“What?!”

At the city gates, a single sharp exclamation instantly left every guard present frozen in stunned disbelief!

This was, after all, the very first time the Crown Prince had ever raised his voice before so many people!

And the very first time anyone had ever seen such intense emotion break through his otherwise expressionless face!

He was furious!

The guards were terrified nearly out of their wits. Those who served the Crown Prince closely all knew that he wasn’t truly reclusive by nature—he simply had no patience for idle chatter, by birth.

He disliked hearing others’ idle talk, and disliked engaging in idle talk himself even more.

Yanzi, too, was visibly shocked in this moment—though not at Yelu Chenyi’s fury itself, since she had always known he wasn’t truly a man devoid of emotion. What shocked her instead was the news the guard had just delivered!

“What did you say? Say it again!” she demanded sharply, having already changed into the loose white robes reserved for Yelu Chenyi’s personal maids, her face veiled in white gauze.

The guard was at a complete loss—the news he’d brought was perfectly ordinary, nothing at all out of the ordinary!

“His Majesty has been seeking Your Highness for several days now. The Western Liang envoys will arrive tomorrow. Prince Yao of Da Zhou has sent word that he will arrive in five days’ time, and requests that Your Highness prepare to receive him,” the guard repeated timidly.

At these words, Yanzi instinctively took a step back, finally shocked as well.

Jun Beiyue had sent word—arriving in five days!

What did this mean?

Wasn’t Jun Beiyue supposed to be half-mad with worry right now, searching everywhere for Han Ziqing?

And yet here he was, with the presence of mind to come here of all places!

Just as she puzzled over this, another guard came rushing over. “Your Highness, you’re finally back! Something terrible has happened—His Majesty wants you to come at once!”

Yelu Chenyi glanced at him once, and his figure flickered and vanished at once!

“Wait for me!” Yanzi called out urgently, chasing after him. Her secret relationship with Yelu Chenyi was something not even the King of Xijing himself knew about—within the royal household, her identity was simply that of Yelu Chenyi’s personal handmaid!

Without Yelu Chenyi to bring her along, she had no way of entering the King’s private study at all.

By the time Yanzi caught up, the study door had already been shut.

Inside, the King of Xijing paced back and forth restlessly, while Yelu Chenyi examined a golden-sealed letter—none other than a formal missive from the Eastern Qin royal house, the Empress’s declaration to the world!

Prince Yao of Da Zhou had invaded Eastern Qin’s coastal waters, and with nothing more than a single large ship and a single small boat, had annihilated an entire fleet of over ten Eastern Qin warships, leaving not a single soldier alive—and had, moreover, taken Princess Zhaoxi of Eastern Qin prisoner!

The Empress of Eastern Qin had issued a proclamation to the entire world, condemning Jun Beiyue’s atrocities, demanding negotiations with him, and demanding the release of her prisoners of war.

Yelu Chenyi stared down at the lengthy, impassioned condemnation in his hands, and gradually, a sinister expression crept across his otherwise silent, handsome face.

Jun Beiyue, how utterly ruthless you are!

He had actually managed to find Han Ziqing, and had actually managed to rescue her!

He had actually dared to deploy the Jiaoren of the Lone Island—warriors sworn to loyalty toward the Nanzhao royal house for generation after generation!

Yet this wasn’t even the most ruthless part of it all!

The most ruthless part was that, even with the Empress of Eastern Qin’s proclamation condemning him before the entire world, he still intended to come pay Xijing a visit!

He clearly had no intention of paying the Empress of Eastern Qin any mind whatsoever!

He didn’t even hold the Nanzhao royal house in any particular regard!

Yet apparently, he thought highly enough of Xijing to come here. What exactly was he coming for?

“Yi’er, what do you think we should do about this?” the King of Xijing finally stopped pacing and looked at him seriously.

By this point, Yelu Chenyi had already composed his sinister expression away entirely.

The Empress of Eastern Qin’s proclamation to the world had already reached Xijing—in other words, all four major powers of the Longyuan continent, Eastern Qin, Da Zhou, Western Chu, and Nanzhao, had already received this proclamation, and the matter had surely already spread far and wide, causing quite a stir!

