Seeing Ziqing’s urgency, Consort Yiqing immediately turned cold. “I need you to guarantee my Chen’er comes back safe and sound! Not a single hair harmed!”

Ziqing agreed at once without a second thought. “As long as you speak, he’ll be fine.”

Jun Beiyue had no objection to Ziqing’s decision, though Yingzi and the others exchanged glances, feeling a strange sense of familiarity about the whole scene.

In the past, whenever the prince agreed to something like this so readily, they knew it meant the other party’s fate would end up even worse than it currently stood.

And now, the princess consort was giving them that exact same feeling. The more readily she agreed, the worse things would eventually turn out for Consort Yiqing and the Second Prince!

Thinking of this, Yingzi couldn’t help but think of Hongyi. To this day, the princess consort hadn’t asked about Shiliang again, and their lord hadn’t gone looking for her either — no one knew where Shiliang had gone. Given their lord’s temperament, it wasn’t like him to let something go so easily.

Could it be that they’d already caught her? But if they had, surely he would know about it.

Yingzi had been mulling this question over the entire journey, and try as he might, he still couldn’t make sense of it.

All he knew for certain was that not a single soul, from top to bottom, in the whole of Prince Yao’s estate knew where Shiliang had gone.

At this point, hearing Ziqing agree, Consort Yiqing still wasn’t satisfied — she insisted Jun Beiyue put it in writing, sealed with his personal seal. “Beiyue, I want you to write and seal it — state clearly that the mutiny at the Three Western Cities was not Beichen’s doing.”

Consort Yiqing looked utterly solemn about it. Jun Beiyue gave a cold smile. “You’re certain you know where that old man can be found?”

“I’m certain. I can find him!” Consort Yiqing said with confidence.

“Tell me first — what does he need all that money for? He’s not from Yaoshun Island, is he?” Jun Beiyue asked. Five years’ worth of Da Zhou’s harem cosmetics allowance was certainly no small sum — given how generous Emperor Tianhui was, five years’ worth of the harem’s cosmetics budget could easily rival an entire year’s national treasury income!

The people of Yaoshun Island had always been self-sufficient and had no dealings with outside trade — they had no need for that kind of money.

“I don’t know what he needs so much money for. He’s not from Yaoshun Island, but he and I have an agreement — I can find him,” Consort Yiqing said earnestly.

“What kind of agreement? How long until it’s due?” Jun Beiyue pressed further.

“Put it in writing for me, and I’ll tell you everything. When the time comes, I’ll personally go with you to find him!” Consort Yiqing finally spoke the truth — and this was, in essence, a threat.

She needed written proof of Jun Beichen’s innocence, and she had also just given herself a reason to keep living. If she died, they’d never find that old man — leaving Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing genuinely unable to do anything about it for the time being.

Ziqing sneered inwardly — this woman truly was a cunning old fox.

A flash of shrewd calculation passed through Jun Beiyue’s eyes, and he had Yingzi prepare brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, drafting a statement of innocence and sealing it with Prince Yao’s official seal.

Consort Yiqing eyed the document greedily and reached for it urgently, but Jun Beiyue held it just out of reach. “You should know — this prince has the means to destroy it just as easily as he wrote it.”

Consort Yiqing understood the warning at once. “I still owe that old man a year’s worth of cosmetics money. I promised him I’d come collect it around this same time next year.”

“Do you know anything about his background? What he looks like?” Jun Beiyue asked.

“His speech is very strange, and his face is covered so I can’t see it clearly. I don’t know his background at all, but he has ways of getting his hands on things from Yaoshun Island,” Consort Yiqing answered truthfully — this time, she held nothing back.

“Strange speech?”

Jun Beiyue asked this only in his own mind, without voicing it aloud, a complicated flicker passing through his eyes as he tossed the document over to her without hesitation.

Consort Yiqing caught it quickly, examining it with great care before tucking it away like a treasure. “Does the prince know when he’ll be setting off for the Three Western Cities?”

Consort Yiqing was growing anxious — once Jun Beiyue went to the Three Western Cities, he could bring her son back with him!

