Watching Situ Haonan’s careless, devil-may-care manner, Jun Beiyue’s tightly knitted brows finally relaxed, and he snorted coldly, “Situ Haonan, she is your own sister. Can you really bear to watch her guard an empty marriage for the rest of her life?”
“Oh my, when did you become so tender-hearted, Great Prince Yao?” Situ Haonan remained his usual indifferent self, though a flicker of suspicion crossed his eyes.
“Marriage is no small matter, especially for a woman,” Jun Beiyue said again.
The word “marry” meant nothing much to a philanderer like Situ Haonan, but even he had his limits.
“Right, right, Jun Beiyue, you don’t even show that kind of tender concern for that Han Ziqing of yours—marrying her just leaves her guarding an empty marriage too. You’re so concerned about Xin’er’s feelings—if that’s not because you like her, what is it?” Situ Haonan seized the chance to twist the truth.
Jun Beiyue’s cold eyes narrowed, but he said nothing more.
“Why are you narrowing your eyes at me? It’s settled. Let me tell you, whether you like her or not is all nonsense, whether you love her or not is all rubbish too. The most important thing for taking responsibility for Xin’er is to marry her! It’s that simple!” Situ Haonan said, waving his hand as if to leave.
But after only a few steps he turned back, throwing an arm around Jun Beiyue’s shoulder like an old friend, and sighed, “Brother, your wedding is coming up soon, don’t look so gloomy, it’s bad luck! Just give her a proper title—once you’ve married her, she’s yours to manage. That’s one less worry for me at Situ City. As for you, as long as you don’t go too far, you can toss her wherever you like, no one will interfere. Understand?”
Seeing Jun Beiyue give no reaction at all, Situ Haonan refused to give up and kept persuading, “Beiyue, to be honest, my father really wasn’t being fair about this. But whose fault is it that you didn’t keep it under wraps? Once word got out about the overnight stay and the confession, Situ City really has no face left to stand in the martial world! So here’s what I’ll do—brother, I’ll take a step back. You just give her a proper title, and whatever happens after the wedding, I’ll pretend I know nothing and cover it up for you with Situ City. How about it?”
But Jun Beiyue was like a block of ice, not moving at all.
Situ Haonan let go, shrugged, and left helplessly, “I’m off to drink. Don’t forget to announce it publicly later!”
Jun Beiyue neither stopped him nor went after him. A trace of sinister intent finally flickered across his frost-cold eyes. He narrowed his eyes, watching Situ Haonan’s retreating back, his thin lips parting slightly. No one knew what he said, but from the shape of his mouth, it looked like the single word “solitary.”
Solitary—what did that mean, in the end?
Before long, the welcoming banquet began, and all the honored guests took their seats.
Emperor Tianhui sat solemnly at the head seat, with Jun Beiyue in the first position to his left. Naturally, Ziqing sat beside Jun Beiyue. She still wore a long white gauze dress, draped over it a small purple fox-fur jacket, still without a trace of makeup. Amid the competing splendor of the other women, she instead stood out as ethereally beautiful.
Sitting beside Jun Beiyue, the two of them made a truly perfect match—talented man, beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. The moment the two took their seats, they drew all the attention in the room. And yet, sadly, they acted like complete strangers to each other, not even glancing at one another, let alone speaking.
Ziqing noticed that Consort Yi had been seated slightly behind and to the right of Emperor Tianhui, while the first two seats directly below the emperor’s right hand were both empty. Jun Beiyao sat in the third seat, and only after him came the Second Prince and the others.
Beside Ziqing, there was no seat for Situ Xin’er. Instead, Prime Minister Han and a group of other ministers were seated there.
Of those two empty seats, one must surely be meant for Situ Xin’er—but who was the other for? Could it be that someone important from the Situ family had come?
The tired words Jun Beiyue had spoken in the carriage surfaced unbidden in her mind, and Ziqing found herself turning to glance at him. But just at that moment, an announcement rang out: “From Situ City, Young Master Situ Haonan has arrived!”
