The Grand Priestess of the Xiongnu, Min Han Gu Xin?
Hearing this, Jun Beiyue glanced at Baili Weisheng and said flatly, “You grew up among the Xiongnu. Who exactly were your parents?”
At that moment, Baili Weisheng was staring at Ziqing, lost in thought, paying no attention whatsoever to Jun Beiyue’s question, his eyes narrowed in a bright, radiant smile.
Seeing this, Jun Beiyue grabbed his hand firmly, shooting him a cold warning look.
Only then did Baili Weisheng snap back to attention, looking utterly innocent. “Prince Yao, no need to grab so hard. I honestly… don’t feel a thing.”
Injured this badly, and he could still crack jokes. Jun Beiyue released his hand, too weary to argue further, and turned to leave.
Only then did Baili Weisheng speak seriously. “Prince Yao, wait, wait. This humble scholar knows a way to find the Gu Nanny.”
Jun Beiyue waved a hand dismissively and, upon reaching the door, gave a cold command. “Someone, proclaim to the realm — this prince is convening a peace conference!”
A peace conference!
Of course — after more than a year of warfare, the peace conference had never actually been held. To be precise, Jun Beiyue hadn’t even formally established his rule over Longyuan yet!
“Well, well… clever idea!”
Baili Weisheng couldn’t help murmuring to himself. This man was certainly bold — once the peace conference convened, he could demand the Gu Nanny directly from the Xiongnu, saving them a tremendous amount of time and effort!
Ziqing understood Jun Beiyue’s intentions as well. Since they’d decided to seek out the secrets of Lone Island and of Xiong Bao’s condition at the Meng Clan, everything naturally needed to be settled before their departure.
Jun Beiyue left, while Ziqing stayed behind, looking at Baili Weisheng, unsure what to even say to him.
She sat down. Seeing that Baili Weisheng’s spirits seemed even better than before, the anxiety that had weighed on her heart eased considerably. “You insufferable scholar, you scared me half to death just now.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, to have earned the Princess Consort’s concern is truly this humble scholar’s blessing from three lifetimes!” Baili Weisheng said with a smile. It had to be said — at that moment, his entire body was immobile except for his eyes and mouth, even his head frozen stiff, and paired with that grinning face, the whole scene was genuinely comical.
Ziqing rolled her eyes helplessly. “I’m being serious. You should know your own body better than anyone. How severe is it, really? Can you pull through? Does it hurt? Surely the Gu Nanny can save you, right?”
Baili Weisheng didn’t answer. He simply looked at Ziqing. Despite knowing each other for so long, this was the first time he’d ever studied this woman so closely, for so long.
Every time he looked at her, he found himself inexplicably delighted; the longer he looked, the more he lost himself in quiet happiness.
Gazing at her, Baili Weisheng murmured unconsciously, “Ah, Little Qingqing, how on earth did I ever think of wanting to kill you back then?”
“What?” Ziqing hadn’t quite caught it, only hearing the word “back then.”
“Nothing, heh heh. Don’t worry, I already told you I’d bring you home to meet the family — I’ll never go back on my word!” Baili Weisheng laughed again.
Ziqing’s expression stiffened. She pushed him back directly, instructed a few attendants to look after him properly, and turned to leave — there was still so much to deal with on Jun Beiyue’s end.
It had been quite a few days since they’d emerged from the Poison Beast World, and between managing one crisis after another, she still hadn’t had the chance to sit down and properly talk with Jun Beiyue. She had no interest in continuing to bicker with Baili Weisheng here. Jun Beiyue had been right — this man wasn’t going to die that easily!
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue both left, but Fifth Elder Meng lingered behind. He approached cautiously, looking Baili Weisheng over from head to toe, then leaned in close, teasing, “Young man, being so quick to anger and reckless with killing intent isn’t a good habit. Being like this now isn’t so bad either, heh heh.”
The two of them still held a grudge over what had happened at the city gate.
