Hongyi’s face had gone deathly pale, her expression filled with dread as she practically fled the scene!
She’d completely forgotten that her mistress was waiting for her to bring dinner. She hid alone in the kitchen, standing frozen for a long while before she managed to collect herself.
Yingzi and Physician Gu’s words kept echoing in her ears—about Shiliang, about the secret, about keeping it from her mistress, about bringing Shiliang along at his side, and about replacing her with Shiliang instead!
Why was it that back when she herself had asked to accompany Her Highness on this journey, the Prince hadn’t said a word, yet now he’d secretly brought Shiliang along, even taking her to the Poison Den together!
Yingzi had said this couldn’t be allowed to reach Her Highness’s ears, that she’d be heartbroken if she found out!
Yingzi had also said that Prince Yao himself wouldn’t be able to explain this to Her Highness!
What exactly could this matter be, that it would break Her Highness’s heart, and that couldn’t even be explained away?
However she turned these words over, it all seemed to point toward something between Prince Yao and Shiliang!
The thought made Hongyi’s already pale face turn a shade whiter still.
What should she do? Should she tell Her Highness?
But what if things weren’t at all what she suspected—wouldn’t she be causing a disaster for nothing?
For a moment, Hongyi felt utterly torn. Going by what Yingzi and Physician Gu had said, once the Prince returned, Shiliang would take her place, and she herself would be sent back to Da Zhou.
Regardless of who they were, the number of attendants allowed to accompany guests invited to Nanzhao was strictly limited. With so many honored guests already present, the King of Nanzhao certainly wouldn’t bend the rules.
And if her suspicions turned out to be correct—if there really was something between Shiliang and Prince Yao—and she were sent away while Her Highness remained completely in the dark, that would be truly disastrous!
Wouldn’t Her Highness be cruelly deceived and betrayed by that ungrateful wretch Shiliang, for nothing!
The more Hongyi thought about it, the more anxious she became, her thoughts spinning into chaos. Between a master and a maidservant, there was, after all, often an ambiguous undercurrent to their relationship—in great households, especially within royal families, maidservants were frequently expected to attend to their masters’ more intimate needs as well.
Yet Hongyi knew Prince Yao’s character quite well—he simply wasn’t the type of man inclined toward such things!
Reassured by this thought, Hongyi tried to comfort herself, telling herself it must simply be some matter he didn’t want to worry Her Highness with—surely it wasn’t what she suspected at all!
But then another thought struck her, and her irritation flared again—she remembered that day back at the royal capital’s princely estate, when Her Highness had suffered through detoxification, and both she and Guxi had been worried sick, while Shiliang alone had shown barely any reaction at all. So cold-hearted!
And there was more—not only Her Highness, but even Prince Yao himself had remarked more than once that Shiliang’s temperament resembled Her Highness’s own most closely of anyone.
And just as Hongyi found herself utterly torn with worry, things over at Ziqing’s quarters, quiet all day long, suddenly grew lively again.
No sooner had Situ Haonan stepped through the door than Yelu Qianqian’s voice rang out right behind him!
“Situ Haonan, you have no honor! You lied to me!”
“Come out here! You promised me, and now you’re going back on it—come out!”
…
Ziqing regarded Situ Haonan coldly, her meaning unmistakable—she wanted him gone. With Jun Beiyue away, this fellow wouldn’t have come at all without good reason, and if he had come, it would surely be to avoid Yelu Qianqian, since Yelu Qianqian would never set foot inside her quarters.
Situ Haonan wore an expression of pure distress, clasping his hands together repeatedly, begging Ziqing to let him take refuge!
“You liar, you promised me the other night!”
“Situ Haonan, I swear, after this one time I’ll stop bothering you—come out!”
…
With Yelu Qianqian still shouting outside, Situ Haonan, without waiting for Ziqing’s permission, hastily sat himself down, offering an apologetic smile. “It’s just about that hunting trip—I promised her before.”
Ziqing had already caught on, and said with displeasure, “A promise made should be a promise kept.”
