Chapter 28: Perplexed and Confused

Luo Wushuang’s mind raced with a thousand thoughts, her eyes clouded with a complex swirl of emotions.

After a long silence, she finally suppressed the urge to have Shen Youran kidnapped immediately. Attempting to change the subject for Shangguan Liqian’s sake, she asked, “Sister, don’t you hate Prince An? Why do you care so much about why he came to the palace?”

“Sigh!”

Shangguan Liqian let out a long, weary sigh. She pulled Wushuang’s hand away from her eyes and said helplessly, “It’s not that I care about him. I’m simply worried he’ll do something to harm you.”

Meeting the sincerity in Shangguan Liqian’s gaze, Luo Wushuang hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should believe her words at this moment.

After a moment of silence, she looked up at Shangguan Liqian and said tentatively, “Then you can rest easy, Sister. I have planted many Secret Guards in his manor. Nothing he does can escape my eyes and ears.”

Shangguan Liqian was stunned for a moment, though she quickly recovered. This was certainly in line with Luo Wushuang’s character—suspicious and sensitive.

Luo Wushuang quietly observed the other woman’s reaction. Seeing that she only seemed slightly surprised, the Empress breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Although she still didn’t understand why her sister hated Prince An so much, she thought of the secret the Prince had been hiding all this time…

A glint of amusement flashed in Luo Wushuang’s eyes. She wondered how her sister would react if she knew Prince An’s true identity.

“I want to tell you a secret, Sister.” Luo Wushuang leaned close to Shangguan Liqian’s ear, dropping a bombshell in a low whisper. “Prince An is just like you and me—he is a woman.”

As expected, she saw her sister’s eyes widen in shock. Luo Wushuang asked mischievously, “Surprising, isn’t it?”

Seeing Shangguan Liqian nod, Luo Wushuang said with a hint of pride, “I suspected it back then and had my people conduct a targeted investigation. As it turns out… it was exactly as I thought.”

“Wushuang, you’re amazing,” Shangguan Liqian praised distractedly, her mind still in a daze.

Prince An, Luo Wuyan, is a woman? And she wants to marry Shen Youran? Does she also like women?

Good heavens! Is there something wrong with the Luo Kingdom’s ancestral graves? Why does every single member of this royal family like women?

Their family actually has a throne to inherit. This… why does this feel so melodramatic?

However, she still couldn’t understand why Prince An had rebelled in her previous life. Was it long-held ambition, or… was there some other hidden reason?

The more she thought, the more Shangguan Liqian felt a headache coming on. She glanced at Luo Wushuang, who was staring at her intently, and asked directly, “During the Rebellion of the Princes, why did you spare him—her—alone?”

Was it because she had known the truth about the Prince’s gender all along, or had they reached some sort of agreement or understanding?

Luo Wushuang was about to answer when she suddenly remembered how Shangguan Liqian had clearly known who Shen Youran was, yet had gone to such great lengths to hide it. Suddenly, she didn’t want to speak anymore.

Not yet realizing the change in the Empress’s mood, Shangguan Liqian nudged her arm and urged, “Wushuang?”

Sensing the impatience in her sister’s voice, Luo Wushuang bit her lower lip and muttered, “I don’t feel like telling you right now.”

Shangguan Liqian blinked, her brow furrowing slightly before quickly smoothing out.

“Fine, if you don’t want to say it, then don’t. But regarding the matter between the Minister of War and Prince An, you must handle it with caution. Don’t let bad actors find an opening.”

Shangguan Liqian gave the advice softly, but her voice sounded somewhat dejected.

Luo Wushuang’s heart tightened. The resolve she had just built up began to waver. But when she thought about her sister’s secrets, her wavering heart steadied again.

I’ll tell her after I’ve finished investigating Shen Youran.

She had nothing to hide from her sister; she was simply frustrated that her sister wasn’t as open as she was. In her heart, her sister was the most important person. Everything she did was so that the two of them could be together forever.

She used to understand what her sister was thinking, but now, she found her increasingly difficult to read.

Luo Wushuang lowered her gaze and said softly, “Don’t worry, Sister. I won’t let them have their way. I’ve already sent people to investigate the background of the Minister of War’s concubine-born daughter.”

Shangguan Liqian nodded slightly but remained silent.

Seeing this, Luo Wushuang felt another pang of discomfort. Her phoenix eyes closed and then snapped open, her tone taking on a trace of chilling malice.

“If this eldest concubine-born daughter is truly something special…”

Just as she was about to probe further, Shangguan Liqian suddenly interrupted her unfinished sentence.

“Have your people check exactly when Prince An first met Shen Youran.”

She felt that something was wrong. According to the timeline of her previous life, Prince An shouldn’t have known Shen Youran yet. Why would she directly ask Wushuang for a marriage decree now?

Had Prince An intentionally hidden their acquaintance in the previous life, or had her own rebirth caused events to veer off their established tracks?

Or… was Luo Wuyan a regressor as well? The situation seemed to be getting more and more convoluted.

This last possibility, in particular, was so startling that Shangguan Liqian’s face turned deathly pale.

If Prince An is also back from the future…

Luo Wushuang, whose expression had turned dark at the mention of “Shen Youran” once again, was startled by the sudden pallor of the other woman’s face. All her dark thoughts vanished, replaced by an uncontrollable panic.

“Sister! Sister! What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

A piercing ringing erupted in Shangguan Liqian’s ears. She watched the Empress’s red lips move, but her mind was spinning with vertigo.

Did I really come back to life, or is everything I’m experiencing just a desperate hallucination before I die?

In the end, will I still die in pain and helplessness?

If I die, what will happen to Wushuang?

Shangguan Liqian’s thoughts were suddenly dragged back to the scene of her death. The pain and despair of the poisoned wine sliding down her throat surged into her heart. It was as if she were reliving that final moment of hopelessness and regret all over again.

Shaking and twitching from the phantom pain, Shangguan Liqian didn’t have the mental capacity to realize that if this were a hallucination, the person before her wouldn’t be appearing like this.

She used every ounce of her strength to lift her right hand—the one that had been bound by cold chains in her memories—and gripped Luo Wushuang’s collar tightly.

The exquisite phoenix embroidery on the Empress’s casual robes creased under the force of her grip. Several gold threads, meticulously woven by seamstresses, snapped under the abrupt movement. But Luo Wushuang didn’t care about any of that.

Her gaze was fixed entirely on Shangguan Liqian’s face, which was twisted with agony and despair.

This was the first time she didn’t stop to wonder if this was some new trick to escape her. In this moment, she saw a level of resolution and grief in her sister’s eyes that she had never seen before.

It was like a caged canary letting out a final, tragic cry before death.

Looking into those eyes, Luo Wushuang felt her very soul tremble. It felt as though she were about to lose the person in front of her forever.

Subconsciously, she wanted to look away from that gaze full of despair, but a voice deep inside told her not to hide—not to let her sister struggle in that darkness alone.

Luo Wushuang’s fingertips trembled. Just as she was about to pull her into an embrace…

In the next heartbeat, her sister slumped forward, falling directly toward her.

“Sister!”

With a cry of alarm, Luo Wushuang caught her carefully. Fighting back the tremors in her hands, she shouted toward the doors.

“Summon the Imperial Physicians! Bring every single one of them to me immediately!”