Baili Weisheng said nothing, staring up at the ceiling with obvious disdain.
Seeing this, Fifth Elder Meng leaned in even closer. “Hey, let me tell you something — my daughter will be coming into the palace shortly. How about having her look after you these next few days?”
At these words, Baili Weisheng’s eyes finally shifted, narrowing slowly.
Seeing this, Fifth Elder Meng felt satisfied. “Ha ha, I’m just teasing you. Don’t worry, this old man isn’t a petty person. We’re practically family now, after all — what happened at the city gate, let’s just let it go. You don’t seem like a bad sort, kid. Not the type to act rashly. That night, you were just delirious from illness when you wanted to kill someone, weren’t you?”
“Fifth Elder, you’re certainly generous and magnanimous,” Baili Weisheng finally spoke.
“Ha ha, no need to hold grudges against you young people.” Fifth Elder Meng, quite pleased with himself, stroked his beard and rose to leave.
But Baili Weisheng asked coldly, “Fifth Elder, you kicked this humble scholar afterward. This humble scholar hadn’t planned on letting that slide so easily. What do you propose we do about it?”
At these words, Fifth Elder Meng froze instantly, his face flushing red — he hadn’t expected Baili Weisheng to actually know about that!
“Old sir, you watched me nearly die and did nothing to help — this humble scholar was willing to overlook that. But to watch someone dying and then kick them while they’re down, nearly finishing them off entirely — this humble scholar’s tolerance isn’t quite as generous as yours seems to be, unfortunately!”
Fifth Elder Meng stood rooted to the spot, his face burning with embarrassment, unable to come up with a response.
Baili Weisheng smirked coldly to himself. He knew Fifth Elder Meng wasn’t truly evil, but he certainly wasn’t purely virtuous either. If he thought he could take advantage of him here, he had another thing coming!
“Fifth Elder, how about this — I’ll remember that kick for now. Someday, you can pay me back for it. How does that sound?” Baili Weisheng asked, quite seriously.
“You—!” Fifth Elder Meng choked with anger, clearly no longer able to maintain his composure.
Baili Weisheng laughed. “Fifth Elder, you were never a man of great tolerance or boundless compassion to begin with — no need to put on airs in front of the likes of us. And another thing — remember this: if you want to test your strength against someone, go after Jun Beiyue. Don’t go scheming against Ziqing and her son. The Meng Clan has nothing to do with the two of them!”
At these words, Fifth Elder Meng’s expression darkened instantly. “What exactly do you mean by that!”
“I know the Meng Clan’s rules perfectly well. We’ll go to the Meng Clan, sure — but we will absolutely not be staying there forever!” Baili Weisheng said coldly, a flash of menace crossing his eyes, as chilling as some demon straight out of hell.
This man was being entirely serious.
Fifth Elder Meng took a step back, not having expected Baili Weisheng to know so much. He no longer bothered with courtesy either. “Young man, knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing!”
“Ha, and meddling too much isn’t necessarily a good thing either. You’re merely Jun Beiyue’s uncle, not his father! You’re getting on in years — go find somewhere cool to rest yourself!”
“You—!” Fifth Elder Meng choked with fury, suddenly raising his hand to strike. “You ill-mannered brat!”
But just at that moment, a small, furious voice rang out from the roof beam above. “Stop!”
Fifth Elder Meng froze, looking up just in time to see Xiong Bao, riding atop the giant beast, diving down toward him like an arrow. Fifth Elder Meng instinctively tried to dodge, but it was already too late — Xiong Bao’s foot shot out, delivering a vicious kick straight to his backside. “Thud…”
Xiong Bao’s strength had always been considerable, and combined with the momentum of the dive, the kick sent Fifth Elder Meng flying straight out the door. To everyone’s surprise, Meng Duo’er, who happened to be arriving just outside at that exact moment, was too stunned to even think of dodging, and ended up tumbling into a heap right along with Fifth Elder Meng.