Gu Han lowered her head, not touching those vermilion lips that were close at hand.
Instead, she gently rested her forehead against Empress Qing Xuan's.
Their foreheads touched, their breaths intertwining.
Empress Qing Xuan's long eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes.
Met with Gu Han's eyes just inches away—eyes that had shed their coldness, leaving only complexity and helplessness.
"Empress..."
Gu Han's voice was very soft, carrying a faint, imperceptible sigh.
"Are we... getting off track?"
Empress Qing Xuan looked at the helplessness in her eyes and the hint of embarrassment beneath her forced composure.
Suddenly, she let out a "Pfft" and laughed.
This laugh was like the thawing of a glacier, the return of spring to the earth.
The deliberately created atmosphere of ambiguity and provocation was instantly mostly dispersed.
She no longer leaned in on purpose, her body relaxing slightly, but she still leaned in Gu Han's arms, with no intention of leaving.
"Yes, we are off track."
Empress Qing Xuan laughed, her voice returning to its previous ethereal and pleasant tone, though with a bit more genuine joy.
"I had originally intended to discuss the Great Dao with Palace Master Gu, but how did it..."
Her eyes shifted as she glanced at Gu Han, speaking with implication.
"...turn into this?"
Hearing this, the corner of Gu Han's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.
Blame me, then?
Who was the one who first used ambiguous looks and flirtatious words?
However, she didn't say it out loud, merely relaxing her arm around the other's waist.
"In that case, shouldn't the Empress also get off me?"
Gu Han tried to pull the atmosphere back on track, her tone striving to remain calm.
Empress Qing Xuan seemed not to hear, instead adjusting to a more comfortable position, leaning almost her entire weight against Gu Han.
"I feel that this place is quite good."
She raised her hand, her fingertips hooking a strand of Gu Han's falling silver hair, twining and playing with it.
"The view is wide, the seat is comfortable, and there is a beauty like Palace Master Gu to accompany me."
"Empress!"
Gu Han had a bit of a headache; why was this Empress acting like a rogue?
"We are both in the Ascension Realm; if others saw us in such a state, what would become of decorum?"
Hearing this, Empress Qing Xuan blinked, looking innocent.
"This is my bedchamber, protected by a Restriction I laid personally; not even one at the Peak of Undergoing Tribulation could hope to spy even a fraction."
"As for decorum..."
She leaned close to Gu Han's ear and lowered her voice, saying with a smile:
"Palace Master Gu just pulled me into your arms and even hit me there... did you ever think of the word 'decorum' then?"
Gu Han was suddenly speechless.
It seemed... she really had done all that!
Seeing Gu Han's speechless state, Empress Qing Xuan was greatly amused.
For over thirty thousand years, she had long been used to being high above, used to calculations and weighing options, used to majesty and solitude.
Today's experience of being completely unrestrained, even somewhat "mischievous," was fascinatingly fresh to her.
Especially since the other party was Gu Han, a mysterious, powerful existence on the same level as her.
However, she also knew when to stop.
She had teased enough; if she continued, Palace Master Gu might truly get angry.
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you."
Empress Qing Xuan finally stood up and left Gu Han's embrace.
But she didn't return to the prayer mat opposite; instead, she sat down beside Gu Han, shoulder to shoulder.
Gu Han immediately felt a weight lift from her, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Empress Qing Xuan put away her playful look and became elegant and dignified once more.
Yet, a hint of a joyful smile still lingered in the corners of her eyes and brows.
She raised her hand to pour spiritual tea for both of them again.
"Back to business."
Empress Qing Xuan picked up her teacup, her gaze much clearer.
"Palace Master Gu, are you interested in that 'void node'?"
The speed at which she switched topics was so fast that Gu Han could barely keep up, but the words 'void node' quickly pulled Gu Han's attention back.
"Does the Empress mean... the node connecting to the Xuanhuang Continent?"
"Correct."
Empress Qing Xuan nodded, her expression becoming more serious.
"That node is extremely unstable and hidden, filled with violent space-time turbulence."
"It was purely by luck that I was able to return back then, and I was heavily injured, taking nearly a thousand years to recover."
"But..."
She looked at Gu Han, her eyes flashing with the light of sharing a secret.
"If we join forces, it's not impossible to briefly stabilize it and open a relatively safe passage."
"Don't you want to see what other worlds look like?"
Gu Han's heart stirred.
Other worlds... to her, this was undoubtedly a huge attraction.
"Why did the Empress choose to share this with me?"
Gu Han asked the key question.
Empress Qing Xuan smiled slightly, her gaze becoming deep once more.
"Because you are the only person in the Canglan Continent I cannot see through."
"I have sat in this Eastern Region for tens of thousands of years; I seem supreme, but in truth, the road ahead is cut off, and it is very lonely."
