“Are you alright?” Luo Shangyu asked, turning her head toward Qin Yu, who was still trembling.
“Mm…” Qin Yu nodded and slowly sat down on the sofa where Luo Shangyu had been sitting moments ago.
Luo Shangyu opened the camp gate and watched Lu Han’s receding figure, letting out a heavy sigh.
“What is it?” Qin Yu asked, hugging the dazed Luo Shangyu from behind.
“It is nothing…” Luo Shangyu turned around and patted Qin Yu’s head.
“Let us go back to sleep.”
“Is it really alright? You were so rude to him.” Qin Yu’s face was filled with worry.
“Him?” Luo Shangyu gave a light snort and said, “For a man like that, I feel I gave him far too much face already!”
“But what he held in his hand… was that not the Shangfang Sword?”
Luo Shangyu remained non-committal.
Qin Yu continued, “Look, you have been at a standoff with me for so long that your King sent someone with the Shangfang Sword…”
Qin Yu’s voice trailed off.
She knew she should stop there; she wanted Luo Shangyu to fill in the rest of the details herself.
“Enough. I told you before, let us not discuss this. Let us change the subject,” Luo Shangyu said, clearly unwilling to say more.
Listening to this, Qin Yu carefully observed Luo Shangyu’s facial expression and noticed her demeanor was somewhat unnatural.
‘Is she considering her future plans…’ Qin Yu thought to herself, deciding to give Luo Shangyu some time to think things over.
Lu Yun had demanded that Luo Shangyu and Lu Han withdraw their troops as soon as possible.
The upcoming march would be exhausting, so Luo Shangyu urged Qin Yu to go to bed early.
***
The familiar bedroom fell into darkness once more.
Luo Shangyu lay flat, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
She knew all too well that Lu Han had come with the Shangfang Sword this time because he wanted her life.
Only two paths lay before Luo Shangyu: either be submissively beheaded or resist.
She did not want to die; she was determined to resist.
If Luo Shangyu was unwilling to submit to the law, Lu Yun would send powerful Mages from within the Kingdom of Yiyong—or even from the entire Phantom World—to hunt her down.
Even as a 7th-rank Quasi-god, she would eventually be captured and executed.
This was an outcome Luo Shangyu was unwilling to see under any circumstances.
‘If I launch a mutiny and deal with Lu Yun and Lu Han…’ Luo Shangyu was not very optimistic about the results of such a plan.
She only had 100,000 troops under her command, and Lu Han also had 100,000 troops this time.
If a real fight broke out, although Luo Shangyu could guarantee a victory over Lu Han, there would certainly be losses.
If she then had to face a punitive force sent by Lu Yun, Luo Shangyu truly had no way to guarantee victory.
‘But…’ Luo Shangyu turned her head to look at Qin Yu, who was lying beside her.
She believed she could be accepted by the Chengji Empire by returning Qin Yu to them…
Now, what Luo Shangyu struggled with was whether or not she should actually rebel against the Kingdom of Yiyong.
Even though Lu Yun was extremely suspicious of her and his desire to eliminate her was common knowledge, Luo Shangyu still felt a sense of gratitude toward the previous King for his favor and was somewhat reluctant to revolt…
Qin Yu’s breathing was faint.
After spending these past few days together, Luo Shangyu knew that Qin Yu was not yet asleep.
She gently reached out and took Qin Yu’s hand.
“Are you awake?” Luo Shangyu asked softly.
“Mm…” Qin Yu squeezed Luo Shangyu’s hand firmly in response.
“Is something troubling you so much that you cannot sleep?”
“What about you? Are you also unable to sleep because something is troubling you?” Qin Yu countered.
‘Me…?’ Luo Shangyu smiled bitterly in her heart.
‘I am debating whether or not I should start a rebellion!’
“Yes,” Luo Shangyu responded simply after thinking it over.
“Still worried about the Shangfang Sword in Lu Han’s hand?”
“Yes,” Luo Shangyu replied simply again.
“Luo Shangyu, have you still not realized it!” Qin Yu’s tone suddenly became fierce.
Luo Shangyu did not respond, lying there quietly, prepared to listen to what Qin Yu had to say.
“Lu Han came carrying the Shangfang Sword. Is that not an explicit statement that he wants your life? Do you really think he will be soft-hearted? Just rebel already!”
“I know, I know,” Luo Shangyu replied.
“I am not a three-year-old child.”
“Then you are no different from a three-year-old right now!” Qin Yu said.
“You keep harboring these illusions, refusing to believe he will kill you, and you refuse to take action against him.”
“You had such a perfect opportunity to eliminate him just now and you did nothing. Do you intend to wait until he puts a blade to your neck before you fight back?”
“I plan to—” Luo Shangyu was interrupted by Qin Yu before she could finish.
“Come back to the Chengji Empire with me. Stop dwelling on the kindness of the former King. You governed the country for him, and that has already repaid the debt of his patronage.”
“Can I just stand by and watch the Kingdom of Yiyong rot away like this?” Luo Shangyu argued, “I intended to depose Lu Yun, select a virtuous and capable monarch for the kingdom, and restore its former glory!”
“That is nothing but wishful thinking!” Qin Yu snapped back unceremoniously.
“In your eyes, your actions are for the sake of finding a better ruler for the Kingdom of Yiyong. But in the eyes of the people, this is a treasonous act of arbitrarily deposing a monarch!”
“Even if you could choose a new, capable monarch, you have already proven that you have a history of deposing Kings. Will the new King ever trust you? He will surely be wary of you in every way, and you will never be given an important position!”
“…”
This was a perspective Luo Shangyu had truly never considered.
‘I suppose I really was being a bit subjective…’ Luo Shangyu took a deep breath and quickly calmed her emotions.
Qin Yu knew her words had taken effect.
It was time to give Luo Shangyu some space to think.
Luo Shangyu admitted that Qin Yu was right; her line of reasoning was indeed flawed.
Previously, she had accepted the request of the former King of the Kingdom of Yiyong with the ideal of bringing peace to the world, leaving her 1,000-year-old home to enter the imperial court.
Luo Shangyu did not want her ambitions to go to waste, and the most important thing was to find a master who could allow her to realize those ambitions.
‘A master like that…’ Luo Shangyu felt Qin Yu’s body heat beside her and could not help but smile.
Ever since the confrontation between her army and Qin Yu’s, she felt that Qin Yu was a difficult opponent who could actually fight to a draw against someone as experienced as her, despite her 1,000 years of life.
Later, during the standoff between the two armies, Luo Shangyu saw that everything in Qin Yu’s camp was orderly.
She concluded that Qin Yu was a meticulous and powerful opponent.
From that moment on, she had developed a sense of admiration for Qin Yu.
Later, when she captured Qin Yu, she was struck by her beauty.
Even after 1,000 years, Luo Shangyu had rarely seen such a beautiful girl.
At first glance, Qin Yu looked cute and vulnerable, like someone who would be easy to manipulate.
But upon closer inspection, Luo Shangyu could see an aura of arrogance in her demeanor—a pride unique to Qin Yu that seemed to look down upon the world.
Because of this, a mischievous desire to tease Qin Yu often welled up in her heart.
Even now, Luo Shangyu had to admit that her decision to keep Qin Yu in private custody was partly due to her own desire for the girl.
She felt that while she had captured Qin Yu, Qin Yu had captured her heart.
“Qin Yu,” Luo Shangyu said after a long silence, turning on her side to pull Qin Yu into her arms.
“I have decided. Let us return to the Chengji Empire together.”
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