Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed deeply, his expression grave. He more or less understood what had happened here.

Hearing Old Fifth Meng’s words, he couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Old Fifth Meng truly did mean well toward his mother-consort — but that goodwill was directed at her, not at him.

Even bringing him into the Meng Clan, letting him inherit everything the clan had to offer — none of that counted as goodwill toward him.

That wasn’t the kind of good he wanted.

Old Fifth Meng meant well, but his goodwill was far too one-sided, far too presumptuous.

And yet, however detestable Old Fifth Meng might be, he wasn’t like the second and third elders, and certainly nothing like Physician Gu. More than that, he was, after all, an uncle — the child’s great-uncle. Whatever had happened, the little one shouldn’t have raised his hands against him, and certainly shouldn’t have bitten him.

Regardless of seniority, regardless of hierarchy or propriety — this was simply basic manners, basic upbringing.

Looking at his son cowering against the wall, Jun Beiyue’s heart ached for him — yet Baili Weisheng’s stubborn belligerence and Old Fifth Meng’s obstinacy left him with an even greater headache.

He knew how this situation was handled would have a significant impact on Xiong Bao, and he couldn’t afford to be careless about it.

But just then, Ziqing came bursting in from outside, with the Roaring Rabbit, Henggong Fish, and the Nine-Tailed White Fox trailing behind her.

The moment Ziqing heard something had happened to her son, she’d rushed straight over — but the instant she reached the doorway and saw the little one’s eyes bloodshot, cowering timidly against the wall, something inside her instantly felt wrong.

She didn’t care about anything else, rushing straight over to pull Xiong Bao into her arms, saying urgently, “Sweetheart, don’t be afraid, what happened? Tell Mommy, don’t be scared, Mommy’s here!”

Thoroughly frightened, Xiong Bao finally broke down, burying his face in Ziqing’s chest and bursting into loud sobs — he’d been terrified not just by Jun Beiyue’s anger, but by the trouble he himself had caused!

“Waaah… Mommy, I didn’t mean to! I really didn’t mean to!”

“Mommy, can we go back, can we go back to the Poison Beast World?”

…

Seeing her son cry so heartbrokenly, Jun Beiyue’s heart ached terribly, and he was about to step forward when Meng Duo’er urgently blocked his path. “Prince Yao, there’s no time, please save my father first! He’s fainted!”

Jun Beiyue looked over — Old Fifth Meng lay collapsed on the floor, his neck and arms already turned a dark purplish-black, completely unconscious.

Fifteen minutes — the time was ticking by fast!

Jun Beiyue had no time to spare for Ziqing or Xiong Bao now, turning a cold glare on Baili Weisheng. “Are you going to tell me or not!”

“An apology!” Baili Weisheng dug in just as stubbornly.

The man was simply making things worse. Jun Beiyue was about to lose his temper when Meng Duo’er rushed over to stand before Ziqing instead. “Little one, please stop crying — it was my father’s fault, my father shouldn’t have been so fierce with you, shouldn’t have called you a curse-bringer. I apologize on his behalf, please stop crying, all right?”

To everyone’s surprise, these words didn’t calm Xiong Bao down at all — instead, they set Ziqing off. “What did you just say!”

Meng Duo’er, frantic with worry, failed to notice Ziqing’s growing anger and pressed on. “I’m apologizing on my father’s behalf — my father is just old and confused. Little one, please forgive him! He’s spent over twenty years searching for Fourth Aunt, so it’s only natural he’d get worked up and anxious, that’s why he called you a curse-bringer. He’s an old man now, please don’t hold it against him, all right!”

Hearing this, Ziqing’s temper flared instantly. No wonder the child was crying — he’d been cursed at and terrified, and he wasn’t even two years old yet! However precociously mature he might be, he was still, after all, a child!

Ziqing shot a glance at the poisoned Old Fifth Meng and made her decision at once. “Baili Weisheng, save him! We’ll settle the score once he’s awake!”

Meng Duo’er was overjoyed — so long as he could be saved, nothing else mattered to her right now. Jun Beiyue’s eyes flickered with complicated emotion, but he said nothing.

