Ziqing quickly settled on her route.

She bit down on a corner of her sleeve and tore off a strip of cloth, wrapping the wound on her hand in a rough bandage. One might have assumed she was trying to stop the bleeding — but to everyone’s surprise, she cinched it tight instead.

With no way to administer medicine, the only option left was to use physical pain to stimulate her nerves and keep her mind alert.

She removed her cloak, tied it around her waist, and was about to head down the mountain when, suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind her. “Your Highness!”

This…

Yingzi!

Ziqing spun around abruptly, and sure enough, a dark shadow dropped down out of nowhere — none other than Jun Beiyue’s personal Shadow Guard, Yingzi!

Good man — truly worthy of being the head of the Shadow Guards, with that kind of speed!

Seeing Ziqing’s ghostly pale complexion, Yingzi was immediately alarmed. “Your Highness, we finally found you! If we hadn’t, my lord would have gone out of his mind!”

Hearing this, warmth flooded Ziqing’s heart, but she wasted no time. “Tell the Emperor of Xijing and Beiyue at once — Nangong City has gotten involved in the matter of Yelu Qianqian. The Lord of Nangong City and Madam Situ are just ahead — they’re heading to find Yelu Qianqian themselves!”

“What?” Yingzi was stunned. He’d assumed the princess consort had some urgent crisis of her own needing rescue — he’d never expected things to have escalated to this degree!

Situ City could be reasoned with, but Nangong City was truly no one to trifle with!

“They know where Yelu Qianqian is?”

“Yes. That Nanny Qin has approached Madam Situ. Yingzi, gather everyone right away — I’ll keep following. Notify Jun Beiyue and the Emperor of Xijing as quickly as possible.”

This matter involved the Lord of Nangong City himself, and it was happening in the Mobei region — they needed a solid strategy worked out.

Yingzi had meant to tell Ziqing that Jun Beiyue was already on his way, but on second thought, he decided against it — he didn’t want the princess consort worrying about matters on the Northern Frontier.

Anxiously, he asked, “Your Highness, what happened to you these past two weeks? Your health seems…”

“We’ll discuss that later. Notify them as quickly as you can — I need a definite answer. I’ll be staying close behind them!” Ziqing said, earnest and urgent.

She needed a clear, definitive answer — should they move directly to snatch Yelu Qianqian back by force, or resort to more covert means?

If this had happened anywhere else, she would certainly have made the decision herself already.

But this was Mobei!

Both Jun Beiyue and the Emperor of Xijing knew this region far better than she did. She had to consult both of them, especially the Emperor of Xijing.

“Understood! Your Highness, please be extremely careful!”

Yingzi, too, wasted no time. Leaving two guards behind, he took his leave to carry out his orders.

Ziqing immediately continued down the mountain in pursuit. Xuanyuan Lige, however, didn’t follow — now that the Shadow Guards had arrived, he could set his mind at ease.

Still, there was someone back in the small Mobei town who wouldn’t let his mind rest easy.

By the time Xuanyuan Lige returned to his residence, it was already past noon. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Yu Xiaomeng.

She sat alone on the threshold, staring blankly at the courtyard full of now-extinguished oil lamps, lost in some kind of daze. Xuanyuan Lige had already walked right up beside her before she even noticed him.

That business earlier about marriage had simply slipped out of his mouth. He knew it had hurt her deeply.

All along, he had never wanted to hurt this girl again, which was why he’d kept avoiding her, kept turning her down firmly and cleanly.

And yet, in the end, he had hurt her anyway.

Xuanyuan Lige said nothing more, simply sitting down beside Yu Xiaomeng. Only then did she snap back to her senses, instinctively moving to make room for him.

“Sit.” Xuanyuan Lige said flatly.

But Yu Xiaomeng glanced at him, then turned to look back toward the house. Xuanyuan Lige followed her gaze and saw that Madam Yu was already sitting inside, though he had no idea since when.

The moment Madam Yu saw Xuanyuan Lige turn around, she immediately stormed over, shouting furiously, “Was it you who said you’d marry my daughter?”

Yu Xiaomeng hadn’t meant to tell her mother. The moment Xuanyuan Lige and Han Ziqing had left, she had cried so bitterly, so miserably, and when Madam Yu came looking for her, she’d caught her mid-sob!