“No good—I already promised Jun Beiyue I’d stay put,” Situ Haonan said earnestly.
Listening to the shouting outside, Ziqing couldn’t help but frown. “Who else did the Second Young Beast Master invite this time?”
“Originally it was just going to be the few of us, but I don’t know how word got out—now the Empress of Dongqin and the Xiliang envoy have both heard about it too, and they all want to come along,” Situ Haonan replied.
Ziqing was about to ask more when, unexpectedly, Yelu Qianqian burst straight in, glaring furiously at Situ Haonan. “Are you coming or not!”
“Not going!” Situ Haonan answered without hesitation, his voice even louder than hers.
To everyone’s surprise, Yelu Qianqian burst into tears on the spot. These were her last few days of freedom—she’d wanted nothing more than one final, carefree outing with Situ Haonan before being confined and sent off to marry into Xiliang!
Once married to Xiliang, wed to a man she didn’t love, that would be the whole of her life from then on—reduced to nothing more than a decorative ornament kept beside some ruler.
Ziqing assumed the girl was blaming her for Situ Haonan’s refusal, and explained impatiently at once, “Yelu Qianqian, I never invited you in here, nor did I ask Situ Haonan to stay. Go on your trip, both of you—just leave me be.”
“It’s you—he’d already promised me! Who else besides you and Jun Beiyue could make him change his mind!” Yelu Qianqian demanded.
Ziqing, exhausted from the entire day and now both hungry and weary, genuinely had no patience left for this. “Situ Haonan, get out of here!”
Situ Haonan flinched violently and scrambled up to flee at once. But to everyone’s surprise, this time Yelu Qianqian didn’t chase after him—instead, she simply sat down right where she was and burst into loud sobs, burying her face against her knees.
Ziqing had never cared for women who cried easily, especially not those who wept openly in front of others.
“It’s just a hunting trip you can’t go on—is that really worth crying over, Princess Qianqian?” Ziqing said flatly.
“I just wanted to go hunting with him, so what if I cry about it—so what!” Yelu Qianqian said, not even lifting her head, her voice thick with tears.
“If you want to cry, go cry somewhere private. Crying in front of others—aren’t you embarrassed?” Ziqing added.
“I want to cry in front of others! If there’s no one around, what’s the point of crying at all!” Yelu Qianqian shot back with surprising conviction. With that, she leapt to her feet, glaring at Ziqing with unmistakable resentment.
Yet even as she spoke with such righteous indignation, her hands moved with equal conviction, wiping away every last trace of her tears, sniffling once before declaring seriously, “Which eye of yours saw me crying? I wasn’t crying at all!”
With that, she turned to leave. Had this been Chu Feiyan, or Gu Suying, or Gu Meiting, Ziqing might well have kicked her straight out the door by now. But this was Yelu Qianqian.
The bonds between people were strange things, perhaps—Ziqing didn’t actually dislike this girl at all.
Finally, she found herself speaking up. Situ Haonan was a fool, but Ziqing certainly wasn’t. Yelu Qianqian had been clinging to Situ Haonan for who knows how long now, and every single time, hadn’t she ended up wounded, one way or another? Every single time, hadn’t she stood strong through his rejections, even his cold, cutting words?
Yet this time, she’d cried. There had to be a reason behind it!
“Girl, tell me why you’re so determined to go hunting with Situ Haonan. Maybe I can help you,” Ziqing said flatly.
At these words, Yelu Qianqian, who’d nearly reached the threshold, suddenly stumbled, tripping and falling flat on her face with a loud “thud,” her forehead striking the doorframe hard enough to draw blood, the pain nearly bringing fresh tears to her eyes!
Yet even in pain, she scrambled back up at once, staring at Ziqing. “You…!”
Ziqing wasn’t truly as kind-hearted as all that—and besides, Jun Beiyue had specifically told her to keep a low profile. Yet somehow, inexplicably, she found herself genuinely moved by sympathy for this girl. Perhaps helping her this once would settle the debt from having used her once before.