My Girlfriend is a Cold and Aloof Sickly Beauty 146

Chapter 146: The Emperor’s Favorite

“Of course, Your Highness and I sleep here!”

Before Xiao Linghan could answer, Cang Ling replied seriously. “But compared to sleeping, I prefer watching the stars with Her Highness all night, until dawn.”

She thought for a moment, then added, “This is something we always wanted to do when we were alive, but never could.”

Not to mention that people in ancient times were used to going to bed early, just their identities alone wouldn’t have allowed them to stay up all night.

Cang Ling was the same age as Jiang Xue and the others. By the time she was old enough to work in the Office of Astronomy, Xiao Linghan had already become a renowned general of Beiliao, and they rarely saw each other.

Now, having been brought to this world after death by causality, their past regret was finally fulfilled.

Afraid of dampening the mood, Xiao Linghan quickly said, “If you want to stargaze in the future, I can accompany you anytime!”

Besides the rooftop, the Jiang and Xie families also had small courtyards. Wherever Cang Ling wanted to stargaze, Xiao Linghan would take her there.

“Okay! Pinky swear!” Cang Ling, innocent and pure, acted like a child in front of her, extending her finger and touching the robot’s shovel hand, then said to Jiang Xue and the others, “After we return home, I’ll take care of Your Highness’s vessel.”

“…Do you think your elder sister and Cang Ling will really get together?” Jiang Xue asked Xiao Luohan after the power came back on, and the couples returned to their respective rooms, snuggling into bed.

Xiao Luohan thought seriously. “Maybe this is a ‘sunset love.’ I don’t quite understand it either, but Elder Sister should know what she’s doing, and she seems happy.”

After all, both Elder Sister and Cang Ling were over a hundred years old. The difference in age and experience between them and the younger sisters was too great. It was better to just observe their progress.

“Yes! That makes sense,” Jiang Xue nodded vigorously. “Actually, I don’t quite understand the relationship between Mom and Mom either… oh, and Dr. Qi and Teacher Sui, I don’t understand their way of interacting either. Maybe that’s just how older adults are?”

She stopped dwelling on it. Remembering that they had to get up early for the airport tomorrow, she opened a music app and played a recording of her calculus class to help herself fall asleep.

But after listening to the beginning, she quickly switched to instrumental music. “No! The traditional Chinese medicine major requires calculus! I have to break this habit!”

Although the calculus lecture was truly effective for inducing sleep!

The night was quiet, only the occasional chirping of insects and cicadas came from outside.

Perhaps because she had stargazed with Xiao Luo and listened to Cang Ling’s explanations before bed, as soon as Jiang Xue entered the dream, she found herself high in the sky.

Like a scene from an anime or a game, she floated high above, her nightdress billowing in the wind, and looking up, she could see the twinkling stars.

But no matter how beautiful the starry sky was, it couldn’t hold her attention. She instinctively looked around, searching for Xiao Luohan.

Where was her Xiao Luo?

She had promised her that if they had the chance to stargaze alone again, she would help her measure the altitude of the North Star.

Jiang Xue floated aimlessly in the air, but remembering that she hadn’t measured the altitude of the North Star yet, she flew towards it.

After an unknown amount of time, she saw a bright beam of light descending from the North Star.

…No, to be precise, it was a pillar of light.

As if drawn by it, she kicked off the air with her bare feet and shot towards it like an arrow.

The pillar of light gradually grew larger, and she stared at it in disbelief.

She saw her princess.

But Xiao Luohan was wearing clothes she had never seen in her wardrobe, and it wasn’t something she would have worn in ancient times.

It looked like… the imperial robe worn by the protagonist in the Empress route of Non-Dream?

Suddenly, Jiang Xue recalled what Xiao Luo had said while stargazing before bed.

—”The North Star is also called the ‘Emperor Star,’ and emperors always use it to bolster their authority.”

She had woken up in the dream, originally thinking that it was just a piece of trivia that wouldn’t leave much of an impression, but unexpectedly, she had actually wanted to see Xiao Luo dressed in imperial attire.

But that made sense. If the ancient world had been a matriarchal society, there wouldn’t have been any princesses sent to Daying for marriage alliances.

Jiang Xue marveled at this, happily circling around Empress Xiao Luo, thinking about what role she should play, when she suddenly felt an arm around her waist.

Empress Xiao Luo held her, and they ascended together in the pillar of light, as if ascending to heaven.

Jiang Xue: ???

When she came back to her senses, she found herself lying on a spacious “imperial bed.”

The style seemed to be the one Cang Ling had chosen recently—on the day they returned from the racetrack, she had introduced Cang Ling to the photo studio owner who worked with Teacher Sui, and Cang Ling, browsing through the sample photos in the owner’s Moments, had chosen an antique-looking indoor scene suitable for some “emperor and subject” roleplay between lovers.

This imperial bed was part of that scene, or in modern terms, “the Empress’s bed.”

Jiang Xue stared at the patterns, speechless, and felt something approaching. Looking up, she met Xiao Luo’s gaze, who had removed her crown.

“…Which of your subjects am I?” Thinking of the potential uses of this scenario, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but ask.

“My favorite, of course,” Xiao Luohan’s demeanor was aloof, her voice indifferent, but the fingers pinching her cheek and the soft lips that pressed against hers were warm.

