Volume 1, Chapter 185 – Your Craftsmanship Really Is Impressive

Gu Han looked up to find a figure in blue standing at the entrance to the great hall. She had no idea when the woman had arrived.

It was Empress Lingshuang.

She was dressed as always in ice-blue palace robes, her expression cool and aloof. Yet a closer look revealed a trace of something barely discernible in her eyes… nervousness?

In her hands, she held a palm-sized jade box.

The box was crystalline throughout and gave off a faint chill, its surface intricately carved with ice-lotus patterns.

“Fellow Daoist Lingshuang?”

Gu Han was a little surprised.

Qingxuan had only just left, and now Lingshuang had arrived.

Had the two of them arranged to take turns “visiting” her?

“Fellow Daoist Gu.”

Empress Lingshuang entered the great hall, her voice a little quieter than usual.

She stopped about three feet from Gu Han. Her gaze settled on Gu Han’s face, then darted away to the jade box in her hands.

“I… made some pastries.”

She held the jade box out to Gu Han, her movements slightly stiff.

“I heard you liked them. Perhaps… they’ll be to your taste.”

Pastries?

Gu Han was even more surprised.

The Empress of the Northern Region, who ruled over a vast territory and could determine the rise and fall of countless sects with a wave of her hand…

Had actually made pastries herself?

Gu Han studied Lingshuang’s seemingly composed face, the faint flush on the rims of her ears, and the eyes now fixed intently on her.

An indescribable feeling welled up inside her.

She reached out and accepted the jade box.

It was cool to the touch, though the chill remained contained. The box was exquisitely carved, and the care that had gone into it was obvious.

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“Thank you.”

Gu Han gently lifted the lid.

Inside, six small, delicate pastries were arranged in neat rows.

They were pale blue, like frozen crystals, their surfaces sprinkled with tiny snow lotus petals. A crisp, refreshing fragrance drifted from them.

They weren’t perfectly shaped. In fact, the telltale signs of having been handmade were easy to spot.

But the thought behind them was equally unmistakable.

“Would you like to try one?”

A hint of anticipation entered Empress Lingshuang’s voice.

Gu Han picked one up and placed it in her mouth.

The pastry melted on her tongue, light and sweet without being cloying. The fragrance of snow lotus blossomed across her palate, accompanied by a perfectly balanced touch of coolness.

It tasted… unexpectedly good.

“It’s delicious.”

Gu Han looked up at Lingshuang, a sincere smile in her eyes.

“You went to a lot of trouble.”

The tension in Empress Lingshuang’s expression visibly eased the instant she heard those words.

A faint glimmer of relief flashed through her ice-blue eyes.

“I’m glad you like them.”

She spoke softly, but rather than meet Gu Han’s gaze, she looked out of the great hall.

A brief silence settled over the hall.

Only the delicate fragrance of snow lotus and the pastries’ gentle sweetness lingered in the air.

Gu Han set the remaining pastries aside and looked at her.

“Was there something else you wanted to see me about?”

Empress Lingshuang fell silent for a moment.

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She seemed to be weighing her words, or perhaps gathering her courage.

Only after a long pause did she speak. Her voice remained cool, but there was more… hesitation in it than usual.

“Will you be going to Central Province?”

Gu Han gazed into Empress Lingshuang’s eyes, which now clearly reflected her own image.

Something stirred faintly in her heart, and she nodded.

“Of course.”

“Since Sovereign Longteng has extended an invitation, I should go and see for myself, no matter what.”

Empress Lingshuang inclined her head, but her gaze never left Gu Han’s face.

Silence fell over the hall once more, broken only by the faint sound of Yaochi’s waters in the distance.

“Fellow Daoist Gu…”

Lingshuang suddenly spoke, her voice even quieter than before and tinged with the faintest trace of uncertainty.

“May I… call you by your name?”

Gu Han paused in surprise.

She looked at the Empress of the Northern Region before her. There was an almost awkward earnestness in Lingshuang’s eyes, along with… a faint hint of nervousness.

Gu Han suddenly recalled what Qingxuan had said that day.

“You’re too blunt, and you don’t know how to talk.”

Yet now, that direct question touched her more deeply than any roundabout attempt to test her feelings could have.

The faintest smile curved Gu Han’s lips, and her voice softened.

“Of course you may.”

A spark of light flashed through Empress Lingshuang’s eyes. It was subtle, yet it softened her entire face.

She pressed her lips together as though making up her mind, then spoke clearly.

“Then from now on… you may call me by my name as well.”

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“Lingshuang…”

Gu Han murmured the name.

Empress Lingshuang trembled almost imperceptibly.

This was the first time she had heard her name on Gu Han’s lips.

Not “Fellow Daoist Lingshuang,” nor “Empress of the Northern Region.” Just “Lingshuang.”

Two simple syllables, yet they sent unprecedented ripples across the still lake of her heart.

“Mm.”

She answered, a slight tremor in her voice that even she failed to notice.

At some point, the sky beyond the windows had darkened.

Moonlight streamed in through the entrance to the great hall, spreading a hazy ribbon of light between them.

The pastries’ delicate sweetness still lingered in the air, mingling with Lingshuang’s distinctive presence, sharp and bracing as ice and snow.

Gu Han regarded the Empress before her, a woman who always wore a frosty expression and whose directness was as awkward as it was sincere, and felt a flicker of amusement.

At the very least, Lingshuang’s “sincerity” was laid plainly before her.

“Lingshuang,”

Gu Han began again, her tone more natural this time.

“About the journey to Central Province, will you…”

“I’ll be going too.”

Lingshuang interrupted her. Her voice had regained its customary coolness, but the look she gave Gu Han was gentler than usual.

“No matter what happens, I’ll be by your side.”

Warmth stirred in Gu Han’s heart.

Qingxuan had told her the truth out of concern and candor.

Lingshuang had chosen to accompany her, offering an even more direct form of protection.

The two Empresses expressed their feelings in entirely different ways, yet each stood beside her in her own fashion.

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“All right.”

Gu Han did not refuse. She nodded gently.

Lingshuang seemed to want to say something else, but when the words reached her lips, she no longer knew how to continue.

She gazed at Gu Han in silence for a moment, then slowly said,

“Then… I’ll head back now.”

With that, she turned to leave.

“Lingshuang.”

Gu Han suddenly called after her.

Empress Lingshuang stopped and turned back.

Gu Han raised a hand and lightly tapped the jade box she had placed on the cloud table, a smile on her face.

“I really like the pastries.”

The corners of Lingshuang’s lips curved upward ever so slightly.

It was an almost imperceptible smile, like a snow lotus suddenly blooming upon a frozen plain, its cool beauty breathtaking.

“If you like them, I’ll make more for you.”

With that, she lingered no longer. Her figure soon disappeared into the moonlight beyond the entrance to the great hall.

Gu Han sat alone on the cloud couch, gazing at the box of delicate pastries beside her.

She thought again of the kiss Qingxuan had blown her before leaving, and of Lingshuang’s awkward yet earnest expression just now…

She picked up another pastry and placed it in her mouth.

Its cool sweetness melted across her tongue, carrying the pure fragrance unique to snow lotuses.

“That woman really is a good cook!”