After a long moment of admiration, and under Luo Wushuang’s persistent urging, Shangguan Liqian finally shed her elaborate palace robes. In their place, she donned a gown of ivory silk, shimmering like moonlight and frosted starlight—a style currently all the rage in the capital.
When paired with her makeup for the day, words failed to describe her beauty. She looked like a divine goddess who had descended from the highest heavens into the mortal realm.
However, the moment they stepped into the carriage, Luo Wushuang immediately began to regret her decision.
Sister is so beautiful; how can I let others just stare at her?
Every time Shangguan Liqian lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to peer outside, the jealousy in Luo Wushuang’s phoenix eyes became nearly impossible to suppress.
Everyone out there is an eyesore! What is there to look at?
Sensing the scorching gaze fixed upon her, Shangguan Liqian turned around and arched an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to take me out?” she asked, a hint of helplessness in her voice.
She couldn’t exactly sit in the carriage and engage in a staring contest for the entire trip, could she?
Luo Wushuang, who wanted nothing more than to dote on her sister, let her gaze wander over Shangguan Liqian’s picturesque brows and her enchanting, moving face. Then, a realization hit her like a delayed thunderclap.
Once they stepped out of the carriage, who knew how many eyes would be glued to that face?
That is absolutely unacceptable!
Sister belongs to me. She is mine and mine alone! No one else is allowed to look!
“Ling Yun, have someone bring a beautiful veiled hat inside,” Luo Wushuang commanded huffily.
She turned back, lifting her eyes only to meet Shangguan Liqian’s gaze, which was dancing with amusement. Luo Wushuang looked away awkwardly for a second before her eyes were drawn back to her sister, unable to help herself.
“It’s all Sister’s fault for being too beautiful!” she grumbled, her voice a mix of childish complaint and immense pride.
Seeing Luo Wushuang’s youthful, pouting demeanor, Shangguan Liqian couldn’t help but press a hand to her forehead and let out a soft laugh. Compared to her previous life, this version of Wushuang was so much more vivid, so much more… likable.
The carriage came to a halt in front of a bookstore that Shangguan Liqian was particularly fond of. Luo Wushuang didn’t hop out until she had ensured her companion was thoroughly veiled and covered.
When Wushuang reached out her hand, Shangguan Liqian found herself naturally taking the offered support to disembark. Then, she adjusted her grip, holding the Empress’s hand in return.
Luo Wushuang looked down at their interlaced fingers, her lips curving into a smile of pure, unadulterated joy.
After browsing the bookstore and watching a play, Luo Wushuang glanced at her sideways. “Is there anywhere else Sister would like to go?”
Shangguan Liqian hesitated for a moment. “I want you to take me to—”
Before she could finish, the thunderous sound of galloping hooves cut her off. A group of teenagers, dressed in vibrant silks and mounted on spirited horses, swept past them with boisterous laughter and shouts. They were the very picture of youthful vigor and vitality.
Shangguan Liqian’s eyes flickered, and she swallowed the words “Prince An’s Manor.”
She had originally intended to have Wushuang take her there to see if Shen Youran truly feared the Dragon Qi, as Master Yujing had suggested in her dream. But the moment the words were about to leave her lips, she recalled the expression Wushuang wore whenever Prince An or Shen Youran was mentioned. She realized that now was perhaps not the right time to bring them up.
Wushuang had brought her out of the palace with such joy; she didn’t want the Empress to return home brooding with anger.
While Shangguan Liqian was lost in thought, Luo Wushuang, who hadn’t heard the end of the sentence, leaned in closer. “What did Sister say? It’s all the fault of those reckless brats. I didn’t hear a word!”
Hearing the habitually reckless Luo Wushuang criticize others for being reckless made Shangguan Liqian smile. When she looked up again, she had changed her mind.
“I want you to take me for a ride in the city outskirts.”
“Of course!” Luo Wushuang agreed instantly. She watched the trailing figures of the young men and women in the distance and chuckled. “It turns out Sister likes excitement too.”
Shangguan Liqian merely smiled without responding.