"Your appearance and your mystery have shown me... new possibilities."
"Moreover,"
She paused, her eyes shifting, her tone taking on that hint of laziness and depth that made Gu Han's heart flutter.
"Traveling with you will surely... not be boring."
Gu Han was silent for a moment.
The ambiguous and testing interaction from just now, and the startling proposal the other had just thrown out... all of it was like an invisible net full of temptation.
"It is too early for this; we need to plan carefully."
Gu Han finally spoke slowly, her voice returning to its cool tone.
"Fine."
Empress Qing Xuan didn't intend to go immediately either; she elegantly picked up her jade cup and took a small sip.
"I will be right here, waiting at any time."
Her gaze lingered on Gu Han's face for a moment, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes before she said seriously:
"As for today's matters, the Karma between the Ye family and you is hereby concluded."
"I will also send people to look after Ye Linger's family."
These words were spoken plainly, yet they carried sincerity.
With these words from her, the Ye family of Tianfeng City would certainly not have any more improper thoughts.
"Thank you, Empress."
Gu Han nodded slightly.
"You're welcome."
Empress Qing Xuan put down her teacup, her jade finger making a light stroke, and a spatial portal shimmering with rosy light appeared in the bedchamber.
"Palace Master Gu, please."
Gu Han stood up, took one last look at Empress Qing Xuan, and turned to step into the portal.
The rosy light shimmered, and her figure disappeared from the Empress's bedchamber.
Silence returned to the bedchamber.
The Azure Profound Empress sat alone at the warm jade tea table, not moving for a long time.
On her beautiful face, that elegant and dignified smile gradually faded.
Her fingertips unconsciously and gently stroked the smooth wall of the jade cup, her eyes shifting as she looked in the direction Gu Han had disappeared.
Suddenly, a very faint, almost imperceptible blush appeared on her cheeks again.
She slowly raised her other hand and gently pressed it against her... hip.
Through the magnificent phoenix-patterned palace dress, a subtle sensation seemed to linger in that spot.
*Pa.*
That crisp and ambiguous light sound seemed to ring in her ears again.
Empress Qing Xuan's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
For over thirty thousand years... since she stepped into the Immortal Ascension realm and took charge of the Eastern Region, let alone such intimate and transgressive contact.
Even if someone dared to be slightly disrespectful in front of her, they would be turned to ash in an instant.
But today... she was not only pulled into someone's arms and held on their lap.
She even... took a hit like that.
Although it didn't hurt, the strange feeling that welled up... like a stone thrown into a deep, ancient well, the ripples it stirred did not dissipate for a long time.
What made her feelings even more complex was... her own reaction at the time.
She hadn't been furious immediately, nor had she instantly struck back with Qi.
Instead... as if possessed, she had kissed her.
Where did the impulse for that kiss come from?
Was it the throbbing of seeing a "peer" in tens of thousands of years of lonely years?
Was it an unwilling-to-be-weak counterattack after being offended?
Or was it... the temperature of that embrace, the cool and special scent of that person, those eyes that forced composure but hid embarrassment... that made her feel "alive" for the first time in a long while?
Empress Qing Xuan let out a soft breath, her fingertips moving from her hip to her lips.
There, another soft, faintly cool fragrance of a sensation seemed to remain.
Gu Han's lips... were very soft, slightly cool, with a clean scent that matched her own temperament.
One touch and then separate, fast like a hallucination, yet incomparably real.
"...Yaochi Immortal Palace?"
Empress Qing Xuan murmured to herself, the expression in her eyes changing.
"Southern Region... Gu Han..."
She recited the name, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously rose slightly once more.
In that upward curve, there was no longer the majesty of an Empress, nor the narrowness and playfulness from when she was teasing Gu Han just now.
Instead, it carried a hint of... a nearly nostalgic softness that she herself hadn't even noticed.
Having lived for too long, she was used to respect, fear, calculation, and flattery.
Gu Han's reaction—
The embarrassment under forced composure, the counterattack of not wanting to be teased, even that slap with a hint of punishment... all of it made her feel extremely fresh and... extremely interesting.
"Next time we meet..."
Empress Qing Xuan's gaze narrowed slightly, a brilliant light flashing deep in her eyes.
In that light, there was the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent, the competitiveness ignited after being "provoked," and even... a faint expectation.
"That slap, I will surely settle the score myself."
Her voice was very soft, dissipating in the empty bedchamber.
Only those beautiful eyes, reflecting the starlight from the dome, were startlingly bright.
As if she had already seen a day in the future, meeting, clashing, and entangling with that person again.
Yes, she must... settle the score with interest.
She turned around, her skirt trailing on the ground, walking calmly toward the depths of the bedchamber.
Her back was still noble and elegant, as if the momentary loss of composure and the throbbing just now had never happened.
------------------------
I've posted 40+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"