On the way back, Su Qianqian, fully satisfied, had startled a few gossipy palace maids and quickly returned to the front of her residence.
Focusing her gaze, she noticed light shining inside the house, and at this moment in the harem, there was clearly only one person who would dare enter that room…
Shun and Ying exchanged a glance, then bid farewell to Su Qianqian at the same time: “It seems Her Majesty is already waiting for you. We’ll take our leave first.”
Su Qianqian waved her hand helplessly, gesturing, “Go, go, all of you go. In a while, I’ll have to send myself straight into the tiger’s jaws. What a wretched fate.”
In the blink of an eye, the two sisters vanished from before Su Qianqian’s eyes, leaving her with no choice but to go meet that “tiger.”
Su Qianqian subconsciously tried to extend her divine sense to probe inside, but she forgot that the house was protected by an extremely high-level Supreme Array. Her divine sense bounced right back.
Su Qianqian scratched her head in resignation. Actually, it didn’t matter whether she probed or not. That woman would definitely be waiting for her on the bed anyway.
Honestly, she couldn’t understand it. As the Empress of a Kingdom, why didn’t she focus on how to rule the nation properly?
All she cared about were matters of love. Wasn’t she quite competent before?
Sigh… hopefully Luo Wuhen won’t become some ruler who ruins the nation because of this.
Otherwise, even the Kingdom’s chronicles will record bad things about me, the so-called “Empress.”
Steeling herself, Su Qianqian gently pushed open the door, only to find that Luo Wuhen wasn’t on the bed.
Instead, she was seated at the desk, facing a mountain of official documents, with one paper after another floating in the air around her, awaiting review…
When Luo Wuhen saw Su Qianqian come in, she first glanced at the lip mark on Su Qianqian’s forehead, nodded in satisfaction, and then continued to focus on approving documents.
“Are you that… busy today?” Su Qianqian asked suspiciously. Weren’t things quite relaxed yesterday?
“Because you came back yesterday, I didn’t handle that day’s memorials. Today, I have to process two days’ worth. Otherwise, state affairs will be delayed.” Luo Wuhen answered Su Qianqian without slowing her hands in the slightest.
“I see…” Su Qianqian’s opinion of Luo Wuhen changed for the better. As expected, she was still as dutiful as before—it was Su Qianqian who had misunderstood her.
But having a change of heart was one thing. Su Qianqian still cautiously asked about what she was most concerned about: “Then… tonight you won’t… get carried away again, right?”
While continuing to review memorials, Luo Wuhen’s eyes swept over Su Qianqian, then she nodded, replying in a tone both helpless and doting: “Qianqian, I know you get lonely at night, but I really am busy today. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
“I wasn’t— cough, well, Your Majesty, please continue with your work. I won’t disturb you. While the night is still young, I’ll go out for a stroll~” As she spoke, Su Qianqian strode toward the door, determined to stay as far from Luo Wuhen as possible!
But obviously, Luo Wuhen wouldn’t agree to such a thing. As soon as Su Qianqian reached the door, it slammed shut with a bang.
“It’s already late. Empress, you’d best rest in the room. With you by my side, I feel more at ease.”
Su Qianqian knew it wouldn’t be so easy to leave. Grumbling, she shuffled over to the bed, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating.
After all, for a cultivator, improving one’s cultivation was always most important.
A quiet and gentle warmth filled the room. Luo Wuhen busily reviewed memorials, somehow accumulating so many in a single day, while Su Qianqian resumed the cultivation she had set aside for several days.
Now, Su Qianqian’s cultivation was actually hard to advance. When she was brought here, she had already reached Foundation Establishment Peak, nearly unable to progress further.
Still, she could continue refining her Sword Embryo in preparation for entering the Golden Core Stage.
Before long, Su Qianqian entered a focused state, spiritual energy rising around her…
Luo Wuhen sensed the aura of the Sword Sect’s cultivation method around Su Qianqian, and her expression showed some distaste.
Still, she didn’t intervene. Changing cultivation methods was risky; unless Su Qianqian brought it up herself, Luo Wuhen wouldn’t force her to switch.
Luo Wuhen’s thoughts drifted slightly as she watched Su Qianqian’s face for a while, then snapped out of it and returned to her unfinished documents.
By the latter half of the night, near dawn, the spiritual energy around Su Qianqian calmed—her time refining the Sword Embryo for today was about up.
When Su Qianqian opened her eyes, she saw that Luo Wuhen was still dealing with official papers.
Though there was a much smaller pile in front of her, a considerable amount still remained.
Su Qianqian hesitated for a moment, then rubbed her forehead and walked over to Luo Wuhen…
“Want me to help with some of these? After all, I was Prime Minister for a while. I should shoulder some responsibility.”
Luo Wuhen’s lips curled as she rubbed Su Qianqian’s head—the woman who clearly wanted to help but felt the need to find an excuse:
“Having an Empress like you is truly my blessing. How could I not dote on you?”
