Imperial Physician Beiqiu had arrived — was there news?

Yingzi hurried to open the door, and the moment Imperial Physician Beiqiu stepped in, his expression was grim. Yingzi’s heart plunged straight into an ice cellar.

The physician walked straight in, and upon seeing Situ Haonan awake, his expression brightened at once, exclaiming with delight, “Congratulations, Princess! The Consort has finally woken! Young Master Xuanyuan truly is a miracle worker reborn!”

“Is there news?” Yelu Qianqian asked urgently.

“We’ve traced a letter belonging to the Eighth Prince — please, Princess, take a look!” Imperial Physician Beiqiu said, immediately producing a letter from his sleeve. This letter had naturally been intercepted by Yelu Chenyi’s former subordinates — after Yelu Chenyi’s death, all his guards had remained in the capital, now at Yelu Qianqian’s disposal.

Yelu Qianqian, tense with anxiety, hurried to take the letter — but instead of opening it herself, she handed it to Situ Haonan.

It was a gesture of respect toward him, after all — Situ Haonan was her man, and especially in front of the Xijing delegation, Yelu Qianqian made a point of showing it.

That such an unguarded, simple-hearted girl would think of him this deeply — heaven only knew how much she truly cared for this man.

Situ Haonan opened the letter and read it through, his expression darkening immediately — even grimmer than Imperial Physician Beiqiu’s had been moments before. Yelu Qianqian hurried to look over his shoulder, and gasped sharply, “How could this be!”

Yingzi said nothing, seeming to have guessed something already.

Situ Haonan, brow furrowed tight, tossed the letter over. Yingzi caught it and read, his heart nearly stopping.

It really was Imperial Physician Gu after all!

This was a secret letter written personally by the Eighth Prince, Yelu Chenguang, to Imperial Physician Gu, describing exactly Situ Haonan’s condition.

Xuanyuan Lige’s prediction had proven true after all — the moment Imperial Physician Beiqiu spread the false rumor, the Eighth Prince immediately couldn’t sit still and sent word to Imperial Physician Gu!

“Damned dog of a servant!” Yelu Qianqian said, her voice low and hard.

“This is bad — Prince Yao is in danger!” Yingzi cried out, turning to leave at once — but Situ Haonan called out, “Wait!”

“If he means the Prince harm, then the Prince’s life is in his hands!” Yingzi said furiously.

“Have you considered why he would do this at all? I have no grudge against him whatsoever — he has no reason to harm me. And he’s utterly devoted to Jun Beiyue — there’s no way he’d harm him either!”

Situ Haonan simply couldn’t make sense of it. If he hadn’t seen the evidence with his own eyes, he never would have believed Imperial Physician Gu capable of crossing such a line.

“Because of Ziqing — it must be because of Ziqing. You know where she is!” Yelu Qianqian suddenly blurted out.

At this, both Yingzi and Situ Haonan finally understood — they’d overlooked this entirely.

Only those who’d been present at the tornado knew what had actually happened, and where Ziqing had gone!

Imperial Physician Gu and Prince Baxian had both consistently opposed Yingzi and Jun Beichen’s search for Ziqing’s whereabouts — thinking about it that way, Imperial Physician Gu had ample reason to prevent Situ Haonan from waking up.

Because Situ Haonan knew where Ziqing had gone!

“That old bastard!” Yingzi ground his teeth, gripping his sword hilt tight, aching to storm back to the capital of Da Zhou and slaughter the old man himself.

Just then, Situ Haonan suddenly asked, “What about Bai Mengmeng?”

Bai Mengmeng?

That’s right — where was Bai Mengmeng?

Both Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian froze. It seemed no one had given this woman any thought at all — once Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan had been rescued and taken away, they’d focused entirely on finding Ziqing and had completely forgotten about her!

They’d never given her a second thought at all — completely forgotten, entirely!

Bai Mengmeng!

She knew the truth too!

