Double Queens GL - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

“You truly didn’t need to go that far,” Ye Guichen said to Liu Hening after everyone else had departed.

“I couldn’t bring myself to plead for her, so I feel a bit guilty. Confining myself along with her makes my heart feel a little lighter,” Liu Hening replied.

“Since your mind is made up, I won’t try to persuade you otherwise.” Ye Guichen thought to herself: If she’s confined for three months, at least she won’t be coming around to harass me.

“After this incident, they definitely won’t want to play with me anymore. Huachao, I only have you now,” Liu Hening said, her tone laced with a hint of sorrow as she grasped Ye Guichen’s hand.

Ye Guichen felt a wave of discomfort. What do you mean ‘I only have you now’? How can she say such things so casually? She waited for her hand to finally warm up before subtly withdrawing it from Liu Hening’s grip.

“It wasn’t I who forced this choice upon you.” Though her words sounded a bit like she was gloating after getting what she wanted, it was true—this was entirely Liu Hening’s own doing.

“It was my choice, of course. It has nothing to do with you. But since they won’t play with me, you must pay attention to me, Huachao. Otherwise, I’ll be so lonely and pathetic…” Liu Hening looked at her with pleading eyes.

Ye Guichen stared back at her. Here was the most favored Empress of the dynasty, acting like a neglected wife in a boudoir. It gave Ye Guichen the bizarre, fleeting illusion that she was the husband. She quickly dismissed the thought as utterly ridiculous.

“You joke, Hening. You are the Empress of the Central Palace; who would dare ignore you?” Ye Guichen said with a polite smile.

“I don’t want to use my status just to make people pretend to like me!” Liu Hening replied softly.

Ye Guichen raised an eyebrow. Does this person have no shame? Who was it that used the Emperor to pressure me just the other day?

Liu Hening saw the flash of skepticism and looked a bit sheepish. “That was because you hated me too much back then. If I hadn’t brought up Junshen, you probably wouldn’t have even looked at me. I had no choice; it was a desperate measure. I really do like you, Huachao.”

So she was playing the ‘pig to eat the tiger’ after all! Ye Guichen thought. Finally, she admitted to using Yang Zhao against her.

“Since you understand people’s hearts so well, I’m sure it won’t be hard for you to get them to flock to you again if you put your mind to it.” Ye Guichen spoke plainly, though she still couldn’t bring herself to say directly that Liu Hening was incredibly thick-skinned.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as you don’t hate me, that’s enough!” To Liu Hening, Huachao was the ultimate prize; if she could win over the most guarded heart in the palace, no one else mattered.

To Ye Guichen’s ears, this sounded like she was being placed above all other women in the harem. At first, it seemed logical—she was different from the others—but as she mulled it over, it began to feel increasingly strange. She pushes the Emperor away, spends all her time trying to please other women, and keeps getting touchy-feely with me…

Ye Guichen had been raised in the palace, where “mirror-rubbing” (lesbianism) and “eating across from each other” (palace maid partnerships) were not uncommon rumors. She suddenly felt that everything clicked into place. Liu Hening must prefer women.

With this new perspective, Ye Guichen’s gaze toward Liu Hening became… complicated.

Liu Hening felt the shift. “Huachao, your eyes… you’re looking at me strangely.”

“It’s late. You should return to your palace to rest,” Ye Guichen said quickly. If Liu Hening was coming here because she was attracted to her beauty, then Ye Guichen needed to keep her distance even more than before. Before, she avoided her out of annoyance; now, she feared being the object of her “designs.”

Liu Hening, unaware of the wild theories spinning in Ye Guichen’s head, looked out at the freezing night. The thought of being confined for three months without seeing Huachao made her bold.

“It really is late, and it’s so cold outside I’m afraid to leave. Huachao… can I just stay the night here in your hall?”

Ye Guichen’s suspicions were instantly confirmed. She really does have improper designs on me! She even wants to sleep over!

Even the attendants were stunned. Yu Zheng and Liu Yan had never heard of one Empress staying the night in the other’s quarters. Ye Meng was speechless. Just when I think she can’t get any more outrageous, she does this!

“That is against protocol. You should return to the Central Palace,” Ye Guichen refused with a smile that was painfully strained.

“Can’t you just take me in for one night? I won’t see you for three months! I’ll miss you so much,” Liu Hening pleaded piteously.

Previously, Ye Guichen found such words merely awkward; now, every sentence sounded like a confession of love. She was shocked by Liu Hening’s boldness—to say such things even in front of the Emperor!

“If I have time, I will visit you. You should go now,” Ye Guichen said, her politeness reaching its limit.

Liu Hening sighed, looking truly dejected as she gazed at the dark, cold window. She stood up, downed two or three cups of hot wine to steel herself against the cold, and wrapped herself in her cloak.

“Since it is late, I won’t see you out,” Ye Guichen said, remaining seated.

“Mm. Rest well, Huachao.”

Ye Guichen watched her disappear into the night. When the room was finally quiet, Ye Meng leaned in. “Miss, do you think her refusal to plead for Lady Sun was sincere, or does she have some other plan? Is she just trying to curry favor with you?”

“It seems sincere for now. There’s no need to go through all this trouble otherwise,” Ye Guichen replied.

“It’s just so strange. If she isn’t buying people’s hearts with those gifts, what is she doing? Does she just want women to come over and play with her?”

“Men,” Ye Guichen said suddenly, her voice low and contemplative, “seem to like having three wives and four concubines, surrounded by women who revolve around them.”