Waiting for You for a Long Time, But You Haven't Arrived - Chapter 1

She is the current powerful Prime Minister, Jiang Qionghua’s person

2022/12/01

Tunyue ( a pen name)

“The prison locks away loyal officials, the powerful and treacherous laugh at the Emperor…”

“Jiang Qionghua! Your ambition is manifest, your wicked desires surpass your conscience, you will meet a terrible end!”

Deep within the Imperial Prison, the imprisoned elder official was named Yang Bofu.

A loyal official, yet subjected to cruel torture.

And the person he was pointing at and cursing was the current Prime Minister, Jiang Qionghua.

The smell of blood was heavy in the Imperial Prison. Countless drops of blood had once flowed on this ground, seeping in layer after layer, drying up again and again, reaching an extreme red that eventually turned into a desolate black.

Jiang Qionghua watched the execution with her own eyes. No matter how the condemned man insulted her, she appeared utterly indifferent.

The jailer glanced at the suffering Yang Bofu with complicated feelings, and, unable to bear the sight, stepped forward to plead: “Prime Minister Jiang, the prison is damp and cold. Would you perhaps move outside to have a cup of hot tea?”

Jiang Qionghua glanced at the jailer in silence. Everyone instantly held their breath, bowed their heads, and dared not utter a sound.

This Prime Minister Jiang was a harsh and suspicious person. No one dared to tempt fate. If they failed to persuade her and ended up incriminating themselves, it would be disastrous.

As an all-powerful treacherous official, Jiang Qionghua possessed all the vile qualities of a nèichén ( a treacherous minister): sinister, suspicious, cold, forceful, and dismissive of all commoners and insignificance.

These years were the height of her power. Standing on the damp floor of the Imperial Prison, holding absolute power, even without saying a word, she exuded a cold indifference and disgust that looked down upon the entire scene.

Her eyes were thin and cold, as if everything in the world was unremarkable, making her chillingly beautiful and dangerous, a figure everyone feared.

Except for… the dying.

Those facing death were always extraordinarily reckless and defiant. Yang Bofu cursed her while being tortured. Even in the throes of extreme pain, he suppressed his screams, converting the agony into invective.

“See, Grand Commandant Yang has cursed me for so long and hasn’t felt thirsty yet. How can I rest before him?” Jiang Qionghua let out a light laugh, her cold eyes fixed on him. “The Yang family, three generations of loyal servants, is now also extinguished in the hands of Grand Commandant Yang.”

The Yang family was ruined by the very Prime Minister standing before him, and yet she could shamelessly turn around and smear him?

What an absurd and perverse statement!

Yang Bofu choked fiercely, his curses pausing for a moment. However, he quickly regained his senses and demanded, “Jiang Qionghua, by framing loyal officials like this, what face will you have to meet your ancestors when you die someday!”

Jiang Qionghua retorted calmly: “The Grand Commandant need not worry. Not a single one of my ancestors was a good person, and they are not qualified to point out my faults.”

A mouthful of blood instantly surged up in Yang Bofu’s throat: “You…”

Seeing his breath weaken, Jiang Qionghua lost the interest to continue standing there and watching the torture. Although she had successfully overthrown Grand Commandant Yang, she felt no triumph, only a sense of fatigue after fulfilling a desire.

Jiang Qionghua pressed her brow, feeling annoyed, and walked towards the exit. The jailer bowed and quietly led the way. Everyone hurriedly followed the Prime Minister with lowered eyes.

Yang Bofu’s anguished screams echoed again from the depths of the prison. Jiang Qionghua paused her steps, turned her head, and instructed them not to kill the man, but to leave him a breath, as she still had use for him.

“Yes—”

Outside the Imperial Prison, snow was falling. The Emperor’s entourage was waiting there. Seeing Jiang Qionghua emerge, the Empress Dowager moved forward.

