Chapter 26: The Splendid Country Part 2

The banquet celebrated the Dawn Kingdom’s latest victory. General Mingwu was still at the front lines, but the enemy nation they had defeated had already sent a hostage princess.

Everyone’s gaze finally landed on Xiao Luo. Curiosity, mockery, contempt, and disdain—Xiao Luo felt surrounded by malice.

“Princess Xiao, on such a joyous occasion, why have you come dressed like this?”

“Yes, do you look down on our Dawn Kingdom?”

Such a heavy accusation was slammed onto Xiao Luo’s head. She, however, unhurriedly took out a handkerchief and dabbed the corners of her eyes. Rising, she said, “I am a newcomer and truly unfamiliar with the customs here. I beg Your Majesty’s compassion.”

She raised a pair of soulful, peach-blossom eyes toward the Empress on the throne. Her voice was soft yet coquettish, utterly bone-melting.

The Empress on the throne paused almost imperceptibly. Her phoenix eyes lowered, sweeping over that pitifully beautiful face and her graceful figure. Her gaze darkened.

“Princess Xiao need not be flustered. The guests are merely jesting. Please, be seated.”

As she spoke, she swept a subtly threatening glance over the crowd. “Everyone, refrain from loose talk at the banquet.”

With the Empress’s warning, everyone immediately shut their mouths. But in their hearts, they felt defiant. Wasn’t she just a captive? She couldn’t even be teased? Where was the fun tonight, then?

And why did they feel that Her Majesty had looked at the hostage princess a little too long just now?

Well, this hostage princess did possess a devastatingly beautiful face and a pleasant voice. A second glance to admire beauty was only normal. Who could blame her for being good-looking?

At that moment, Xiao Luo’s heart was not very calm. In that single glance with the Empress, she suddenly felt a surge of familiarity rising from the depths of her soul. It was like seeing an old acquaintance. She even had an impulse to collapse into the woman’s embrace.

She didn’t want to, but the sound of the Empress speaking up for her just now made her body involuntarily go weak again.

The System: 【What, have you taken a fancy to the Empress now?】

Xiao Luo retorted: 【Don’t talk nonsense, I am a straight woman.】

However, her current tone held a sliver of uncertainty.

The System: 【…】Straight my foot!

Xiao Luo continued: 【I think the Empress is pretty good, suitable for me to latch onto as a thigh to hug.】

The System: 【…】She thinks you’re suitable for warming her bed.

To hug a powerful thigh, one must pay a somewhat shameful price. Ordinary people couldn’t do this kind of thing, but it knew its host was a woman with not much moral integrity. She could definitely manage it.

A quarter-hour later, Xiao Luo suddenly felt Xia Wuheng’s gaze fall upon her, sizing her up and down. She keenly detected the desire in his eyes, a desire so vile it made Xiao Luo want to vomit.

You dog of a man, didn’t you say you loved the female lead the most?

Of course, in the early stages, the male lead was just a charming and amorous prince. Being a flirt was in his nature.

The System prompted: 【Host, please note, the female lead is about to appear.】

Xiao Luo looked up. Palace maids carrying fruits and wine filed in. Among them was the female lead, Lin Qiao’er. Her appearance was outstanding, with the gentle, delicate beauty of a southern water town.

Xia Wuheng’s gaze finally shifted away from her, briefly exchanging a knowing look with Lin Qiao’er.

Xiao Luo watched all of this, her mind rifling through the plot details.

It seemed Xia Wuheng had the female lead slip a colorless, odorless poison into the Empress’s wine cup. This poison caused sleeplessness and a gradual descent into manic rage. In the original novel, their poisoning succeeded. In the later stages, the Empress became manic every day, wantonly killing innocents and becoming a tyrant, giving Xia Wuheng justification to overthrow her regime.

This wouldn’t do. She had to stop it.

The System also spoke up: 【Quest triggered—Prevent the Empress from drinking the poisoned wine without exposing the female lead.】

Xiao Luo looked down at her own cup of wine and drained it in one gulp. When a palace maid refilled it, she murmured a thanks. She drank three cups in quick succession.

“Guests, please enjoy…” The Empress raised her wine cup, but before she could finish her words.

“Bang—” A loud crash came from below.

Xia Wuheng frowned faintly, looking toward Princess Xiao.

Xiao Luo was slumped over the table. Her wine cup and fruit platter had been knocked to the floor. Her maid was frantically shaking her shoulder, asking what was wrong.

Others also looked over at Xiao Luo, curious. “Could Princess Xiao have eaten something bad?”

Xia Wuheng felt a moment of instinctual tension, afraid Xiao Luo would disrupt his plan. He barked loudly, “Insolent hostage princess! How dare you make a scene before Her Majesty! Guards, drag her out immediately!”

Right then, Xiao Luo coughed a mouthful of blood directly at him.

Chuntao froze, then immediately collapsed to her knees, wailing, “Your Majesty, the food is poisoned! Our princess has been poisoned! Please, save her!”

The food is poisoned?!

Hearing those words, the seated guests all paled. They hastily threw down their wine cups, some so panicked they ungracefully stuck fingers down their throats, trying to retch.

The Empress was no exception. She put down her wine cup.

Seeing this, Xia Wuheng’s expression became extremely dark. At the same time, he could not fathom who would poison the food of this insignificant hostage princess. This was truly alerting the snake and foiling his plan!

