Jun Huang got bored listening to their conversation. She excused herself and made her way through the hallway instead of returning to her room.

“What did Oleg Cragfiend say about her health?” Ji Bo asked after Jun Huang had left. “Is she recovered now?”

Nan Xun frowned and gave Ji Bo a onceover. Realizing that he’d sounded too eager, Ji Bo cleared his throat and explained. “I saw Prince Qi Yun yesterday. Hearing that I’d be visiting you, he told me to ask after Jun Huang.”

“Please tell him that Jun Huang is fine and he doesn’t have to worry,” Nan Xun said bluntly. “He should be focusing on Northern Qi.”

Ji Bo nodded awkwardly. Something unreadable flashed through his eyes, but Nan Xun didn’t notice.

Meanwhile, another trouble storm was on the horizon.

Since the empress dowager took Shangguan Yue under her wing after the fall of her family, the two of them had been staying in the imperial manor, separated from the mortal world by...