Chapter 111: Luo Wushuang, Master of Mind Games (Against Herself)

Luo Wushuang and Shangguan Liqian sat regally upon the high dais, looking down at the crowd and taking in everyone’s reactions.

To their left sat Prince An, Luo Wuyan, mischievously teasing the little fox in her arms. To the right was Lou Yanhui, the Princess of the Western Regions, whispering softly to Luo Yunjin.

Luo Yunjin’s features bore a thirty-percent resemblance to Luo Wushuang’s, but her face was so pale it lacked even a hint of color. Her frame was frail, looking as though a gust of wind might knock her over.

No wonder the Princess of the Western Regions takes such meticulous care of her…

Shangguan Liqian’s curious gaze lingered on Luo Yunjin for a fleeting moment before she looked away.

Further down the hierarchy sat the titled imperial relatives and high-ranking officials. The seating was arranged strictly by rank. Shangguan Qingyun was technically still under orders to “recuperate” at home and shouldn’t have attended the Flower Viewing Banquet. However, by the Empress’s grace, he had been granted special permission to bring his family into the palace.

Consequently, Shangguan Qingyun and his wife occupied the very front of the civil officials’ section. Behind them sat the unmarried daughters of the Shangguan family and the young master, Shangguan Shi. Seeing the group dressed in such flamboyant finery, it was clear they had put great effort into their appearance for the banquet.

Yet, among them, Shangguan Liqian spotted a familiar figure.

It was Shangguan Qinglan, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Shangguan family. However, the woman sitting beside the Heir of the Marquis of Dingyuan no longer possessed her former air of gentle elegance. With her garish clothing and unrefined makeup, she had lost the poise she’d held when she first married into the Marquis’s Manor. Instead, she looked like a desperate rival to the seductive, flighty concubine sitting on the Heir’s other side.

Luo Wushuang followed her gaze and leaned in, whispering with a hint of boastful pride, “I bestowed two ranked concubines upon the Heir of the Marquis of Dingyuan. Their ranks aren’t high, but just enough to qualify them to attend a palace banquet.”

Shangguan Liqian glanced at the gloating Luo Wushuang, asking skeptically, “You only sent two?”

Luo Wushuang coughed twice, her expression shifting to one that suggested she could hide nothing from her sister. She continued in a low murmur, “There are also ten secondary concubines, twenty bed-warmers, and a number of beautiful maids.”

Shangguan Liqian’s hand froze as she raised her teacup. She nearly spat out the tea she had just sipped. With such a relentless stream of women being funneled into the Marquis’s Manor, it was no wonder Shangguan Qinglan had withered into her current state.

If only… if only she’d had a child to secure her position back then, she wouldn’t have fallen to the point of squabbling with concubines for favor, would she?

This was truly a case of reaping what one sowed.

Shangguan Liqian felt not a shred of pity for her sister’s plight. Instead, her heart was filled with the satisfying clarity of vengeance fulfilled. Compared to the misery she had endured in her past life, what was this bit of suffering for Shangguan Qinglan?

She was no merciful Bodhisattva who couldn’t bear to see the world’s hardships. Her heart was forged of iron.

Luo Wushuang carefully observed Shangguan Liqian’s expression. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice even further, sounding slightly guilty. “I was thinking of scouting two suitable secondary consorts for him in a couple of days.”

With the Empress backing them, those newcomers might even find the right opportunity to replace Shangguan Qinglan entirely. Wushuang just didn’t know if Liqian still harbored a lingering trace of mercy for those who were once her family. Deep down, she hoped Liqian truly didn’t care about those cold-blooded people, just as she appeared. Yet, she feared her actions might backfire, causing Liqian to feel pity for those beasts once again.

Even if Shangguan Liqian did feel a momentary pang of compassion, Luo Wushuang wouldn’t blame her. Her sister had always been kind-hearted and gentle to everyone; it was only natural she couldn’t stand to see people—or animals—suffer. The fault lay entirely with the Shangguan family; they were the ones who had manipulated her.

Luo Wushuang’s gaze swept over Shangguan Qinglan. She made no effort to hide the loathing in her eyes. It was this woman who had constantly jumped between her and Liqian, stirring up endless trouble. If not for her, Liqian would have been hers long ago…

[Xiaobai: Is it possible she just didn’t want to be with you back then? Hahaha, poor little Luo-Luo.]

