Pang Xiao’s sword tip dripped with blood, the cold gleam in his phoenix eyes sharp and piercing. His slanted sword brows raised slightly, as if thoroughly enjoying the scent of blood. He crouched down and said: “How does it feel? Comfortable?”

The man prostrate on the ground was already trembling all over from pain. He truly wanted to faint directly, but the intense pain pulled at his consciousness, making him more lucid than ever before.

“Your Highness, I was wrong, I know I was wrong, Your Highness spare my life!”

The man’s pleas for mercy were so weak as to be barely audible, but in the hall so quiet that even a dropped pin could be heard, his voice was like a heavy hammer pounding mercilessly on everyone’s hearts.

Madam Lu had long been frightened pale. Only after a long while did she come to her senses, frowning: “How can Prince Zhongshun be so cruel?”

“Cruel? What kind of thing is this? This prince still thinks he’s defiled A’lan’s precious sword!” Pang Xiao wiped the blood stains from the sword on the man’s body and casually tossed it toward Ji Zeyu.

If it were someone else, they would have been stunned by Pang Xiao’s sudden action, but Ji Zeyu remained frost-faced and motionless in place.

With a sharp “clang,” the sword accurately returned to the scabbard at Ji Zeyu’s waist.

Pang Xiao’s graceful sword toss, Ji Zeyu’s complete trust, and the murderous aura simultaneously emanating from both men left everyone present feeling uneasy.

Li Helan looked at these two supremely handsome men, her ears burning even hotter.

Madam Lu pressed her cherry lips together and smiled slightly, saying with her heart stirring: “Forget it, since Your Highness needs this to calm your anger, it doesn’t matter if Your Highness takes all these men.”

Hearing this, those male favorites all looked at Madam Lu in disbelief.

They never imagined that Madam Lu would so readily send them away.

Looking at the person on the ground who had fallen into semi-consciousness with both arms disabled, they all trembled like sieves, kneeling down in unison and kowtowing repeatedly.

Pang Xiao laughed coldly: “Aren’t these all Madam Lu’s precious darlings? Speaking this way, aren’t you afraid of breaking their hearts?”

Madam Lu had wanted to say “To earn your smile, what would their lives matter?”

But when she raised her eyes to meet Pang Xiao’s gaze flashing with sinister cold light—even while smiling, he was still full of murderous intent, like a fierce beast ready to pounce and devour people at any moment—Madam Lu’s words stuck in her throat, and she wouldn’t dare speak them even if beaten to death.

Ji Zeyu tightened the collar of his fox fur and said to Li Helan: “Princess, please enjoy yourself here at leisure. You must have a thoroughly good time. This minister will take his leave first.”

Having spoken, he nudged Pang Xiao with his arm, indicating they should leave together.

Li Helan panicked and hurriedly chased after their steps: “This palace has nothing to play with. Prince Consort, escort this palace back to the Princess residence!”

Ji Zeyu turned back to glance at Li Helan indifferently: “This minister is foolish and cannot serve the Princess well. I’ll have to trouble the Princess’s attendants to properly serve Your Highness.” He politely nodded and stepped forward again.

Li Helan was truly panicking now.

Though Ji Zeyu had been cold to her before, he had never been so polite yet distant as now. Only now did she realize that Ji Zeyu’s coldness toward her wasn’t the most frightening thing—because Ji Zeyu’s nature was inherently cold. The most frightening thing was Ji Zeyu suddenly becoming polite to her.

They had known each other for quite some time, and when they met before, Ji Zeyu had never been so formal.

Only now did Li Helan realize that after their grand wedding, though one lived in the Princess residence and one in the Prince Consort residence, having only consummated their marriage on their wedding night, Ji Zeyu’s overall attitude toward her had been cold but with some casualness mixed in.

Li Helan truly regretted her past actions. She shouldn’t have been greedy and tried to play around with such experiments. Ji Zeyu was already like that—how could they continue as husband and wife in the future?

Li Helan chased for several steps, watching the black and white figures walking away quickly without any reluctance, and finally couldn’t help but cry.

Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu walked side by side, remaining silent throughout their departure from the Loyal and Brave Marquis residence.

Pang Xiao felt indignant on Ji Zeyu’s behalf.

But he also understood that Ji Zeyu had probably prepared himself mentally for various situations from the moment he agreed to become an imperial son-in-law.

Throughout history, though there were many gentle, kind, noble, and elegant princesses, those like Madam Lu who kept male favorites were not few.

Marrying a princess meant the husband and wife weren’t on equal footing from the start—the princess was the master, the prince consort was specifically meant to serve the princess. When the princess had needs, she would summon the prince consort to the princess residence so he could be intimate with his wife. On ordinary days, without the princess’s summons, the prince consort not only couldn’t touch the princess’s finger but couldn’t even keep a concubine by his side.

Such was the helplessness of serving the imperial family.

Pang Xiao felt that with Ji Zeyu’s talent and character, being a prince consort was truly beneath him. But he also understood that Ji Zeyu’s current situation was also one of achievements threatening the master—his predicament was equally difficult.

Ji Zeyu’s agreement to become Li Helan’s prince consort was probably the result of multiple considerations.

