Almost the very instant Ziqing raised her hand, the Xiongnu old woman abruptly waved hers as well!

This wave brought no small consequence!

In an instant, shadow after shadow dropped down seemingly out of thin air — no trace of Central Plains attire among them now, every single one dressed unmistakably as Xiongnu guards!

Xiongnu guards and slaves were the easiest to identify by their clothing. Ziqing was stunned, an uneasy feeling stirring faintly within her.

She had weathered far more tense situations than this before; she was always composed as a mountain. Yet, for some reason, at this particular moment, she felt herself growing flustered.

By all rights, this group shouldn’t pose any real threat to them!

Could it be that these people had come to help Nanny Qin — since the Dongqin Empress had been taken away by Minhan Mude’er, did that mean the Xiongnu were searching for Yelu Qianqian too, from time to time?

At this thought, Ziqing couldn’t help but smile wryly to herself. That wretched girl Yelu Qianqian really did have quite the knack for trouble — aside from the Kingdom of Nanzhao, practically every power across the Longyuan continent, every royal court, every faction of the martial world, was searching for her!

She wondered how the girl was faring right now.

If Yelu Qianqian ever learned that Situ Haonan had bravely defied Lord Situ’s orders to go to the battlefield for her sake, that girl would surely be moved to tears!

Once the Xiongnu guards arrived, the old woman gave a single command, and they all immediately rushed forward!

The old woman walked at the rear, setting the five-colored venomous lizard down on the snow. It immediately darted forward, and the old woman looked quite satisfied.

But just as she was about to follow, the lizard suddenly turned back around!

It stayed rooted in place, staring up at the old woman!

“What’s wrong?” the old woman exclaimed in surprise.

The lizard flicked its tail, pointing directly at the old woman herself.

Ziqing watched, brow furrowed, sensing there was something strange about this venomous lizard — as though it were searching for something specific, though she couldn’t be certain. She’d never seen anything quite this odd before; it reminded her somewhat of the Gu techniques of Nanzhao, yet didn’t seem quite the same either.

She quickly dismissed the thought — how could the Xiongnu possibly know Nanzhao’s Gu arts?

“What’s wrong? Did I get the direction wrong? Is it behind us?” the old woman muttered suspiciously, slowly turning around.

At this, Ziqing was truly alarmed — the old woman’s position was barely a dozen steps from where she was hiding!

The five-colored venomous lizard could detect a body immune to all poisons, could sense the particular scent given off by blood immune to every venom — but it wasn’t entirely precise.

What it could accurately locate was the Gu-creature it had been raised alongside — its sense for that particular Gu-creature was by far the strongest.

Very soon, it slowly turned its tail back around, once again pointing forward.

The Gu nanny turned to look, growing impatient, and yanked the five-colored venomous lizard out roughly, snapping furiously, “You little beast, not fed enough, is that it? Let me tell you — if that big beast gets away again this time, you’ll have hell to pay!”

With that, she flung the five-colored venomous lizard forward. The moment it hit the ground, it immediately darted off and vanished in a flash!

The Gu nanny, thoroughly satisfied, hurried after it.

The group moved on.

Ziqing let out an inexplicably long breath, leaving the two Shadow Guards rather puzzled — even while tailing the Lord of Nangong City, they’d never seen the princess consort this tense!

It had only been some Xiongnu old woman, after all. Strange as she’d been, judging by her footwork, her martial skill had seemed rather ordinary.

“Your Highness, that old woman seemed to be looking for something?”

“A big beast? Could it be some kind of wild animal?”

The Shadow Guards were both quite puzzled. Ziqing looked ahead, feeling a flicker of worry herself — the old woman hadn’t seemed to be searching for Yelu Qianqian, but if she continued heading that way, might she end up ruining their plans somehow?

Just as she was pondering this, the Lord of Nangong City and Madam Situ suddenly arrived back at the same moment, both figures landing together.

“Father, you really were being careful — there really is someone nearby!” Madam Situ said, quite excited.

“Heh, the old man has no time to play cat-and-mouse with them. Anyone trying to tail the old man will soon learn what it truly means to have the mantis stalked by the oriole behind it!”

With that, the Lord of Nangong City’s figure flashed and darted off ahead, and Madam Situ, not wanting to fall behind, immediately followed close on his heels!

Watching this, Ziqing was momentarily stunned!

And the Shadow Guard couldn’t help but laugh. “Your Highness, the Lord of Nangong City has gotten the wrong idea entirely.”

Ziqing gritted her teeth. “I really wish I could show him what it truly means to have the mantis stalked from behind!”

What a pity — even if they followed along again, they still couldn’t make a move!

Their reinforcements hadn’t arrived yet, and they still had no idea what strategy the Emperor of Xijing and Jun Beiyue intended to use against the Lord of Nangong City.

At this thought, Ziqing truly had to grit her teeth, filled with bitter regret.

Hearing this, the Shadow Guard shared her regret as well. “Your Highness, why don’t we gather the several dozen Shadow Guards scattered through the forest and just charge in?”

The reinforcements Ziqing needed were the entirety of You Ge’s Shadow Guards, along with the Emperor of Xijing’s troops — only then, if it truly came to force, could they mount a real siege against the Lord of Nangong City.

With just a few dozen Shadow Guards, that wouldn’t be taking a risk — that would be suicide!

What a shame — what a shame their supply of gunpowder was so limited, needing to be kept in reserve at the western frontier border just in case. If she’d had even a few bombs on hand, that alone would have been enough to take on Lord Situ himself!

The two Shadow Guards sighed helplessly, watching Ziqing, waiting for her decision. But given the current situation, there was really nothing left to decide — they could only keep following!

Even once they found Yelu Qianqian, they’d still have to keep tailing them regardless!

Ziqing gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes at the path ahead, and was just about to resume the pursuit when, suddenly, a dark shadow dropped down behind them out of nowhere — none other than Yingzi!

“There’s news!” Ziqing said, overjoyed.

Yingzi nodded firmly. “Wonderful news!”

“Really? What was decided? Are we fighting? How many men can be mobilized?” Ziqing asked eagerly. In truth, deep down, she genuinely hoped to go head-to-head with the Lord of Nangong City — she despised nothing more than dragging things out, worrying over this and that!

The Emperor of Xijing’s concerns about Mobei, his concerns about the Xiongnu — to hell with all of it!

Yingzi didn’t answer, only smiling without a word.

Ziqing grew a little impatient. “Well, say something. If you keep stalling, we’ll lose the people up ahead.”

But Yingzi kept smiling, a smile full of mystery, yet clearly delighted, almost foolishly so.

Ziqing eyed him suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

Yingzi kept smiling, and as he smiled, he slowly stepped backward, one pace at a time — and just behind him, a tall, lean, finely built figure slowly emerged from the dim shadows.

In that instant, Ziqing froze.

This figure — so familiar, so achingly familiar!

Her first thought was: was this a dream?

She stood frozen in place, and in an instant every other thought was swept from her mind entirely, no longer caring how far ahead the others had already gone.

She could only stare, dumbstruck, watching as the figure grew clearer and clearer before her. Her small hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

It hurt — it hurt so much, so much.

It wasn’t a dream!

It was real!

Black battle attire, devastatingly handsome, cold and forbidding — it was her prince, her husband, her Jun Beiyue!

Yet even with him standing right there before her, flashing that wickedly charming smile, she still couldn’t quite bring herself back to her senses.

Someone once so fierce, so formidable — how had she gone utterly foolish in an instant?

Beiyue, how did you get here…

…