“The Imperial Prison is foul and dirty. Your Majesty should not go inside, lest it taint your eyes.” Jiang Qionghua waited for the other party to approach, then lazily took the silk handkerchief offered by a servant. “Yang Bofu knew his crime was unforgivable and passed away just now.”

The Empress Dowager stopped. The light in her beautiful, dark eyes instantly faded. Hearing the terrible news, the grief on her face was difficult to conceal.

Jiang Qionghua spoke with cold indifference: “Your Majesty should not grieve. This was Grand Commandant Yang’s fate. It is good that he is dead; it saves him from further prison punishment.”

Disregarding the Emperor’s opinion and without approval from the Grand Court of Justice or other supervisory agencies, relying only on a dubious charge, she had imprisoned a Grand Commandant of the highest rank.

In hundreds of years, only she dared to act in such a rebellious manner.

No emperor could tolerate such insubordination. Empress Chu Qing’s anger flared, and the regret in her heart made it difficult for her to bear. She had been preparing to clear Minister Yang’s name, but never expected that Jiang Qionghua would act so unconventionally, not even bothering to follow proper procedure, and instead cleanly and directly caused Grand Commandant Yang’s death in the Imperial Prison.

This Right Prime Minister was truly vicious and utterly heartless.

Chu Qing was furious. A knot of anger tightened in her chest, making her desperately want to spite the other woman.

“Grand Commandant Yang is gone, so be it. Since the Right Prime Minister personally came to the prison to finalize the verdict, how could I not feel reassured?” Chu Qing spoke sarcastically, a hint of mockery playing on her lips. “I heard a rumor in the palace, that my dear Minister keeps a noble young lady in her residence, and that person is quite close to Grand Commandant Yang. However…”

Jiang Qionghua was using the silk handkerchief to try and wipe off the bloodstain on her hands, but the bloody aura refused to be scrubbed clean. She frowned in distaste, suppressing her cold composure: “What does Your Majesty mean? Please speak plainly.”

Chu Qing leaned closer, lowering her voice: “If my dear Minister has a romantic interest in her, are you not afraid that she will be heartbroken?”

Romantic interest?

Jiang Qionghua seemed stung by these two words, finding the slander rather ineffable: “Your Majesty should listen less to gossip. Yizhu calls me Aunt, and I only treat her as a junior; I have no such filthy intentions. I don’t know which sick-minded people in the palace are spreading these rumors. If Your Majesty knows, perhaps you could tell me, and I will help you clear the court of undesirable elements.”

Chu Qing was clearly unconvinced. She sneered coldly: “I am merely surprised that someone as cold-hearted and detached as you would wholeheartedly and sincerely favor someone.”

With this clarification, Jiang Qionghua knew the Emperor saw Ming Yishu as her weakness.

What a joke. Did the current Emperor have only such shallow and clumsy ways to retaliate?

The person capable of restraining her had yet to be born. A delicate young woman living in her residence, and someone ridiculously mistook her for her weakness?

“Let me tell Your Majesty the truth. The person in my residence is not a relative, not even a luánchǒng (a paramour/bed warmer).” Jiang Qionghua’s tone was light, as if she truly didn’t care about anyone. “I once had a person I deeply hated. On the day that person fell, I still didn’t feel satisfied, so I brought back her only relative, her orphaned daughter. I’ll keep her for now and wait. When I feel like taking revenge to vent my anger, I’ll deal with her.”

These words were too deranged, even astonishing Chu Qing.

How could there be such a mad, insane person in the world? Dissatisfied with revenge, she even took the descendant of her enemy into her care, waiting for the next opportunity for vengeance.

Too crazy.

Chu Qing frowned: “Since she has not violated the laws of our dynasty, the fault for a feud between peers should not extend to the descendants. After so many years, even raising a cat or a dog would foster affection. I heard my dear Minister treats her extremely well. How could you bear to kill her?”

“Your Majesty is quite well-informed. It seems you are very concerned about the person in my residence.” As if to prove her indifference, Jiang Qionghua replied easily and quickly: “Since that is the case, I will give her to Your Majesty. How about it?”