Situ Haonan?
Situ Xin’er’s older brother, the sole heir to the Situ family—so it was him who had come! And he was able to sit in that seat. Ziqing had known that Situ City’s influence was not to be underestimated, but she hadn’t realized just how weighty it truly was.
No wonder Situ Xin’er acted with such shameless confidence.
Everyone turned to look toward the sound of the announcement—everyone except Ziqing, who alone turned in the opposite direction, her silent eyes settling on Jun Beiyue, who at that moment had lowered his head.
Situ Haonan strode in with big steps, and the first thing he noticed was that one head turned the opposite way from everyone else’s. His narrow eyes squinted slightly; he glanced sideways at Jun Beiyue and immediately knew whose head that was.
“This humble commoner Situ Haonan greets Your Majesty!” Situ Haonan bowed with cupped hands, dressed in an extravagant ice-blue long robe, drawing plenty of attention.
“Ha, Young Master, come sit over here. Are your father and mother well?” Emperor Tianhui asked earnestly.
“Both are well, and they asked me to convey their respects,” Situ Haonan said, stepping forward to bow again, his narrow eyes still darting repeatedly toward Ziqing, though from his position he still couldn’t see her face clearly.
“Good, good, no need for such formality, please sit,” Emperor Tianhui said, delighted.
Only then did Situ Haonan straighten up and head toward his seat. Before he’d gone three steps, he finally caught sight of Ziqing’s face—and at that very moment, Ziqing was also slowly turning her head toward him.
In that instant, meeting Ziqing’s clear, bright eyes, Situ Haonan was struck dumb. He felt as though something had suddenly seized his heart the moment their eyes met, gripping it so tightly he thought it might burst.
He was a man who had been drifting through the world of women since the age of fifteen. He had seen more than his share of beauties, and even more women with striking eyes. Yet somehow he could not tear his gaze away from this pair of clear, silent eyes. Was this what people called love at first sight? Was this what they called turning your head and finding love? Was this the so-called chance encounter where flowers suddenly bloom across the ground, and the world suddenly turns beautiful?
He felt an inexplicable urge—he wanted to step into her eyes, to see what world lay within them.
Situ Haonan froze, staring blankly at Ziqing—which wouldn’t have mattered, except that even as he stared, his feet kept moving, and he was about to walk straight into Emperor Tianhui’s table!
The whole hall fell silent. Even Ziqing’s gaze, even Jun Beiyue’s gaze, finally landed on him.
“Bang!” A sudden loud crack rang out—it was the sound of Jun Beiyue setting down his wine cup. The cup didn’t shatter, but the force of it left a long crack running across the banquet table!
For a moment, everyone withdrew their gazes, and Situ Haonan gave a violent start, only then snapping back to his senses. Flustered for once in his life, he hurried back toward his seat, deliberately looking elsewhere, as though desperately trying to hide something.
Ziqing lowered her eyes calmly, glanced at the crack on the table in front of Jun Beiyue, and found herself almost wanting to laugh.
But very quickly, that fleeting good mood turned dark, all because of a single remark from Emperor Tianhui.
“Consort Yi, where is Xin’er? Didn’t she go to your palace?” Emperor Tianhui asked, glancing casually at Jun Beiyao—if Situ Xin’er were missing from this banquet, what fun would it be?
“This concubine sent someone to hurry her along. It’s been a long, exhausting journey by carriage, and after all, she’s just a young girl, not a strapping man—it’s only natural she’d be tired!” Consort Yi said with a smile, taking the chance to needle Ziqing as well. Ziqing simply found it all thoroughly tiresome, and composed herself, unwilling to pay it any more mind. Tonight, it was all Jun Beiyue’s private affair; she was merely here as a formality, a mere accessory to the occasion.
But just then, an old nanny came hurrying in, whispering something urgently into Consort Yi’s ear. Consort Yi’s face instantly drained of color, and she shot to her feet. “Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!”