And so Xuanyuan Lige left. Ziqing stared at the empty doorway and suddenly had a feeling — that this parting might be their last.
Watching Ziqing’s silence, a complicated look flickered across Jun Beiyue’s eyes. “No matter what,” he said quietly, “we could never be friends.”
Ziqing said nothing. But in her heart, she understood it better than anyone.
Great Zhou had always blocked Eastern Qin from sending troops into Western Chu — even when the Eastern Qin empress had pleaded, Jun Beiyue had never agreed.
It wasn’t for any personal reason. It was because this matter was never simply a private affair between him and Xuanyuan Lige.
This concerned three entire nations — indeed, the whole of Longyuan. If Eastern Qin took that step, heaven only knew what the situation would become.
Both north of Eastern Qin and Western Chu lay the Great Xiongnu Nation — a true slave-state, more savage even than Western Liang.
If Eastern Qin concentrated its forces on the three-kingdom border, would the Xiongnu, watching hungrily from the north, really stay still?
Centuries ago, before Great Qin split into Eastern Qin and Western Chu, Great Qin had formed Longyuan’s northernmost line of defense, bearing sole responsibility for holding back the Xiongnu. During that great civil war within Great Qin, the Xiongnu had once invaded, breaching all four cities of Great Qin’s northern frontier — and it was precisely because of that invasion that the imperial house of Great Qin and the Chu clan had called a truce, dividing the realm along the Wuxie Ravine, each side defending its own territory against the Xiongnu.
From that time on, Great Qin had remained split in two — right up to this very day.
Today, in the war between Western Chu and Western Jing, Western Jing would win — partly because of Great Zhou’s covert assistance, and partly because part of Western Chu’s forces remained stationed on the northern frontier, unwilling to move.
And when Jun Beiyue had let Western Jing’s troops pass through the Three Western Cities, he had made it clear to the Western Jing emperor beforehand: this war would stop at a certain point — otherwise, if Western Jing’s troops passed the Three Western Cities, they would never make it back.
Not for any other reason — precisely because Western Chu had to be preserved, to hold the line against the Xiongnu.
If Western Chu fell, Western Jing would be left facing the Xiongnu directly. And if Western Jing couldn’t withstand them, Great Zhou itself would inevitably be drawn in.
What made Nanzhao terrifying was its beast armies. What made the Xiongnu terrifying was their sheer savagery — more savage even than Western Liang.
Western Liang, through extensive contact with the Central Plains, had been deeply influenced by its culture, and was currently transitioning from a slave society toward an imperial one. The Xiongnu were nothing like that — in the Xiongnu nation today, those who could even communicate in the language of the Central Plains peoples were vanishingly few.
Only Eastern Qin and Western Chu had experience defending against the Xiongnu; only they truly understood Xiongnu warfare.
What Jun Beiyue wanted wasn’t just Great Zhou — he wanted the whole of Longyuan. And it was precisely for this reason that his considerations went beyond Great Zhou alone. If he allowed Eastern Qin to cross the three-kingdom border and go to war with Western Jing again, who would hold back the Xiongnu? If they couldn’t be held back, then whether it was Western Chu or Eastern Qin, both would eventually abandon the northern grasslands and move south into Great Zhou’s territory — and it wasn’t impossible that the two nations might join forces to contest fertile land against Great Zhou.
Of Longyuan’s three kingdoms, Great Zhou, Eastern Qin, and Western Chu were the core. If these three fell into chaos, Longyuan itself would truly descend into chaos.
For reasons both personal and political, Jun Beiyue would absolutely never agree to let Eastern Qin cross the three-kingdom border.
Ziqing understood this perfectly well. And she also knew that Eastern Qin was destined, sooner or later, to be swallowed by Jun Beiyue — how could he ever allow Eastern Qin to grow strong?
Killing Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had been Jun Beiyue’s most calculating move of all.
The Eastern Qin empress had only one son and one daughter in her entire life. With no heir to the throne, internal chaos was surely not far off.
Even with Xuanyuan Lige having abandoned his dream of restoring Great Qin, he and Jun Beiyue would still be enemies forever.