She didn’t actually care for the excitement. She simply had a sudden urge to see Wushuang on horseback.
A floodgate of memories suddenly burst open. In her mind’s eye, she saw a vision of herself—disheveled and wretched—and a figure in red hunting silks closing in on her from atop a horse.
That was the Luo Wushuang of two years later.
Just like the teenagers who had just galloped past, that Wushuang possessed the unique spirit of youth, but her eyes were far more sinister, and her expression was cold and manic.
She remembered that she had tried to use Wushuang’s hunting trip as an opportunity to escape, only to run in the wrong direction and stumble directly into the path of the Imperial Procession.
That time… Luo Wushuang had been furious. Beyond furious.
It was also the first time the Empress had ignored her protests, forcing herself upon her in the wilderness, with the open sky as their blanket and the earth as their bed.
That night of relentless torment had ruthlessly broken the final fragment of pride Shangguan Liqian had managed to keep after being imprisoned.
She supposed that was the moment she began to hate her, yet also the moment she found it impossible to forget her.
Shangguan Liqian lowered her gaze, her eyes growing damp.
Time had passed and things had changed, yet she still felt a pang of sorrow for the person she had been back then. That humiliation and helplessness had stayed with her until the day she died in her previous life.
If she hadn’t witnessed Wushuang’s madness and devotion after her own death, she probably… would never have forgiven her.
What she hadn’t known was that after that incident, Luo Wushuang hadn’t set foot in Phoenix Hall for over six months. It wasn’t because she was angry about the escape attempt, but because she was consumed by regret for treating her that way.
During the many times they were forced into intimacy afterward, Shangguan Liqian’s gaze would often drift to the complex, jagged scars that spanned Wushuang’s chest and abdomen. Yet, she had never asked about them.
Naturally, she never knew how that stubborn, absurd ruler had punished herself after that night, nor how much she had feared facing the woman she loved.
The past was like the wind, a dream, a wisp of smoke…
And yet, she still wanted to untie the knots in her heart from that past life.
She wanted to know if, this time, should she stubbornly refuse, Wushuang would still act with such reckless disregard.
Having received no answer for a long time, Luo Wushuang glanced over, catching the flash of complicated emotion and resentment in Shangguan Liqian’s eyes.
Luo Wushuang froze, then asked cautiously, “Is Sister unhappy?”
Shangguan Liqian looked away, avoiding those concerned eyes. Her voice turned cold. “I am not.”
Luo Wushuang pursed her lips, replaying their conversation in her mind, but she couldn’t figure out why her sister’s attitude had suddenly shifted.
After ordering her subordinates to buy some local snacks and pastries, Luo Wushuang pulled her back into the carriage. Fighting back her own rising anxiety, she reached out and cupped Shangguan Liqian’s face with both hands.
She waited until their eyes met, until Shangguan Liqian could no longer hide her emotions. Then, Luo Wushuang whispered, “Is Sister angry with me?”
Shangguan Liqian remained silent. Moments ago, she had been worried about upsetting Wushuang, but now her own heart was filled with turmoil. If she wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t want the other woman to feel well either.
Such was the fickleness of a woman’s heart.
“Tell me what I did wrong, and I’ll learn, okay? I’ll be very obedient,” Luo Wushuang’s voice came, sounding small and pitiful.
The tight string in Shangguan Liqian’s heart suddenly snapped, and she found her previous thoughts somewhat ridiculous. Compared to her past life, Wushuang had already changed so much, hadn’t she?
Since she knew that the human heart could rarely withstand being tested, why did she insist on making herself miserable?
However, she still needed Luo Wushuang to tell her personally—to promise her—that no matter what happened, she would never trample upon her dignity. Otherwise, the events of her past life would remain like a thorn in her throat, making her ache and overthink.
Did she ever truly respect me as a lover…?
A flash of sharp pain crossed Shangguan Liqian’s eyes. Overwhelmed by the memories of her past life, her voice trembled as she asked, “Wushuang, if I wanted to run away right now, would you be very angry?”
