Jun Buli left the Xiao Manor to the Four Great Poison Beasts to handle, gathered up the poisonous beast army, and headed up the mountain with Consort Li.
He walked quickly, not waiting for Consort Li at all, which annoyed her enough to stamp her feet. “Your Majesty, if you keep this up, I’ll just fly up ahead, fly right in front of everyone!”
Jun Buli stopped abruptly and turned to glare at her, his dangerous aura making her instinctively shut her mouth. She obediently followed him step by step.
But before long, Consort Li started up again. “Your Majesty, you could carry me up and fly. Walking like this, how long will it take?”
Jun Buli didn’t answer. Besides poison arts and beast arts, the one thing he was best at was ignoring women.
“Your Majesty, it’s not as if you’ve never carried me before.” Consort Li wouldn’t let it go.
At that point, Jun Buli finally spoke coldly, reminding her, “You reek of blood.”
Baili Weisheng’s nose was sharper than a dog’s, and Consort Li, having just fed on blood, still carried traces of its scent. So he had no choice but to walk with her, using the time and the mountain wind to let the smell fade.
That excuse was more than sufficient. Consort Li shrugged in resignation and could only follow him step by step.
But before they’d walked far, she asked again, “Your Majesty, is that Princess Jing’er up there too?”
Of course Jun Buli knew Consort Li was still holding a grudge—Situ Jing’er had drugged her, leaving her legs so weak she couldn’t even stand.
After all, for vampires, the thing they feared most was laxatives. If they ingested a laxative, the consequences were ten times worse than for an ordinary person.
“Don’t you dare scheme against her,” Jun Buli warned coldly.
“I’m just a helpless consort with no combat ability—what scheme could I possibly have against her? She’s a martial arts master and a princess of a nation, with powerful backing…”
Consort Li continued, ignoring Jun Buli’s displeasure. “Your Majesty, that little princess—in a few years, once she comes of age, she’ll probably marry off far away to Da Zhou.”
Marriage alliances between princesses were entirely normal, and given the close relationship between the Da Zhou royal family and the Xijing royal family, the likelihood was even greater—though Situ Jing’er was still young and it would be several years before her coming-of-age ceremony.
But ten years old wasn’t that young either—throughout Da Zhou’s history, there had been plenty of consorts as young as thirteen or fourteen giving birth to imperial princes. A woman unmarried at twenty would be looked down upon as old.
If Prince Yao and Prince Yao’s consort hadn’t returned, perhaps Consort Li wouldn’t have paid Situ Jing’er any mind. But now that those two towering figures were back, they would certainly get involved in Jun Buli’s marriage prospects.
Of course Jun Buli could marry her and leave her cold and forgotten as a mere ornament in the harem. But given Situ Jing’er’s temperament and status, she would clearly turn the entire harem upside down!
To Consort Li, Situ Jing’er was a potential enemy!
The implication behind Consort Li’s words was something Jun Buli surely understood—Situ Jing’er’s arrival would mean trouble not just for Consort Li, but for Jun Buli too.
Who knew what was going through Jun Buli’s mind—in any case, he simply didn’t answer Consort Li.
Consort Li couldn’t help but feel irritated. She hurried to catch up and looped her arm through his, saying softly, “Your Majesty, I actually have a solution that could satisfy everyone.”
Jun Buli pulled his arm free and said coldly, “You just want to marry her off to someone else.”
“Your Majesty is truly wise.” Consort Li laughed cheerfully, looking every bit like a cunning spirit.
“That’s out of the question. Don’t concern yourself with it,” Jun Buli said coldly.
“Your Majesty!” Consort Li pressed on, but for the rest of the walk up the mountain, no matter what she said, Jun Buli no longer responded.
The moment Baili Weisheng and Meng Duo’er saw Jun Buli and Consort Li returning one after the other, they knew everything at the Xiao Manor had been resolved.
But Baili Xiaosheng’s expression turned to panic. After a long moment, she finally snapped back to her senses and demanded sharply, “Jun Buli, where’s my brother! What did you all do to my brother!”
“Dead,” Jun Buli said with a cold snort. This detestable girl—if she knew that Sheng Zimo was the very culprit who’d wiped out the entire Sheng clan, could she still call him “brother” so affectionately?
Baili Xiaosheng shook her head in disbelief, again and again, before suddenly erupting into furious screaming. “Impossible! Impossible!”
Jun Buli, thoroughly irritated, was about to gag her himself, when Consort Li beat him to it, stuffing the cloth into Baili Xiaosheng’s mouth and saying, displeased, “What are you shouting about, you’re deafening me!”
Baili Xiaosheng kept struggling, kept shaking her head, her emotions wildly volatile.
“You couldn’t convince her either?” Jun Buli asked.
Of course Baili Weisheng had told Baili Xiaosheng plenty as well, but helplessly, this girl had been poisoned too deeply by Sheng Zimo’s lies—she simply didn’t believe any of them.
“What a hassle!” Jun Buli spat, then glanced at Shiliang and said, “Scholar, you and Meng Duo’er escort them back to the capital.”
Meng Duo’er was foolishly about to agree, but Baili Weisheng jumped up. “Why me?”
“She’s your disciple,” Jun Buli reminded him.
“She’s your foster sister.” Baili Weisheng nearly said, “She’s your mother’s daughter-in-law,” but thankfully held it back—otherwise, he really believed Jun Buli would send orders to the border gates forbidding the two of them from passing through.
“Meng Duo’er will escort Shiliang, you escort her.” This wasn’t a discussion from Jun Buli—it was simply his habitual way of giving orders.
“You’re not coming with us?” Baili Weisheng was more concerned about this matter.
“I still have business to attend to. You all go ahead,” Jun Buli said, lying without so much as a blush. He simply didn’t want to travel with them.
Baili Weisheng had no choice but to accept, thinking to himself that this brat had better watch out—once they got back to the capital, in front of his parents, they’d see if he still dared to act so arrogant.
Of course, what Baili Weisheng really thought was: once Xiaosheng recovered her memory, trusted them, and married this brat, they’d see if this brat still dared to act arrogant in front of his “father-in-law.”
A teacher for a day is a father for life—surely a master could count as a father-in-law too. Thinking this way, Baili Weisheng generously let Jun Buli and the others go on ahead.
He turned back to look at his gagged disciple, feeling neither pity nor distress, and cheerfully hoisted her over his shoulder, saying to Meng Duo’er, “I’ll be heading off first too. Take care of yourself.”
What?
Meng Duo’er was stunned. This Baili Weisheng…
By the time Baili Weisheng had walked far off, Meng Duo’er finally snapped back to her senses. She looked at Shiliang, then at Baili Weisheng’s retreating figure, and gritted her teeth, reaching out into the air to cast an invisible thread of barrier, tethering it to Shiliang. She tugged it once, found it secure, and then, reassured, dashed off in hot pursuit of Baili Weisheng!
She didn’t get too close, just followed along behind. Baili Weisheng, of course, knew she was following, but he didn’t turn back, humming a little tune all the way down the mountain.
With Baili Xiaosheng slung over his shoulder, she had a clear view of Meng Duo’er behind them, and she could tell at a glance that Meng Duo’er had feelings for Baili Weisheng. Ten years ago, she would definitely have given Meng Duo’er a few knowing looks about it. But right now, she was still consumed with fury and grief over Sheng Zimo’s death.
She silently swore to herself that she would make all of them pay the price!
They soon reached the base of the mountain, where Jun Buli had already arranged a carriage waiting. But there was only one carriage, and Baili Weisheng boarded first, though he still had the driver wait for Meng Duo’er.