By the hot spring.

Jun Beiyue tossed out two cold words: “Change.”

What!

Ziqing’s head shot up at once. She had to admit—this man’s body truly was magnificent. He certainly had the kind of physique that could drive every woman in the realm wild with desire. She found herself staring, momentarily distracted.

“Still standing there? What are you waiting for?” Jun Beiyue said coldly.

Ziqing snapped back to herself, met his cold, piercing gaze, and lowered her head once more!

She would endure this!

The worst outcome wouldn’t actually happen—so what did she have to fear?

Steeling her resolve, she decided to see it through.

After helping him change, she kept her head lowered and spoke up on her own. “Your Highness, please, your bath is ready.”

She lifted the flower basket nearby and busied herself scattering petals across the pool, deliberately keeping herself occupied. The flowers were roses, their rich, intoxicating fragrance filling the air. As she scattered them, she gradually drifted further and further away from him.

He stood there with brazen ease, a faint, wickedly seductive smile playing at his lips. Finally, once she’d reached the far side of the pool, as far from him as possible, he spoke, his tone laced with mischief. “Come here!”

This man was already in the water, and he still wanted her to come to him!

A pool of steaming water separated them, mist swirling thick in the air. Ziqing slowly lifted her gaze, and those docile eyes of hers finally, gradually, revealed a flicker of cold anger!

She was furious. Did this bastard truly intend to keep pushing further and further, step by relentless step?

“Still not coming?” the man continued, imperious as ever.

“Coming, right away!” she said, suppressing her fury, masking the venom in her expression. She dumped the remaining petals from the basket all at once and strode quickly toward him.

Did he want her to attend him thoroughly? Very well then. She would make absolutely sure he was satisfied!

She approached, silent, and was just about to act when Jun Beiyue suddenly said coldly, “Who gave you permission to stay? Get out.”

Ziqing froze for a moment, and a surge of fury rushed up within her at once!

Bastard! This absolute bastard! To humiliate her like this!

Jun Beiyue—since he was so determined to see through her disguise, then why wait for another day? Let it be tonight.

Amid the swirling mist, her face turned icy cold, and yet she still managed to speak in that same docile tone, one that even carried a faint hint of suggestiveness. “Your Highness, weren’t you asking me to attend you?” As she spoke, a dagger slid slowly down from within her torn sleeve into her waiting hand!

The playful glint in Jun Beiyue’s eyes deepened further. He was just about to step into the water when, suddenly, Hongyi’s anxious voice rang out from outside. “Your Highness! His Majesty urgently summons you to the palace—he says it’s a matter of the utmost urgency!”

“Tell him you can’t find me!” Jun Beiyue replied irritably.

“Your Highness, Eunuch Yin came in person to summon you—he says the envoys from Western Chu have arrived ahead of schedule!” Hongyi shouted from outside.

Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed sharply. Chu Tiange and that Chu Feiyan had arrived?

“Stay put like a good girl!” he said, glancing once more at Ziqing, before swiftly changing back into his clothes and hurrying off.

Amid the swirling mist, the cold, dangerous look on Ziqing’s small face finally began to ease. It was a long while before her tightly clenched hand, still gripping the dagger, finally began to relax.

She had no way of knowing—had she narrowly escaped disaster tonight, or had he?

By the time Ziqing left the hot spring pool, it was already the depths of night. Hongyi and Shiliang were both waiting outside.

“Did His Majesty summon only the Prince? What about the other princes?” Ziqing asked quietly.

“No, only the Prince was summoned for now. Eunuch Yin said the envoys will definitely arrive tomorrow—originally there were still three days left, but no one knows why they suddenly arrived early,” Hongyi answered truthfully.

“There’s no need to attend me further tonight. If I haven’t returned before dawn and the Prince asks, try to stall for time as best you can—just tell him I haven’t woken yet,” Ziqing instructed quietly, then turned to leave.

But no sooner had she stepped out through the back gate of the Prince Yao’s residence than she saw a dark shadow slip over the wall—tall, well-built, unmistakably a man.

Could it be… him?

A Note to Readers:

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