Volume 1, Chapter 89 – The Empress’s Competitive Streak

Gu Han lowered her head, but she did not touch the red lips so close to her own.

Instead, she gently rested her forehead against Empress Qingxuan’s.

Their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling.

Empress Qingxuan’s long lashes trembled once before she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Gu Han’s eyes at close range. Their usual coolness had faded, leaving only a complicated mixture of helplessness and emotion.

“Your Majesty…”

Gu Han’s voice was soft, carrying an almost imperceptible sigh.

“Haven’t we… strayed from the subject?”

Empress Qingxuan looked at the helplessness in her eyes and the trace of embarrassment hidden beneath her forced composure.

Then, with a sudden puff, she burst into laughter.

That laugh was like a frozen river thawing and spring returning to the earth.

Most of the deliberately created atmosphere of intimacy and provocation instantly dispersed.

She stopped pressing herself closer and relaxed slightly, but she remained in Gu Han’s arms with no intention of leaving.

“Indeed, we have strayed from the subject.”

Empress Qingxuan smiled. Her voice regained its former ethereal sweetness, though it now held a little more genuine delight.

“I originally intended to discuss the Great Dao with Palace Master Gu. How did it…”

Her eyes shimmered as she glanced meaningfully at Gu Han.

“…turn into this?”

At those words, the corner of Gu Han’s mouth twitched despite herself.

And that was somehow my fault?

Who was the one who started casting suggestive looks and speaking so flirtatiously?

She did not say it aloud, however. She merely loosened the arm around the other woman’s waist.

“In that case, shouldn’t Your Majesty get off me now?”

Gu Han tried to steer the atmosphere back on course, struggling to keep her tone calm.

Empress Qingxuan acted as though she had not heard. Instead, she shifted into a more comfortable position and leaned almost her entire weight against Gu Han.

“I find this place quite pleasant.”

She raised a hand, hooked a strand of Gu Han’s fallen silver hair around her fingertip, and idly twirled it.

“The view is broad, the seat is comfortable, and I have a beauty like Palace Master Gu for company.”

“Your Majesty!”

Gu Han felt a headache coming on. Why was this empress behaving like a shameless rogue?

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“You and I are both Immortal Ascension cultivators. If anyone saw us in such a position, what would become of our dignity?”

Empress Qingxuan blinked, wearing an innocent expression.

“This is my bedchamber. The restrictions here were laid down by my own hand. Even someone at the peak of Tribulation Transcendence could not spy on so much as a fraction of what happens within.”

“As for dignity…”

She leaned close to Gu Han’s ear, lowered her voice, and said with a smile,

“Palace Master Gu, you pulled me into your arms just now and even slapped me there… Did you think of the word ‘dignity’ then?”

Gu Han was immediately rendered speechless.

It seemed… she really had done all of that!

Seeing Gu Han at a loss for words filled Empress Qingxuan with delight.

For more than thirty thousand years, she had long been accustomed to standing high above everyone else, to schemes and calculations, and to majesty and solitude.

For her, today’s uninhibited and even somewhat absurd experience was so novel that it was intoxicating.

Especially since the other person was Gu Han, a mysterious and powerful existence on the same level as herself.

Still, Empress Qingxuan knew when to stop.

She had teased her enough. If she continued, Palace Master Gu might genuinely become angry.

“All right. I will stop teasing you.”

Empress Qingxuan finally rose and left Gu Han’s embrace.

However, she did not return to the meditation cushion opposite Gu Han. Instead, she sat down beside her, shoulder to shoulder.

Gu Han immediately felt the weight leave her body and inwardly sighed in relief.

Empress Qingxuan put away her playful expression and once again became graceful and dignified.

Only a trace of delighted amusement remained at the corners of her eyes and brows.

She raised a hand and poured fresh spirit tea for them both.

“Let us return to the matter at hand.”

Empress Qingxuan lifted her cup, her gaze much clearer now.

“Palace Master Gu, are you interested in that ‘void node’?”

She changed the subject so quickly that Gu Han could barely keep up, but the words “void node” swiftly recaptured her attention.

“Your Majesty means… the node connected to the Xuanhuang Continent?”

“Correct.”

Empress Qingxuan nodded, her expression becoming more serious.

“That node is extremely unstable and hidden in a secluded location. It is also filled with violent spatial and temporal turbulence.”

“My return back then was nothing short of fortunate. I was gravely injured and needed nearly a thousand years of recuperation before I recovered.”

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“But…”

She looked at Gu Han, her eyes shining as though she were sharing a secret.

“If you and I joined forces, we might be able to stabilize it briefly and open a relatively safe passage.”

“Do you not wish to see what other worlds are like?”

Gu Han’s heart stirred.

Other worlds…

To her, that was undeniably an enormous temptation.

“Why has Your Majesty chosen to share this with me?”

Gu Han asked the crucial question.

Empress Qingxuan smiled faintly, her gaze becoming profound once more.

“Because you are the only person on the Canglan Continent whom I cannot see through.”

“I have sat above the Eastern Region for tens of thousands of years. I may appear supreme, but in truth, the road ahead of me has been severed. It is terribly lonely.”

