Chapter 61: Lingering Shadows

The late autumn evening breeze carried a chill, and it grew even colder near the pond’s edge.

Even Meng Congyun found it hard to restrain her emotions when the person she loved drew so close to her like this. She was just a heartbeat away from reaching out and pulling her Your Highness tightly into her arms.

Yet the more this moment intensified, the more uncontrollably the shadows of the past surged into her mind. The ever-calculating Chancellor even faltered and trembled with fear before the one who held her heart.

In the end, it was all Nian Zhi’an’s own doing.

The Eldest Princess of Liang was always fickle in her moods, but as half mentor to the princess and having watched her grow up, the Chancellor had always believed that such whims were something she could control. She knew her Your Highness’s thoughts better than anyone; she alone in the world could coax a smile from her even in the depths of fury.

She had clung to that confidence until reality slapped her hard across the face.

Her Your Highness had grown up, and so had her ambitions. Emperor Wen’s unfair treatment only fueled her reluctance to remain beneath her younger half-brother. She wanted to become empress.

But Meng Congyun sought to restore her kingdom. She bore the expectations of all Zhao’s remnant ministers and carried a blood feud she could never shake off. If her Your Highness became Liang’s empress, it seemed they could only end up as enemies.

In truth… even if her Your Highness harbored no such grand ambitions, they were destined to stand on opposite sides. Meng Congyun had merely been fooling herself, she thought with a self-mocking smile.

After all, what she aimed to topple was the world ruled by their Xiao family.

Later, her Your Highness had allied with King Su. She knew that king was no good sort—his ambitions burned as fiercely as the princess’s—and partnering with him was like dancing with the devil.

She had tried to stop her Your Highness, but it only deepened the rift between them. Apart from a few words exchanged at morning court, they scarcely laid eyes on each other anymore.

Later on—after Emperor Wen’s death, she remembered—her Your Highness began treating her with warmth and smiles again, no longer snapping back at everything she said. She even brought Meng Congyun’s favorite pastries from outside and sent them to the Prime Minister’s Residence. It felt just like the old days when her Your Highness still attended the academy—in fact, even more intimate.

Meng Congyun’s heart brimmed with joy. She hinted at the marriage agreement more than once. But just as she had gathered the betrothal gifts and prepared to make the wedding robes, her Your Highness returned to her fief… and rebelled.

King Su had risen in revolt as well. Their fiefs bordered each other, and once their forces merged, they swiftly seized a third of Liang’s territory.

They met again on the battlefield, where her Your Highness raised her bow without mercy and loosed an arrow at her. Those icy eyes still jolted her awake from nightmares even now.

All the tenderness before had seemed false, a ploy to lower her guard. If her Your Highness’s every gesture had been an act, then Meng Congyun could only offer congratulations: “Bravo—you’ve truly mastered the stage.”

No one but Meng Congyun knew how deeply disappointed she had been then. She had even considered locking her Your Highness away after crushing the rebels. Be it true affection or feigned, her Your Highness would pay a price for all that teasing!

But one battle had shattered nearly everything for her.

Having been burned once, Meng Congyun found it hard to offer trust again.

Her Your Highness claimed she had someone else in her heart, but it wasn’t her.

Yet here she was, teasing her again, every move testing the limits of her restraint—just like in the past when she had deliberately drawn close…

Xiao Shuan, if you want to use me for something, just say it. I’ll do whatever you ask… just don’t stab at my heart anymore.

A sharp bitterness welled up in Meng Congyun’s chest. She let her hand, which had been about to pull Nian Zhi’an close, drop. After a moment, she raised it again to brush the other woman’s slightly cool cheek. Then, under Nian Zhi’an’s shocked gaze, she removed her own outer robe and draped it over her.

“It’s getting cold now. Don’t go out dressed so lightly.”

“…” Nian Zhi’an stared with her big round eyes, her gaze filled with disbelief.

The System wanted to laugh, but it held back.

Her wife might really be… a little—no, a billion points—sexually frigid.

Nian Zhi’an had no more excuses to defend Meng Congyun on this front.

Haha, the first time she’d seen the Host trip up like this. The Little System temporarily cut off its connection with the Host and rolled around laughing in the System Space.

“Achoo!” Nian Zhi’an sneezed twice. She frowned—it had to be that System badmouthing her behind her back!

“Don’t stay out in the wind anymore. I’ll have someone brew some ginger tea to warm you up. Be careful not to catch a cold.” Meng Congyun took her hand and led her toward the main room.

This body of hers couldn’t catch a cold, but a chill in her heart? That was all too real.

Nian Zhi’an felt like bursting into tears. What had she done wrong? She’d followed the book to the letter, yet Meng Congyun wasn’t tempted at all! Terrible service—she wanted a refund!

Then Nian Zhi’an puffed out her cheeks and draped the robe back over Meng Congyun. Her own constitution was top-notch; a bit of cold wind wouldn’t faze her for anything. But her delicate wife, still recovering from illness, might not fare so well. If she caught a chill, it would be Nian Zhi’an’s heart that ached.

