Chapter 39: Calculating Hearts

Hearing the certainty in her sister’s voice, Luo Wushuang felt a wave of pressure wash over her. Even though she had long known how brilliant Shangguan Liqian was, facing that intellect head-on was another matter entirely.

She was terrified that Shangguan Liqian would overthink the situation. If her sister heard some baseless rumors before she could explain, Luo Wushuang would be left defenseless, no matter how many excuses she made.

She could already imagine the interrogation. If you truly had no such intentions, why didn’t you make that clear from the start?

No! She could not allow a potential misunderstanding to fester.

Perhaps Ling Yun was right. Once her sister knew the full story, she wouldn’t necessarily blame her. It’s not like I asked those wretched men to come, she reasoned. Surely Sister won’t be angry with me over people who mean nothing to us?

Despite those thoughts, uncertainty gnawed at her. She forced a look of surprise and asked, “How did you guess, Sister?”

She tried to use the conversation to calm her racing heart, mentally rehearsing how to phrase things so she could distance herself entirely from this mess she hadn’t asked for.

Sensing Luo Wushuang’s nerves, Shangguan Liqian didn’t press her further. Instead, she offered a small, reassuring smile. “Is there any need to guess? Your thoughts are written all over your face.”

“They are not,” Luo Wushuang muttered under her breath. She lowered her gaze to hide the trepidation in her eyes. Ultimately, she decided to follow Ling Yun’s advice and give a full account of everything that had happened during the morning court.

Hidden in the shadows, Ling Yun’s lip twitched as she watched Her Majesty begin the story from the very moment the Head Eunuch called for the start of the session.

Master doesn’t need to be quite so… exhaustive, Ling Yun thought. Why not just skip to the business with the Western Regions and Baiyue?

But the ever-shrewd Ling Yun had forgotten one thing: her Empress tended to lose all composure the moment Shangguan Liqian was involved.

Even though she started from the beginning, Luo Wushuang’s heart leaped into her throat the moment she reached the part about the Western Regions and Baiyue sending princes to the capital. She was deathly afraid her sister would think her a hypocrite—claiming to love only one person while turning around and summoning men into the palace.

When she finally finished her explanation, her voice tight with suppressed anxiety, she stared at Shangguan Liqian with wide, pleading eyes, waiting for a reaction.

She had no way of knowing that Shangguan Liqian’s mind had drifted elsewhere the moment she mentioned the officials impeaching the Minister of War.

If I remember correctly, Shangguan Liqian mused, the Minister of War, Shen Zhengfeng, is Shen Youran’s father and Prince An’s future father-in-law.

What a coincidence. Just after Prince An had asked Wushuang for permission to marry the Minister’s daughter, the man’s crimes were exposed.

Shangguan Liqian didn’t suspect the evidence was fabricated or that it was a frame-up; she knew that when it came to state affairs, Luo Wushuang was no fool. She was only a besotted, “inept ruler” when she was around Liqian.

Recalling some of Luo Wushuang’s more scandalous and forward behavior in private, Shangguan Liqian felt her face flush slightly. She quickly composed herself and returned to the matter at hand.

“The matter with the Minister of War… that was your doing, wasn’t it?”

Hearing the certainty in her sister’s voice, Luo Wushuang gave a helpless, soft laugh. “Truly, nothing escapes you, Sister.”

She had indeed known about the Minister’s self-destructive behavior for some time. Previously, she had looked the other way because she needed him to balance the various factions in court. Now that the situation had stabilized, he was no longer a necessary pawn—yet he still insisted on causing trouble. This was the perfect opportunity to sweep him aside.

Otherwise, if he truly aligned himself with Prince An, there was no telling what treacherous schemes they might hatch. It would have led to chaos.

She wondered, however, if the now-disgraced Shen Youran would still catch her royal sibling’s eye. If Prince An’s “true love” was as steadfast as he claimed, she wouldn’t mind playing matchmaker for the two of them.

Luo Wushuang felt a brief moment of pride in her own wit before she turned her expectant gaze back to Shangguan Liqian, waiting for her response to the second matter.

Shangguan Liqian parted her lips to speak.

Noticing how Wushuang’s body instantly tensed, Shangguan Liqian deliberately toyed with her. “As for Baiyue and the Western Regions…”

When the silence stretched on with no follow-up, Luo Wushuang practically whimpered. “Sister…”

Amused by the reaction, Shangguan Liqian stopped teasing her and offered a reassuring word. “Peace, I believe you have no ulterior motives!”

Before Luo Wushuang could even breathe a sigh of relief, Shangguan Liqian began a rational analysis. “In truth, if handled correctly, this could be an opportunity to raise the Kingdom of Luo’s prestige in the Western Regions and Baiyue. In fact… if one were ruthless enough, it wouldn’t be impossible to annex those two territories entirely.”

“With the merit of expanding our borders, the history books wouldn’t be able to use your gender as a weapon against you.”

Shangguan Liqian was putting every ounce of effort into safeguarding Luo Wushuang’s future reputation.

However, Luo Wushuang didn’t take any of it to heart. From the moment her sister began speaking so calmly and logically, her internal state had shifted completely.

Coming here, she had feared her sister would question her devotion. Now, watching Shangguan Liqian talk about the matter with such detached rationality—as if it were someone else’s business—Luo Wushuang felt a flash of anger that surpassed her anxiety.

It felt as though she was the only one who cared.

Her sister didn’t feel the slightest bit of jealousy. She didn’t feel any threat that someone might steal her Empress away. Instead, she could sit there and calmly analyze the political fallout.

Such indifference… she must not love me after all…

The thought left Luo Wushuang’s heart in a tangled mess of bitter emotions.

Shangguan Liqian, still frowning as she pondered how to maximize the benefits of the situation, hadn’t noticed the change in her companion. Sensing the silence, she reached out and poked Luo Wushuang. However, her eyes remained fixed on some distant point, lost in thought.

Seeing that Shangguan Liqian wouldn’t even look at her, Luo Wushuang could no longer suppress the rage and resentment bubbling in her chest. When she spoke, her words were sharp with hostility.

“And what would ‘handling it correctly’ look like? Do you want me to take those two miserable excuses for princes into my harem, Sister?”

Looking at the bristling, “exploding phoenix” before her, Shangguan Liqian realized in an instant what had happened. Her reaction had been too lukewarm, leading Wushuang to believe she didn’t value her.

In reality, she was simply influenced by her memories of her past life; she was so utterly certain of Wushuang’s love that it didn’t occur to her to feel threatened. Had she not been so sure, how could she have remained unmoved upon hearing such news just as she was starting to fall for the woman?

But seeing the sheer grievance on Luo Wushuang’s face, Shangguan Liqian reined in the recklessness that came with being so deeply loved. She pinched the Empress’s cheek, which was puffed out in anger, and coaxed her softly.

“You are a Great Empress; why must you use such crude language?”

At the sound of that gentle, doting tone, all of Luo Wushuang’s suppressed sorrow and insecurity exploded.

“You’re disgusted by me! You’re still disgusted by me!”

With those words, Luo Wushuang lunged, pinning her to the ground. She pressed her lips fiercely against those ever-moving, articulate lips in a harsh kiss.

It wasn’t enough. It was nowhere near enough.

Her sister belonged to her, and she belonged to her sister. She would never tolerate any obstacle coming between them.

If such obstacles existed, she would simply erase them all.

Luo Wushuang closed her eyes, hiding the cold glint of murderous intent that flickered within them.