Rather than saying these words broke the awkward atmosphere, it would be more accurate to say they rescued Yingzi!
He laughed cheerfully, “My lord, the King of Nanzhao is looking for you. Heaven knows what the Empress of Dongqin and Crown Prince Yelu have been gossiping about in front of the old man. Let’s hurry over.”
However, Jun Beiyue paid him no attention, looking instead toward Ziqing, “You haven’t slept all night, you must be tired. You should rest.”
If said under ordinary circumstances, these words would seem perfectly normal!
Even said while the King of Nanzhao was waiting, it would still be normal—whether his lord chose to grant face or not had always depended on his mood.
But right after the enchanting fragrance had just been resolved, these words, spoken now, seemed… somewhat suggestive!
It was unclear how Ziqing felt about it—she just kept her head down, saying nothing at all!
But Yingzi couldn’t help but grin mischievously, turning to drag Imperial Physician Gu out with him.
However, Imperial Physician Gu’s brow furrowed tightly, wanting to advise, “My lord, this old servant must remind you o—”
Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, Yingzi yanked him out and slammed the door shut behind them with a bang!
The moment Imperial Physician Gu steadied himself, he snapped angrily, “What are you doing?”
Yingzi was still grinning, nowhere near as worried as Imperial Physician Gu. He looked at Imperial Physician Gu cheerfully, giving a sly smile, “You know, a moment of springtime bliss… is worth a thousand gold pieces, understand?”
“Our lord wouldn’t care even if it were worth ten thousand gold pieces!” Imperial Physician Gu said coldly.
Yingzi was stunned for a moment, then quickly pulled Imperial Physician Gu into the courtyard, whispering, “What do you mean by that! Who ruins someone’s mood like this? I did you a favor by dragging you out!”
“You!” Imperial Physician Gu was furious, but didn’t bother explaining further, immediately moving to knock on the door. Yingzi hastily pulled him back, “What are you doing! What do you think you’re doing! You think if you knock on that door, our lord won’t send you straight back to Da Zhou!”
“Those two… those two… they cannot have a child!” Imperial Physician Gu said angrily. Toward his lord he wouldn’t dare speak this way, but toward Yingzi he held nothing back.
Ever since Han Ziqing had stabbed his lord that one time, he’d never been able to let it go. Though afterward Han Ziqing had sacrificed much to save his lord, and he’d come to understand it.
But on New Year’s Eve, his lord had offended the entire capital’s populace for her sake, and later offended the entire realm for her sake, and after that, the secret of the lone island was exposed, the secret of the human gu was exposed!
His impression of Han Ziqing had grown worse and worse. He had to admit, if before he’d had some hesitation, now he had completely sided with Prince Baxian.
The bloodline of the lone island—that was a sinful bloodline, a human gu bloodline. How could that lone island bloodline be allowed to defile his lord’s noble bloodline?
As things stood now, it seemed his lord would only ever have this one woman in his life, and would only ever have this woman’s child.
Undoubtedly, from now on, his lord’s bloodline, the Gu clan’s bloodline, the Da Zhou imperial bloodline—all of it would be inextricably tied to the lone island!
This was such a serious matter!
The bloodline of the lone island simply should not be allowed to exist!
Hearing Imperial Physician Gu’s explanation, Yingzi also hesitated, but quickly said, “What are you afraid of? Didn’t we think before that our lord came here to confront the King of Nanzhao directly? Now it seems that’s not necessarily so! Our lord will definitely have a way! It’s just a matter of cultivating a human gu—as long as we keep the secret well, it should… be fine, right?”
Imperial Physician Gu sneered coldly, “Fine? Let me tell you, our lord is definitely not here to confront anyone—our lord is dead set on finding the lone island, on pleasing Han Ziqing! What should he be doing right now instead? He missed the great battle between Xijing and Xichu, and now Xijing and Xiliang are at war, Xichu is weakened, and the Empress of Dongqin has even come to Nanzhao—he should be on the Dongqin battlefield right now! Yet he’s come here instead!” Imperial Physician Gu scolded furiously.
“Our lord is already preparing for war! Against tiny Dongqin, sending the three great fierce generals would be more than enough!” Yingzi said dismissively.
“More than enough? Hah, and what if this time he can’t go back? You should know—once the matter of the lone island is exposed, the Nanzhao royal family would truly dare to imprison him here!” Imperial Physician Gu said coldly.
At this, even Yingzi couldn’t help but worry, staring at the tightly closed door, thinking to himself—Her Highness the Princess Consort really did seem to be a disaster for the prince!
He had to admit, if not for the Princess Consort, by now his lord would surely already be on his campaign to conquer the realm, and might have already devised a strategy against the Xiongnu!
Unfortunately… right now, in his heart, there was only “the lone island”!
Seeing Yingzi hesitate as well, Imperial Physician Gu seized the chance to break free of his grip and rushed forward to knock on the door, “My lord, Eunuch Gao is waiting!”
Yingzi couldn’t stop him even if he tried, so he simply gave up, retreating to the side to keep watch. Originally cheerful, he now wore a face full of worry.
Woman, or the realm—which mattered more?
No matter how many times Imperial Physician Gu knocked and called out urgently, there was no answer from inside the room!
Inside, complete silence. Imperial Physician Gu’s urgent calls seemed to grow even clearer and louder by contrast.
But the two people inside the room truly seemed not to have heard at all.
Jun Beiyue had scooped Ziqing up around the waist and was carefully setting her down on the couch, then leaning down over her to gaze at her.
If not for Yingzi’s remark, perhaps Ziqing wouldn’t have thought about it so much, and would simply have wanted to hurry into the palace to see what was happening.
But Yingzi’s words had reminded her, and immediately turned her whole face red with embarrassment!
And at this very moment, the look in the eyes of the man before her made her heart race even faster—this deep, faintly hazy gaze, she had seen it a few times before.
She knew exactly what he wanted to do!
Before, several times, it had stopped abruptly, replaced instead with a tight embrace.
But now, it seemed… it could happen, it seemed… it was allowed.
Meeting such a gaze, looking at him up close, feeling his uniquely masculine scent, she found this man’s handsomeness more and more infuriatingly perfect to look at—and grew more and more nervous!
She didn’t even know how much effort it took to keep herself from being nervous under that predatory gaze that looked like it wanted to devour her, but this time, she couldn’t control herself either!
Her heart pounded, thump, thump, thump, so fast!
He slowly drew closer, his hot masculine scent spilling onto her flushed little face, closer and closer, hotter and hotter. In her nervousness, his lean, finely honed body pressed against her exquisite, delicate figure, making contact!
“Mm…”
She couldn’t help but let out a soft, delicate sound—she didn’t know if it was from nervousness or something else, but she couldn’t control herself at all.
Little did she know, this soft sound was more powerful than any words, easily shattering this man’s strongest defenses. Silently, the sharp glint in his deep black eyes truly looked as though it wanted to devour her, to consume her completely and cleanly!
But amid Ziqing’s nervousness, his first kiss still landed first on the mask covering her cheek, and only afterward did he trail kisses and nibbles inch by inch along that mask, moving downward…
Some things were instinctive, difficult to restrain!
If there was a man willing to endure for your sake, he was truly a real man—for him, what grievance would be too much to bear?
In her nervousness, a mist of tears gradually welled up in Ziqing’s timid eyes. Her small hand wrapped around Jun Beiyue’s neck, whispering softly in his ear, “I’m willing…”
I’m willing, even for the greatest happiness.
I’m willing, even for the greatest misfortune.
I’m willing, even to live on, even to die at once!