Situ Jing’er, sharp as she was, immediately understood from the expressions on Baili Xiaosheng’s and Jun Buli’s faces that the information she held was extremely valuable.

Having just been so thoroughly humiliated, what better time than now to get some payback on Jun Buli?

Situ Jing’er glanced at Jun Buli, then sat down with an air of composure, reaching for her shoe to put it back on—but suddenly thought better of it, setting it back down instead, crossing her arms and smiling cheerfully at them.

“Little girl, hurry up and tell us where you heard it!” Baili Weisheng urged anxiously.

“Let me think.” Situ Jing’er put on a thoughtful expression, resting her chin on her hand.

Yet after a long moment, she still hadn’t remembered a thing, saying nothing.

“Remembered yet?” Jun Buli pressed as well, growing anxious.

Situ Jing’er shook her head. “It’s been too long, really hard to recall.”

“You said you heard it just recently—think harder!” Jun Buli urged.

Situ Jing’er glanced at him, her gaze dropping to her own bare foot, looking troubled. “Remembering things like this really depends on my mood. If I’m in a good mood, it comes to me right away. If I’m not, I might not remember all night.”

Baili Weisheng and Jun Buli, both sharp as they were, immediately understood exactly what this wretched girl was implying!

It had to be said, this wretched girl was far prettier than her mother, but her temperament fell far short of both her mother and her father!

Mood, indeed—what she really meant was, someone needed to put her shoe back on for her!

If someone did that for her, surely her mood would improve instantly!

The corner of Baili Weisheng’s mouth curved into an amused smile—he rather liked this wretched girl’s spirited defiance. He nudged Jun Buli discreetly, signaling for him to step up.

But Jun Buli’s expression darkened, and he said coldly, “Are you going to talk or not?”

“Can’t remember—what do you want me to say?” Situ Jing’er said, looking troubled, glancing up at Jun Buli with an earnest expression. “How about this—I’ll just make something up. Would you believe it?”

“You!” Jun Buli’s temper flared.

“I really can’t remember,” Situ Jing’er said, unfazed, wearing an expression that practically dared him to do something about it!

Baili Weisheng, standing close to Jun Buli, could clearly sense him taking deep breaths, his patience nearing its absolute limit.

“I’ll ask you one last time—will you talk, or not?” Jun Buli bit out, word by word.

“Can’t remember. Sorry!” Situ Jing’er remained stubbornly defiant.

To everyone’s surprise, Jun Buli, without another word, grabbed her bare foot and yanked her close.

“Let go of me, what are you doing!”

“Jun Buli, don’t think just because you’re the Emperor of Da Zhou that I’m afraid of you! Let go!”

…

Situ Jing’er shouted, but Jun Buli ignored her entirely, hoisting her over his shoulder with her head hanging upside down, and before the Xiao family guards could catch up, his figure shot over the high walls and out of the Xiao estate.

“My, my, truly a man who shows women no tenderness at all,” Baili Weisheng watched with great interest, giving chase as well.

The moment they cleared the Xiao estate, Jun Buli carried Situ Jing’er straight into the mountain forest. Along the way, Situ Jing’er pounded on his back and shouted at the top of her lungs!

“Jun Buli, let go!”

“Help, someone, this is molestation!”

“Jun Buli, bullying a woman like this—are you even a man?”

“Jun Buli, don’t think I don’t know your name is Xiong Xiaobao, you wretched brat!”

“Wretched brat?”

Baili Weisheng froze, and at almost the same instant, Jun Buli stopped in his tracks too. No one had called him that in a very, very long time.

But the moment Jun Buli stopped moving, Situ Jing’er suddenly, viciously bit down on the fleshiest part of his backside!

The fleshiest part… where exactly?

Only heaven, earth, and the two of them themselves would ever know.

In the darkness, Jun Buli’s body went instantly rigid, his expression frozen solid. Baili Weisheng, following behind, saw Situ Jing’er dangling upside down from Jun Buli’s back but couldn’t quite make out what was happening.

He quickly caught up, falling into step beside Jun Buli. “Not moving anymore?”

“Go… you… go on ahead.”

Jun Buli’s face had gone deathly pale, and he barely managed to force these words through gritted teeth.

Baili Weisheng, assuming Jun Buli intended to take this girl to wherever Consort Li was staying, asked, “Which way?”

“Ahead… straight ahead!” Jun Buli forced out a few more words.

“You all right?” Baili Weisheng asked, suspicious. Something seemed off with this fellow—could it be because of that “wretched brat” comment?

A child who’d grown up alone would naturally carry certain psychological scars, certain sensitive words that could trigger him—Baili Weisheng understood this well enough. Seeing Jun Buli not answer, he didn’t press further, simply walking on ahead.

The moment Baili Weisheng was out of earshot, Jun Buli immediately clamped down on Situ Jing’er’s waist, hissing venomously, “Let go!”

But for a long moment, Situ Jing’er gave no response whatsoever, still biting down stubbornly on the fleshiest part of his backside.

“Are you letting go or not!” Jun Buli finally exploded, viciously grabbing her and hurling her forward through the air.

Had he actually released his grip when he threw her, Situ Jing’er would certainly have been flung with tremendous force—if not killed outright, then badly injured. Given Jun Buli’s decisive, domineering nature, one would have expected him to let go without hesitation.

But the furious Jun Buli, for reasons even he couldn’t explain, didn’t let go at all, still gripping Situ Jing’er’s hand tightly as he let her drop to the ground beneath him!

Situ Jing’er landed face-down, sprawled on the ground, and had it been daytime, one would surely have seen just how red the tips of her ears had turned!

In truth, she’d only bitten him in a moment of desperation, but she’d never imagined the timing would be so unfortunate—her random bite had landed squarely on his backside.

She was mortified beyond words, wishing she could dig a hole and crawl into it, crawl all the way back to Xijing, and never venture out to cause trouble again.

Jun Buli glared at her, breathing hard with fury, though he himself was puzzled why he hadn’t simply flung her away. After a moment’s thought, he decided it must have been out of consideration for her parents.

At this point, Baili Weisheng, having heard the commotion, doubled back. Seeing the scene before him, he couldn’t help rubbing his chin, asking suspiciously, “Jun Buli… did you get the information out of her?”

Still fuming, Jun Buli only now remembered the matter at hand. He immediately planted a foot on Situ Jing’er’s back, pressing down harder, saying coldly, “One more chance. Talk!”

Situ Jing’er wasn’t frightened by him—she was frightened by her own earlier actions, filled with panic, in no mood to argue with Jun Buli anymore. She answered readily, “Every time, it came from the westernmost courtyard of the Xiao family estate. But I’ve never seen who was playing it.”

The moment she finished speaking, Jun Buli and Baili Weisheng both moved simultaneously, their figures blurring like light and shadow, vanishing in an instant.

Situ Jing’er, aching all over, took a good while to recover enough strength to climb up off the ground, cursing under her breath, “Wretched man! Brat! Bear-Buli! You’d better never come asking me for help again! Hmph!”

As she cursed, she straightened her clothes, but couldn’t help wondering who exactly Jun Buli and the others were looking for!

Just as she was about to follow after them, Consort Li, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, came walking toward her with a smile.