He was right. No matter what, in this lifetime, friendship between them was impossible.
“Yes,” Ziqing said flatly, a helpless smile touching her lips, while inwardly she murmured, A-Li, I only hope we never meet again.
Jun Beiyue smiled faintly too, seeming unwilling to dwell on the matter further — he had more important things to attend to. “Ziqing, do you know who brought him here?”
Ziqing shook her head. After waking, she’d rushed straight to Akbachu without paying attention to such things. Could it be that Jun Beiyue hadn’t arranged it after all?
“Baili Weisheng!” Jun Beiyue bit out each word with weight.
Baili Weisheng — that irritating scholar had, in fact, been lurking behind the scenes all along, watching their every move. If Xuanyuan Lige operated in the open, then Baili Weisheng was the one operating in the shadows.
Every time he appeared, it was always such a coincidence!
Even the very first time they’d met Ziqing, it had been just as coincidental — he’d appeared out of nowhere and lent her a hand.
And yet, to this day, they still had no idea who he really was, what his true origins were, or why he’d come at all.
And yet, everything he did — beyond the coincidences — always seemed perfectly reasonable, never forced, always like a passing favor, a passing remark, like some friend met by chance on the road.
“A merfolk.” Ziqing murmured in shock. It suddenly made sense — if it was Baili Weisheng who had saved Xuanyuan Lige, then everything fell into place.
Xuanyuan Lige had gotten onto the ship — he had gone out to sea with them!
When she’d fallen into the water and been saved by Jiao Cha, Xuanyuan Lige must have also fallen into the water, and been saved by Baili Weisheng!
In the vast, open sea, with nowhere to hide — to rescue someone right under Jun Beiyue’s nose, there was only one possible route: by water.
And that place was extremely far from both the harbor and Yao Shun Island — without merfolk, no one could ever have reached shore.
She’d already suspected it back at the Qinse Sea Valley; now it was one hundred percent certain — Baili Weisheng was a merman!
And judging by his behavior in Nanzhao, he was a merman that even the Nanzhao royal family didn’t recognize — perhaps not even known to them at all!
Aside from Nanzhao, nowhere else on the Longyuan continent had ever produced merfolk. Even Jiao Cha belonged to Nanzhao.
The number of merfolk was limited; the merfolk clan was the smallest of Nanzhao’s three peoples, and every newborn was recorded in the clan genealogy — no one could slip through unnoticed.
“Unless…” Ziqing seemed to realize something, her heart skipping unconsciously, a lump immediately forming in her throat.
Jun Beiyue watched her, not pressing further, but he understood exactly what she meant.
Back on Liuxian Island, when Jun Beiyue had been poisoned by Gu Suying, it was Baili Weisheng who had revealed the antidote. And at Qinse Sea Valley, when he had deliberately fallen into the valley, it must have had something to do with the secrets hidden there.
There was only one possibility: this man hadn’t come searching for the lost island — this man was, himself, from the lost island. A merman of the lost island.
So why had he come?
If he knew Ziqing’s identity, he should have long since offered to help them openly — why did he always help in such a roundabout, hidden way?
If he was an enemy, then why did he keep helping? Why had he never once made a move against them?
Jun Beiyue couldn’t work it out, and neither could Ziqing.
At that moment, Situ Haonan suddenly emerged from the side, and upon seeing them, said in an odd tone, “Ah, my great benefactors — you’ve finally returned…”
Benefactors — Jun Beiyue had arranged the secret meeting, and Han Ziqing had helped him elope; this couple was indeed a great benefactor to him and Yelu Qianqian.
Only, Situ Haonan’s elopement hadn’t been the least bit heroic — it had been thoroughly tragic instead.
He had made up his mind: he wasn’t going anywhere. He would simply stick close to Jun Beiyue — otherwise, if the people from Situ City and Western Jing came looking for him, he’d never be able to handle it.
“Is Qianqian all right?” Ziqing asked flatly.
“Still unconscious. Go take a look at Yanzi — she’s been screeching for a whole hour, Sha Qiuzi’s about ready to kill her!”