The Prince of Nanzhao had already resumed his solemn chanting, but the atmosphere couldn’t quite settle back into seriousness, because everyone was still staring at Han Ziqing, whispering nervously among themselves.
One moment, tensions had been drawn to the breaking point; the next, it had all simply dissolved into nothing. Such a whiplash was hard for anyone to accept!
They’d waited so long, only for nothing to come of it! They’d waited so long, only to watch this woman’s husband’s reputation effortlessly resolve everything for her.
“I heard this time His Highness only personally invited Prince Yao of Da Zhou.”
“Indeed, just him alone — such a shame he was ill and couldn’t come. Ah… if only we could catch a glimpse of him in this lifetime.”
“Prince Yao’s reputation carries enormous weight. No wonder this woman dares to act so brazenly.”
“She’s got nothing to fear, that’s for sure — but then again… she can afford to play this game!”
…
This wasn’t the first time Ziqing found herself the subject of everyone’s pointed fingers and whispered gossip, but it was the first time she didn’t feel angry about it — she actually felt a secret thrill of joy.
So many times before, she’d been bullied by others who felt they had nothing to fear.
For the first time, she understood what it felt like to be the one with nothing to fear.
Suddenly, Consort Qin, who never usually spoke up so directly, burst out angrily, “Your Highness, how can you just let this matter go like that!”
The Prince of Nanzhao’s chanting cut off abruptly as he turned, brow furrowed, more irritated than angry — it seemed Consort Qin, too, was someone who felt she had nothing to fear.
“Before the gods, this king does not wish to argue further. The matter ends here. Consort Qin, join this king in chanting,” the Prince of Nanzhao said flatly, though anyone could hear the anger he was forcibly suppressing.
“Your Highness!” Consort Qin whined, pouting. “Your Highness, your—”
“Enough. Join me in chanting. Tomorrow, when we seek the sacred water, this king will bring only you,” the Prince of Nanzhao said again.
Consort Qin, without a shred of restraint, shot a venomous glare at both Ziqing and Yelu Qianqian before finally turning away and letting the matter drop.
The Prince of Nanzhao gave Ziqing a warning look, swept his gaze once over the assembled crowd, then turned and squared his shoulders to resume the ceremony.
No one dared whisper another word — everyone bowed in respectful silence. Chu Feiyan hadn’t taken her eyes off Ziqing this whole time, seething with jealousy fit to drive her mad.
What gave this woman the right to Jun Beiyue’s protection? What right? What right!
Her face darkened venomously as she deliberately made her way around to Ziqing’s side and said coldly, “Han Ziqing, mark my words — one day, I will settle the score with you properly, in front of Jun Beiyue himself!”
“I’ll be waiting,” Ziqing replied coolly.
At last, everything returned to normal. Ziqing slowly bowed her head, only to notice Yelu Qianqian turned around, staring at her.
Ziqing ignored her, gathering her composure, her eyes lowered and calm.
“Hey, why did you help me?” Yelu Qianqian whispered.
Ziqing ignored her. The girl, still not content to behave, lightly kicked her heel up and swung it in front of Ziqing.
Ziqing frowned and said coldly, “Then why didn’t you expose me?”
“I started the trouble in the first place. The fault was mine to begin with,” Yelu Qianqian said, as though it were obvious.
Only then did Ziqing glance up at her briefly, saying nothing more.
“Hey, so why did you help me?” Yelu Qianqian asked again.
“I helped because I felt like it. What’s it to you?” Ziqing answered, displeased.
Yelu Qianqian turned away, sulking, but before long she turned back again. “Hey, your husband’s reputation is really something else!”
“Do you actually want to be sent back to Xijing?” Ziqing shot back, annoyed.
Yelu Qianqian glanced around, and seeing no one paying attention, grinned. “No, I just wanted to tell you — I hope that one day Situ Haonan will have that kind of enormous reputation too, enough to shelter me under his wing!”
The corner of Ziqing’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. This girl’s head was definitely missing a screw somewhere — she was a princess of Xijing! Why would she need Situ Haonan to shelter her? If anything, it should be the other way around!
“I’ve met Jun Beiyue once, you know! One time when I was chasing after Situ Haonan, I ran into him. He was just like an iceberg — don’t you get frozen solid being around him?” Yelu Qianqian said, then covered her mouth, snickering to herself.
Ziqing couldn’t help but roll her eyes — that joke wasn’t funny at all!
But Yelu Qianqian could apparently amuse herself with it for quite a while, before lowering her voice again. “My father the Emperor said he was sick and couldn’t come. Is he doing better now?”
Ziqing looked at her silently and didn’t answer.
“Hey…” Yelu Qianqian, undeterred, began swinging her foot backward again.
Finally, Ziqing spoke, flatly. “Mm. He’s much better. It’ll be fine once I get back.”
“Then once we’re back, can I come visit you two?” Yelu Qianqian asked timidly.
“Sure,” Ziqing said flatly. Satisfied, Yelu Qianqian turned back around, content.
Though Xuanyuan Zhaoxi couldn’t hear any of this, she’d been watching the whole exchange closely, a faint, calculating smile flickering in her eyes.
By the time the sun had set in the west, the scripture reading finally concluded, and the ritual of seeking the gods’ guidance began.
Ziqing had already inquired about this the day before — the so-called “seeking guidance” was a ritual to pray for the gods to reveal the location of a river or lake of sacred water, possibly even an entire sea!
The Water-Splashing Festival would then be held wherever the sacred water was found, and the location changed every year. The previous year, it had been held at the source of the Poison Water within the Medicine Clan’s territory.
How the question was asked was the crucial part.
The High Priest would place the temple’s sacred heirloom — the divine serpent bone — on a large round disk painted with a map of all the major waterways within Nanzhao’s territory. Wherever the serpent bone shifted to rest upon a waterway, that location would be deemed the place chosen by the gods!
The great stone disk was soon carried up. The High Priest raised the sacred serpent bone high, bowing repeatedly before the idol in the temple, murmuring something under his breath. After a good while, he placed a small bone fragment, no bigger than a pinky finger, onto the stone disk, and began his ritual!
As the High Priest’s chanting grew faster and faster, his hands sweeping wildly across the disk with increasing speed, something eerie truly did happen!
The serpent bone began to spin in place!
For a moment, everyone gasped in astonishment. Ziqing glanced at the map, a cold smile curling at her lips, and silently shifted her position toward the upper-right corner of the disk — toward the Medicine Clan’s territory.
Though her experience of crossing over had led her to start believing in certain strange phenomena, she was certain this display in front of her was nothing but a trick. Whatever location was chosen would bring immeasurable prosperity to that region for the entire year — with Nanzhao so vast and its waterways so numerous, was it really possible no one had bribed the High Priest?
There had to be a magnet hidden inside that serpent bone — and surely one hidden in the High Priest’s hand as well!
“Could it be the Merfolk Clan? Heavens, don’t tell me it’s the sea this year!”
“The sacred water hasn’t appeared in Merfolk territory for years!”
…
Soon, murmurs rippled through the crowd as the serpent bone slowly drifted toward the direction of the Merfolk Clan!
Ziqing glanced at the High Priest across from her, solemnly performing his ritual, and discreetly drew out the magnet she’d hidden in a porcelain vial tucked in her sleeve, shielded from detection!
Instantly, the slowly drifting serpent bone came to an abrupt stop. The High Priest immediately noticed something was off, but continued his ritual while lifting his head to look at the crowd standing across from him!