The entire hall fell into dead silence, as though everything—everyone, even time itself—had frozen in place along with that thunderous crack.
Then! Jun Beichen immediately raised his own hand to strike back. “How dare you hit me!”
But the moment his hand came down, Jun Beiyue had already vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already seated calmly beside Ziqing once more, his expression cold as a demon lord’s, glaring furiously at Jun Beichen. “You had it coming!”
“Jun Beiyue!” Jun Beichen’s face flushed crimson with rage. He roared, drawing his sword and thrusting forward with fierce precision. Jun Beiyue shielded Ziqing with one arm while drawing his own sword with the other to block, effortlessly deflecting Jun Beichen’s attack!
“Showing no respect to your elder brother—if this prince doesn’t teach you a lesson today, I’ll renounce my own surname!” he snarled coldly, his sword striking again and again in rapid, relentless succession, every thrust aimed directly at Jun Beiyue’s chest.
In mere moments, their forms blurred entirely from view, nothing visible but flashing streaks of sword-light, fierce as a raging hurricane.
Yet Jun Beiyue blocked every strike with ease, seemingly without even breaking a sweat, glancing down at Ziqing amid the chaos. “Feeling better now?”
“Your Highness, please calm your anger…” Ziqing said, feigning panic and timidity, her breathing growing increasingly labored—though inwardly she cursed furiously, recognizing exactly what this man was doing: using her as bait to provoke conflict with the Second Prince!
“Your Highnesses, please, stop fighting! Let’s discuss this calmly, please stop! If you harm the peace between brothers and the Emperor holds us responsible, none of us could bear the consequences!”
Prime Minister Han pleaded anxiously—this incident was unfolding at his own residence, there was no way he could avoid being implicated regardless of the outcome!
Ouyang Jingqin also hurried to intervene. “Please, stop fighting! Beichen, let’s talk this through calmly, please stop!”
Between Jun Beichen and Jun Beiyue—one scholarly, one battle-hardened—however the fight unfolded, Jun Beichen was bound to come out the worse for it!
Jun Beichen attacked until he was gasping for breath, while Jun Beiyue remained perfectly composed. Without warning, he flicked his sword upward—a sharp clang rang out as Jun Beichen’s blade snapped clean in two!
“Jun Beichen, this prince warns you—insult me one more time, and no one will be able to save you!” Jun Beiyue warned coldly.
Jun Beichen’s fury reached its peak. “Fine, Fourth Brother, well done. Just you wait—I’m going straight to Father Emperor to demand justice!”
“Better bring Consort Yi along with you!” Jun Beiyue said coldly.
Ziqing, still gasping and feigning illness, felt a chill of realization inside—she had previously wondered why the Emperor would resort to underhanded schemes regarding the consort selection rather than simply refusing outright. Now, that single slap made everything perfectly clear—if this man didn’t have some serious leverage to fall back on, how could he possibly act with such reckless audacity!
It was only now that Ziqing caught the scent of a deeper conspiracy—this man’s return to the capital, using the consort selection to deliberately escalate matters further and further, surely had some larger purpose behind it.
After Jun Beichen stormed off in fury, the two Ouyang sisters could no longer sit still either—their husband had been struck and warned in front of everyone, what face did that leave for his wife? Ouyang Jingqin, past caring about propriety, furious and humiliated, grabbed Ouyang Jingshi and made to leave as well.
Ouyang Jingshi, by contrast, remained remarkably calm—she had never much cared for that brother-in-law who was all talk and bullying with no real substance anyway. Seeing Jun Beiyue display such fierce devotion over a woman only deepened her admiration for him—and, naturally, deepened her jealousy and resentment toward Ziqing as well.
“Sister, Consort Yi instructed us to wait until her episode fully takes hold before leaving. Eunuch Yin is still waiting for our report!” Ouyang Jingshi urged quietly.
“You can wait if you want—I’m going to find Father right now. Prince Yao commands military power, and Father commands military power too. I want to see just how the Emperor plans to keep favoring him!” Ouyang Jingqin said curtly, storming off in fury as well.
“Consort of the Second Prince… please wait, please wait…” Prime Minister Han hurried after her, at a complete loss for what to do, unable to stop her from leaving. He soon returned, thoroughly dejected.
The hall returned to its previous quiet. Despite all that had just occurred, Jun Beiyue remained completely unmoved, his arm still around Ziqing, staring coldly toward the entrance exactly as before, clearly still waiting for the imperial edict.
Ziqing kept her head lowered, her thoughts unreadable. Prime Minister Han sat restlessly, neither daring to speak up nor able to leave, left with nothing to do but wait anxiously.
Ouyang Jingshi, meanwhile, glared coldly at Han Ziqing—she had come today specifically to witness a corpse, and without seeing one, she had no intention of leaving!
In the silence, time slipped by unnoticed…
Within the palace, Jun Beichen stormed furiously toward the imperial study, kicking aside several attendants along the way. But before he even reached the study, Consort Yi suddenly rushed out from a side passage and seized hold of him.
“Mother, this is beyond what anyone should have to endure—today I absolutely must have Father Emperor render justice!” Jun Beichen said coldly. Since his mother had come rushing after him, she clearly already knew what had happened.
“You wretched fool, will you never learn to think before you act!” Consort Yi scolded furiously instead. “Do you not understand what the consort selection at the Han residence signifies? At such a delicate, precarious moment, and you dare provoke Jun Beiyue, dare go demand justice from your Father Emperor—are you not simply walking straight into a trap?”
“I don’t care. Even Father Emperor has never struck me across the face like that—if he dares to do it, how am I supposed to swallow this humiliation and still hold my ground within the imperial family?”
Jun Beichen said coldly, wrenching himself free from Consort Yi’s grip and moving to leave. But before he’d gone more than a few steps, General Ouyang appeared before him, glaring furiously, clad in a dark blue-black robe, tall and imposing—though well into his fifties, he remained hale and formidable, his brows raised in fury, his face as terrifying as a wrathful underworld judge, the kind that struck fear into anyone who beheld it.
Jun Beichen was clearly wary of this uncle of his, coming to an abrupt halt.