Though tonight her real intention had been to warn her mistress, Hongyi didn’t actually know the full situation—if she spoke out recklessly, it might put her mistress on guard prematurely, but it could also ruin His Highness’s careful plans.

Hongyi gritted her teeth, hesitating, deciding she might as well just tell the Princess Consort the truth outright. Yingzi and Imperial Physician Gu both knew about this matter—whether to ask further would be entirely up to her mistress to decide.

At this thought, Hongyi took a deep breath, about to speak, when suddenly a coded knock sounded outside the door—someone from Lord Bomiluo had brought a letter.

Hongyi hurried out to retrieve it, and upon seeing it was a military report, set the other matter aside for the moment.

With Prince Yao away, neither Yingzi nor Imperial Physician Gu dared casually read this military report—naturally, it had to be sent here.

Ziqing opened it and immediately felt amused. Second Prince Jun Beichen truly was a hopeless case—no wonder that despite having the favored Consort Yi’s protection within Da Zhou’s imperial family, and once even having General Ouyang, who controlled significant western frontier forces, backing him, he’d still never managed to overshadow Prince Yao’s reputation!

Jun Beiyue hadn’t even started scheming against him yet, and he’d already gone and volunteered to lead troops in support of Western Chu!

How many troops did he intend to bring? How exactly did he plan to provide support?

These were all perfect grounds to frame someone else down the line!

A cold smile curved at the corner of Ziqing’s lips, and she quickly wrote a reply, sending Hongyi off to deliver it.

By the time Hongyi returned, Ziqing had already settled in for bed, lying indolently on her side on the couch, having even tidied up the small bed beside it where Hongyi kept watch at night.

Seeing Hongyi come in with her head bowed, Ziqing smiled helplessly. “Go to sleep, girl. His Highness likes Shiliang, and I like you. Don’t overthink things.”

Hongyi wanted urgently to explain, but seeing her mistress’s peaceful, lovely smile, she found she couldn’t bear to say more. Whatever the truth of the matter, Imperial Physician Gu had said this would hurt her mistress’s heart.

Better not to say anything at all. Let her mistress have a few happy days first.

Only a single dim oil lamp remained lit in the tent. Ziqing lay on the couch, unable to sleep, her clear eyes especially lively in the darkness, her gaze flickering as she blinked slowly.

She had no idea where Jun Beiyue was right now, or how he was doing, or when he’d return. Did he know she’d disobeyed him and come to the hunt anyway? Would he be angry?

So many questions—was this what it felt like to miss someone?

Before, when he’d been at Liuxian Island, she’d been so consumed with worry she hadn’t had room to think about anything else.

But now, this was truly the first time. Habit really was a fearsome thing—when he was constantly by her side, it felt so natural, so unremarkable. But now that he’d been gone just two days, she found herself utterly unaccustomed to it.

At night, his bad habit of tangling his long legs around her while sleeping had always felt slightly uncomfortable, unfamiliar. Now that it was gone, she realized just how much more uncomfortable its absence made her.

Truly unable to sleep, she murmured softly, “Hongyi, are you asleep?”

“What’s wrong, my lady?” Hongyi answered at once—how could she possibly be asleep?

Ziqing opened her mouth as if to speak, then stopped, saying only flatly, “Nothing. Go to sleep early. Don’t overthink things.”

While one side lay sleepless with longing, the other side remained sleepless on the road.

Along the midstream banks of the Poison Water River, Jun Beiyue, clad entirely in black, blended seamlessly into the deep night. Without careful attention, one would never make him out at all.

Beside him stood a woman, also dressed in black, her slender frame barely discernible in the darkness.

Not until she spoke did her identity become clear. “Your Highness, if we find the old man of the Poison Den, will we truly uncover the secret of the Isolated Isle?”

Her voice was soft, flat—even this trait resembled Ziqing somewhat, giving away no hint of emotion. This person was Shiliang.

