The moment these words left Ziqing’s mouth, the entire courtyard fell into dead silence!
This girl actually dared to say those very same words a second time—did she not value her own life?
Even if she genuinely couldn’t answer, at the very least she should have put on some pretense of trying. To say “this humble woman cannot” twice in a row was nothing short of a deliberate dismissal of Prince Yao—or worse, outright defiance!
Prime Minister Han was the first to recover, immediately dropping to his knees. “Your Highness, please calm your anger—this is entirely this old official’s failure in raising her. This old official is willing to accept thirty strokes of the rod as punishment!”
At once, the entire Han household dropped to their knees in unison—if they did not proactively offer punishment themselves, given Prince Yao’s temperament, should he choose to mete out judgment personally, it could very well mean death!
There was no use begging, no use troubling him with pleas—who could ever fathom what truly lay in Jun Beiyue’s heart? At this moment, no one dared even speak, let alone breathe too loudly.
Under Jun Beiyue’s scrutiny, Ziqing lowered her head in silent submission, and beneath the pressure of his towering frame, she appeared as innocent and harmless as a little white rabbit—though in truth, she saw through everything with perfect clarity.
Prince Yao had come to select a consort purely under pressure from the Emperor to support the Han household. Now that she had defied him so blatantly, wasn’t this the perfect excuse for him to vent his anger? Why then did he still wear such a cold expression? If anything, he ought to be grateful to her, not troubling her further.
Suddenly, Jun Beiyue slowly raised his hand. In the silence, everyone’s heart lurched violently. Ziqing couldn’t help but tense with wariness—she had to admit, this man exuded an intangible, oppressive pressure unlike anything she’d encountered.
What was he raising his hand for? Did he mean to strike her?
Only then did Ziqing notice the ring on his finger—a deep black color, faintly glowing with a hint of red, unmistakably an extremely rare piece of black iron. The ring’s setting was shaped like a scorpion, roughly half a finger in size, as if a real scorpion had taken up residence on his long, slender finger, so lifelike it seemed almost alive.
If this wasn’t laced with deadly poison, it had to be some kind of weapon!
Just as Ziqing puzzled over this, Jun Beiyue suddenly extended his index finger directly toward her, the icy tip of his finger landing right on the tip of her small nose.
In that instant, Ziqing tried to jerk her head back, but the sheer force of that single fingertip alone left her utterly unable to move. Head bowed, she couldn’t see his expression, couldn’t see the reactions of those around her—in the dead silence, she experienced a strange illusion, as though everything in heaven and earth had simply vanished, leaving only the two of them, frozen in this very moment as though it might last until the seas ran dry and the mountains crumbled to dust.
In the silence, he said coldly, “Han Ziqing. This prince chooses you.”
Those cold, piercing eyes held within them all the domineering, unyielding certainty in the world. Though his words spoke merely of “choosing,” they were no different from a proclamation of ownership, naming her by her full name.
Only then did he release her. Ziqing had already come to her senses, though she kept her head lowered, distinctly aware of her own heart pounding uncontrollably, wildly—she had never once anticipated such an outcome.
Never mind that she wasn’t even one of the official candidates, unable to answer either the literary or martial questions. Never mind that she was merely a concubine’s daughter. There was also the matter of Nation’s Beauty—she was, after all, known throughout the entire capital as a “ruined woman”!
Could this man possibly not know that?
At once, an uproar of astonishment erupted behind them—no one could believe that Prince Yao had so decisively chosen his primary consort, and even less could they believe he had chosen Han Ziqing, a woman whose chastity was already lost, someone even the lowest of the low wouldn’t have considered marrying!
Even Prime Minister Han stood dumbstruck, mouth agape—surely Prince Yao hadn’t made some kind of mistake!
“Prince Yao, this woman absolutely cannot be taken as your bride!” Eunuch Yin stepped forward hastily, reporting anxiously.
“Why not?” Jun Beiyue asked coldly.
“Marrying her would surely make you a laughingstock throughout the realm!” Eunuch Yin said urgently.
“Who in this realm would dare mock this prince?” Jun Beiyue said, turning to sweep the crowd with a cold, scrutinizing gaze, demanding, “You?”