After Chu Feiyan successfully cleared herself of blame and left, the fury of everyone present fell squarely upon Yelu Qianqian.
Ziqing, standing closest to her, could see it plainly — this girl was panicking, her small hands clenched tightly at her sides.
Ziqing gave a silent, cold snort. Good. Let this little upstart, who didn’t know her place, suffer a little. Let’s see if she’d still dare to be so willful — this wasn’t Xijing.
“Princess Yelu, this king invited you here hoping to share the sacred water with Xijing, that the earth god might bless Xijing’s people. But you have truly disappointed this king. Nanzhao does not welcome those who defile the earth god.”
As the Prince of Nanzhao spoke, he immediately waved for the guards.
“Wait!” Yelu Qianqian called out urgently.
But once the word left her mouth, she found herself stuck — normally so quick-tongued, at this critical moment she couldn’t find the words.
Ziqing thought to herself — this girl seemed sharp on the surface, but really wasn’t. She could easily have done what Chu Feiyan did and pinned the blame on her!
No one had witnessed that kick, but if she simply said the word, she’d have a real chance, wouldn’t she?
“Stupid girl,” Ziqing muttered under her breath, without noticing that she didn’t actually dislike this girl all that much.
“Do you have anything else to say for yourself?” the Prince of Nanzhao demanded.
“I— I was… because… because…”
The moment those words came out, Ziqing thought, uh-oh — this girl might not be so stupid after all.
But instead, Yelu Qianqian coughed lightly and said, with surprising sincerity, “Prince of Nanzhao, no one told me beforehand how I was supposed to stand! My back hurts, and I only wanted to turn around to ask Princess Yao how, but I lost my footing for a moment and bumped into the Grand Princess! I truly meant no disrespect to the gods! I can vouch for this on my father’s honor!”
As she spoke, she pouted, looking as though she might cry, and continued pitifully, “Your Highness, look — my back aches so much that I lose my balance the moment I bend to bow before the earth god! Qianqian came on this mission while injured, with nothing but sincere devotion to worship here!”
The moment these words left her mouth, none reacted more strongly than the trembling old minister beside her, who nearly stumbled and fell over in shock!
The Prince of Nanzhao, suspicious, demanded sharply, “Lord Zhushou, did you inform Princess Qianqian of today’s ritual protocol?”
Lord Zhushou, the official specifically assigned to attend to Princess Qianqian, immediately stepped forward and dropped to his knees, trembling. “Spare me, Your Highness! This humble official didn’t mean to — I was simply too busy and overlooked it! This official admits his fault — spare me, Your Highness!”
Lord Zhushou truly had never mentioned it!
Seeing this, Princess Qianqian secretly rejoiced. She immediately clutched at her waist and said earnestly, “Prince of Nanzhao, Qianqian fears neither pain nor exhaustion — I only fear losing this rare chance at purification. I beg Your Highness not to send Qianqian away!”
Princess Qianqian sniffled, then added, “Qianqian dares to make one more bold request — I missed a good portion of the scripture just now. Might Your Highness chant it once more from the beginning?”
At this, everyone present silently seethed, not daring to voice their anger. They had already been sitting for over an hour, having finally gotten through a good deal of the chanting — to start over from the beginning in this scorching heat would be nothing short of torture!
Fortunately, the Prince of Nanzhao’s expression shifted. He studied her for a long moment before his furious gaze finally landed on Lord Zhushou, and he said coldly, “Such an important task of reception, and you dared to be negligent, causing consequences this severe — you nearly made this king suspect two foreign envoys of wrongdoing. Zhushou, you are truly the worst kind of malady! Someone, drag him down the mountain and behead him!”
But to everyone’s shock, Princess Qianqian cried out in alarm before she could stop herself, “No, you can’t!”
Instant silence fell over the crowd!
A moment later, the Prince of Nanzhao roared furiously, “What did you say?”
In Nanzhao, the Prince was authority itself, a living god, not to be defied — how dare Qianqian challenge him openly before everyone!
At this outburst, everyone present was terrified, so quiet that no one dared even breathe heavily. Even the old minister beside Princess Qianqian panicked, at a complete loss for what to do.
Princess Qianqian, clearly frightened herself, only now grasped the severity of the situation!
“What a fool!” Ziqing couldn’t help but frown. Yet she saw that Princess Qianqian’s hands were trembling — and still, terrified as she was, the girl dared to speak again. “Prince of Nanzhao, when I said no… no… it wasn’t to defy you. There’s a reason!”
Silence. No one responded. Princess Qianqian hurried on, “Your Highness, though… though Lord Zhushou is at fault, his crime doesn’t warrant death. Qianqian herself is also to blame — I should have asked first. Please don’t kill Lord Zhushou. Taking a life at the opening of such a grand celebration would be inauspicious!”
Hearing this, something stirred faintly in Ziqing’s heart. This girl — she really did have a kind heart underneath. Rare, for someone born into royalty, to understand how precious a human life was.
Watching Yelu Qianqian, clearly terrified yet still stubbornly standing there, staring straight at the Prince of Nanzhao, a flicker of admiration crossed Ziqing’s eyes. She wanted to help, but she knew she couldn’t act rashly — the Prince of Nanzhao’s temper was strange and unpredictable, and word was that no one could persuade him except the Consort Qin at his side!
But Consort Qin was watching the whole scene coldly, enjoying the show — why would she help?
Not only was Ziqing hesitating, but the three great clan chiefs opposite her were hesitating too, moved by this proud princess’s kindness of heart, yet none dared to speak up in her defense.
Nanzhao was a world of true royal authority — even clans whose power surpassed the royal family remained loyal to the crown, offering nothing but obedience to the Prince.
This Yelu Qianqian was, without doubt, the first person to ever say “no” to his face.
If the Prince of Nanzhao didn’t speak, who would dare to?
Seeing that the Prince’s expression remained hard, Princess Qianqian took a deep breath and strode forward.
Ziqing’s heart went with her. What was this girl about to do now?
She watched as the girl, usually so spoiled and arrogant, bowed respectfully. “Prince of Nanzhao, I know the opening ceremony of the Water-Splashing Festival is extremely important — this is a very solemn occasion. On behalf of Xijing, I apologize to you!”
The moment those words left her mouth, the old minister beside her went weak in the knees all over again, nearly collapsing in gratitude — hadn’t the princess already humiliated Xijing enough?
To actually apologize on behalf of all Xijing, in front of every foreign envoy present! How was he supposed to explain this to the Emperor when he returned?
If word of this spread to other nations, how would it be told? They would surely say the Princess of Xijing had apologized to the Prince of Nanzhao on behalf of her whole country over a mere stumble!
And yet, even so, the Prince of Nanzhao’s face remained clouded with anger — his fury simply would not subside.
Just then, Consort Qin spoke up, displeased, “Princess Qianqian, setting aside what you just said — how dare you shout at His Highness like that! Did your father the Emperor never teach you proper respect for your elders?”
At this, many present drew sharp breaths, for they all knew — once Consort Qin spoke, the matter was as good as decided.
Yelu Qianqian might as well resign herself to her fate now!
Sure enough, the Prince of Nanzhao nodded. “Consort Qin speaks true. That is exactly what angers this king. Princess Qianqian—”
But before the Prince of Nanzhao could finish his sentence, Ziqing found herself unable to hold back any longer, and spoke up — not even sure herself why she’d acted so impulsively.
“Prince of Nanzhao, would you permit Ziqing to say a word?”