The word “mother-in-law” — in any era, in most circumstances — could carry enough weight on its own to crush a person completely.

Though Ziqing did harbor some resentment toward Meng Wanyue for having abandoned young Jun Beiyue all those years ago, that resentment remained buried within her own heart. It was the only mark against the woman she carried — she and Meng Wanyue had never actually had any real conflict.

No one understood her own son better than she did. Keeping the Qiankun Poison Pouch with Xiong Bao was safer than keeping it anywhere else. What she’d said had merely been spoken in a moment of frustration.

Why did Fifth Elder Meng have to pick the worst possible moment to lash out at Xiong Bao — right when the timid little one had just been trying, nervously, to acknowledge his father?

What had Xiong Bao done wrong by grabbing for the Flowing Light Dagger? He was a one-year-old child — how could he possibly have understood so much?

Being cast as a terrible daughter-in-law by a few sharp words from Fifth Elder Meng, Ziqing knew her position wasn’t favorable, and a flash of disgust crossed her eyes. She didn’t even bother responding to him further.

She knew how much Jun Beiyue had always cherished that Flowing Light Dagger since childhood, and she had witnessed with her own eyes the solemn expression on his face when he’d delivered Consort Wan’s urn to Lone Island.

That woman — even though she had deceived Jun Beiyue and nearly gotten him killed — was still his birth mother after all, still one of the most important women in his entire life.

In fact, before Ziqing herself had ever entered the picture, Meng Wanyue had been the only important woman in Jun Beiyue’s life!

Her weight in his heart truly was immense.

That line Jun Beiyue had spoken — “This prince is busy, let her stay a while longer” — whether it had been said in frustration, or deliberately to protect her and Xiong Bao in that particular moment, or perhaps simply the honest truth, Ziqing had held onto it ever since, grateful for it.

At the very least, Beiyue hadn’t scolded Xiong Bao, hadn’t blamed him at all.

She hadn’t yet met this mother-in-law, had no idea whether she would be easy to get along with — but regardless, no daughter-in-law wished to become a bad one, nor wanted to cause her husband difficulty or trouble. Ziqing was no exception.

The two of them had never had any real conflict to begin with. If they could get along, that would be a blessing; if not, then formal courtesy would suffice, and they’d simply stay out of each other’s way like well water and river water.

Who exactly did Fifth Elder Meng think he was, storming in and making demands, scolding her like this from the very first meeting?

Seeing Ziqing ignore him, Fifth Elder Meng assumed she felt guilty and seized the opportunity to press further, saying earnestly, “Han Ziqing, you’d best fetch your son right away. If anything happens to the Qiankun Poison Pouch, the consequences don’t bear thinking about!”

This old man was quite formidable in his own right. Unable to persuade Jun Beiyue, he’d turned his efforts on Ziqing instead, his rhetorical skill considerable — first pinning a charge on her, then setting a trap for her to fall into. If Ziqing tried to argue back, she’d end up looking like the unfilial, disrespectful one!

She held her composure and said calmly, “Old sir, this is our family’s matter. Thank you for your concern, but we’ll handle it properly ourselves.”

For Ziqing to say even this much was already a significant concession. Fifth Elder Meng should have taken the hint — but this old man, consumed with longing for his sister, showed no sense of tact whatsoever, pressing further. “So when do you plan to rescue your mother-in-law, then!”

At this, Ziqing’s gaze turned instantly icy. “That’s none of your concern!”

Since he refused to take the hint, Ziqing saw no reason to remain polite either.

But some people simply wouldn’t let go. “How is it none of my concern? She’s my closest sister, the hope of our entire Meng Clan! To save her, the Qiankun Poison Pouch absolutely must be brought back to the Meng Clan!”

Hearing this, Ziqing had to force herself to take a deep breath. The hope of the Meng Clan — what did that have to do with her?

She’d reached her limit. She had far too much else to attend to, and her time was far too precious to keep going in circles with this old man.

She glared furiously at Fifth Elder Meng, uncertain whether the old man was genuinely worried, or deliberately provoking her — but she truly couldn’t take it anymore.

She slammed her palm down hard on the table with a sharp crack, her voice cutting and sharp. “Jun Beiyue already said to let her stay in there for now. Keep pestering me, and you’ll regret it!”

These words struck Fifth Elder Meng utterly speechless. He froze for a long moment, his heart skipping wildly, and once he recovered, he didn’t dare say another word, never having imagined this woman could be so fierce.