Back in Meng Congyun’s room, the candles were lit, making the translucent gauze of Nian Zhi’an’s dress suddenly far clearer. The vast expanses of exposed skin gave the straitlaced Chancellor quite a shock.

So Meng Congyun wrapped her up in a thin quilt.

Nian Zhi’an, swaddled from head to toe except for her face, let out a sigh. Her wife in this world was a sexually frigid upright gentleman—what was she supposed to do?

She had tried everything. If she couldn’t drag Meng Congyun down into the mortal world of desire, did that mean she had to join her in monastic vegetarianism and become vegans in every sense?

Nian Zhi’an fell silent for a moment, then muttered softly, “Chancellor, you wouldn’t become a nun later, would you?”

Then she’d have to haunt the nunnery every day, seducing Meng Congyun amid the Buddha hall’s austere purity? Hmm… kind of thrilling!

Meng Congyun chuckled helplessly, nearly giving in to the urge to tap Nian Zhi’an’s little head, which was clearly lost in some wild thoughts. “A person like me doesn’t deserve to take the vows—and I won’t.”

Good, good—that meant it wasn’t hopeless yet. Nian Zhi’an quietly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

Moments later, the maidservant brought in the ginger tea, followed by a spread of snacks on the table, all arranged by the Chancellor.

Since it was late, Meng Congyun didn’t dare let Nian Zhi’an eat too much, lest she get indigestion, so each small dish held only a little.

“A Shuang said you barely ate anything tonight. Have a bit to tide you over, or you’ll go hungry and won’t sleep well.” Meng Congyun remembered how her Your Highness as a child had skipped proper meals but grown ravenous at night, unable to sleep. She would sneak into the Imperial Kitchen or hide snacks ahead of time.

When Meng Congyun occasionally caught her, her Your Highness would look pitiful and whine, “Teacher, I know I was wrong. This is the last time.”

She always gave in to the coquetry, even knowing that “last time” was a lie.

Until one time her Your Highness overate and ended up curled in bed, moaning in pain from indigestion. To prevent it from happening again, Meng Congyun had taken to feeding her in measured portions at set times. This continued until her Your Highness entered court politics and their rift deepened, leaving nowhere to send the nightly treats.

Seeing Nian Zhi’an eat so happily, her cheeks bulging on both sides like a chipmunk, lifted Meng Congyun’s spirits considerably.

The Prime Minister’s Residence pastries were delicious. If that S-232 “Mental Illness” hadn’t flared up back then, obsessively watching her and Meng Congyun day and night like a nervous wreck, she wouldn’t have had to cut off her own supply in agony! Nian Zhi’an fumed inwardly.

“Chancellor, Minister of Punishments Liu requests an audience.” The maidservant announced from outside the door.

“I’ll step out for a bit. Drink the ginger tea while it’s hot.” Meng Congyun instructed her.

“I’m not a child anymore—don’t worry about me. Go handle your business, but don’t stay up too late! Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet!”

Once Meng Congyun left the room, Nian Zhi’an downed the ginger tea in one go. She then picked up a pastry with her teeth and grabbed a book from the cabinet to pass the time. But the title alone sent a chill down her spine.

Wasn’t this the very book Meng Congyun had taken from her place before?! The one with the veiled barbs aimed at her?

It had been brand new when taken, but now it looked well-worn, clearly flipped through often.

In the Chancellor’s room, who else but the Chancellor herself would read it?!

Nian Zhi’an skimmed a couple of pages, and the contents already gave her a headache. The author of this tale clearly despised Meng Congyun; every word seemed crafted to jab at her.

When Meng Congyun returned, she saw her Your Highness staring blankly at the storybook penned by that old acquaintance. Upon noticing her return, Nian Zhi’an neither hid it nor offered it up, her face a picture of conflict.

“Are you very interested in this story, Miss Yu Ji?” Meng Congyun sat beside her and took the booklet from her hands.

“N-No, not interested… Well, it’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just…” Nian Zhi’an had originally been shaking her head furiously from side to side, but then she thought better of it. Saying she wasn’t interested in this wouldn’t that mean she wasn’t interested in Meng Congyun? And so, for a moment, Nian Zhi’an didn’t know whether she should say she was interested or not.

Meng Congyun opened the storybook and flipped straight to the last page, which seemed to have been turned the most, bearing the deepest creases.

“Miss Yu Ji, have you finished reading this storybook?”

“Pretty much?”

Nian Zhi’an hesitated a little. Was it her imagination, or did Meng Congyun’s expression carry a deeply hurt air?

“The book says the maidservant betrayed the Eldest Young Lady she loved, and she would trap herself forever on the day the Eldest Young Lady died…” Meng Congyun opened the book, but her gaze remained fixed on Nian Zhi’an the whole time, filled with an indescribable sadness.

“The book says the Eldest Young Lady treated that maidservant very well, so the maidservant could never forget it for the rest of her life. But you say, was this kindness truly out of liking… or was it… utilization?”

Nian Zhi’an froze for a moment. Was she asking Yu Ji, or was she asking Eldest Princess Xiao Shuan?