“Are you awake, Sister?” Luo Wushuang asked, her voice cautious. Knowing she was in the wrong, she held the medicinal bowl with both hands and offered a fawning smile.
Shangguan Liqian closed her eyes, refusing to acknowledge her.
The slight curve of Luo Wushuang’s lips faltered. She set the bowl down on a nearby side table and turned to pour a cup of warm water, leaning close to Shangguan Liqian as she whispered, “Drink some water first to soothe your throat.”
Hearing that voice again, Shangguan Liqian pulled the thin quilt higher, shielding herself from Luo Wushuang’s gaze. She still had no intention of speaking to her.
She was incensed by the girl’s reckless lack of restraint, yet equally embarrassed by her own repeated surrenders the night before. At the mere thought of the endless, creative “tricks” Luo Wushuang had employed, Liqian wished she could simply expire on the spot.
She truly did not know how to face the culprit at this moment.
Unfortunately… the culprit in question possessed an incredibly stifling presence.
One moment, Luo Wushuang was trying to feed her medicine; the next, she was offering food. Then, she even started clamoring to apply ointment to the places where Liqian was finding it difficult to move.
Liqian could grudgingly accept the first two, but she drew the line at the last one. No matter how many sweet words Luo Wushuang whispered, Liqian could not cast aside her pride.
The night was the night, but the day was the day. In the broad light of day, such a thing was absolutely forbidden!
“Be good, Sister. The ointment will make you feel better,” Luo Wushuang coaxed patiently.
“Go away!” Liqian’s voice was hoarse, but her stance was firm.
Luo Wushuang felt helpless. She truly didn’t want the other woman to remain in discomfort and was trying to think of a way to persuade her when Liqian shifted slightly on the bed. The movement only served to clarify the extent of her physical distress.
Remembering how Wushuang had acted exactly as she pleased—unrelenting and insatiable—shame and resentment flickered across Liqian’s face, which she intentionally chilled into a mask of coldness.
Her gaze swept over the medicinal vial in Luo Wushuang’s hand. The Empress’s knuckles were well-defined, and veins even pulsed slightly against her skin from the tension of her grip.
“Leave the medicine. Go review the memorials!” Liqian commanded softly, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Meeting that chilly gaze, Luo Wushuang instinctively shrank her neck. Her Sister’s eyes were cold and carried a hint of danger. She decided it was best to be obedient now; otherwise, there would certainly be no “sweet fruit” for her to eat later.
Luo Wushuang gave a placating smile, carefully placed the vial within Liqian’s reach, and dutifully retreated behind the screen to handle the government documents.
Watching her figure disappear, Shangguan Liqian let out a small sigh of relief, her gaze momentarily lost in thought. After a long while, she endured her exhaustion, sat up, and reached for the vial. As soon as she opened it, a refreshing, herbal fragrance drifted out.
Behind the screen, Luo Wushuang listened intently. When she caught the faint scent of the medicine, she finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then, she buried her head in the scrolls, ready to do battle with the mountain of paperwork.
Unlike yesterday, today’s memorials included more than just nagging pleas for the Emperor to select imperial consorts. There were several reports regarding the military clashes between the Kingdom of Liang and the Kingdom of Qi.
Luo Wushuang pushed the wordy, nonsensical reports aside and pulled the relevant documents toward her, narrowing her phoenix eyes as she extracted the critical information.
Since the war between Liang and Qi began, Feng Liuli had led her troops personally. However, the results were far from ideal.
One defeat followed another. Tens of thousands of her hundreds of thousands of troops had been wiped out, and she was currently struggling just to hold her ground.
Luo Wushuang could understand her cousin’s obsession with that Fourth Princess of Qi—they had met once, after all—but that didn’t mean she would risk making enemies of the other nations just to pay the bill for Feng Liuli’s romantic entanglements.
If you love someone, having the ability to snatch them to your side is a skill. Likewise, if you get beaten to death for it, you deserve it!
Thinking of her own history of “loving and killing” with Shangguan Liqian, a trace of sweetness and pride surfaced in Luo Wushuang’s eyes. She knew her Sister couldn’t bear to kill her. As long as she lived, she would pursue her Sister until the very end.
Sure enough, Heaven rewards the persistent! Her Sister had agreed to marry her.
The sixteenth day of the seventh month would be the auspicious day for their grand wedding.
With her own happiness within reach, she saw no reason to place the Kingdom of Luo in jeopardy for the sake of Feng Liuli’s love life. So what if she was a cousin? They had barely met.
Family ties? They were non-existent to her. Except for her Sister, everything else was an illusion.
Luo Wushuang knew exactly what she wanted. Having endured such a wretched childhood, her personality had grown dark, and her heart had shrunk. It was now only large enough to fit exactly one person—Shangguan Liqian. There was no room for anyone else.
It was undeniable that this nominal cousin had helped her before she ascended the throne, but Luo Wushuang had already paid her back in full. Now? Considering that Feng Liuli had helped her find her enemies, Luo Wushuang’s promise to help her protect her female general was already an act of extreme benevolence.
One had to remember that the Fourth Princess of Qi was a formidable warrior. Previously, she would often stop halfway through a campaign and retreat because her army was starving. Now, with the support of the Kingdom of Jiang and the Kingdom of An, their food supply issues were resolved. Who could stop that “God of Slaughter” now?
To clash with such a monster for a nominal cousin? Not worth it. Not worth it at all.
After carefully reading through the reports, Luo Wushuang leaned back in her chair. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pondered the urgent matters at hand.
The political marriage envoy had already entered the capital safely. The court and the commoners were all waiting to see where the various Princes and Princesses would be settled. To prevent complications, she needed to finalize the candidates for the marriage alliances as soon as possible.
With the decisive battle between Liang and Qi imminent, she also had to keep her word and send people to meet Liu Yun.
As for Feng Liuli, Luo Wushuang was truly powerless. Even if a ruler surrendered, they were destined to lose their freedom. And based on what she knew of her cousin, Feng Liuli would rather die a glorious death than crawl at someone else’s feet to survive—especially if that person was the one she could never have.
It seemed Feng Liuli’s death was almost a certainty. The only variable was the manner of it.
Aside from that, there was the matter of Master Yujing.
Luo Wushuang remembered how, before they had news of him, her Sister would constantly ask her to investigate his whereabouts. Now that they knew where he was, why was her Sister hesitating?
Luo Wushuang’s brow furrowed. She stood up and quietly slipped out of Phoenix Hall.
After ordering her Personal Guards to send men to You City—a border city of the Kingdom of Luo adjacent to the Kingdom of Liang—to meet Liu Yun, Luo Wushuang hesitated for a moment. She then summoned Ling Yun and ordered her to personally travel to the Western Regions. She was to bring Master Yujing back safely and with the utmost speed.
Luo Wushuang didn’t want to be kept in the dark anymore. She wanted to know exactly what her Sister was hiding from her. She had asked several times, but since her Sister didn’t want to speak, Luo Wushuang couldn’t bring herself to force the issue.
Fine. She would find the answers her own way.
She suddenly realized that, compared to before, she had become much greedier. Now, she didn’t just want her Sister’s person; she wanted her heart. She wanted to know every thought and feeling her Sister possessed.
However, she wasn’t yet prepared for her Sister to know these intentions. She wasn’t sure if Liqian would still indulge her like this if she found out.
If her Sister ever looked at her with that expression of disgust again… Luo Wushuang thought she might truly go insane.