“That wretched woman was the one who wounded Beiyue — I hope she’s still alive! Death would be far too easy for her!” Situ Haonan said coldly. Just thinking of the misunderstanding Bai Mengmeng had caused Ziqing filled him with fury.

He knew that physical injury meant nothing to Ziqing, in the end.

It was the wounds of the spirit that were truly fatal — especially wounds inflicted by Jun Beiyue himself!

Bai Mengmeng — that shameless, wretched woman!

“Bai Mengmeng…” Yelu Qianqian murmured, straining to remember. “Imperial Physician Beiqiu, do you recall — was there a woman rescued from Mingsha Mountain at the time?”

Imperial Physician Beiqiu shook his head repeatedly. “At the time, even Consort Gu had no time to spare — I genuinely paid no attention to that.”

“Go find out at once — who rescued that woman, whether she survived, and where she is now!” Yelu Qianqian ordered immediately.

Imperial Physician Beiqiu rushed off to carry out the order, while Yingzi could no longer contain himself. “No, I have to go back to the capital of Da Zhou. I need to confront Imperial Physician Gu and demand an explanation. Who does he think he is, how dare he!”

“Yingzi, do you really think you’d make it back out again once you returned to the capital?” Situ Haonan asked coldly.

“What do you mean by that!” Yingzi didn’t understand. “You think I’m afraid of a mere Imperial Physician Gu?”

“He has Prince Baxian behind him. Beiyue has been unconscious for a year now — the capital already belongs to Prince Baxian in all but name. If you charge in recklessly, that’s practically suicide!” A year of battlefield trials and navigating the treacherous currents of power had long since transformed Situ Haonan from the impulsive wanderer he’d once been.

In the past, he’d have been even more reckless than Yingzi. But he wasn’t who he used to be anymore.

At the very least, he now understood that brute strength alone couldn’t solve most problems. Over this past year, surely Prince Baxian hadn’t been sitting idle?

He would have guarded not just against Jun Beiyue’s old followers who supported Han Ziqing, but would surely have taken every measure possible to keep her from ever entering the capital again.

If Yingzi charged back recklessly to confront Imperial Physician Gu, what was that if not suicide?

They never should have let them bring Jun Beiyue back to the capital in the first place — they should have taken him to Sha Qiuzi’s own stronghold instead!

But it was far too late to say any of that now!

Situ Haonan’s words shook Yingzi awake. He grew so anxious he was nearly in tears. “Then what do we do — are we just supposed to let them… if Prince Yao wakes up, he’ll walk right into their deception!”

“You fool, do you think your master is someone so easily deceived?” Situ Haonan snapped sharply. Yingzi, half-mad with anxiety, didn’t know what to say, and simply shot back, “Then tell me — what do we do!”

“Find Ziqing! She’s the very last person they want to see — so we find her!” Situ Haonan stated firmly.

“Right, we find Ziqing, and let her deal with them herself. I don’t believe for a second that with Ziqing’s standing and military authority in Da Zhou, Prince Baxian would dare touch her!” Yelu Qianqian declared, righteous indignation blazing.

As for Jun Beiyue — she thought to herself that if that man still didn’t wake up, she truly didn’t care what happened to him.

Yingzi nodded repeatedly, finally calming down. In truth, their mission had never changed at all — no matter what schemes they’d uncovered, the most important thing remained finding Ziqing!

He and Yelu Qianqian had been floundering blindly for so long, and it wasn’t until they’d found Xuanyuan Lige that they’d finally seen a glimmer of hope. Yet Xuanyuan Lige, after all, wasn’t on Prince Yao’s side. Fortunately — fortunately Situ Haonan had woken, giving them a proper leader at last.

Situ Haonan took a deep breath, looking at Yelu Qianqian and Yingzi, his expression turning grave. “There’s something we need to clarify first.”

What else was there left to clarify?

Seeing Situ Haonan’s serious expression, Yelu Qianqian didn’t dare ask further, waiting obediently for him to speak.