Ever since Prince Yao had taken her to meet the poison master last time, a small secret had existed between them.

“Your Highness, if I go, will my lady…” Shiliang hesitated.

“What’s there to fear? Hongyi can’t handle this matter—this prince needs you,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, his tone low and inscrutable, leaving Shiliang utterly unable to read him.

“Mm.” She nodded and rose to leave, but her foot suddenly caught on a vine, and her whole body pitched forward toward the river. Jun Beiyue immediately caught her waist with one arm, and with a sweep of his hand, tilted her back into the crook of his other arm.

In that instant, their eyes met, and both froze. Shiliang’s heart pounded wildly—like every woman in the world, she had always envied the Princess Consort for winning this man’s devotion, unable to help dreaming of this very embrace. And now, actually lying within it, she found herself flustered, at a complete loss.

Jun Beiyue, looking into those clear, bright eyes before him, felt a brief moment of disorientation, but quickly recovered, a flicker of warmth crossing his eyes before he released Shiliang.

“Once you’ve rested enough, let’s go,” he said flatly, rising and kicking aside the tangled vines blocking their path…

Deep in the night, in the hour when even this scorching land finally cooled, atop the towering ridge of the hunting grounds, that tall, robust figure cast a long shadow beneath the moonlight. His dark skin, beneath the bright moon, lost its usual daytime air of simple honesty, instead taking on a seventy-percent measure of malevolence. His tongue swept across the wine stains at the corner of his lips, white teeth glinting faintly—exactly like a bloodthirsty beast, eagerly awaiting its prey’s approach.

The Second Beast Young Master—with “Beast” as his very name, and yet even within Nanzhao itself, no one knew just how terrifying he truly was, far more so than Nanzhao’s entire army of tamed beasts. No one knew the depths of his wolfish ambition.

Not even his own father, the beastfolk clan leader, had any idea—let alone Han Ziqing and Jun Beiyue.

From a distance, a tall silhouette approached slowly across the ground. The Second Beast Young Master glanced over and immediately smiled. “Your Majesty, you’re rather easy to bully today, aren’t you!”

“Heh, can anyone possibly not be easy to bully in front of the Second Young Master?” the Empress of Eastern Qin said with a laugh, her jade-smooth hand slowly settling on the Second Beast Young Master’s shoulder, sliding inch by inch down his powerfully built arm. Instantly, the air filled with an unmistakable air of seduction.

The Second Beast Young Master turned to look, a wicked smile curving at his lips, suddenly baring his teeth as if to bite. The Empress of Eastern Qin showed no fear at all, her fingertips teasingly scratching at his palm.

“Quite the actress, aren’t you!”

The Second Beast Young Master sneered coldly, then suddenly wrapped an arm around the Empress’s waist, tilting her backward.

“Far less skilled than you, Second Young Master. Why don’t you teach me?” the Empress of Eastern Qin said in a coquettish tone—for all her carefully maintained beauty, she was, in the end, a woman past her prime.

“Heh, Your Majesty, a twenty-year-old woman is judged by her looks; a thirty-year-old woman by her wit; a forty-year-old woman by her charm; a fifty-year-old woman by her wealth; a sixty-year-old woman by her health. For a woman at your age, this young master only cares for genuine charm.”

This was, without question, a mocking jab—implying the Empress had looks and wit, but no real charm at all.

Yet the Empress of Eastern Qin paid it no mind, still smiling. “Second Young Master, the secret of the Isolated Isle—it’s not just that totem, is it? There’s also the matter of poison immunity, isn’t there?”

“Of course, there’s plenty more. This young master searched for so long, never expecting it would come knocking on its own!” the Second Beast Young Master said, in remarkably high spirits, suddenly throwing his head back and howling like a wolf at the moon, sending shivers down anyone’s spine who heard it.

The Empress of Eastern Qin merely watched calmly, her expression full of admiration…