Ziqing’s words left Jun Beiyue at a complete loss for what to say — if this woman hadn’t guessed it, she wouldn’t be Han Ziqing at all, would she?

He smiled faintly, his eyes carrying a trace of both fond indulgence and helplessness.

There were times he genuinely wished this woman could be just a little more oblivious!

Seeing Jun Beiyue’s smile, Ziqing understood at once. She returned a light smile of her own, saying softly, “Shall we go outside and talk properly?”

Jun Beiyue nodded, gently pressed a kiss to Xiong Bao’s cheek, and carefully slipped away!

The couple didn’t go far, simply sitting side by side on the stone steps just outside the door. The night was deep and quiet, the autumn moon serene.

Two paths lay before them: one was to continue following the clues already in hand, searching for the lone island; the other was to go to the Meng Clan. If they followed their limited clues, the dangers ahead remained entirely unknown; if they went to the Meng Clan, one risk they would certainly face was Meng Wanyue.

She’d called it “talking properly,” but in truth Ziqing had already made up her mind. “Whatever her intentions might be, let’s go to the Meng Clan. Xiong Bao’s constitution needs to be understood first — nothing matters more than that right now!”

Both paths led toward the secrets, the truth of the lone island — but for Ziqing, there was an added weight of worry hanging over this one.

Jun Beiyue nodded silently. He knew what Ziqing truly wanted to discuss wasn’t this matter at all, but the question of his mother-consort.

Having finished speaking, Ziqing fell silent as well.

After a long while, just as Jun Beiyue was about to speak, Ziqing beat him to it. “Beiyue, whatever her intentions might be, for now it’s all just our own speculation. Even if it really is exactly as we suspect… we still have to bring her out. She is your birth mother, after all. Not saving her would be a wrong on your part. Save her first — and afterward… whatever happens, happens.”

She paused for a moment, then, steeling herself, spoke plainly. “Afterward, we’ll just deal with things as they come!”

Show me an inch of respect, and I’ll return it tenfold; steal a grain of rice from me, and I’ll destroy three fields of yours in return.

That had always been Ziqing’s way. But this time, the person she’d be dealing with was the birth mother of the man she loved most.

She told herself: if my mother-in-law shows me respect, I’ll treat her like my own mother. If she wrongs me, I’ll simply keep my distance. If she pushes her luck too far, I will absolutely fight back!

Hearing Ziqing say this, Jun Beiyue’s heart tightened. In truth, he’d never expected Ziqing to show this kind of consideration. He knew her nature, her character, well enough to understand that her being so understanding this time was entirely for his sake, to spare him from being caught in the middle.

He gently pulled Ziqing into his arms and said earnestly, “I promise you — the Universe Poison Pouch will belong to Xiong Bao forever. No one, ever, is allowed to set their sights on it!”

No extra promises, no guarantees whatsoever about the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship — but the Universe Poison Pouch was the key to everything.

Ziqing smiled, nestling into his embrace, and held out her little finger. “Come on, pinky swear. If you go back on this, I’ll take Xiong Bao and the Universe Poison Pouch and disappear — you’ll never find us again for the rest of your life!”

Jun Beiyue’s eyes widened, unable even to imagine such an outcome. Seeing this, Ziqing’s smile grew even brighter — it had been so, so long since anyone had seen her smile with such pure, unguarded joy.

In truth, no matter how clever a woman might be, she was still a fool at heart — so long as her husband’s heart belonged to her, even the biggest of problems could be worked out easily. But if his heart had strayed, then even the smallest, most trivial matter could erupt into chaos.

Nestled in Jun Beiyue’s warm embrace, Ziqing couldn’t help but hope — hope that their suspicions were wrong, hope that the mother-in-law she’d never met might turn out to be a kind old woman after all. Having an elder who genuinely, wholeheartedly doted on them — surely that would be such a wonderful, happy thing.

Ziqing drifted deeper into her thoughts, nearly falling asleep, when Jun Beiyue suddenly exclaimed in alarm, “Ziqing!”

Startled fully awake, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The totem! I completely forgot about it!” Jun Beiyue, his thoughts having drifted to the lone island, suddenly remembered the totem he’d traded Bai Mengmeng for with Nanny Qin. He immediately went to look for it, only to realize he’d changed clothes several times since then.

