Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

If it were up to her, Xiao Yang would have stayed at Bright Mirror Manor for at least a month or two. Having finally escaped that awful Imperial Palace, she was determined to have some real fun. But unfortunately, it was not to be.

She never gave others a moment’s peace, and now they were returning the favor.

It was karma.

The Da Wei empire was bordered by over a dozen smaller nations. While there were occasional skirmishes, in an era where information traveled slowly, many minor issues were dealt with on the spot. As a result, relations with its neighbors were relatively peaceful.

But now that Da Wei had completely conquered the Xirong, the other nations were naturally sending envoys to take a look.

The National Letters arrived the very evening she left for the manor, and they were presented to her first thing the next morning.

Xiao Yang: "..."

’Perfect timing, huh?’

Though they had arrived in a hurry, Xiao Yang was in no rush. She despised uninvited guests, especially since these ones were undoubtedly up to no good.

She ordered the Ministry of Rites to begin preparations, with Prince Jing and his son Xiao Lv overseeing them. They were to be received with standard diplomatic courtesy, and that was it. As for her hot spring, she was determined to soak for three days and three nights, no matter what.

Feeling that soaking alone wasn’t enough fun, she had Xiao Cheng send for Xiao Jinsu and Song Qingyi.

"I recall inviting two young ladies."

Xiao Yang sat in the seat of honor, calmly eyeing the unexpected guest.

Song Qingyi shyly hid behind Xiao Jinsu. Ye Shao blushed, looking uncomfortable, but he held his ground. "I was merely worried about Qingyi, so I escorted her here."

Judging by their expressions, there was definitely something going on between them.

Xiao Yang wasn’t completely heartless. "Then you can stay as well. You can escort your dear Qingyi back home tomorrow."

Ye Shao wanted to flee, but he was standing before his Monarch and had to observe the proper etiquette.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

He could only brace himself and endure the many teasing looks sent his way.

"You may withdraw."

Ye Shao scurried out as if he’d been granted amnesty, leaving Song Qingyi behind to be relentlessly interrogated by Xie Liuzheng. "Alright, spill it. What’s the deal? I thought you didn’t like him."

Song Qingyi immediately retorted, "Who said I don’t like him?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and her face instantly flushed crimson. "I... I just hadn’t realized his good qualities before..."

Her voice trailed off into a barely audible whisper.

But no matter how shy she was, Song Qingyi couldn’t hold out against Xie Liuzheng’s mix of prodding and cajoling. She finally confessed what was going on between her and Ye Shao.

To put it simply, they had both been provoked into action.

Ye Shao, spurred on by the Emperor, had realized the importance of confessing his feelings. Song Qingyi, spurred on by Xie Liuzheng, had realized the terrifying possibility that she might lose Ye Shao.

Ye Shao had awkwardly prepared a confession, Song Qingyi had tearfully confronted him, and the two had finally cleared the air. Which led to... this.

Xie Liuzheng asked, "So, are you two official, or not?"

Song Qingyi glanced at Xiao Yang, then shyly nodded.

Xie Liuzheng was the happiest of them all. "That’s more like it."

’It’s so much better to be happily in love with someone who loves you back. There’s no need to be some tragic heroine.’

After her outburst, she noticed Xiao Jinsu was being quiet. Xie Liuzheng sidled up to her. "Sister Jinshu, do you have a childhood sweetheart or anything? You’re free now, don’t leave yourself with any regrets."

With the Emperor as her backer, Xiao Jinsu’s divorce from Cui Jialiang had gone smoothly, without so much as a ripple of gossip.

It wasn’t an amicable split, but it was a clean break.

Xiao Jinsu was single again, childless, and now a fifth-rank female officer. She was the very picture of a powerful, divorced woman, truly in the most brilliant phase of her life.

Xie Liuzheng’s unusual ideas had indeed rubbed off on Xiao Jinsu, broadening her horizons and perspective. But when it came to romance, she truly had no interest.

"No childhood sweetheart, and no regrets."

