The whole hall fell silent, every eye turning toward Ziqing — some mocking, some expectant, some hostile.

Yet Ziqing maintained her usual gentle, docile composure, letting them all stare, letting Chu Feiyan’s venomous gaze rake over her from head to toe, unhurried, betraying nothing.

That bastard Jun Beiyue — one sentence and he’d dragged her right into this mess. Did he really think she was so attached to the title of Princess of Prince Yao’s household? He might as well hand her straight over to Chu Feiyan and free her early!

“Ha, well, there’s no reason the position of principal consort can’t be divided into senior and junior. Great Zhou would never wrong the Princess Imperial. Someone, draft the decree — appoint the current Princess of Prince Yao as the Junior Principal Consort!” Emperor Tianhui declared loudly, his eagerness to please Chu Feiyan sickeningly obvious.

Ziqing had done nothing wrong, so there was no proper grounds to strip her title outright. But by splitting the position this way, though both would technically be principal consorts, placing Ziqing as the junior clearly marked her as beneath the other.

Seeing Jun Beiyue stay silent, Ziqing sneered inwardly. Once, he had pointed straight at her nose, ignoring everyone’s stares, insisting on marrying her by force. Yet now, in front of the entire court, he simply stood aside and let Emperor Tianhui decide everything.

Everyone envied the sons and grandsons of the imperial house, never realizing the sorrow of being born into such a family. Even someone as powerful as Jun Beiyue could only decide who he would marry — never who he wouldn’t.

Whether senior or junior principal consort meant little difference to Ziqing. She kept her expression demure and was just about to rise and offer thanks when Chu Feiyan, pressing her advantage further, looked at her coldly and said, “Such a used, damaged flower — and she still thinks herself fit to share the position of principal consort with me?”

Ziqing froze mid-motion, a flash of cold fury crossing her eyes. Throughout this whole affair, she and Jun Beiyue had said nothing, letting Emperor Tianhui decide as he pleased — and now this woman dared to bully her on top of it?

She hadn’t even married into the household yet and already carried on with such arrogance. If she truly married into Prince Yao’s estate someday, there would never be a peaceful day again.

She was about to speak when Jun Beiyue, who had been silent all this while, suddenly slammed his palm on the table and stood, his voice icy. “Prince Xiang, has Western Chu run out of men? Must it fall to a woman to propose marriage herself, so shamelessly?”

At once, the whole hall gasped. For Prince Yao to lose his temper in public was never a good sign. Emperor Tianhui’s brow furrowed deeply — he had no idea how to handle this. If Beiyue were pushed to true fury and abandoned the autumn hunt matter entirely, Great Zhou would lose all face.

Chu Feiyan too was startled speechless, and it took her a moment to recover. She was just about to retort when Chu Tiange quickly stepped in to stop her.

“My sister has always spoken bluntly, without much thought for propriety. I ask the Emperor of Great Zhou, Prince Yao, and the Princess of Prince Yao to forgive her.”

Chu Tiange was a far craftier fox. His words sounded courteous enough, but that phrase “spoken bluntly” both praised Chu Feiyan and, in the same breath, insulted Ziqing all over again.

Was he implying that calling her a “used, damaged flower” had simply been blunt honesty?

Ziqing’s eyes darkened. She never provoked others unprovoked — but if provoked, she would return it in kind, no matter who the offender was.

So Chu Feiyan insisted on fighting for the title of principal consort, insisted on demoting her to secondary consort, did she? Then let her have the nerve to simply have Jun Beiyue divorce her outright. Otherwise, Ziqing would not yield an inch — not even the senior principal consort’s title.

Ignoring Chu Tiange entirely, she suddenly dropped to her knees before Jun Beiyue with a soft thud, tears instantly welling at the corners of her eyes, her voice choked. “My lord, ever since I entered your household, I have served with all my heart, personally overseeing every matter great and small, giving everything of myself without reserve. Yet I do not know where I have erred, that outsiders should now slander me so and demand I give up my position as principal consort?”

“Who said anything about stripping your title?” Jun Beiyue said coldly. Though his tone carried anger, a flicker of amusement crossed his eyes — this must be the first time this woman had ever actively joined forces with him in front of others.