Chu Qing: “…”

Chu Qing was completely speechless, feeling a sense of sorrow for the young woman.

She had actually seen Ming Yishu before.

That day, beneath the lush flowers and ancient trees, she had glimpsed her from afar, seeing her figure, slender and ethereal, like a celestial being.

Ming Yishu also looked back at her from a distance, her expression clear, cold, and tranquil, her entire aura seemingly out of place with the world.

She was like a pond of water difficult to stir, a breeze indifferent to the world, likely to dissipate completely one day.

It made one feel pity and sadness.

First snow fell in the capital.

All was silent.

A messenger rode against the snow, urgently entering the heavily guarded Prime Minister’s residence.

Following this, the servants of the residence received orders and relayed the message step-by-step to a certain sleeping chamber.

The room was warm. Besides the incense, there was a soft, unique scent belonging to a woman. The attendant entered quietly, bringing in the chill of fresh snow, which was quickly brushed away, lest the noble person inside be disturbed.

The woman on the couch was the current powerful Prime Minister, Jiang Qionghua’s person.

“Miss Ming, the Prime Minister sent word, she wishes you to go to her.”

Seeing that Ming Yishu was not awake, the maid did not dare to approach directly and stopped a few steps away with her head bowed.

Ming Yishu had only been asleep for less than half an hour. Abruptly woken, she felt a sense of disorientation.

After arguing with the Prime Minister about Grand Commandant Yang the night before, she hadn’t slept at all. The other party had also gone to the Imperial Prison in the dark of night. During this time, they hadn’t exchanged another word.

Ming Yishu didn’t say much. She propped herself up, suddenly feeling a pain in her chest. Her old illness was flaring up fiercely.

The maid, Su Qian’er, was startled and stepped forward to help: “Miss, is your old illness acting up again…”

Ming Yishu tightly furrowed her delicate brows, swallowed the bitterness in her heart, and forced herself to stand up again. “It’s nothing.”

After rushing to the Imperial Prison, she saw Jiang Qionghua waiting for her from afar. The place was damp and cold. Even with candles lit indoors, they couldn’t illuminate all the dark corners. It was clearly broad daylight, but entering the depths of the prison gave one the illusion of being in the dead of night.

Prime Minister Jiang Qionghua had her back to Ming Yishu. The lighting here was poor, and the dark green, gold-embroidered Prime Minister’s robes looked like they were stained with a deep black.

In the dark, her expression was unclear. Ming Yishu only heard her ask coolly and calmly—Are you still angry?

“Aunt.” Ming Yishu stopped a few steps away from her. Her mind was a little calmer, and she replied softly, “I will not be angry with Aunt.”

“Will not be angry with me—” Jiang Qionghua inexplicably repeated the phrase. Then, thinking of the argument with Ming Yishu last night, and the way Chu Qing had asked for the young woman this morning, a wave of dissatisfaction arose in her heart. She said, “This ‘will not’… is it unwilling or dares not?”

Ming Yishu, whose chest was throbbing with pain, frowned slightly. She didn’t have the spare energy to cope with the other’s volatile mood. Without even smoothing over her words, she directly admitted her fault as she usually did: “Yishu dares not.”

“Such a perfect ‘dares not’!”

Jiang Qionghua, who had been suppressing her anger, finally lost her patience and immediately smashed the teacup in her hand.

Is it just because she dares not?

Porcelain shards shattered across the floor, and tea splashed near Ming Yishu’s feet. The servants and attendants behind her, affected by the Prime Minister’s wrath, instantly knelt down.

There were shards of porcelain where the maid Su Qian’er knelt. Ming Yishu was soft-hearted and couldn’t bear to see her kneel on the fragments, so she bent down to pick up a few of the larger pieces first.

However, this action was misinterpreted in Jiang Qionghua’s eyes.

Ming Yishu was beautiful and pure. Standing there quietly, she looked as if she were intentionally being cold towards someone.

