Imperial Physician Gu paid Yingzi’s report no mind at all, about to speak further, when, to his surprise, Jun Beiyue said flatly, “It’s nothing serious. Go take a look at Situ Xin’er, and prepare some medicine to help her sober up.”
Their lord was actually sending him away?
Shouldn’t he be examining the princess consort further instead? And yet, at a moment like this, their lord actually had the presence of mind to worry about Situ Xin’er.
Imperial Physician Gu recalled the scene he’d witnessed upon entering earlier, and finally began to sense something was genuinely off.
“My lord, given the princess consort’s constitution, perhaps we should—”
Before he could finish, Jun Beiyue cut him off coldly. “Go on. Settle things quietly first, don’t let this turn into more of a spectacle. This king will be along shortly.”
Imperial Physician Gu was even more taken aback—their lord intended to go personally as well? He couldn’t help but wonder whether their lord genuinely had feelings for Situ Xin’er after all…
Not daring to press further, he hurried out.
The tent was left with only Jun Beiyue and Ziqing. Ziqing’s condition had improved considerably by now, deep asleep, no longer murmuring.
Jun Beiyue watched her in silence, his stern face utterly blank—only heaven knew what he was truly thinking in that moment.
Suddenly, he gave a cold snort. “Xuanyuan Lige.”
With that, he abruptly lifted the blanket—yet did nothing at all, simply changing her out of her soiled clothes into fresh sleepwear in silence, tending to her with meticulous, thorough care, even wiping down her small face and undoing her hairpin, before finally covering her with the blanket once more, letting her rest peacefully.
Ziqing slept so deeply that, aside from a faint furrow of her brow, she showed no reaction at all to Jun Beiyue’s careful ministrations, entirely unaware of what had happened to her, or what was happening to her now.
Once dressed in clean, comfortable clothes, the traces of wine wiped from her face, Ziqing’s tightly knit brow finally relaxed, her sleeping face utterly peaceful, as pure and innocent as a child’s.
And yet Jun Beiyue never once looked at her directly.
The charm-scent still lay dormant within her body. He knew perfectly well nothing had happened between this woman and Xuanyuan Lige—and yet, how could he possibly tolerate his own woman calling out another man’s name, even in her delirium?
What was wrong with him?
He rose and left, just like that, simply and without further thought…
Meanwhile, Situ Xin’er’s tent was surrounded by tense, wary shadow guards—if this girl truly caused a scene throughout the camp, it wouldn’t just be Jun Beiyue who’d lose face, but the Situ Family too, unable to bear such an embarrassment.
Imperial Physician Gu had prepared all manner of sobering medicine, even resorting to some remedies that were rather harsh on the body—but no one dared restrain Situ Xin’er, no one dared force her to drink any of it.
Throughout the entire camp, it seemed only the lord and lady themselves had ever dared lay a hand on this girl.
The influence of the Situ Family, the martial world’s premier clan, combined with her brother Situ Haonan’s notoriously protective temper—who wouldn’t be wary of provoking either?
The moment Jun Beiyue arrived, all the guards immediately relaxed, everyone breathing a collective sigh of relief.
At that very moment, inside the tent, Situ Xin’er lay sprawled across the table, murmuring incoherently—no one could make out most of it, but the four words “Beiyue-gege” came through perfectly clear to everyone present.
The moment Jun Beiyue stepped inside, he glanced over with a faint frown, but made no particularly dramatic move, simply lounging lazily against a nearby couch, one hand propping up his head against a high pillow, saying flatly, “Yingzi. Hold her down. Give her the medicine.”
With that, he slowly closed his eyes, his handsome brow etched with unmistakable exhaustion.
With their lord’s order given, Yingzi and Imperial Physician Gu wasted no more time, springing into action at once!
“Ah—let go of me! You beastly man, let go, my Beiyue-gege will kill you!”
“Let go! Do you have any idea who I am!”
…
Situ Xin’er struggled fiercely, but Yingzi made quick work of restraining her, pinning her firmly against the table.
To everyone’s surprise, the moment she was pinned down, Situ Xin’er suddenly went quiet, her wide, watery eyes flying open, glancing sideways at Yingzi with an oddly unsettling smile.
Yingzi found the look genuinely unnerving, hurrying to urge, “Imperial Physician Gu, quickly!”
Imperial Physician Gu hurried over with the sobering medicine. Yingzi pried open Situ Xin’er’s mouth, but before the physician could even administer it, she suddenly shouted, “Beiyue-gege, I don’t like you!”
At once, both Yingzi and Imperial Physician Gu froze, turning simultaneously to look at Jun Beiyue, while Situ Xin’er took the opportunity to wrench herself free, too drunk to even notice her beloved Beiyue-gege lounging lazily nearby, bolting straight for the tent entrance!
Yingzi snapped back to attention, hurrying to catch her, dragging her back and pinning her down again—this time taking no chances, clamping a hand directly over her mouth.
Imperial Physician Gu, growing even more anxious, hurried to pour an entire large bowl of sobering medicine down her throat—only to look up in alarm the moment it was finished, glancing worriedly at Yingzi.
Yingzi, still clamping Situ Xin’er’s mouth shut, asked warily, “Is something wrong?”
“A… a big problem…” Imperial Physician Gu stammered, his words barely out before Situ Xin’er, summoning strength from seemingly nowhere, suddenly wrenched Yingzi’s hand away and immediately doubled over, retching violently, the attending maids scrambling to keep up!
Imperial Physician Gu had prepared plenty of sobering remedies, but in his haste, he’d inadvertently grabbed the strongest one available—an emetic designed to force intoxication out through vomiting. Effective, certainly, but the process itself…
The vast tent fell utterly silent, save for the sound of Situ Xin’er’s agonized retching, echoing eerily like the scene in Ziqing’s tent the night before, making anyone listening feel her suffering despite themselves.
Everyone watched with furrowed brows, even Imperial Physician Gu and Yingzi no longer feeling the slightest satisfaction at her misfortune—after all, even grown men couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy watching such a young girl suffer so.
Only Jun Beiyue himself, the very man this girl had spent the entire night pining after, remained utterly unmoved, eyes closed, brow faintly furrowed, entirely indifferent.
At last, once Situ Xin’er had nothing left to bring up, she finally collapsed weakly, her tear-filled eyes turning pitifully toward Yingzi and Imperial Physician Gu—and then, suddenly, she burst into loud, wailing sobs!
Imperial Physician Gu’s mouth twitched. “She’s sobered up…” He hurried to retreat along with Yingzi, and only then did the attending maids snap back to action, rushing to clean up and tend to her.
“Waaah, you’re all bullying me! Every single one of you, bullying me! I’m going to tell Beiyue-gege!”
“Beiyue-gege won’t let you get away with this! I’m going to report every one of you!”
…
Situ Xin’er sobbed loudly, her back turned to Jun Beiyue, collapsed weakly across the table, furiously threatening Imperial Physician Gu and Yingzi—unaware that her Beiyue-gege, for whatever reason, remained silently cold-faced, his indifference so complete it felt almost forbidding to approach.
Imperial Physician Gu and Yingzi, at a loss for what to do, exchanged a glance and both simultaneously pointed behind Situ Xin’er, signaling for her to quiet down.
“What is it!” Situ Xin’er sobbed, turning to look—and the instant she did, she fell utterly silent!