The two left the residence gates without a word. They saw their mounts pawing in the snow, having trampled the ground into a muddy mess, while beside them, Qin Yining was lifting the carriage curtain to look their way.

Seeing Qin Yining, Pang Xiao felt joy in his heart but couldn’t show it on his face. He coldly rebuked: “What are you still doing here? Do you want to go back in and continue enjoying yourself with Madam Lu?”

Qin Yining glanced at Ji Zeyu, then lowered her eyes and dropped the window curtain. Without answering a word, she ordered the carriage to depart.

As the sound of horse hooves gradually faded, Ji Zeyu said helplessly: “Don’t you like Miss Qin? Why be so harsh and hurt her heart? How will you make amends later?”

Pang Xiao replied: “The daughter of an enemy—what use is liking her?”

Hearing this, Ji Zeyu sighed softly in silence, patted Pang Xiao’s shoulder: “Thank you for earlier.”

“No need for thanks between brothers. But A’lan, you could mention this matter to the Emperor.”

“What use would speaking of it be? The Emperor doesn’t have that much leisure to manage such vulgar affairs. Besides, I was originally meant to serve the Princess—whatever the Princess wants to do is her freedom. She can keep male favorites, but I can only remain chaste for her.”

Ji Zeyu was habitually taciturn, only speaking so freely before his brother, no longer sparing words like gold.

Pang Xiao said: “Forget it, don’t think so much. I’ll treat you to drinks. Come, let’s go to my place.” He pulled the reins and nimbly mounted his horse.

Ji Zeyu also led his horse over and looked up at Pang Xiao sitting upright on horseback: “I heard your legitimate mother has returned. Is it convenient to drink at your place?”

“The Prince’s residence is so large—surely there’s a place for us two to drink? Stop being long-winded. Let’s go.”

Ji Zeyu asked no more questions, mounted his horse and followed Pang Xiao to the Prince’s residence. The two drank together in the outer courtyard study until midnight, both getting drunk and sleeping sprawled on the heated kang in the study.

As for Qin Yining, it wasn’t until the evening of the next day that she caught Qin Huaiyuan at leisure and told him everything about yesterday’s events. Finally, she asked worriedly: “Father, can we truly not afford to offend the Lu family lineage?”

Qin Huaiyuan nodded: “The Lu family lineage was already a renowned great family in the Northern Ji Kingdom. Their economic power is unfathomable—saying they’re wealthy enough to rival a nation probably isn’t an exaggeration. Originally, because the Lu family was loyal to the Emperor and provided grain and silver for the rebel army, Great Zhou had the capability to destroy the Northern Ji Kingdom. This shows their current influence.”

“That Madam Lu, though only from a branch of the Lu family, even being from a branch—in Great Zhou’s capital, anyone surnamed Lu must be dealt with carefully.”

Hearing this, Qin Yining frowned thoughtfully. After pondering for a moment, she said worriedly: “Father, my actions yesterday probably completely offended Madam Lu and Princess Anyang. Do you think I might have inadvertently provoked the Lu family? Harmed our family? I’m really afraid of bringing trouble to our family.”

Though she didn’t regret her decision, she was still concerned about the Qin family.

After all, the Qin family had just established a foothold in Great Zhou—how could they afford to be enemies with a great family like the Lu lineage?

Seeing his daughter’s rare dejected appearance, Qin Huaiyuan couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

“Silly girl, what are you thinking about? Have you forgotten what father told you the other day? Don’t worry about so many things—just do what you think is right. If something happens, father will handle it for you. We came into this world not to suffer grievances. So what if the Lu family lineage is powerful?”

Qin Yining looked at Qin Huaiyuan’s hearty laughing face and couldn’t help but chuckle softly: “Father is right—I was being too constrained. No matter how strong the enemy, we cannot retreat. Besides, I believe with father’s abilities, becoming a renowned minister is only a matter of time.”

Father and daughter conversed happily, just like their days in Great Yan.

Qin Huaiyuan had no sons, only Qin Yining as his daughter, so naturally he cherished her beyond measure.

And Qin Yining was never someone who took advantage of being favored. Her maturity and open-mindedness that didn’t match her age, plus the fact that no matter what court affairs Qin Huaiyuan discussed, she could offer her own insights—father and daughter truly got along well, making Qin Huaiyuan increasingly want to treat his daughter better to compensate for all the suffering she endured in her youth.

After two days like this, some rumors suddenly emerged outside.

It was said that Madam Lu and Fourth Miss of the Qin family had incompatible birth charts and had long had conflicts. Madam Lu heard that the Qin family’s current residence was rented, and actually declared she would buy that house—even if it remained empty, she wouldn’t rent it to the Qin family. She wanted the Qin family to learn their lesson about who could and couldn’t be offended in the capital’s territory.

Hearing this news, Qin Yining couldn’t help but laugh with amusement.

“How interesting. This Madam Lu is quite entertaining. With her around, my days in the capital won’t be so boring.”

Seeing Qin Yining like this, Bingtang couldn’t help but frown and scold: “Miss is too carefree! You’ve offended Madam Lu so much that she wants to drive away the entire Qin family. If this matter reaches the Old Dowager’s, Madam’s, and Master’s ears, will you have any good days left? Instead of thinking of countermeasures now, you still have the leisure to praise Madam Lu?”