A stinging, burning pain radiated across her body, forcing Shangguan Liqian to drag her heavy eyelids open.
The familiar scene before her caused the fog in her mind to slowly clear.
Wasn’t this the place where she had been imprisoned for seven years? Why… why was she suddenly here again?
As Liqian attempted to lift her hand, the heavy clatter of iron chains echoed beneath her. It wasn’t just her hands; even her feet were shackled tight.
Hadn’t she died? She had seen it clearly with her own eyes—Luo Wushuang carrying her lifeless body into the Imperial Tomb. How could she be back here?
While Liqian’s mind was still reeling, a voice—so familiar it brought a sting of tears to her eyes—rang out from behind her.
“You belong to me. If you try to run again, I will personally see to your punishment.”
Luo Wushuang stood there, her bright yellow phoenix robe flecked with spots of blood. Her features were cold and strikingly beautiful, radiating an innate nobility and authority. Her gaze was chilling, yet… possessed by a flicker of madness.
Watching the ruthlessness gradually take hold of Luo Wushuang’s eyes, Liqian felt her vision blur. She stared at her without blinking. Had she truly been reborn?
Otherwise, how could she be seeing a living Wushuang again?
To be certain, Liqian specifically cast her gaze downward toward Luo Wushuang’s feet. Those bright yellow phoenix boots were planted firmly on the ground.
It was real… it was Wushuang! A living, breathing Wushuang!
Luo Wushuang followed her line of sight down to her own feet. When she looked up again, the coldness in her eyes had deepened.
“Do you think I don’t know where you hid that drug?”
Drug? Liqian paused, then it quickly clicked. That was just one of her countless, failed attempts to escape Luo Wushuang’s side in the past. She had even forgotten what kind of medicine she had used back then.
Certain that she had truly returned to the past—and that the woman who had been obsessed with her for so many years was alive again—Liqian was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of joy and shock. Tears began to fall from her eyes like pearls from a broken string.
The overbearing Luo Wushuang froze. Seeing her cry, the Empress’s imposing aura instantly shattered into panic.
“Did I… did I just hurt you?”
Luo Wushuang rushed forward, discarding her regal poise to climb onto the bed, leaning down to check on her.
Liqian tried to stop her, but her limbs were bound so tightly she couldn’t move.
“No… wait!”
Liqian called out urgently, trying to halt her movements, but she was a step too late.
Seeing Luo Wushuang turn back with a jar of medicinal salve, intent on stripping her clothes, Liqian was so frantic she began to sob, unable to get a full sentence out.
“It will be over soon. Be good. Once I’ve applied the medicine, it won’t hurt anymore.”
Luo Wushuang’s movements were incredibly practiced. It wasn’t until the salve was fully applied that Liqian finally released her tightly bitten lower lip.
Fortunately, she was only applying medicine. Liqian had genuinely feared that Luo Wushuang might lose control of her primal instincts right then and there.
Tossing the jar aside, Luo Wushuang leaned over slightly, carefully inspecting the red marks left by the shackles on Liqian’s wrists and ankles.
The color had darkened, appearing like blood-red, patterned bracelets.
As her slender hand gently brushed over the purplish bruises, Luo Wushuang felt a pang of heartache and sorrow.
Why won’t you ever learn? I only want Sister to stay by my side. Why must Sister insist on running away?
The people outside are not kind to her. I am protecting her… why can’t she see that I treat her well?
Moved by the heartache and guilt visible in Luo Wushuang’s eyes, Liqian softened her voice for the first time across two lifetimes, speaking with a hint of a spoiled plea:
“Wushuang, will you hold me?”
Everything felt surreal. She desperately needed a hug to prove that they were both real, living people.
However, she wasn’t met with a warm embrace. Instead, Luo Wushuang reacted with anger and suspicion.
“What trick are you playing now? Can’t you just stay by my side honestly for once?”
Liqian: “…”
The one time she had ever taken the initiative in two lives, her efforts were crushed into dust.
Still, she knew it was because of her long history of “priors” that she wasn’t trusted. She wanted to apologize for the countless times she had hurt the Empress in the past, but it felt too abrupt.
Looking at the defensive Luo Wushuang, Liqian felt a sense of helplessness. She had no idea how to break this frozen deadlock.
Just as her mind began to wander, a shadow suddenly loomed over her. In the next moment, she was pulled tightly into Luo Wushuang’s embrace.
“You’ve had your way. Whatever scheme you have, use it quickly.”
Luo Wushuang let out a bitter laugh. She knew this was likely just a tactic to make her lower her guard, yet she couldn’t bring herself to give up this hug—a hug the other woman had actually permitted.
Everything between them had been forced upon Liqian; nothing had ever been voluntary.
Thus, as long as Liqian spoke, Luo Wushuang found herself unable to control the urge to satisfy her, just as she was doing now.
Luo Wushuang sighed deeply in her heart. If only these were her true feelings…
Unfortunately, it was nothing but an extravagant hope.
Luo Wushuang lowered her head, kissing Liqian’s pink lips with a desperate ferocity. Her teeth bit down hard on the delicate skin, and soon, the scent of blood filled the air.
Seeing Liqian lying motionless on the bed, silently enduring the rough treatment, the light in Luo Wushuang’s eyes gradually dimmed.
She had hurt her again…
But the moment she thought about how everything Liqian did was for the sake of escaping her, Luo Wushuang couldn’t control herself.
It hurt, but Liqian bore it in silence. It wasn’t until the Empress stopped that she spoke softly.
“I’m sorry.”
Hearing her voice, Luo Wushuang lifted her head as if she had expected it.
Her gaze was filled with a touch of self-mockery, as if asking how she planned to run away this time.
Liqian instinctively wanted to look away, but she forced herself to meet those bloodshot eyes.
“Wushuang, I won’t run anymore. Will you… believe me one last time?”
The name “Wushuang” was something Luo Wushuang had forced her to say in their previous life, using the lives of the entire Shangguan clan as a threat.
Back then, though the Shangguan family had treated her poorly, Liqian had still harbored a faint hope. She had hoped that one day, her blood relatives would truly accept her—rather than mocking her for catching the Empress’s eye while simultaneously using her to squeeze benefits from the throne.
And once her usefulness had been exhausted, they had ended her life with a cup of poisoned wine, claiming they were helping the family purge a “disgrace.”
Hah. If I was a disgrace, then the Shangguan family members who played nice while stabbing me in the back weren’t even worthy of being called human.
Looking back, she had been terrifyingly stupid.
She wouldn’t sacrifice a single thing for that cold, cruel family ever again.
In this life, she wanted to try and accept this Empress—the “younger sister” who had imprisoned and loved her for seven years, all because of a single, insignificant act of kindness Liqian had once shown her.
Thinking of how Luo Wushuang would dominantly call her “Sister” whenever she grew emotional, using every means necessary to force a response, Liqian suddenly felt like laughing. In those moments, there was an indescribable childishness to Luo Wushuang that the Empress herself didn’t even realize.
Hearing the promise not to run, Luo Wushuang’s expression didn’t change at all.
She was tired of hearing these words. Hadn’t “Sister” grown tired of saying them?
“Sister is being naughty again, lying to me.” Luo Wushuang lowered her head, kissing those ravaged red lips as a form of punishment.
Liqian looked at the stubborn Luo Wushuang and merely let out a soft groan, offering no resistance.
Only after Luo Wushuang released her did she stare at the Empress’s lovely, angry face and repeat herself seriously:
“Whether you believe it or not, I won’t run away again. You can judge me by my actions from now on.”