“My lord, didn’t the Princess Imperial’s ‘blunt honesty’ just now mean exactly that — that I am unworthy to share the position of principal consort with her?” Ziqing lifted her small tear-streaked face, pitiful as a flower in rain, yet utterly unwavering.

Jun Beiyue gave a cold snort. “You were personally chosen by me, and personally granted your title by His Majesty. If I and His Majesty say you are worthy of the position, then worthy you are.”

Husband and wife, playing off one another perfectly, every word reasonable — no one dared to argue, and no one could have argued even if they’d tried.

Off to the side, Chu Feiyan gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached. Had Chu Tiange not held her back, she likely would have lunged at Ziqing and torn her apart.

No sooner had Jun Beiyue helped Ziqing to her feet than she suddenly dropped to her knees again — this time before Emperor Tianhui, her voice thick with sobs, yet her expression stubborn. “Your Majesty, my lord speaks the truth. Ziqing was personally chosen by you and my lord both. For someone today to doubt Ziqing is to doubt the judgment of you and my lord. I wish to ask the Princess Imperial exactly how she measures ‘worthiness.’ If Ziqing truly is unworthy, I am willing to give up my position as principal consort, shave my head, become a nun, and never set foot in Prince Yao’s household again! But if I am worthy, I vow never to fail Your Majesty’s and my lord’s generous favor, never to fail the name of Princess of Prince Yao!”

These words left Emperor Tianhui with no way to refuse. Inwardly, he sneered coldly — Han Ziqing daring to question him about “worthiness,” as if she’d forgotten how she’d come to sit in that position of Princess of Prince Yao in the first place.

He glanced at Chu Feiyan and said seriously, “The Princess of Prince Yao speaks with reason. Princess Imperial, how exactly do you define this matter of ‘worthiness’?”

The moment Chu Feiyan had a chance to speak, she yanked her hand free from Chu Tiange’s grip and declared arrogantly, “What I mean by ‘worthy’ is simply whether Han Ziqing is fit to hold equal rank with me as principal consort. I hear Great Zhou selects its consorts through trials of both letters and arms — why not let her and me settle it through such a contest?”

Emperor Tianhui was overjoyed at once. “Excellent, excellent! Let it be done according to Great Zhou’s tradition of consort selection — a contest of letters and arms!”

Han Ziqing was well known throughout the capital as having no talent in either letters or martial arts. This truly was choosing the road to ruin when the path to safety lay wide open.

This woman had ruined the relationship between him and his son, tarnished the imperial bloodline, and very nearly wrecked his grand plan for the marriage alliance. Never mind secondary consort — she wasn’t even fit to be a maidservant in Prince Yao’s household!

They hadn’t even asked Ziqing a single question before deciding on this contest of letters and arms. Ziqing instinctively looked toward Jun Beiyue and caught a flicker of worry in his eyes.

Though Chu Feiyan was arrogant and impulsive, her skills were the real thing — her reputation was not undeserved.

At this point, Chu Tiange spoke up. “Emperor of Great Zhou, since this is to be a public contest, fairness must be assured. Who shall set the questions for the literary trial?”

The martial trial was a true test of skill, but the literary trial’s questions and grading standards could easily be skewed — this was a serious concern.

Just then, Tenth Prince Jun Beishen, who had been anxiously waiting for his moment, suddenly stood up. “Father, this son has a wonderful idea!”

Everyone turned to him in astonishment — what was this reckless young prince about to stir up now?

Emperor Tianhui, clearly displeased, shot him a glance and pretended not to hear. But the Tenth Prince pressed forward eagerly. “Father, this son had the good fortune to invite someone — originally meant to add to the festivities for you and Prince Xiang. Now that we need someone to set the questions, this son believes there is no one more fitting!”

“Oh?” Emperor Tianhui raised an eyebrow. “Who have you invited?”

The Tenth Prince grinned. “Father, this son had the honor of inviting the greatest zither master under heaven, master of the Blood Zither and the Demon Zither…”

Before he could finish, someone cried out in astonishment: “Xuanyuan Lige!”