And yet Jun Beiyue had offered no response at all, instead announcing to the entire world that he intended to come pay Xijing a visit.

Xijing was undoubtedly placed in the most awkward position of all. Though the war against Western Chu had made Xijing and Da Zhou allies, there had never once existed such a thing as an eternal alliance between nations.

Should Xijing allow Jun Beiyue to enter their capital city now, they would undoubtedly offend Eastern Qin in the process.

Offending Eastern Qin itself wasn’t of much concern—Xijing and Eastern Qin had never had much interaction to begin with. But this matter concerned Nanzhao as well!

Even a fool could see that Jun Beiyue, however capable he might be, could never have single-handedly destroyed Eastern Qin’s entire navy while so badly outnumbered.

Unless someone had helped him.

Yet the Empress of Eastern Qin’s proclamation had specifically raised doubts on this very point—though phrased vaguely, its implication clearly pointed toward Nanzhao.

To fight such a decisive, land-battle-caliber victory at sea, one would need the aid of Jiaoren.

Yet no matter how solid Nanzhao’s relationship with Da Zhou might be, there was simply no way Nanzhao would openly lend Jiao warriors to Da Zhou—let alone do so openly, in such a major military conflict.

By pointing the finger at Nanzhao in her proclamation, the Empress of Eastern Qin was, in some sense, sending Nanzhao a pointed message of her own.

Given how shrewd the King of Xijing was, he immediately sensed something was amiss.

If Jun Beiyue failed to handle this matter well, he would find himself facing the Nanzhao royal house directly.

And should Xijing, under these circumstances, still choose to host Jun Beiyue as a guest in Albak City, wouldn’t that essentially announce to the entire world that Xijing stood on Jun Beiyue’s side in this whole affair?

The King of Xijing simply couldn’t make sense of it—Da Zhou faced pressure to negotiate from Eastern Qin to the north, and had to reckon with Nanzhao’s interrogation to the south as well, caught in a pincer from both directions!

And yet, with word having already reached Xijing itself, Jun Beiyue remained utterly silent on the matter, even announcing his arrival in five days’ time.

Which meant Jun Beiyue was, at this very moment, already on his way here!

The King of Xijing couldn’t understand it at all—but Yelu Chenyi understood it perfectly well.

With Xuanyuan Zhaoxi taken prisoner, she would surely betray both him and Yanzi without hesitation!

Jun Beiyue wasn’t coming here as a guest at all this time—he was coming for revenge.

Yelu Chenyi’s face remained utterly expressionless as he said flatly, “Father, the invitation was already sent long ago—there’s hardly any reason to refuse him now. If you want to know why Prince Yao is coming, we’ll find out soon enough once he arrives.”

With that, he set down the proclamation and turned to leave.

“That’s it?” The King of Xijing frowned. “Wait a moment—this matter is far from simple, surely!”

“Since Prince Yao has already decided to come, he clearly isn’t afraid of Eastern Qin or Nanzhao. Why should Father trouble yourself over him so much?” Yelu Chenyi countered, and without waiting for his father’s response, he opened the door and walked out.

The moment Yanzi saw him, she rushed forward at once. “What’s happening?”

“He’s coming for revenge. Best prepare yourself,” Yelu Chenyi said flatly, leaping up onto the city wall with a few swift bounds, heading straight toward Mingsha Mountain.

Yanzi stood frozen in shock. Those four words—”coming for revenge”—said everything that needed to be said.

She simply couldn’t understand how Jun Beiyue could possibly have known they intended to sail by sea, let alone known they were headed toward Yaoshun Island.

Yanzi puzzled over it for a long while, utterly unable to make sense of it, and finally stamped her foot in fury. “That useless wretch, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi!”

Just then, Yelu Qianqian suddenly popped out from nearby, and the moment she spotted Yanzi, asked at once, “Rouge, my brother’s back! Where did you two go, in the middle of the New Year celebrations?”

Rouge—Yanzi—was both the name of a type of cosmetic and her own given name; within the Xijing royal household, she went by the name “Rouge,” though her true name was Yanzi.