Her detached demeanor worried Xie Liuzheng. "You haven’t grown so disillusioned that you’re thinking of becoming a nun, have you? You’re still young, with your whole life ahead of you. Don’t get the wrong idea."

’Everyone runs into a scumbag or two in their lifetime.’

Xiao Jinsu chuckled. "It’s not that bad. I just haven’t met the right person. We’ll see what happens. I’ll leave it to fate."

Xie Liuzheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her own life was a complete mess; she’d been terrified she might accidentally convince someone to become a nun. That would have been a true sin.

Xie Liuzheng led them to the hot spring. Dressed only in their inner robes, they were quite literally baring it all to one another.

Song Qingyi asked, "Where’s Your Majesty?"

Xie Liuzheng pointed across the way. "There’s a private spring over there. Her Majesty probably went there today."

Seeing the disappointment on Song Qingyi’s face, Xie Liuzheng said smugly, "I’ve already bathed with Her Majesty, you know. You missed your chance!"

Song Qingyi was so mad she started splashing water at her. "You wretch! You’re terrible!"

As the two of them played and splashed, Xiao Jinsu soaked in comfortable silence. She would never have dared to even dream of such a peaceful day before.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Xiao Yang’s bath was getting heated in a very different way.

The pool was the size of a small room, sheltered by a pavilion and hidden by privacy screens. Water trickled gently from a dragon-head spout.

Xiao Yang leaned against the edge of the pool, her head tilted back. A glistening liquid—whether it was spring water or sweat, it was hard to say—slid down her jaw and onto her pale neck.

Rong Yin always watched her the way a wolf eyes a bone. She rarely got a moment to herself, and there was no reason to deny herself a little pleasure.

She had started it, but she was also the first to surrender.

’There’s really no logic when it comes to matters of the flesh.’

The woman grows weaker, while the man only grows more... enthusiastic.

Though he hadn’t taken her completely, he had kissed every inch of her.

Xiao Yang lifted her foot, propped it on Rong Yin’s shoulder, and used the last of her strength to shove him back into the water.

’If this keeps up, I really won’t be able to resist devouring him completely.’

Rong Yin emerged from the water, his hair unbound and his robes hanging open. Droplets of water fell from the tips of his hair. Some landed back in the pool, while others traced paths down his pale chest, across his sharply defined abdomen, and vanished into a place that sparked the imagination.

He had completely lost his usual restrained and dignified air. Now, he was the very picture of temptation.

He lifted a hand and brushed a thumb across the corner of his mouth. An eyebrow arched, and a lust-filled, bewitching smile played on his lips. "Rest assured, Your Majesty," he purred, the corners of his full, red lips curving. "I will restrain myself."

’He could wait until her eighteenth birthday, as she had decreed. He just wasn’t sure if Her Majesty could wait that long.’

Xiao Yang was being provoked. She kicked him again. "Where did you learn all this?"

’Not long ago, he was hers to tease. Now he’d learned how to tease her back.’

Rong Yin moved closer, pulling her into his embrace. "Your Majesty was my teacher. I am simply a good student. You could say I’ve been... reading extensively these past few days. I wonder, how does Your Majesty rate my progress?"

Xiao Yang rolled her eyes at him. A smooth-talker, finding such an elegant way to say he’d been reading smut.

"Get lost."

Xiao Yang pushed his head away, then slowly rose from the water. She casually slipped out of her soaked robes, dried herself, and changed, completely unconcerned by the increasingly heated gaze fixed on her back.

Once she was dressed, she glanced back at him, her gaze dipping to the water below his waist.

"Don’t stay in there too long. It’s bad for your kidneys."

Rong Yin just smiled without a word. He waited until she was gone, then leaned back into the spot she had just vacated. He tilted his head back, staring at the roof of the pavilion, remaining perfectly still as he waited for the ache to subside.

A fire danced in his dark eyes. ’This is all a debt, Your Majesty, and one day, you will repay it!’

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