The anger in Jiang Qionghua’s voice was unmistakable, almost a gnashing of teeth: “Ming Yishu, have I treated you too well, making you forget your status and position, and start being spoiled and arrogant?”

Ming Yishu was currently very uncomfortable. The intermittent dull ache in her chest made her thoughts slow. Hearing the sudden accusation, her finger trembled, and she accidentally cut it on a porcelain shard.

It wasn’t until blood trailed down her fingers that she belatedly raised her head to meet Jiang Qionghua’s gaze.

Jiang Qionghua vaguely noticed that Ming Yishu’s state was off, but she assumed it was because the other woman had learned of Yang Bofu’s death, which only intensified her displeasure.

She lowered her voice: “Come closer. Am I going to eat you?”

Ming Yizhu put the porcelain she had picked up onto the table and moved closer to the other woman, radiating obedience from head to toe.

Seeing that she was finally compliant, Jiang Qionghua felt a bit more satisfied.

The two stood in silent contemplation for a moment. Jiang Qionghua was the first to soften, raising her hand to gently stroke the young woman’s hair: “Don’t throw a childish tantrum at me over some irrelevant outsider. Of course, I cherish you… How could Aunt bear to lose such a temper with you?”

Ming Yishu ultimately believed her. Even though the other party was always so volatile, and even acted ruthlessly against a loyal official, she always felt that the other person had a strategy in mind and was forced to act that way.

“Mhm.”

Ming Yishu nodded submissively, her voice carrying a slight nasal tone. The gold tassels in her hair swayed gently.

Jiang Qionghua sat in a chair, took Ming Yishu’s hand, and used the silk handkerchief to wipe the blood from her finger, saying: “There now, look at you, how badly you’ve injured your hand.”

Ming Yishu’s eyes were slightly moist, and she stood before Jiang Qionghua with a hint of grievance.

It had been six years since she transmigrated here. She trusted Jiang Qionghua implicitly, regarding her as her everything. She did this because her system had gone silent, and the only person she could trust was Jiang Qionghua.

At that time, she had been running a fever, and vaguely heard the system saying something about the protagonist she was to help being her benefactor.

When she woke up, the current powerful Prime Minister, Jiang Qionghua, happened to be sitting by her couch, claiming the role of her savior.

Ming Yishu had affirmed her belief in the other woman, willing to follow her for a lifetime.

Jiang Qionghua tossed the handkerchief aside, pulled Ming Yishu closer to her, and spoke seductively: “Let me see, does it hurt?”

Although she said this, Jiang Qionghua gently let go of the young woman’s hand, then wrapped her arm around her slender, willow-like waist. She stroked it along the curve, like admiring a jade scepter, causing Ming Yishu’s ears to flush slightly.

Ming Yishu awkwardly pressed down on the other’s hand. She lowered her head and met Jiang Qionghua’s dangerous eyes.

That gaze was silent yet passionate, containing the ambition and determination unique to a person in power, as if she were her prey, her possession.

Not even the slightest fraction of her will could be disobeyed.

“Today, Chu Qing asked me for you,” Jiang Qionghua said, gripping her shamelessly with a smile. “What do you think, should I agree?”

Ming Yishu held onto her shoulder, feeling anxious: “No.”

Jiang Qionghua: “Are you really not going to leave with her? The Empress is young and beautiful, and she has a good temper. You must think clearly. If you miss this opportunity, you won’t be able to leave the Prime Minister’s residence in the future.”

The hand around her waist was still teasing her. Ming Yishu was a little ticklish. She wanted to pull away but didn’t dare. She could only endure her uneven breathing and try to reply in a calm tone: “Whatever the Empress is like, what does that have to do with me? I only know that Aunt is the best person in the world to me. The Prime Minister’s residence is my home. Why would I speak of leaving?”

Jiang Qionghua released her with satisfaction, smiling as she looked up at her.

“In this world, you are the only one who chooses me without reservation.”

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