At Ziqing’s word, Baili Weisheng reluctantly gave the antidote instructions. Meng Duo’er followed them exactly, and gradually Old Fifth Meng’s color returned; before long, he regained consciousness.

Fortunately his constitution was strong to begin with, and the dose of poison had been minimal — otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.

The moment he woke, Ziqing carried the little one over to stand before him, about to speak — but Jun Beiyue stopped her, saying flatly, “Ziqing. Meng Duo’er has apologized. Let this matter end here.”

“And if I insist that Old Fifth Meng apologize instead?” Ziqing said coldly, a flicker of disappointment crossing her eyes.

Jun Beiyue sighed helplessly. “Enough, enough. The little one shouldn’t have raised his hands either — let’s just let it go. Come, I have important matters to discuss with you.”

Ziqing said nothing, didn’t move. Xiong Bao, still buried against her chest, timidly lifted his head to look up — he knew he’d caused trouble, and was suddenly terrified his father and mother might fight over it. Carefully, he tugged at Ziqing’s hand and blinked at her, as if to say, Mommy, it’s okay, let it go.

“Come on, let’s talk about it once we’re back,” Jun Beiyue said, wrapping an arm around Ziqing’s shoulders.

But Ziqing still didn’t move. Xiong Bao, growing anxious, set the whole incident aside for the moment and murmured softly, “Mommy, Mommy, let’s go.”

Looking down at Xiong Bao’s timid, careful expression, Ziqing’s heart clenched, and she suddenly realized that continuing this would only hurt him more.

This child was so remarkably considerate, so mature for his age, that she could no longer even use his youth as a justification to press her point.

Ziqing took a deep breath, shot Old Fifth Meng one last withering glare, and finally left with Jun Beiyue.

The moment they stepped outside, Jun Beiyue reached out to take Xiong Bao into his own arms. “Son, Daddy was too fierce just now, did I scare you?”

Xiong Bao said nothing, pressing himself against Ziqing, unmoving.

“Son, I’m sorry, Daddy shouldn’t have been so harsh with you.” Jun Beiyue smiled gently, endlessly patient, his large hand never withdrawing.

Xiong Bao studied him for a long moment, then looked over at Ziqing. A flicker of displeasure crossed Ziqing’s eyes, but she held herself back, saying seriously, “Ask Daddy why he was so fierce with you.”

“Daddy, why were you so fierce with me?” Xiong Bao asked obediently.

“Because…” Jun Beiyue genuinely didn’t know how to answer, torn between tenderness and the fear of raising a spoiled, ill-mannered child — being a father for the first time really was harder than fighting a pitched battle. “Because Daddy was worried.”

As he spoke, Jun Beiyue couldn’t help but add a lesson. “Son, in the future, when something like this happens, don’t jump straight to using your hands. Think it through, find another way. Don’t be scared, and don’t be hasty either. Old Fifth Meng is an elder, after all — do you understand?”

Xiong Bao nodded, though still unconvinced. “But he’s a bad elder.”

That answer left Jun Beiyue even more at a loss — his son clearly still had a sense of right and wrong, which was reassuring, since what he feared most was raising a child so spoiled he couldn’t tell right from wrong, or who’d grow domineering and unreasonable toward everyone.

“He wasn’t right to be so harsh with you, no. But that hardly deserved death. If you’d kept biting just now, you really could have killed him.”

Only then did Xiong Bao nod. “All right, I was wrong too, a little.”

Hearing this, Jun Beiyue finally let out a breath of relief — he’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to talk his son around at all. Thankfully, his son really was even more sensible than he’d imagined!

“In everything, there’s a proper order of urgency and priority. Come here, Daddy will explain it slowly,” Jun Beiyue said with a smile. Xiong Bao, fully at ease now, threw himself straight into his father’s arms.

That night, Jun Beiyue held Xiong Bao and told him story after story, explaining all sorts of things — but he never once noticed Ziqing standing to the side the whole time, her face dark and thoroughly displeased!

Only once Xiong Bao had fallen contentedly asleep did Ziqing step out of the room and finally let it burst out. “Jun Beiyue, do you honestly believe your son was in the wrong here?”

At those words, Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed sharply. Hadn’t this all already been settled? Why was she bringing it up again now?