“Your appearance, and the mystery surrounding you, have allowed me to see… a new possibility.”

“Moreover…”

She paused, her eyes rippling. Her voice once again took on that languid, meaningful quality that made Gu Han’s heartbeat unsteady.

“Traveling with you would presumably… not be boring.”

Gu Han fell silent for a moment.

The intimate yet probing exchange from moments ago, together with the astonishing proposal Empress Qingxuan had now presented…

All of it resembled an invisible yet irresistibly tempting net.

“It is still too early to speak of this. We must consider it carefully.”

Gu Han finally spoke slowly, her voice regaining its usual coolness.

“Very well.”

Empress Qingxuan had not intended to depart immediately either. She gracefully lifted her jade cup and took a small sip.

“I shall remain here, awaiting you whenever you are ready.”

Her gaze lingered on Gu Han’s face for a moment, and a trace of amusement flashed through her eyes before her expression turned solemn.

“As for what happened today, the karmic ties between you and the Ye family shall end here.”

“I will also send people to look after Ye Ling’er’s family.”

Her words were calm, but they carried sincerity.

With that promise from her, the Ye family of Tianfeng City would never dare harbor any improper designs again.

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“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Gu Han inclined her head slightly.

“There is no need.”

Empress Qingxuan set down her cup and lightly traced a line through the air with one jade-like finger. A spatial gateway flowing with rosy light appeared inside the bedchamber.

“Palace Master Gu, please.”

Gu Han stood, gave Empress Qingxuan one final look, then turned and stepped into the gateway.

Rosy light flowed, and her figure vanished from the empress’s bedchamber.

Silence returned to the room.

Empress Qingxuan sat alone before the warm-jade tea table and did not move for a long time.

The graceful, dignified smile on her breathtaking face gradually faded.

Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the smooth wall of the jade cup as her gaze shifted toward the place where Gu Han had disappeared.

Suddenly, a very faint, almost imperceptible blush once again appeared on her cheeks.

She slowly raised her other hand and gently pressed it against the side of her… buttock.

Through the magnificent palace dress embroidered with phoenix patterns, that spot seemed to retain a trace of the subtle sensation.

“Smack.”

That crisp yet suggestive sound seemed to echo beside her ear once more.

Empress Qingxuan’s lashes trembled slightly.

For more than thirty thousand years…

Ever since she entered Immortal Ascension and took command of the Eastern Region, never mind contact so intimate that it crossed all boundaries of propriety.

Even someone who showed the slightest disrespect in her presence would be reduced to ashes in an instant.

Yet today…

Not only had someone pulled her into an embrace and held her upon her lap.

She had even… received that slap.

It had not hurt, but the strange sensation that followed…

It was like a stone dropped into the depths of an ancient well, stirring ripples that refused to fade.

What made her emotions even more complicated was… her own reaction at the time.

She had not flown into a rage at once, nor had she immediately retaliated with her imposing aura.

Instead… as though possessed by some inexplicable impulse, she had kissed Gu Han.

Where had that impulse come from?

Was it the thrill of suddenly encountering a kindred spirit after tens of thousands of lonely years?

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Was it a counterattack born from her refusal to yield after being offended?

Or was it…

The warmth of that embrace, the cool and distinctive scent upon that woman, and those eyes that hid embarrassment beneath forced composure…

Had they made her feel truly “alive” again after so long?

Empress Qingxuan exhaled softly. Her fingertips left the side of her buttock and moved to her own lips.

Another warm and soft sensation, carrying a faint, cool fragrance, seemed to linger there.

Gu Han’s lips…

They were very soft and slightly cool, carrying a clean scent that perfectly matched her temperament.

Their lips had touched and parted at once, so quickly that it seemed like an illusion, yet it had been undeniably real.

“…Yaochi Immortal Palace?”

Empress Qingxuan murmured to herself, various emotions shifting within her eyes.

“The Southern Region… Gu Han…”

As she spoke the name, the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward once more.

There was no imperial majesty in that smile, nor any of the mischief and amusement she had shown while teasing Gu Han.

Instead, it carried a trace of softness, almost wistful, that even she herself did not notice.

She had lived too long and had grown accustomed to respect, fear, calculation, and flattery.

Gu Han’s reactions…

Her embarrassment beneath forced composure, her retaliation born from an unwillingness to be teased, and even that punitive slap…

All of it felt extraordinarily fresh and… extraordinarily interesting.

“The next time we meet…”

Empress Qingxuan lowered her gaze slightly, and a brilliant light flashed deep within her eyes.

Within that light was the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent, the competitive spirit ignited by being “challenged,” and also a trace of… concealed anticipation.

“I will personally settle the score for that slap.”

Her voice was very soft and faded into the spacious bedchamber.

Only her beautiful eyes, reflecting the starlight upon the dome, shone with startling brightness.

It was as though she could already see a day in the future when she would meet that woman again, clash with her, and become entangled with her once more.

Yes. She would definitely collect that debt… with interest.

She turned around, her skirt trailing across the floor as she walked calmly toward the depths of the bedchamber.

Her back remained noble and graceful, as though her brief loss of composure and stirring emotions had never occurred.