What face did he have to see her with? And yet, it had already been far, far too long since he’d seen her—if he delayed any longer, how could he ever forgive himself?

The room was utterly silent, yet Jun Beiyue’s stern face was even more still than the silence itself. A man who had always calculated every move, always kept everything firmly within his grasp and control—this unforeseen turn of events, this moment of carelessness on his part, had likely left him more anxious than at any other point in his entire life.

His hands unconsciously clenched into fists, but he didn’t linger there, striding forward past the folding screen in a few long steps!

Yet in that very instant, he froze.

From a distance, he saw that familiar figure lying peacefully on the bed—but that face was no longer the same horrifying face he’d seen that New Year’s Eve!

How could this be?

Jun Beiyue’s momentary confusion gave way at once to a sudden, urgent rush forward!

Standing beside the bed, he finally saw everything with complete clarity—how could this have happened? Could he trust his own eyes?

Surely, at this very moment, he had to be dreaming.

The figure lying on the bed had already been changed into clean clothing, yet no matter how clean the clothes, they could not conceal the filth marring her skin. Her once fair, rosy complexion had turned entirely ashen and pale—on her ankles, her arms, her palms, her neck, everywhere not covered by clothing, patches of purplish-black corpse spots were scattered here and there!

These were marks that only appeared on the dead—and only after a considerable period of time had passed since death!

Jun Beiyue had no room left to think of anything else, his deep eyes utterly stunned, fixed unblinkingly on Ziqing’s face, unable to tear his gaze away.

She was still unconscious.

But her face was utterly ruined—the excess growths of flesh made her entire face grotesquely uneven, a sight that would horrify anyone who saw it. This was the face that had been ruined on New Year’s Eve, by the rouge Yanzi had used—yet now, beyond that ruined face, there were also the corpse spots.

On a face already disfigured to the point of monstrosity, deathly pale with not a trace of blood color, now marked as well with those purplish-blue corpse spots, scattered like some grotesque mottled pattern!

Had no one told him this was Ziqing, perhaps this time he truly wouldn’t have recognized her at all.

He should be grateful he’d found her in time—he could hardly bear to imagine how deeply it would have wounded her, had there ever come a day when they met again and he failed to recognize her.

Jun Beiyue stared in silence, yet his clenched fists were trembling.

His Consort of Prince Yao of Da Zhou, his own woman—how could she possibly have been abused like this!

“Crash!”

Without warning, he slammed his fist heavily against the side of the bed, the force actually denting the wall behind it.

“Physician Gu!”

He called out coldly. Physician Gu, who had been waiting just outside the door, immediately pushed it open and hurried in, with Situ Haonan and Jiao Cha following close behind. The moment Situ Haonan laid eyes on Ziqing, he sucked in a sharp breath of shock, nearly crying out in alarm—but seeing the murderous look in Jun Beiyue’s eyes, he immediately clapped a hand over his own mouth.

How could this have happened… what exactly had they done to Han Ziqing, to bring her to this state!

This hardly looked human anymore—it looked like nothing so much as a corpse, grotesquely deformed.

“What… exactly happened here?” Jun Beiyue asked, breathing heavily, struggling with everything he had to hold back his fury, if only temporarily!

Yet Physician Gu and Situ Haonan, both well acquainted with his temperament, grew afraid at once—because they both understood, this was without question the calm before the storm of his rage.

Once his fury truly erupted, no one could bear the consequences!

The real reason Physician Gu had tried to stop him from seeing Ziqing was precisely this fear—that once he saw her, he would be utterly unable to contain his anger.

After all, over this past month-plus of searching, he had already been suppressing far, far too much!

Physician Gu was still weighing how best to explain, when suddenly Jun Beiyue seized him by the throat, warning him coldly, “You’d better tell me the truth, or don’t blame this prince for showing no mercy!”

Jiao Cha stared in shock, only now fully grasping the gravity of the situation—Physician Gu was one of Prince Yao’s closest, most trusted confidants, and yet even he was being manhandled like this!

Situ Haonan hurried forward, forcibly prying Jun Beiyue’s hand away, yet not daring to reason with Jun Beiyue directly—instead urging Physician Gu on. “Tell him! Physician Gu, hurry up and explain!”

Physician Gu coughed several times, and seeing his master’s blood-red eyes, hair practically standing on end with fury, finally dared not conceal anything further. “These spots are corpse marks, caused by corpse poison. Ordinary people poisoned by corpse toxin would die a horrific death—but because Her Highness the Consort is immune to all poisons, her body could only absorb the corpse toxin into itself instead. Corpse toxin isn’t like ordinary poison, she… she… she…”

Physician Gu faltered, glancing anxiously toward Situ Haonan for help, nearly reduced to tears, unable to bring himself to continue.

Yet amid the silence came the sound of Jun Beiyue’s knuckles cracking, one after another—crack, crack, crack—each sound striking at everyone’s heart like a physical blow!

“Speak!” Situ Haonan urged, breaking into a cold sweat on Physician Gu’s behalf!

“She… she must have been soaked in corpse toxin for a very long time for this to happen—which means there’s an enormous amount of corpse toxin built up inside her body, which is why so many corpse spots have appeared!”

The moment these words left his mouth, Physician Gu’s breathing grew visibly labored. Situ Haonan and Jiao Cha exchanged uneasy glances, while Jun Beiyue showed no reaction at all—the room fell into a terrifying silence, broken only by the sound of everyone’s ragged breathing, rising and falling.

“And her face?” Jun Beiyue suddenly spoke, his voice so low it was almost unrecognizable, as though it had risen from somewhere deep within his throat.

“Her face—that’s poison. If this humble servant isn’t mistaken, it’s likely caused by a reaction between the rouge Yanzi used and some other toxic substance mixed in. But rouge itself carries no poison at all—this humble servant previously examined all the cosmetics Her Highness the Consort had used and found nothing that would react with rouge in such a way. And besides, from what I can see now, there’s actually no trace of poison remaining on her face at all…”

Physician Gu trailed off, dropping to his knees, trembling. “This humble servant confesses his ignorance—I truly cannot determine the cause!”

“Can the corpse toxin be cured?” Jun Beiyue asked again, his voice low, his handsome face darkened with menace, his gaze never once leaving the figure on the bed. No one could tell what he was thinking at this moment, nor when this man might suddenly erupt!

“In Her Highness’s current condition, the corpse toxin cannot be cured outright—it can only be slowly drawn out of her system. This much, at least, this humble servant is capable of accomplishing!” Physician Gu finally allowed himself a quiet breath of relief, saying timidly, “Your Highness, please… calm yourself a moment…”

But before he could even finish urging calm, Jun Beiyue suddenly spoke sharply. “Draw out the poison immediately. Jiao Cha, send word to return to shore. Situ Haonan, lead the way—this prince wishes to see Xuanyuan Zhaoxi!”

“Yes!”

All three answered as one. Situ Haonan hurried ahead, glancing back briefly to give Physician Gu a reassuring look—thank goodness, thank goodness, the man had managed to hold himself back after all, without erupting too terribly.

But soon enough, Situ Haonan would discover just how wrong he’d been.