“If you say things like that again, I won’t help you. Do it yourself then.” Su Qianqian crossed her arms, speechless.
“Then, my dearest Empress Su, help me handle that pile over there.”
“I told you not to say such cringey things. Whenever you do, I get chills.”
“Heh, you’ll get used to it.”
Su Qianqian said nothing, sorting out the stack Luo Wuhen pointed at.
At this moment, Luo Wuhen produced a seal and gently pushed it in front of Su Qianqian.
“This is…”
“The Imperial Seal of Assistance. It’s a top-grade Spiritual Treasure, but it can also be used as an ordinary seal.”
Su Qianqian weighed the smooth jade-carved seal in her hand and looked at Luo Wuhen with a hint of exasperation: “So you prepared this for me long ago? I feel like I’ve been set up.”
“I had planned to give it to you in a few days, but I didn’t expect my Empress to take the initiative in sharing my burdens.”
As she spoke, Luo Wuhen reached out and gently stroked Su Qianqian’s cheek, gazing at her with deep affection.
Su Qianqian quickly turned her face away, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. “Ahem, time to get back to business. Let’s work properly when it’s time to work.”
After that, the two didn’t converse much more, working silently until the sun rose and the last memorial was finally dealt with.
Su Qianqian stretched lazily and complained to Luo Wuhen: “Why do you have to manage even the tiniest things? You only get away with it because your cultivation is so high—otherwise, you’d be worked to death.”
“Now that you’re here to share the burden, I think I can manage.”
“If you keep handing me all these trivial matters, I’m not helping you anymore. You’re even managing village affairs—what use are all the officials you appointed?”
“I’ll delegate more decision-making soon. Before, I was alone and had to ensure the Kingdom’s absolute control and stability. Now that you’re back, I can finally relax a bit.”
“I’m not the powerhouse I used to be, so don’t expect too much from me.”
Su Qianqian walked to the window. Seeing that it was already morning, she decided to head to the Imperial Kitchen to get some breakfast, but before she could leave, Luo Wuhen called her back.
“What is it?”
“Did you forget what you should do in the morning?”
Su Qianqian’s face froze. She thought she could get away with it this time.
“I helped you so much. I’m tired. Let’s skip it today…”
Luo Wuhen acted as if she hadn’t heard a word, quietly waiting.
After a standoff, Su Qianqian finally admitted defeat: “Sigh… fine, fine, hurry up, I need to get breakfast.”
Luo Wuhen smiled without a word, pointed at her own lips, and gestured to Su Qianqian.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You do the kissing.”
“You— Didn’t you say you’d do it today?”
“I was going to teach you to take things further today, but since you played dumb back then, I taught you in advance. So now it’s your turn.”
“……”
“If you’re proactive today, just a light touch will do. But if I have to be the one to initiate…”
“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll do it.”
Su Qianqian slowly leaned toward Luo Wuhen, gazing into her smiling phoenix eyes, brushed the hair behind her ear, and closed her eyes, moving closer…
Soon, their lips touched. It was soft, but after just a few seconds, they broke apart.
Su Qianqian glared, both embarrassed and angry, at the satisfied Luo Wuhen: “Done? If so, I’m leaving.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Didn’t I just kiss you? Are you going back on your word?”
Luo Wuhen didn’t answer. She gently brushed aside the hair on Su Qianqian’s forehead, wiping away the kiss mark.
Just as Su Qianqian thought Luo Wuhen had found her conscience, Luo Wuhen bent down again, kissing the spot between Su Qianqian’s collarbone and neck.
“Alright, what do you think?”
“It’s still your same old perverted habit. What’s the point?” Su Qianqian tugged her collar up to cover the mark.
“Leaving a mark on you proves you’re mine.”
“It’s still pointless. Who in this Palace doesn’t know I’m your—wait, who’s your property! Pervert is pervert!”
Su Qianqian stormed out, slamming the door. Luo Wuhen didn’t get angry. Taming a little cat took time, but the speed at which she was being tamed was actually much faster than expected.
Luo Wuhen gazed into the distance, feeling the time was about right—someone would be coming soon…
“Take Su Qianqian to the Secret Realm. Tell her to focus on breaking through. I won’t disturb her during this time.” Luo Wuhen ordered Shun and Ying through a command token.
Far away, upon receiving the news, Lin Muxue rushed back at once. The always-cold and abstinent Lin Muxue couldn’t suppress her fury.
She’d only left for a short while, and her disciple had been taken away?!
The mark on Su Qianqian hadn’t been triggered, which meant the person who took her hadn’t harmed her.
Plus, Su Qianqian herself had been too soft-hearted to fight back. It was already very clear…
Several stunning faces flashed through Lin Muxue’s mind. Gripping her sword hilt tightly, her face became frighteningly cold.
……