Jun Buli, of course, had no idea what things had actually been like back then in the world of poisonous beasts, but he’d heard from the Golden Monster that at the time, Mother had made all of them leave—no one had been allowed to stay behind.
In this whole world, Mother was probably the only one who truly knew how she’d endured it back then.
At least this time, Mother had a midwife and maids by her side. When she’d given birth to him, she’d had absolutely nothing—not even anyone to cut the umbilical cord!
A full day and night had passed, and still the baby hadn’t come. Jue Mingzi understood exactly how dangerous this was, but he didn’t dare say so aloud. Even as a physician, there were times he felt utterly powerless, and at this moment, he stood with hands clasped, silently praying to the heavens that this ordeal would soon pass.
But it was precisely at this moment that a palace guard came rushing over, whispering urgently into Jun Buli’s ear, “Your Majesty, Consort Li has an urgent matter—she says you must come at once.”
“Get lost!” Jun Buli spat the word out flatly. Though he understood Consort Li’s position perfectly well, if it weren’t something truly urgent and important, she wouldn’t have sent a guard to relay a message like this.
But between Consort Li and Mother, he would, of course, choose Mother. In truth, if Mother ever genuinely severed ties with him for good one day, he would still choose Mother, and find some other way to deal with Consort Li.
It was only because Mother’s attitude hadn’t hardened to that point yet that he still hoped to keep this relationship in balance—after all, Consort Li was still his best option.
Though Consort Li had never revealed where she came from, nor what exactly the vampire clan truly was, he knew that if Consort Li existed, then surely other members of her kind existed too.
But without being able to confirm this for certain, he didn’t want to take any risks. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he had no wish to push that woman too far.
The vampire clan’s true horror might well rival that of the human Gu!
Seeing Jun Buli’s attitude, the guard hesitated, but couldn’t help reminding him, “Your Majesty, Consort Li says it’s an extremely urgent matter—she insists this subordinate bring you back at once.”
Jun Buli said nothing, simply glaring fiercely at him, startling the guard into immediately retreating and fleeing without another word.
Just at that moment, another pained cry suddenly echoed from the birthing room, and everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, the whole courtyard falling into silence—which only made Ziqing’s cries sound all the more desolate, all the more helpless.
Jun Beiyue suddenly slammed his fist into the wall, nearly cracking it through!
At that moment, no one dared approach him, let alone say anything to him. Even Jun Buli didn’t dare. Even if Baili Weisheng had been there, he surely wouldn’t have dared open his mouth either.
Complete silence fell, and the waiting continued, another half a day passing.
Half a day was more than enough time for Consort Li to make her way over from the palace with full ceremonial procession. Consort Li was, without question, a woman who could make as grand a show of things as possible, and the distance from the palace to Prince Yao’s manor wasn’t even that far.
She’d actually mobilized over three hundred attendants—even if the Empress herself were leaving the palace, such an extravagant display would be unlikely!
Whether the attendants had done so deliberately or simply hadn’t dared say otherwise, whoever had relayed the message to her had only told her that His Majesty was occupied and wouldn’t be coming.
So she’d made her grand, sweeping procession all the way to Prince Yao’s manor. But once there, with a whole crowd waiting at the gate, no one came to answer for the longest time.
By this point, Ziqing had been in difficult labor for two days and two nights, and the entire manor was on edge, everyone gathered anxiously around that courtyard. Except for the guards stationed in secret, virtually no one remained at their normal posts.
“Knock knock knock!”
The eunuch knocked on the door for a long while with no response. Consort Li’s expression soured—she hadn’t originally planned on leaving the palace at all, but she’d just received an extremely important piece of news and was eager to share it with Jun Buli.
She’d have staked her own beauty on it—she was certain Jun Buli would find this news very interesting indeed!
Seeing that no one was coming to open the door, Consort Li finally said quietly, “What’s going on here?”
The crowd below her stayed silent, not one of them daring to speak up.
“Little Li, come here!” Consort Li said coldly, calling over the one who’d relayed the earlier message.
Little Li lowered his head and hurried over. “This one is here.”
“What’s happening inside? How did you get in earlier?” Consort Li asked coldly.
“I knocked and was let in,” Little Li said quietly, a flicker of cunning crossing his eyes, though he said nothing further.
“Then why can’t you get the door open now? Go knock again!” Consort Li said, displeased.
“Yes!” Little Li hurried over again, but this time, he couldn’t get anyone to answer either.
At this point, Nanny Xu, standing beside Consort Li, spoke up quietly. “Your Highness, could something have happened? This isn’t the palace, after all—perhaps we should head back and wait?”
Nanny Xu’s concern wasn’t unreasonable. If this weren’t Prince Yao’s manor, given Consort Li’s temperament, she’d probably have already gone and smashed the door down.
“This matter can’t wait. I must tell him right away!”
Consort Li said coldly, though a complicated flicker passed through her eyes. What she needed to tell Jun Buli truly was a major matter—something so significant it couldn’t wait at all!
There had been movement among the vampire clan in Xijing—her king was showing signs of awakening. She was terrified!
Before the king awakened, no member of the vampire clan was permitted to leave the blood altar. She was the one who couldn’t bear the loneliness and had slipped away—if she were discovered, she’d surely meet a death so terrible her body would never even be found.
She feared nothing in this world except death.
Thinking of this, Consort Li personally leapt down from the carriage and strode toward the side gate, pounding on it with surprising force. Such a beautiful, coldly elegant woman, yet pounding on the door so roughly—the servants gathered there could only stare in bewilderment.
Nanny Xu was alarmed—even the side gate of Prince Yao’s manor couldn’t be knocked on like that!
At that moment, Little Li quickly stopped her, whispering, “Nanny Xu, do you think Her Highness doesn’t have a brain of her own? Does she need you to teach her?”
Nanny Xu froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. “You insolent wretch, who are you calling brainless!”
“Nanny Xu! Shh!” Little Li quickly pulled her aside, whispering, “Nanny Xu, just go along with Her Highness. If you ask me, Her Highness should cause more of a scene like this. If she doesn’t, she’ll just be stuck suffering in the palace forever. I hear that ever since His Majesty came back, he’s barely gone to see her at all, always staying here at Prince Yao’s manor instead?”
Nanny Xu knew better and said coldly, “What do you know? His Majesty goes to see her every single night! Does he need to report that to you?”
“That’s not what I meant, I just think…”
But before Little Li could finish his sentence, a sudden, deafening crash rang out.
In an instant, everyone turned to look, and at that same moment, Consort Li’s hand froze mid-air, her exquisitely beautiful face draining completely white, her mouth agape in shock.
How could this be happening?
She’d only been knocking, and the side gate of Prince Yao’s manor… had actually collapsed!
Everyone was utterly stunned, taking a long moment to recover—everyone except Little Li, who seemed to have known this would happen all along. A cold, knowing smirk curled at the corner of his lips as he silently slipped away to the side.
Nanny Xu, snapping back to her senses, jumped as if she’d been stuck with a needle, rushing forward. “Consort Li, how did you possibly—”
Consort Li slowly turned to look at her, utterly dumbfounded. She hadn’t done it on purpose—she had no idea how the gate had ended up like this either!