The room fell into sudden, tense silence, the atmosphere strange and uneasy. Fifth Elder Meng instinctively avoided Ziqing’s furious gaze, terrified that one more word might provoke this shockingly disrespectful, elder-defying woman into actually striking him.

Yet in the midst of this silence, Jun Beiyue, who had remained quietly observant the whole time, suddenly couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into hearty laughter.

Ziqing looked over at him, baffled and thoroughly confused. What on earth was he laughing about?

There were still so many pressing matters to deal with, and she hadn’t even had the chance to properly ask him what he truly planned to do about Meng Wanyue’s situation!

Was he laughing at her? Or at Fifth Elder Meng?

Ziqing decided she didn’t care either way. Since she’d already offended Fifth Elder Meng, she saw no reason to hold back further. She patted the seat beside her, saying without much patience, “Sit down. I have questions for you!”

Fifth Elder Meng cast a wary glance at Ziqing, then obediently sat down. “Wh-what did you want to ask?”

Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng took their seats as well. Ziqing closed the door and sat beside Jun Beiyue, about to speak — but Jun Beiyue stopped her, taking it upon himself to personally explain the whole situation to Fifth Elder Meng in detail.

Fifth Elder Meng listened with growing shock, and by the end, his jaw had nearly dropped entirely. He pointed at Ziqing and Baili Weisheng. “You… you two are… you’re the orphaned survivors of Lone Island, people immune to all poisons!”

Baili Weisheng nodded, calmly sipping hot tea, though his complexion was clearly off — unfortunately, no one paid it any particular mind.

Ziqing nodded as well, saying earnestly, “We want to know — aside from the Great Gu Master’s practice of cultivating human-gu, was there some other specific reason the Nanzhao royal family launched such a ruthless attack? Is the Lone Island’s poison-immune bloodline truly impossible to ever break free of?”

Back then, the four seals on the Poison Beast World had been placed by the Great Gu Master at the request of the Meng Clan, and later destroyed by Meng Clan members at the request of the King of Nanzhao. Surely the Meng Clan knew a great deal about all this.

Fifth Elder Meng hesitated for a long while, his brow furrowed deeply. “You mean… aside from the child’s blood being human-gu blood, everything else about him is completely normal?”

“Exactly!” Ziqing quickly confirmed, then immediately asked, “Could the Meng Clan bloodline be the very key to breaking the curse?”

But Fifth Elder Meng didn’t answer right away. After a long silence, he simply shook his head. “I don’t know. Everything I understand about the Poison Beast World, I learned from the letters and scriptures my Fourth Sister left behind… But given the current situation, there’s clearly something suspicious about the destruction of Lone Island. There must be some hidden secret behind the cultivation of human-gu as well!”

“Does the Clan Leader know?” Jun Beiyue suddenly asked.

Fifth Elder Meng hesitated briefly, then a flicker of hope crossed his eyes, and he said urgently, “That’s hard to say. We could go to the Meng Clan right away and find out for certain.”

For Fifth Elder Meng, this was practically a gift from heaven — a perfect excuse to bring Jun Beiyue to the Meng Clan, which would also give him something to report back to the Clan Leader. And with Jun Beiyue there in person, who knew — perhaps the Clan Leader might even manage to persuade him to stay!

That old man’s skill at keeping people around was second to none!

Seeing Jun Beiyue hesitate, Fifth Elder Meng quickly added, “Beiyue, based on the child’s constitution, the issue can only lie with you, the father. In this old man’s judgment, it’s almost certainly related to the Meng Clan bloodline. You needn’t worry — even though the Meng Clan technically falls under Nanzhao’s jurisdiction, if the old Clan Leader learns of all this, he’ll surely stand on your side. And even without knowing everything, he’ll still help you search for Lone Island.”

Fifth Elder Meng spoke with absolute conviction, sounding very much like he was offering Jun Beiyue and Ziqing a reassuring promise. And in truth, the situation likely was exactly as he described — the Meng Clan would almost certainly stand behind them.

Given the gravity of the matter, especially with Xiong Bao’s wellbeing at stake, Jun Beiyue couldn’t afford to wait any longer. He immediately gave the order. “Someone, prepare the horses!”

But just at that moment, Baili Weisheng, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly lurched forward and toppled off his seat with a loud thud, sprawling flat on the ground!

What… what was happening!