Jiang Xue was a little intimidated by this Xiao Luo, but then she thought that Xiao Luo must also have a darker side.

It was just that Xiao Luo had always hidden it well, only revealing a little when she felt most at ease with her.

And since dreams stemmed from the subconscious, was she dreaming of this Xiao Luo because her subconscious had already noticed this?

Thinking this, she was determined to continue this dream. Only by continuing could she leave the dream, return to reality, and ask Xiao Luo if this was truly the case.

Looking down at Jiang Xue, who was blinking at her, Xiao Luohan felt a little guilty.

When they left the rooftop after the power came back on, Cang Ling had stopped her, saying mysteriously, “The stars are bright tonight, we can borrow their power to weave a dream.”

She hadn’t understood what it meant at the time, not until she fell asleep with Jiang Xue and met her in the dream.

As expected of a former high-ranking official from the Office of Astronomy, she could actually communicate with the power of the stars and connect their dreams.

…And even “smuggle in her own desires” in this dream.

But precisely because only she knew the origin of this dream, Xiao Luohan could be bolder and reveal another side of herself to Jiang Xue.

It was good to lay the groundwork in a dream. This way, if Jiang Xue saw this side of her next time, she wouldn’t be afraid.

With an indifferent expression, she “favored” the subject before her from head to toe, trying out all the things she usually restrained herself from doing.

Jiang Xue felt like she was trying to salvage Xiao Luo’s true self from beneath the surface.

Every touch, every kiss, every nibble, she compared them to the Xiao Luo she usually interacted with, trying to deduce what Xiao Luo was suppressing.

She quickly pieced together a part of it: besides the fear of death, what Xiao Luo feared most was probably loneliness.

In the cold palace, the only people she could truly build lasting relationships with were her mother and elder sister.

During the journey for the marriage alliance, she had been alone.

Living in Wangmei Pavilion, she had also been alone.

So that’s why Xiao Luo valued Shizhu so much and had etched the transtemporal Jiang Xue so deeply into her life.

Xiao Luo’s desire to have her wasn’t just because they had experienced life and death together.

If nothing unexpected happened, she could truly fill the loneliness in Xiao Luo’s heart, and for a lifetime.

Moreover, whether it was because of the mutual attraction between their souls, or because she was truly captivated by Xiao Luo’s charm, Jiang Xue was also willing to spend her life with her.

Thinking this, facing Empress Xiao Luo, she suddenly felt a surge of emotion and couldn’t help but say something “chuunibyou”:

“Grind me into pieces and merge me into your body, become a part of you! Don’t be afraid.”

Don’t be afraid that I’ll be scared of you, I understand your loneliness.

The listener, however, fell silent, then after a few seconds, pulled her into an embrace, burying her face in Jiang Xue’s neck as usual.

“What if I don’t want to?” Xiao Luohan murmured.

She only wanted the lively and cheerful Jiang Xue who would smile and respond to her.

“Uh… then don’t,” Jiang Xue replied, also feeling embarrassed. Fortunately, this was a dream, so she could avoid some “social death.” “Anyway, it’s your choice, I was just suggesting.”

Besides that, she vaguely felt that Empress Xiao Luo’s aura had softened.

As if she had transformed from a man-eating lion back into the usual Ragdoll cat.

This familiarity made her instinctively reach out and pet the head so close to hers.

It seemed that the Xiao Luo in her subconscious was still so well-behaved… if she could selectively ignore the various marks on her body, it would be even more convincing.

Just as she thought this, she felt a warmth on her earlobe. The cat had only been well-behaved for a moment.

After playing with Empress Xiao Luo for a while longer, Jiang Xue, afraid that her emotional fluctuations in the dream would affect her rest—she often felt exhausted after leaving a “dream within a dream” or a chase dream—gave Empress Xiao Luo a “stop” signal.

“That’s enough for today. Even as your ‘favorite,’ I still have to attend court early tomorrow morning!” she said, playing along and adopting the role Empress Xiao Luo had assigned her.

Xiao Luohan didn’t object. They had to get up early to catch their flight tomorrow. Even if this dream was a gift woven by Cang Ling from the Office of Astronomy, they had experienced and prepared enough, it was time to wake up.

…But there was a problem.

Cang Ling’s “assistance” had been too casual, she hadn’t taught her how to enter a dream, and naturally, she couldn’t teach her how to leave a dream either.

And she had been observing Jiang Xue for a long time and knew that Jiang Xue had already realized she was in a dream. Logically, since they were both conscious in the dream, they should be able to leave.

But that wasn’t the case, and this place was different from the “mindscape” at the beginning.

After some thought, she grabbed the red and yellow quilt from the side, pulled Jiang Xue down onto the imperial bed with her, and covered them both with the quilt.

“Let’s sleep.”

Then they could only sleep here and wait for their bodies to wake up naturally, bringing their consciousness back.

Taking advantage of being in a dream, Xiao Luohan not only pulled Jiang Xue into her arms but also covered Jiang Xue’s stomach with her hand.

Jiang Xue didn’t know why the sensations in today’s dream felt so real. She had already been “covered in marks” from Xiao Luo’s kisses, and now they were not only burning, but also incredibly itchy. Even though Xiao Luo’s hand was over her nightdress, she still felt uncomfortable.

She tried to endure, but soon, she couldn’t help but wriggle in Empress Xiao Luo’s arms, trying to scratch the itch.