Where was it?

“The totem?” Ziqing was startled too.

“The Yaoshun Island totem — the one I traded Bai Mengmeng to Nanny Qin for!” Jun Beiyue said urgently. The moment they’d left the Poison Beast World, the two of them had been so overwhelmed with matters that, if not for settling down tonight, they truly might not have remembered it at all.

“Yingzi!” Jun Beiyue called out sharply.

Yingzi appeared instantly. The moment he heard the word “totem,” he said hurriedly, “Rest assured, Master, the item is with Young Master Situ.”

Ziqing grew anxious as well — the Yaoshun Island totem represented more than half of Lishang’s secret. Without a second thought she was ready to head straight for Situ Haonan’s quarters, but Jun Beiyue caught her arm, instructing Yingzi instead, “Go fetch it, and bring it to Baili Weisheng’s quarters!”

Ziqing paused, then understood at once — the secret of the Yaoshun Island totem was the secret of the negative-polarity totem, and the secret of the positive-polarity totem was carried on Baili Weisheng’s very face!

The totem itself might be gone, but that man was bound to know something about it!

The two of them hurried straight toward Baili Weisheng’s quarters, only to find Meng Duo’er rushing frantically toward them the moment they arrived at the door, nearly colliding with them.

“Prince Yao, my father’s poison has flared up again! Baili Weisheng lied — the poison hasn’t been fully cured!” Meng Duo’er said, panicked. The palace grounds were so vast she hadn’t been able to find or ask her way to where Jun Beiyue and Ziqing were staying, so she’d doubled back to Baili Weisheng’s quarters instead — and fortunately run into them here.

Hearing this, Ziqing seemed to realize something, glancing thoughtfully at Jun Beiyue, who was already looking back at her with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

The two of them were remarkably in sync — a flicker of a smile crossed both their lips, and neither seemed the least bit anxious over Meng Duo’er’s news!

Human-gu poison was nothing to joke about. If Baili Weisheng had the skill to keep Old Fifth Meng alive without fully curing him, that alone proved the man wasn’t actually in danger of dying!

And since he wasn’t going to die, why not let him suffer a little more — see if he’d dare bully Xiong Bao ever again!

“Is this really true?” Jun Beiyue said, feigning shock, pushing the door open at once. Baili Weisheng hadn’t yet gone to sleep, and seeing the three of them enter, he guessed immediately that Old Fifth Meng’s poison must have flared up again!

He didn’t bother pretending to be asleep either, unafraid of a direct confrontation with either Jun Beiyue or Meng Duo’er. He shot them a lazy, thoroughly disdainful glance.

Meng Duo’er, an utterly gentle and simple-hearted girl, immediately pleaded the moment she saw Baili Weisheng. “Scholar, please wake up properly. My father is already an old man — please stop tormenting him. If you have a problem, take it out on me instead!”

Baili Weisheng eyed her sidelong and scoffed coldly. “I have… no interest in you.”

“Then what exactly do you want!” Meng Duo’er was so anxious she was nearly in tears.

“An apol—” Baili Weisheng was about to speak, but Jun Beiyue cut in first. “Baili Weisheng, if the poison isn’t fully cured, keep curing it. Arguing with an old man hardly seems appropriate, does it.”

Baili Weisheng, sharp as he was, immediately caught the strange undertone in Jun Beiyue’s words.

His eyes rolled rapidly, and he understood Jun Beiyue’s intent at once. Well, well — this man really was the most scheming of them all, wasn’t he. Just a moment ago he’d been going on and on about how Xiong Bao was also at fault, that the matter should be dropped, and now here he was, using someone else’s hands to settle the score for him!

Still, this time Baili Weisheng was more than happy to be used by Jun Beiyue. He said impatiently to Meng Duo’er, “Come here. I’m only going to explain the medicine once, so listen carefully!”

Meng Duo’er, thoroughly guileless, hurried right over, terrified of missing a single word, leaning in so close that her soft ear nearly brushed against Baili Weisheng’s cold lips — startling him so badly he froze instantly, unable to speak for a long moment…