Shangguan Liqian had no idea that Luo Wushuang had spiraled through so many thoughts in a few short breaths. However, hearing the guilt in the Empress’s voice, Liqian glanced at her sideways and teased, “Don’t you ever get tired of the drama?”

Seeing that her sister wasn’t angry, Luo Wushuang’s courage grew. she leaned in flirtatiously, about to speak, only for Liqian to pinch her arm and glare her back into place.

Meeting Luo Wushuang’s “damsel in distress” eyes, Liqian felt a tiny pang of guilt, but her gaze quickly cleared. She whispered a stern warning, “You are the Empress Regnant. Mind your image.”

Luo Wushuang, who currently cared nothing for her image, gave a listless sigh. Her phoenix eyes turned toward the crowd below, burning with a repressed fire.

Her gaze first landed on Luo Yunjin and Lou Yanhui. Just as the Princess of the Western Regions had said, her imperial sister looked like she didn’t have much time left. It seemed she would need to send a few more Imperial Physicians to the Princess Manor to keep watch. Yunjin couldn’t be allowed to die yet; otherwise, there would be no reason for the Western Princess to keep working for her.

Next, her gaze shifted to Luo Wuyan and the little fox. Luo Wushuang curled her lip. The fox looked weak and none too bright. How could it possibly hurt her?

In her opinion, her sister was simply overthinking things. However, the thought that Liqian was overthinking because she was worried about her made Luo Wushuang’s mood brighten instantly.

Why does Sister worry about me and not anyone else? It must be because she loves me! Sister loves me so much!

Having successfully comforted herself, Luo Wushuang continued scanning the crowd of young women for a suitable candidate for the political marriage alliance.

This one looks too fragile, not suitable. That one looks too domineering; the Prince of Baiyue probably won’t like her. This one… that one… this one…

She kept shaking her head internally until her eyes met those of Shangguan Qinglan, who had been staring at Liqian with a face full of resentment for some time.

Luo Wushuang’s gaze became piercing, filled with unmasked disdain and mockery as she stared right back.

You little brat! I’ll play you to death!

Sitting beside her, the Heir of the Marquis of Dingyuan noticed the Empress’s gaze. Terrified, he sat frozen in his seat, as quiet as a cicada in winter. Catching the idiocy in his wife’s blatant stare out of the corner of his eye, he punched her hard under the table.

“You fool! If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!”

Shangguan Qinglan looked at the man beside her—her husband, who played the part of a refined gentleman in public but was a tyrant at home. Her expression was a mix of a smile and a sob, tinged with a manic frenzy.

This was her “good” husband. When he needed her to secure benefits, he was all tenderness and charm, faking a deep marital bond. He had tricked her into using her own child as a gambling chip to pay for his family’s ambitions. But the moment she could no longer manipulate that “wench” Liqian for the Marquis’s Manor’s gain, she was discarded like a worn-out shoe.

Now, not only did the concubines at home insult her, but even the male servants had learned to look down on her. Her orders were met with nothing but half-hearted compliance. It wasn’t just the Marquis’s Manor; even her own parents blamed her for failing to keep the “wench” in the palace under her thumb.

When she had been mistreated at the Marquis’s Manor, she thought her parents’ home would be a sanctuary. But after only two days, her mother had politely ushered her out, claiming that a married woman staying at her natal home would find it hard to win back her husband’s heart.

Now, she lived as a joke in her husband’s house and had no place left in her own family.

Yet, she never reflected on her own faults. Instead, she believed everything was Shangguan Liqian’s doing. If it weren’t for Liqian, her child wouldn’t be dead, her in-laws wouldn’t be targeting her, and her family wouldn’t have abandoned her.

Thinking of the women the Empress had sent one after another, Shangguan Qinglan gritted her teeth in hatred. She was certain that the “wench” Liqian was behind it all. Why else would the Empress, busy with ten thousand affairs of state, suddenly take an interest in the offspring of the Marquis of Dingyuan?

Sensing the gaze on her hadn’t moved, Shangguan Qinglan lowered her head, feigning a submissive appearance. In reality, the venomous malice in her eyes nearly spilled over.

Shangguan Liqian, you just wait. Since I’m suffering, don’t think you’ll get off easy. The more people in this mud pit, the livelier it gets, doesn’t it?