was too busy silently counting down to the moment this girl would finally collapse.

Suddenly—”crack!”—the jar, still far from empty, shattered violently against the ground anyway. Yet Situ Xin’er, undeterred, pointed at the fragments with great bravado, shouting, “See, all gone!”

Ziqing rested her chin lightly on one hand, watching sideways, her other hand elegantly twirling her wine cup—drinking hard liquor with all the refined grace of savoring fine red wine.

Her attention remained entirely fixed on Situ Xin’er, never once glancing at the man beside her—though he, for his part, had already glanced her way several times.

“All right, all right, that’s enough—she’s drunk!” Imperial Physician Gu finally couldn’t help but speak up. But no sooner had he spoken than Situ Xin’er, eyes glazed with drink, immediately turned to look at him, waving a hand. “I’m not drunk! Here, keep going!”

With that, she gripped another jar with both hands, ready to tilt her head back and drink—only to find she had no strength left at all, her hands going slack, the entire jar crashing to the ground with a loud crack, splashing liquor all over herself!

Situ Xin’er froze for a moment, then burst out laughing, pointing at the mess on the ground. “See, third jar, all done!”

Everyone exchanged glances, not daring to laugh openly in front of Jun Beiyue, though plenty of quiet amusement bubbled beneath the surface.

Suddenly, to everyone’s utter shock, Situ Xin’er lunged straight toward Jun Beiyue, slamming both hands down hard on his table with a sharp crack, her flushed little face pressing close, staring straight into his eyes!

Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed at once, leaning back to avoid her, just about to speak when Situ Xin’er suddenly shouted, “Beiyue-gege, I like you!”

At once, the whole gathering erupted into an uproar. Ziqing’s hand, propping up her chin, went slack, nearly knocking her chin against the table’s edge.

“Beiyue-gege, do you like me?” Situ Xin’er shouted again, before Jun Beiyue could even cover her mouth in time.

“Yingzi, Miss Situ’s drunk—take her away!” Jun Beiyue snapped angrily, glancing unconsciously toward Ziqing, only to find Ziqing looking straight back at him at the very same moment, both of them momentarily caught off guard.

Yingzi rushed over at once, his first move clamping a hand over Situ Xin’er’s mouth, then hurrying to carry her away as though fleeing the scene.

In the wake of this unexpected outburst, nearly everyone’s gaze turned toward Ziqing!

Yes—not toward Jun Beiyue, but toward Ziqing!

And it was exactly then that Jun Beiyao suddenly burst out laughing, breaking the silence. “Fourth Brother, that girl Xin’er really is adorable—she’s been infatuated with you for so long, and finally, drunk, she’s confessed the truth! Father was just saying the other day that if it weren’t beneath her to settle for a secondary consort’s position, he’d genuinely love to have her as a daughter-in-law!”

He continued, not even waiting for Jun Beiyue to respond, adding teasingly, “Hahaha, Fourth Brother, so, do you like her or not?”

Ziqing watched Jun Beiyue, waiting for his answer right alongside Jun Beiyao.

But Jun Beiyue simply said flatly, “Can drunken nonsense really be trusted?”

With that, he raised his cup toward the White Tiger general beside him, murmuring something quietly, as though the whole exchange had never happened at all.

To everyone’s surprise, Ziqing spoke up. “Your Highness, Xin’er is such an innocent, simple girl—why not keep her by your side to attend to you?”

Ziqing knew perfectly well how pointless this was, and yet she found herself, damnably, wanting to ask, wanting a direct, honest answer from him—she simply couldn’t help herself.

“Are you drunk too?” Jun Beiyue asked, raising an eyebrow, still dodging the question.

Ziqing gave an inward, cold laugh—given this man’s temperament, what was he so afraid of, that he couldn’t even answer such a simple question directly?

Just as she was about to press further, Jun Beiyue said coldly instead, “Hongyi, the princess consort is drunk—take her back to her tent.”

Ziqing gave a faint, scornful smile and rose to leave on her own—but to her shock, before she could even take a step, her body lurched uncontrollably backward, her legs going weak, and she found herself falling straight against Jun Beiyue!

The moment she fell, everything spun violently around her, and Ziqing thought grimly to herself: no good. No matter how impressive one’s tolerance, once it was pushed past its limit, the liquor’s true force would eventually catch up regardless.

She tried to brace herself, to rise, but Jun Beiyue simply held her fast, saying with displeasure, “Stay still. If you throw up on me from moving around, don’t expect me to care.”

Ziqing, of course, knew perfectly well she shouldn’t move now—any movement would only make the dizziness far worse, and once she started throwing up, there’d be no stopping it. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the misery of true drunkenness.

“Imperial Physician Gu. Sobering tea,” Jun Beiyue said quietly. Imperial Physician Gu hurried off at once.

Jun Beiyue signaled for the three Tiger generals to take charge of the feast and let everyone enjoy themselves, then, in full view of everyone, carefully carried Ziqing back toward the main camp.

The full force of the liquor had by now completely caught up with her—Ziqing didn’t dare move at all, curling obediently in Jun Beiyue’s arms, eyes downcast, struggling to fight off the dizziness, entirely unaware of just how careful Jun Beiyue was being with her in this moment.

They soon arrived back at the main tent. Jun Beiyue didn’t set Ziqing down, instead settling himself onto the couch, still holding her close, personally taking the sobering tea from the physician’s hands.

“Open your mouth. Drink this down and it’ll settle,” he said quietly, his tone remarkably serious.

Ziqing’s brow furrowed too, and only then did she look up at him, lips pressed tightly shut.

“Bear with it a little. You’ll be fine once you drink it,” Jun Beiyue said, his voice softening unconsciously.

Ziqing’s face twisted with distress, not even daring to shake her head, her small mouth pressed so tightly shut it seemed to vanish entirely.

Jun Beiyue was about to urge her further when, to his shock, Ziqing suddenly wrenched herself free and, with a violent heave, began retching uncontrollably!

Once it started, there was no stopping it—Ziqing’s distress was so severe her breathing nearly seized entirely, her retching sounding almost like sobbing, enough to make anyone listening feel her suffering, worried something terrible might happen.

Jun Beiyue patted her back over and over, all trace of his earlier severity gone, his brow furrowed as tight as it could possibly go, entirely unconcerned about the mess soiling his own clothes.

After a long while, Ziqing finally managed to stop, her whole body limp, utterly without strength, collapsed entirely against Jun Beiyue.

Jun Beiyue carefully turned her over, only for her to immediately double over again, retching uncontrollably despite having nothing left to bring up—and before long, she began coughing up blood!

“Imperial Physician Gu!” Jun Beiyue shouted in alarm, his head snapping up, his eyes, without him even realizing it, already bloodshot.