Once she was upset, everything had come pouring out. After she’d finished crying, once she’d calmed down, she immediately regretted it!

But regret was useless by then — no matter how she tried to talk her mother out of it, Madam Yu insisted this was her business to handle.

She wouldn’t let her daughter be taken advantage of and wronged for nothing!

Madam Yu simply sat down in the house and refused to leave, so Yu Xiaomeng had no choice but to sit and keep watch on the threshold beside her.

Xuanyuan Lige stood up and admitted openly, without hesitation, “Yes, I said it.”

Madam Yu immediately raised her arm. “Say that again!”

“I said I would marry Xiaomeng.” Xuanyuan Lige said flatly.

“Good. Then come with me to the clan elder right now — I’ll have the elder officiate your wedding!” Madam Yu said, grabbing Xuanyuan Lige with one hand and Yu Xiaomeng with the other, trying to drag them both along.

But to everyone’s surprise, Yu Xiaomeng fiercely wrenched her hand free from her mother’s grip, shouting angrily, “Enough! He says he’ll marry me and I’m just supposed to go along with it? Who does he think he is? I never agreed to marry him! I refuse to marry him!”

The moment these words came out, Madam Yu froze for a second, then flew into a rage, slapping her hard across the face. “What kind of nonsense is this now? A moment ago you were sobbing your heart out, and now you’re saying you won’t marry him! Let me tell you something — no daughter of Mobei gets wronged like this for nothing. He marries you whether he wants to or not!”

She yanked hard on Xuanyuan Lige’s arm as she spoke. “Let me tell you — if you dare refuse to marry her, if you dare wrong my daughter again, I will not let this go, and neither will the entire Mobei tribe!”

Yu Xiaomeng simply couldn’t win against her mother, feeling utterly humiliated and wretched, feeling like some unwanted girl being shoved back and forth, forced to throw herself at someone who didn’t want her.

She struggled desperately, crying out, “I won’t marry him! I won’t marry anyone! I’d rather die than marry him! Let go of me!”

“You wretched girl, after all this, you’re still worried about your pride? If you don’t want to marry him, you should have refused him to his face in front of that other girl! Why should you let yourself be used like this, thrown away like this — her marriage is precious but yours isn’t worth anything?”

Madam Yu was thoroughly furious now, determined to make a real scene out of this.

One crying, one shouting — it left Xuanyuan Lige’s brow deeply furrowed. Suddenly, he yanked his hand free from Madam Yu’s grip and said coldly, “I did say I would marry her. But I won’t.”

The instant these words left his mouth, Madam Yu fell utterly silent, and so did Yu Xiaomeng.

He… what had he just said?

Xuanyuan Lige’s face turned cold, and he repeated himself icily. “I won’t marry her. Xiaomeng, thank you for your help. I’m sorry — I don’t want to marry you.”

Could there be anything more direct than this?

Could there be anything crueler to say?

Yu Xiaomeng couldn’t help but step back, retreating further and further into the courtyard, staring fixedly at Xuanyuan Lige, shaking her head over and over.

She had thought, at worst, he would grudgingly agree to marry her. She had even told herself she didn’t want him to marry her against his will — she could refuse, treat it as helping him out even if she’d been used.

But hearing these words now, her heart ached, ached so terribly. She suddenly realized a heart really could hurt this badly — she could barely even breathe.

Retreating further still, she suddenly cried out sharply, “Xuanyuan Shang, how could you do this!”

With that, she turned and ran!

Xuanyuan Lige watched her go in silence, his pale face showing nothing but cold indifference.

In this life, he had only ever forced himself to be with one woman. For any other woman, he simply couldn’t do it.

Yu Xiaomeng’s kindness wasn’t reason enough to force himself either.

This had been a chance to hurt her thoroughly, once and for all — he wanted Yu Xiaomeng’s heart to give up on him completely.

Setting aside the fact that he couldn’t force himself — even if he could, it wouldn’t last long anyway!

She was a good girl, deserving of a man who could cherish her for a lifetime.

He turned and looked coldly at Madam Yu, who was still fuming, ready to launch into another tirade. He still had a score to settle with this old woman.