The Empress of Dongqin had arrived ahead of schedule, so naturally Jun Beiyue and Ziqing could not afford to fall behind. After several days of hard riding, they reached the royal city, arriving just two days after the Empress of Dongqin.

Even with the Empress’s own personal visit, she was still, in status, a guest, and was likewise arranged to stay at the envoys’ compound.

Jun Beiyue had barely arrived at the royal city and hadn’t even had time to rest before the King of Nanzhao summoned him into the palace.

Jun Beiyue brought only Ziqing along, following the attendants all the way to the main hall.

An attendant coming out to meet them immediately stopped Ziqing upon seeing her. “Prince Yao, His Majesty asked to see you alone. Would Consort Yao please wait a moment in the imperial garden?”

“Why don’t you go back to the envoys’ compound first?” Jun Beiyue said in a low voice. He knew perfectly well that whatever the King of Nanzhao wished to discuss would certainly concern Chu Feiyan, and if his guess was correct, the leaders of the three clans would surely be present as well!

That the King of Nanzhao wanted to consult him on this was itself an opportunity!

“I’ll wait for you. I hear the Nanzhao royal family’s imperial garden is the finest garden under heaven—I’d like to see it,” Ziqing said with a smile. She suspected that behind those tightly shut doors lay secrets they wished to keep hidden—and at the very least, she might soon learn the origin of that strange totem that matched the scar on her own face!

“Be careful,” Jun Beiyue instructed quietly before following the attendant inside. Ziqing, meanwhile, was led toward the imperial garden by an unfamiliar maidservant.

Nanzhao had two types of reception officials. One type was like the previous reception minister—court officials temporarily assigned to serve as hosts!

The other type were dedicated reception ministers like Minister Bomiluo, though their authority was somewhat more limited, and they could not enter the palace freely without orders.

The moment Ziqing arrived at the imperial garden, she was utterly captivated by everything around her!

It was a world of rare and wondrous flowers, exotic plants, and strange beasts, countless rare blossoms competing in splendor. Ziqing could tell at a glance that many of these precious plants were medicinal herbs!

Every so often, clusters of vividly colored butterflies could be seen dancing in swarms above the flowers, glittering like flowing light against the empty air!

Not only that—in even the most casual of ponds, one could spot all manner of fish, and even breathtakingly beautiful merfolk swimming freely through the water!

This imperial garden must be a gathering place where the finest essence of the Merfolk Clan, the Beast Clan, and the Medicine Clan all converged!

“This way, Consort Yao. There’s a pavilion up ahead—the maidservants have already prepared tea and refreshments.” The maid was extremely respectful, both because of Ziqing’s status and because Ziqing had made quite a name for herself during her previous diplomatic mission—there was no one in Nanzhao who hadn’t heard of her.

And now that Jun Beiyue had come along as well, anyone with sense would never dare treat her with the slightest disrespect.

It was a tall pavilion offering a sweeping view of the entire imperial garden. Ziqing was delighted at once and hurried to climb up—but just then, something suddenly darted past beneath her feet. Startled, Ziqing spun around at once, though what alarmed her wasn’t the creature itself, but the fact that she hadn’t noticed it approaching beforehand!

She couldn’t even make out what the thing was—just a shadow, as if something were scuffling about!

“Don’t run!” An instant later, a loud shout came from the flower bushes to one side. Ziqing turned, and the person burst out from the bushes, lunging straight toward her!

Ziqing quickly sidestepped out of the way, and the man went sprawling face-down on the ground with a loud “thud”!

The man turned out to be a young gentleman, dressed in a short vest and shorts, with dark, sun-browned skin—unmistakably a native-born man of Nanzhao. Ziqing’s sharp eyes immediately caught sight of the long whip coiled at his waist—this was someone from the Beast Clan!

The maid, however, was shocked. “Second Young Beast Master! What are you doing… you’ve startled Consort Yao! You’ll be in for it now!”

Second Young Beast Master?

Ziqing was taken aback—that certainly wasn’t a proper name. Though Nanzhao names were all quite strange, this particular title seemed a bit too silly!

