Luo Wushuang settled into the chair to test it out. It was comfortable enough at first glance, but her brow furrowed after her personal guards pushed her around for a few moments.
The chassis lacked stability, resulting in a jarring, bumpy ride. Worse yet, the seat was stiff and unyielding; if her sister sat there for too long, her back would surely ache.
I’ll need them to add soft cushions to the backrest, and…
Seeing the Empress’s frown, the Chief Superintendent’s heart skipped a beat.
It’s over! My foster father raised an unfilial son! I won’t be able to serve him in his old age after today…
Before the Superintendent could finish his internal melodrama, Luo Wushuang stood up from the wheelchair. She swept a glance over the contraption; while she wasn’t entirely satisfied, she knew the craftsmen had done their best.
After pronouncing a short, “Reward them!” she began to detail the necessary improvements.
The Superintendent, who had expected a heavy sentence rather than a heavy reward, failed to react for a moment. With a slightly distorted expression of gratitude, he scrambled to take notes, his brush flying across the paper as he recorded her every word.
Once he learned from Her Majesty that this wheelchair was intended for Lady Shangguan, the Superintendent knew his chance for a promotion had arrived.
Everyone in the palace knew that Lady Shangguan was the Empress’s very lifeblood. As long as he helped Her Majesty coax a smile onto that lady’s face, he would be able to act like he owned the place from now on.
When that time came, he’d make his foster father call him “Foster Father!”
No! He’d make him call him “Dear Father!”
Carrying this grand, ambitious dream, the Superintendent’s expression became incredibly solemn and focused.
Luo Wushuang was satisfied with the Superintendent’s attitude. She repeatedly emphasized that, in addition to comfort, the improved wheelchair had to be aesthetically pleasing.
Sister is so beautiful, Luo Wushuang thought. An ugly wheelchair is beneath her!
Having finished her list of demands, Luo Wushuang left the Imperial Workshop under the Superintendent’s fawning, bowing escort.
Back in the Phoenix Hall, Shangguan Liqian hadn’t been idle during Luo Wushuang’s absence.
Wushuang’s birthday was only two days away, and she wanted to give her a gift. Considering her limited mobility and the fact that Wushuang already possessed every worldly treasure imaginable, Liqian decided to embroider a silk pouch to express her feelings.
As for the pattern…
Liqian looked at the faint outline taking shape in her hands—a twin lotus—and the corners of her lips curved upward. Two lotus flowers blooming from a single stalk, never to be parted; they were just like Wushuang and herself.
Just as she thought of Luo Wushuang, the woman’s boisterous voice rang out from beyond the doors.
“Sister! Sister! Guess what I brought you?”
Catching the faint scent of roses and the light aroma of milk drifting into the room, Liqian smiled and tucked the pouch and needles away. She looked up just as Luo Wushuang entered, hands hidden behind her back, looking incredibly mysterious.
Liqian played along, tilting her head in thought before her crimson lips parted with a soft laugh. “Is it Rose Milk Cakes?”
“Correct! Your reward is one delicious milk cake!”
Like a child showing off a treasure, Luo Wushuang placed a plate of cakes onto the low table in front of her sister. She pinched one and held it to Liqian’s lips.
Under Wushuang’s expectant gaze, Liqian leaned forward and took a bite. It was soft and chewy—the taste was quite good.
After finishing the piece, Liqian glanced at the remaining cakes on the table and looked at Luo Wushuang with a feigned air of grievance. “How stingy.”
A whole plate of cakes, and she only gives me one?
Utterly charmed by her sister’s rare display of cuteness, Luo Wushuang hesitated for a moment before offering another. “Fine, one more reward then.”
It wasn’t that she was unwilling to let her sister eat; it was simply that since Liqian’s mobility had been restricted, her appetite had decreased. Wushuang worried that if she ate too many sweets, she wouldn’t be able to finish her dinner later.
Fearing her sister would want more if she kept looking at them, Luo Wushuang quickly ordered the servants to take the cakes away.
Just as Liqian was about to protest, she was interrupted by Wushuang’s confused voice. “What’s this? Are you hiding something, Sister?”
Liqian followed her gaze and realized that she hadn’t hidden her work well enough; a corner of it was peeking out.
“It’s nothing…” Liqian reached out to stop the mischievous girl.
But before she could finish, the half-finished pouch and the embroidery needles were snatched away by Luo Wushuang.
“Let me see what good things Sister is hiding,” Luo Wushuang said with a triumphant grin, dodging the attempt to stop her.
She looked down at the outline on the pouch, studying it carefully for a moment. “Is this a lotus? Or… a twin lotus?”
Having accidentally exposed the birthday gift, Liqian pursed her lips and remained silent.
“Is this for me?” Luo Wushuang asked, her eyes shining with anticipation.
In the past, she might have been consumed by jealousy, demand to know who the embroidery was for, and then spent her nights screaming and writhing in a dark corner out of madness. She would have wanted to interrogate anyone who even breathed near her sister.
But now, having slowly felt the warmth of her sister’s heart, she was certain this pouch was hers.
Twin lotuses on a single branch, two hearts joined forever at the ends of the earth!
Was her sister using this to express her feelings?
At the thought, Luo Wushuang’s eyebrows practically danced with joy.
Noticing Wushuang’s delighted expression, Liqian spoke in a low, teasing voice. “It was meant to be your birthday gift. Since you’ve discovered it early, I suppose I should just give it to you now.”
Luo Wushuang’s smile froze. Now?
She looked down at the clearly unfinished pouch in her hand and stammered, “Just… like this?”
Liqian nodded expressionlessly. “What? You don’t like it?”
Seeing her sister move to take the pouch back, Luo Wushuang shook her head frantically. “I love it! But…”
She had wanted to wear the finished pouch and show it off to everyone! If she took it now, clearly incomplete, wouldn’t people laugh at her? They’d probably whisper behind her back that she was so desperate for a gift that she couldn’t even wait for it to be finished.
Then again, Luo Wushuang realized she had never actually received a proper gift from her sister before.
[Xiaobai: Hahaha! The foxtail grass and the rose she stuffed in your mouth don’t count!]
This was the very first one! And because she couldn’t keep her hands to herself, she was about to ruin it…
Waaaah… so sad… so heartbroken…
Luo Wushuang stole a glance at her sister’s face, her “guilty” little hands already moving to secretly stuff the pouch back under the covers while Liqian wasn’t looking.
Shangguan Liqian watched the entire performance with a deadpan expression. “…”
She was crippled in the legs, not blind.
Once the pouch was tucked away, Luo Wushuang lunged forward, hugging Liqian’s lap and wailing at the top of her lungs with theatrical energy.
“I was wrong! I didn’t see anything! I saw nothing at all!”
Liqian’s lips twitched. Amidst Luo Wushuang’s ghost-like howling, she finally relented. “I’ll finish it! I’ll finish it for you! Stop shouting!”
Her ears were practically ringing from the noise.
Having successfully changed her sister’s mind, Luo Wushuang grinned like a little fox that had successfully stolen a treat, earning a look of utter exasperation from Liqian.
Yet, despite the exasperation, Liqian’s eyes were full of warmth.
She had only been teasing Wushuang; she never actually intended to make the woman wear an unfinished pouch out in public.
