784 Pay Back in Kindness (1/2)
In retrospect, it seemed like he had just parted with Bai Xi at the Sacred City the day before.
But after parting for what seemed like the short span of only one day, she was no longer the brat she seemed to be in the past, and Ye Qingxuan could no longer regard her as the annoying and naughty child she was in the past.
Gazing at her face, Ye Qingxuan sighed softly. ”You've really grown up, Bai Xi.”
”How do I look? Has my beauty stunned you at least for a little bit?” Bai Xi winked, then thought of something, and couldn't help but pout. ”Actually, I originally intended to put on makeup, but unfortunately, you came at bad time, so you can't see me in makeup today.”
”It's good enough to see you.” Ye Qingxuan said, ”It doesn't matter if I don't get to see other things.”
Bai Xi smiled. ”Am I pretty?”
”Yeah.” Ye Qingxuan nodded.
Bai Xi's smile turned a bit odd. ”Is it that you want to look at me for a little while longer?”
Ye Qingxuan sighed resignedly and said nothing.
”I mean, you can look at me for as long as you want later, but before that,” Bai Xi looked down at the chains on her, ”can't you help me take it off first?”
After an awkward moment of silence, Ye Qingxuan scrambled to cut off the chains and coughed twice somewhat embarrassedly. ”My bad, my bad, I didn't notice...”
What answered him was a hug that he hadn't experienced for a long time.
However, her embrace felt quite different from the past.
”It's alright.” Bai Xi hugged him hard as if she wanted to latch on to him. ”I forgive you.”
She used so much strength, it as if she wanted to pin him down, no, more like she wanted to keep him away, shackle him and tie him up, and carry him on her.
She wanted to make him her possession.
She hugged him so hard...
”Bai Xi?” Ye Qingxuan turned back and looked at the side of her face, confused.
”Sorry for dragging you here, it's my fault.” She murmured softly, ”I could have avoided all this, but I still wanted to see you come here; I wanted to see you coming to save me.”
She closed her eyes. ”I really am too despicable.”
At the moment, he felt Bai Xi's body stiffen.
Immediately, she cooled down. It was as if she turned from a volcano to a glacier in a moment, and she became quiet and cold, no longer overflowing with impulse.
Then, his neck hurt.
It seemed to have been pricked with a needle.
His vision darkened.
A warm and dull flow of heat spread through his body with pain. It engulfed him, dragging him into a slumber bit by bit. He looked up in shock, falling weakly onto the ground.
”Bai Xi...” He saw Bai Xi's face, so familiar, yet her gaze was so strange. He saw no anger or hatred in her, nor was there any attachment or joy. She simply watched him quietly.
It was not Bai Xi, for Bai Xi's gaze was always flowing no matter what, like flames. Be it anger or happiness, her feelings were always so vivid that they almost made her glow.
But at the moment, the pair of eyes became so quiet and calm.
It was as if she had become a different person.
At the moment, he finally understood something.
He gained a sudden realization. ”You are... Chaoyue...”
…
In Weiyang Palace, Bai Heng shook his head in disappointment.
”That idiot, I have long hinted to him so many times about how important the survival of the nine families of the Dragon Bloodline is to Aurora.” He threw the empty wine glass onto the table and sighed in a low voice. ”Yet he still doesn't understand it.”
Someone walked in slowly from the outside of the palace and prostrated himself, kowtowing to the supreme empress. ”Your Majesty.”
The man who looked genial, cultured, and fairly handsome knelt on the floor and reported with reverence. ”Thanks to the foresight of Your Majesty, my daughter, Chaoyue, had overpowered the rebel, Ye Qingxuan.”
It was Yunlou Qingshu, who was once mad, dispirited, and flustered.
But at the moment, the noble that looked slightly aged, appeared valiant and in high spirits; totally a different person from the past.
Bai Heng took a glance at him and understood what had happened. He lamented knowingly, ”You're still so unreliable, Lord Yunlou. First, it was the Sacred City, then me, and finally, Her Majesty. It must have been very difficult to serve three masters.”
”A fine fowl perches only on a fine tree [1].” Yunlou Qingshu just smiled. ”That is all.”
Bai Heng was not angry. He simply shrugged and sighed softly. ”You're really giving me a headache. I originally intended to let you control Bai Xi and assassinate Her Majesty.
”Now that you have defected, I don't have any other means to...”
The Empress did not seem to have heard it.
Yunlou Qingshu just prostrated himself on the ground, constantly sprouting lengthy paragraphs of flattery. ”Only Your Majesty has such foresight and the ability to see through treacherous schemes. Only Your Majesty may enjoy the fine delicacies of the world, and only Your Majesty has the right to punish the citizens and the ability to bring prosperity to the nation. I would like to congratulate Your Majesty...”
”Irrelevant words can wait until we are over there.” The Empress got up from the throne and walked to the back of it, where a door had quietly opened. ”My two beloved ministers, do come with me.”