Now that Western Chu had been defeated, Chu Tiange would surely be the first to want Jun Beichen’s life!

Not only had he failed to warn the Western Chu army, he had ended up becoming the very culprit behind their defeat!

“Perhaps Consort Yiqing would care to accompany this prince there?” Jun Beiyue asked in return. Consort Yiqing waved her hands at once, sensing his patience wearing thin, and after carefully putting the document away, took her leave.

Once she was gone, Ziqing gave a scornful smile. “If she’d known it would come to this, why bother doing what she did in the first place?”

Jun Beiyue had the heart to guard the empire and conquer the realm, but no ambition to fight for the throne himself. Sooner or later, he would help one of the princes ascend to inherit Emperor Tianhui’s dragon throne.

If Consort Yiqing hadn’t been so impatient, so consumed by hatred, Jun Beichen might well have made a decent choice. What a shame.

“We’ll need to set off for the Three Western Cities within the next few days. This prince ought to personally meet with the Western Jing emperor as well,” Jun Beiyue said flatly.

“I’ll go to Liuxian Island first!” Ziqing answered at once. In just a few more days it would be the twelfth lunar month, and the great gathering on Liuxian Island would soon begin — they couldn’t afford to miss it.

On this trip, they absolutely had to uncover the secret of the mulberry sacred tree. After leaving Liuxian Island, they would also need to find a way to visit Western Jing — they couldn’t miss the singing sands of Mingsha Mountain either!

Though they still didn’t know the true meaning of the emblem, at the very least, they needed to seize hold of whatever clues they could get first. These days, it wasn’t just the two of them searching for these clues — Nanzhao, Western Chu, Eastern Qin, and even forces they weren’t yet aware of were all searching too. If someone else got there first, it would spell no end of trouble.

As for the lead involving Consort Yiqing, that one, at least, could wait — there was still a whole year until the appointed time next year.

Jun Beiyue understood Ziqing’s concerns.

“But… I don’t want to be apart from you. I won’t feel at ease,” Jun Beiyue said, turning his head to look at her — such a cold, aloof man, and yet capable of such an endearingly honest confession.

Ziqing couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll go take a look at Qinse Valley first. There was a musical score in the ancient music cavern in Nanzhao — perhaps Qinse Valley has something we overlooked as well.”

Jun Beiyue simply shook his head, refusing, and said flatly, “Someone, summon Prince Baxian. Prepare the carriages — we set off for the Three Western Cities tomorrow. Yingzi, make a trip to Yaoshun Island. Whether you can get in or not, find out what you can first.”

Yingzi was just about to accept the order when Guxi suddenly stepped forward and volunteered. “My lord, my lady — this subordinate humbly requests to accompany Guard Yingzi, for the sake of gaining experience!”

Jun Beiyue said nothing. He wouldn’t touch anyone belonging to Ziqing — Shiliang’s unique constitution had only ever been a special exception.

Ziqing looked at Guxi. She had seen the change in this boy with her own eyes. She didn’t ache over Shiliang, but she did feel a pang of sympathy for Guxi’s sake — betrayal between master and servant hurt, but betrayal between comrades-in-arms hurt even more.

“Guxi, you have two choices — either you go alone, or you stay behind,” Ziqing said flatly.

“I’ll go alone!” Guxi answered at once, without a moment’s hesitation, his voice loud and clear.

“Very good. I hope you bring back good news!” Ziqing said seriously. Yingzi immediately objected, “Princess consort, Yaoshun Island isn’t like anywhere else — it’s within Eastern Qin’s territorial waters. This boy is still too green, he can’t possibly—”

Before he could even finish, Guxi didn’t bother arguing, and instead declared with total certainty, “My lady, Guxi will either die, or come back with good news! Guxi requests double pay!”

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire room fell silent. Never mind Yingzi — even Jun Beiyue fell quiet.

This boy had guts. For all these days, no one had dared bring up Shiliang in front of Ziqing, yet here he was, deliberately asking for double pay — which could only mean that, deep in his heart, Shiliang still held a place.

Ziqing looked at him for a long moment, her face utterly expressionless. “Very well!”