The man finally managed to scramble to his feet, and the moment Ziqing and the maid got a good look at him, they couldn’t help bursting into laughter!

A handsome, refined face, with two trickles of blood slowly running from his nose, paired with that utterly innocent expression—it really was impossible not to laugh!

But as he looked at Ziqing, he simply stared, dumbstruck.

The maid hurriedly gave him a push, murmuring, “Second Young Master, this is Consort Yao—mind your manners!”

Only then did he snap back to his senses, hastily offering a bow. “Consort Yao… Consort Yao…”

Yet after saying “Consort Yao” several times, he seemed at a loss for what to say next, and it took him a good while to fully collect himself before he blurted out, “This one is the young master of the Beast Clan, Moha Guyi. My apologies to Consort Yao for startling you!”

So he was the young master of the Beast Clan—likely here alongside the Beast Clan elders, and, like her, turned away from the main hall as well.

Ziqing studied him—seventeen or eighteen years old, with fine, handsome features. Something about his expression and bearing reminded her, oddly enough, of Da Zhou’s Tenth Prince—Old Ten—both of them seemed rather straightforward, almost blunt.

Judging by the maid’s attitude toward him, this was clearly an easygoing, amiable young master—otherwise, how could a maidservant dare to scold him so freely?

Ziqing didn’t know much about Nanzhao’s three clans. She simply nodded and was about to speak when the young man suddenly asked anxiously, “Consort Yao, did you happen to see where my Songsong ran off to?”

“Songsong?” Ziqing was puzzled.

The maid quickly explained, “Consort Yao, that’s a squirrel the Second Young Master keeps as a pet. Every time he brings it to the imperial garden it runs wild, and we always have to search for it several times over.”

“It scurried off that way. I hear everyone in the Beast Clan knows beast-taming arts—hasn’t the Second Young Master tamed that squirrel yet?” Ziqing asked, puzzled.

The Second Young Beast Master immediately turned serious, his tone sharp. “I don’t like doing that!”

Ziqing was startled by the sudden intensity. The Second Young Beast Master seemed about to say more, but the maid quickly cut in. “Second Young Master, Songsong went that way—you’d better hurry and find it. Consort Yao needs her rest, too!”

“Then I’ll explain it to her properly first!” the Second Young Beast Master insisted stubbornly. Ziqing was now even more convinced of her earlier assessment—this young master really was quite blunt and straightforward.

The maid tried to persuade him otherwise, but Ziqing stopped her. “It’s fine, go ahead and tell me. Let’s head to the pavilion.”

Ziqing wasn’t the type to casually strike up conversations with strangers—but here in Nanzhao, things were different. Any connection worth making was worth making; at the very least, it meant one more place to pick up useful information.

The Second Young Beast Master agreed at once, and without waiting for Ziqing, immediately bounded up into the pavilion. The moment he saw her arrive, he exclaimed, “Look, look—aren’t those butterflies beautiful?”

“They’re beautiful,” Ziqing said flatly. The butterflies danced together in swarms, more beautiful than any she had ever seen before!

But the Second Young Beast Master slammed his hand down on the table with a loud “smack,” his voice filled with grief and indignation. “Those were trained! They have no freedom—they can only repeat the same motions every single day!”

Ziqing was mildly startled. So that was it!

“Without freedom… what meaning is there in being alive at all?” Ziqing murmured with quiet feeling, now understanding what the Second Young Beast Master meant.

The Second Young Beast Master grew passionately animated, staring at Ziqing with great earnestness. “Consort Yao, ten more years, and there won’t be a single free animal left in all of Nanzhao—the entire land will be filled with nothing but tamed creatures!”

At these words, a chill ran through Ziqing at once, a cold shiver crawling up her spine. She finally understood why Jun Beiyue was so unwilling to provoke conflict with Nanzhao—setting aside the Medicine Clan and the Merfolk Clan, the Beast Clan alone, capable of turning even the most fragile butterfly into an instrument of war, was reason enough!