What he did not know was that Xiao Luo had orchestrated this entire act herself. In this world, she could still ask the System for three favors. She used one now, creating a fake poisoning to alert the Empress while ensuring the male lead wouldn’t suspect her.

After all, she had no way of knowing the male lead’s plan, and it seemed impossible she would poison herself.

But sorry to disappoint—she managed to do both.

Xiao Luo felt smug inside, but outwardly her brows were knitted in pain. A trace of blood stained the corner of her pale lips, like plum blossoms blooming in the snow—beautiful to the extreme, and fragile to the extreme.

Seeing her like this, everyone’s hearts inexplicably clenched for her, their eyes tinged with pity.

Xiao Luo closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a cold voice from the throne: “Summon the Imperial Physician to Frostfall Hall at once! No one else is to leave without my command!”

Everyone was stunned. Frostfall Hall? Wasn’t that Her Majesty’s bedchamber? Why summon the Imperial Physician there?

In the next instant, their eyes collectively widened. They saw the Empress hastily descend the steps, scoop up Princess Xiao in her arms, and hurry out…

They rubbed their eyes. Huh? They hadn’t seen wrong!

Xiao Luo’s mind was also completely blank. Where was she taking her? And why was the Empress personally carrying her? Couldn’t she just hand her off to someone else?

She dared not make any movement, so she just lay obediently in Xia Lingyu’s arms, her nose filled with the scent of the other woman.

The System’s disguise was indistinguishable from the real thing. She was groggy, feeling herself being laid on a large, soft bed. Then someone pulled a blanket over her. Finally, she drifted off to sleep…

She woke to broad daylight.

Xiao Luo opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings, momentarily disoriented. It took a moment to recall the events of the previous night.

The Empress, seeing her poisoned, had carried her to her own bedchamber and summoned the Imperial Physician. So now… she had slept on the Dragon Bed?

Heavens! She had climbed onto the Dragon Bed so quickly!

A secret thrill bubbled in Xiao Luo’s heart.

She threw back the covers and stepped barefoot onto the floor. The palace maids outside heard the movement and respectfully approached. “Princess Xiao, Her Majesty is still at morning court. Would you like to wash up and eat first?”

Xiao Luo found it a bit strange. The way they asked… it was as if she were the Emperor’s favored consort, who, after serving her in bed, was patiently waiting for Her Majesty to finish court and continue doting on her.

Yet somehow, the thought felt quite fitting. What was going on?

Just as she was pondering this, a eunuch outside announced in his shrill voice: “Her Majesty arrives—”

Xiao Luo was about to kneel in greeting, but Xia Lingyu had already swept in. One hand grasped her wrist, her clear yet low-pitched voice saying, “Princess need not stand on ceremony.”

As she spoke, their bodies were almost pressed tightly together. The Empress’s voice seemed to be full of lingering affection, making Xiao Luo’s ears burn.

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty.” Xiao Luo stepped back slightly and slowly looked up, truly studying Xia Lingyu’s face for the first time.

The woman was tall and slender, her features refined yet strikingly beautiful. Beneath her imperial crown, a pair of deep, profound phoenix eyes made her entire presence unfathomable. The bright yellow dragon robe she wore added an extra layer of majesty.

Noticing the woman’s appraising gaze, Xia Lingyu couldn’t help but curve her lips. “Is the Princess satisfied with my appearance?”

Xiao Luo seemed to detect the teasing lilt in her voice. She lowered her head. “Even if Your Majesty possesses the visage of a dragon and the grace of a phoenix, I am but a mere hostage princess. How am I qualified to use the word ‘satisfied’?”

Xia Lingyu paused, then said, “You are, of course, qualified.”

The atmosphere grew somewhat strange. Xiao Luo changed the subject. “Your Majesty, I wonder what happened to me last night at the banquet?”

“Last night, you were poisoned. Because Frostfall Hall was the closest, I brought you here and had the Imperial Physician rush over to treat you…” Xia Lingyu tried her best to sound gentle. After a pause, she continued, “Though you are a hostage princess, you are also my foreign guest. Rest assured, I will definitely ferret out the culprit behind the scenes and give you an explanation.”

That meant no one had been caught?

Xiao Luo realized the male lead’s aura was truly formidable. Should she find a way to subtly hint to the Empress, make her wary of the male lead’s wolfish ambitions?

“Many thanks, Your Majesty. Your Majesty… I am just a lowly hostage princess. Who could possibly want to poison me? I tend to think it was merely a momentary mistake, that the poisoned wine was placed in the wrong spot.”

She spoke, and then saw the Empress looking at her with a gaze full of pity.

“Your Majesty~”

Xia Lingyu walked toward her, gently taking her hand and kneading it softly. The action made Xiao Luo tremble all over.

“Though you are a hostage princess, you need not belittle yourself. For I can protect you.”

Xiao Luo’s mind went completely blank for a moment, so stunned by this statement that she couldn’t speak. She could only stare wide-eyed at Xia Lingyu.

A faint smile appeared on Xia Lingyu’s face, her eyes looking at Xiao Luo as if looking at prey. In a soft voice, she said, “From the first moment I saw Princess Xiao, I felt that you and I were destined by fate.”