A man and woman alone together — please, open the door!

This was likely the first genuinely proper, gentlemanly thing Baili Weisheng had said in his entire life. But Meng Duo’er paid it no mind at all, advancing step by step until she reached the edge of the bed, then stopped, looming over him and glaring down coldly!

Baili Weisheng’s heart sank considerably, though he forced himself to stay composed, saying gently, “Young lady, your father’s recovered by now, hasn’t he.”

To his surprise, Meng Duo’er suddenly bellowed, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you!”

“What… what do you mean, on purpose? Young lady, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Though Baili Weisheng’s expression looked utterly innocent and bewildered, a closer look would have revealed the muscles in his face had gone completely stiff!

“Don’t play dumb! How could you be so cold-blooded — at the city gate, I wanted to save you, and it was you who tried to kill me first! What kind of grudge are you even holding!” Meng Duo’er said furiously, leaning in even closer.

This time, no matter how close she got, there wasn’t a spark of anything between them. Baili Weisheng hurried to explain, “I absolutely don’t hold grudges, young lady — we’re practically on the same side now, why would I hold a grudge? Let’s not hold grudges, let bygones be bygones… you, you, you… you should leave now.”

Meng Duo’er snorted coldly. “Not holding a grudge, and yet you scheme against my father like this? He’s an old man already! Whatever he did wrong, you didn’t have to go this far! Are you even human?”

Baili Weisheng was absolutely not a good-tempered fellow, and being shouted at like this, he finally couldn’t help but snap back, “Don’t you dare bring up his age! So what if he’s old! Xiong Xiaobao’s even younger — arguing with a baby not even two years old, pointing at the child’s nose and calling him a curse-bringer, was that appropriate of him? I’m punishing evil and rewarding good, giving him a taste of his own medicine — how does that make me not human?”

“Didn’t I already apologize? Haven’t I apologized several times already? Why are you still refusing to let it go even after someone’s admitted fault?” Meng Duo’er shot back, agitated. These past few days she’d barely left the house at all, tending to her father around the clock — he’d suffered for three full days and nights, nearly losing his old life over it.

This time, she wasn’t about to let Baili Weisheng off the hook!

Seeing Meng Duo’er advancing closer and closer, Baili Weisheng took a deep breath, pursing his lips to signal her to back off, then said, “And who’s the one refusing to let go of things now? What exactly have I done wrong? I’m the sick one here — how can you treat me like this? You’re the one who’s not human!”

To his surprise, at those words Meng Duo’er suddenly produced a large blade from behind her back, the blade gleaming so brightly it nearly blinded Baili Weisheng. “Young… young… young lady, whatever you have to say, let’s talk it through properly!”

Meng Duo’er narrowed her eyes, advancing with the blade raised, demanding coldly, “Who’s refusing to let go of things even after someone’s admitted fault?”

“Me…” Baili Weisheng answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Who’s not human!” Meng Duo’er asked again.

“Me…” Baili Weisheng answered decisively once more.

“Who deserves a beating?” Meng Duo’er continued, and as she asked, she flipped the blade around, turning the thin edge upward and the thick spine of the blade downward.

This time, Baili Weisheng didn’t answer right away, watching her movements with visible hesitation.

But Meng Duo’er didn’t need his answer at all. She lunged forward a step, declaring sharply, “You wretched scholar, you truly deserve a beating!”

With that, there came a resounding “thwack” as she brought the flat of the blade down hard, followed by a flurry of wild strikes.

Baili Weisheng flinched, squeezing his eyes shut in fright — but quickly realized his body had long since lost all sensation, and none of it hurt at all.

He slowly opened his eyes, watching Meng Duo’er hacking away, breathless with the effort, and studied her with growing interest. This girl looked to be maybe sixteen at most — nowhere near Ziqing’s world-toppling, queenly bearing, but pretty and delicate enough in her own right, especially those large, bright, watery eyes. With a touch more polish, she’d surely be quite the charmer!

Watching her, Baili Weisheng couldn’t help thinking that once he recovered, he ought to sell this girl off to a brothel — she’d surely fetch a fine price!

Daring to lay a hand on the old master of the Poison Den — she really did have some nerve!

Meng Duo’er hacked and chopped with all her might for a good while, finally venting her anger — but eventually she noticed Baili Weisheng showing no reaction whatsoever.

Only then did it dawn on her that this man’s body was made of human gu. She turned her head abruptly, meeting Baili Weisheng’s amused gaze head-on — and though she was still furious, for some reason her heart gave an odd little lurch, an inexplicable flutter of nerves.

“What are you looking at!” Meng Duo’er snapped angrily, masking her sudden flustered feeling.

Baili Weisheng only scoffed coldly, saying nothing, wearing an expression of complete indifference, as if to say do whatever you like.

Frustrated, Meng Duo’er’s gaze fell to his lips, and she pulled out a large pair of tongs from behind her back. If his mouth could still move, that meant it still had sensation — and if it had sensation, it could feel pain!

“You little—”

Before Baili Weisheng could finish shouting, he choked on his own saliva. Meng Duo’er lunged forward abruptly, one hand bracing against the bed beside him, the other prying the tongs open, aiming straight for his lips!

“Help—”

Baili Weisheng screamed in alarm, but very quickly the scream cut off, replaced instead by “Mmph… hnnn… mmm…”

Perched on the roof beam keeping watch the whole time, Yingzi finally couldn’t hold it in any longer, bursting into laughter so hard he nearly rolled right off the rafters.

Someone as important as Baili Weisheng, currently unable to lift a finger in his own defense — how could there possibly be no one guarding him?

Besides the regularly rotating palace guards, he and several shadow guards took turns watching over him day and night.

Only, the utterly wretched scene unfolding inside the room, he’d mistaken for nothing more than flirty bickering, and figured he’d best just stay a bystander — after all, this wretched scholar was always running his mouth teasing Prince Yao’s consort. Serves him right, he could only conclude!

Yingzi kept chuckling to himself, with no idea just how dire the situation inside actually was. Meanwhile, at that very moment, little Xiong Xiaobao was carrying a big pile of fruit, carefully washed clean and cut into small, bite-sized pieces just for Baili Weisheng to eat!

But before he’d even reached the courtyard, he overheard a couple of eunuchs gossiping nearby.

“I heard all the rulers came to the Xuanlong Hall, and Prince Yao actually took the seat of honor!”

“No way — I thought that… that person would attend?”

“That person,” of course, was the standard way of referring to the still house-arrested Emperor Tianhui.

“How could that be? Our prince, even without an enthronement ceremony, is still the true Son of Heaven. I went to deliver tea and refreshments just now, and the scene there, heh heh…”

…

Hearing this, Xiong Xiaobao’s expression turned thoughtful, and he gently patted Zizhu the Great Beast’s head, signaling it to turn around.

“Little Master, that’s not a place for children,” Zizhu felt obligated to remind him.

“We’ll sneak up and watch from the roof beams. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t make a sound.” Xiong Xiaobao remained utterly serious, clearly deep in thought about something, shifting his position while grabbing a piece of fruit to eat, heading off toward the Xuanlong Hall. How could he possibly miss seeing his father’s glory? As for Baili Weisheng — well, he really was abandoned without a second thought.

Meanwhile, at the peace summit, Jun Beiyue was coldly regarding the Gu Nanny, who had just been personally escorted into the hall by Mihan Mude’er…