Volume 1, Chapter 161 – Ye Ling’er’s Insecurity

“I…”

Gu Han’s voice wavered. She forced down the strange emotions churning inside her, pulled her arm free, and stepped back half a pace to put some distance between them.

“Thank you for the kind invitation, Fellow Daoist Qingxuan, but I truly do have matters to attend to today.”

She tried to keep her voice calm, but she could not bring herself to meet Qingxuan’s smiling eyes. Instead, she turned to Lingshuang.

“Fellow Daoist Lingshuang, if you find your stay in the Immortal Palace uncomfortable, or if matters in the Northern Region require your attention, you may leave at any time.”

The words were ostensibly directed at Lingshuang, but they were also a veiled message to Qingxuan.

Empress Qingxuan took in Gu Han’s reddened ears and evasive gaze, and the smile in her eyes deepened.

She knew better than to push too far.

“Since Little Sister has matters to attend to, I won’t disturb you any longer.”

She gracefully smoothed her skirts, her tone growing even gentler.

With that, she gave Gu Han a charming smile, then glanced at Empress Lingshuang, whose expression remained grim, before turning and leaving the courtyard.

Even after Qingxuan had gone, the tension in the courtyard lingered.

Empress Lingshuang stood where she was, her eyes fixed on Gu Han, her expression a tangle of unreadable emotions.

There was anger, resentment, and even a trace of hurt that she herself had not noticed.

“Do you truly feel that my presence here is an imposition, Fellow Daoist Gu?”

Her voice was colder than usual, yet beneath it lay a faint bitterness that was almost impossible to detect.

Gu Han sighed inwardly.

The Empress of the Northern Region had always been straightforward. She had probably taken Qingxuan’s words to heart.

Rеаԁ оո КatRеаԁіnɡCαfе

“You’re overthinking it, Fellow Daoist Lingshuang.”

Gu Han softened her tone.

“If you wish to remain in the Immortal Palace to discuss and exchange insights on the Dao, you are more than welcome. It’s just…”

She paused, then raised her eyes to meet Lingshuang’s directly.

“I prefer peace and quiet and have no taste for conflict. I hope the two of you can show a little more restraint around each other.”

Her words were tactful, but their meaning was perfectly clear!

If the two of you insist on fighting, don’t do it here.

Empress Lingshuang fell silent.

She studied Gu Han’s cool, refined features, recalling the sincerity and purity in Gu Han’s eyes when they had discussed the Dao that day. Then she contrasted it with Qingxuan’s false, affected manner…

“I understand.”

After a long silence, she finally spoke, the chill around her receding somewhat.

“As long as she does not provoke me first, I will not cause trouble.”

Without waiting for Gu Han’s response, she turned and walked toward the room where she was staying.

Gu Han watched her go and gently rubbed the space between her brows.

One flirted with shameless abandon, while the other made no attempt to hide how seriously she took it all…

When would this ever end?

She turned to leave the Eastern Courtyard, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of blue disappearing around a distant bend in the corridor.

That hair color… Was that Ling’er?

Rеаԁ on ΚаtRеаⅾinɡCаfе

Gu Han paused, a flicker of doubt crossing her mind.

Why would Ling’er be here?

Had she simply been passing by, or…

Remembering Ye Ling’er’s intense reaction outside the main hall yesterday, Gu Han felt a faint sense of unease.

That girl had a tendency to brood. Hopefully, she had not worked herself into another dead end.

Gu Han was wondering whether she should find Ye Ling’er and ask when a disciple hurried over and bowed respectfully.

“Palace Master, the Deputy Palace Master requests your presence. She said there’s a problem with the Myriad-Phenomena Tower and needs you to take a look.”

Gu Han had no choice but to set her concerns aside for the moment.

“Understood. I’ll go there now.”

The Myriad-Phenomena Tower was essential to the disciples’ cultivation, so the matter could not be delayed.

As for Ling’er, Gu Han would find a chance to speak with her later.

Gu Han turned and headed toward the Myriad-Phenomena Tower.

After Gu Han left, Ye Ling’er remained hidden in the shadows around the bend in the corridor, her back pressed against the cold wall as she bit down hard on her lower lip.

She had seen everything.

She had seen Empress Qingxuan intimately link arms with Master and press her body against hers.

She had seen Master’s reddened ears and evasive gaze.

She had seen the unusual intensity in Empress Lingshuang’s eyes when she confronted Master.

And she had seen Master’s final sigh and the helpless gesture of rubbing the space between her brows…

Rеαԁ оո ΚαtRеαԁіnɡCαfе

Every detail pierced Ye Ling’er’s heart like a fine needle.

Master had not pushed her away.

Master did not seem averse to Empress Qingxuan’s closeness.

Empress Qingxuan’s mature, voluptuous figure and the lethal allure beneath her languid bearing were like a painting rendered in rich, vibrant strokes.

And what about her?

Ye Ling’er lowered her head and unconsciously reached up to squeeze her own chest.

The sensation beneath her hand made her shortcomings painfully clear.

She was soft there too, but compared to Empress Qingxuan’s mature fullness, to those curves that looked ready to spill from her neckline, she still fell far short.

Bitterness spread through her heart.

Did Master… prefer women who were more mature?

Was that why Master had not resisted Empress Qingxuan’s advances more firmly?

What right did someone like her have to compete?

She recalled the myriad charms Empress Qingxuan displayed in her every gesture, as well as the languid, seductive tone of her voice.

She remembered the undisguised possessiveness and aggression in Empress Qingxuan’s gaze whenever she looked at Master.

It was the ultimate allure of a mature woman, refined over countless years.

And what did Ye Ling’er have?

She was merely a girl of sixteen or seventeen. Apart from her fairly impressive cultivation talent and her still-youthful appearance, she had nothing.

She knew nothing of seduction, had no gift with words, and could only approach Master cautiously while remaining within the proper bounds of a disciple.

Rеаԁ оո KаtRеαⅾіոɡСafе

The do-or-die courage that had surged through her last night now seemed pathetically feeble and laughable in the face of such a cruel comparison.

She refused to accept it!

If she could not compete with that mature allure…

Then she would make up for it in other ways!

Didn’t Master favor powerful disciples who devoted themselves to cultivation?

Then Ye Ling’er would become stronger! Stronger than anyone else!

She would make sure Master’s gaze rested on her alone!

Not because of her looks or her figure, but because of her strength, her hard work, and the irreplaceable value she possessed!

Yes, that was it!

She would prove to Master that she, Ye Ling’er, was the one most qualified to stand at Master’s side!

Empress Qingxuan and Empress Lingshuang were nothing more than those who had gotten a head start through age and status!

Ye Ling’er possessed the Lunar Divine Body and the Lunar Canon, along with unimaginable potential!

So what if they were Empresses?

One day, Ye Ling’er would become an Empress too.

Time would prove everything!