"Master Mother! Ah Yao is back!"
"Third Junior Sister and Fourth Junior Sister bought me Tanghulu..."
The door to the hall was pushed open, and the little girl held up two skewers of crystal-clear Tanghulu, her small face flushed with excitement.
However, that smile froze on her face the moment she saw the scene inside the hall.
Gu Luoli and Ye Ling'er, who were following closely behind her, also stopped in their tracks at the same time.
Time seemed to have its pause button pressed at this moment.
Inside the Main Hall, beside the Cloud Bed.
Empress Ling Shuang leaned forward slightly, her ice-blue palace robes' sleeves almost touching the hem of Gu Han's moon-white dress.
The distance between the two was extremely close; one of Empress Ling Shuang's hands seemed to be suspended in the air beside Gu Han.
As for Gu Han... she was leaning back slightly, one hand propped up on the Cloud Bed.
On that exquisite face that was always cold and calm, there was actually a faint, extremely unnatural blush.
In the air, there remained a trace of a subtle and tense atmosphere that hadn't had time to completely dissipate.
The visual impact of this scene was simply too strong.
"Ma... Master Mother?"
Ah Yao blinked her big eyes and tilted her small head, forgetting to eat the Tanghulu in her hand.
She looked at her slightly blushing Master, then at the beautiful sister in the blue dress who was very, very close to her Master.
Her small head was filled with question marks.
Were they playing some kind of game?
Within Gu Luoli's Double Pupils, golden light flickered sharply!
She saw things more "clearly" than Ah Yao and Ye Ling'er.
She could "see" the subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy remaining in the air, and she could "see" the momentary disruption in her Master's aura.
As well as the slightly aggressive ice-cold dao rhyme around Empress Ling Shuang that hadn't been fully retracted.
This... this was definitely not an ordinary discussion of the Dao!
Senior Sister might have a simple mind and not see through it, but she understood instantly—
This Empress of the Northern Region was likely doing something extremely transgressive to Master just now!
In her heart, Master was a supreme, cold-as-the-moon, and inviolable existence.
Even someone as strong as Empress Ling Shuang absolutely should not, and must not, commit such an... offensive act toward Master!
What made her feelings even more complicated was that Master seemed... not to be angry?
Ye Ling'er stood beside Gu Luoli, her entire being as if struck by a bolt of ice-cold lightning, instantly going rigid!
The Tanghulu in her hand fell to the ground with a "clack."
But she was completely oblivious to it.
Her gaze was fixed intently, deathly fixed on the two figures beside the Cloud Bed who were almost pressed together.
Especially... Empress Ling Shuang's hand that was suspended beside Master.
Did that hand... touch Master just now?
This thought was like the most poisonous briar, instantly wrapping around her heart and tightening cruelly!
Her ice-blue long hair moved without wind, and a cold chill uncontrollably diffused from her body.
That was a sign of Taiyin Spiritual Energy leaking out due to intense emotional fluctuations.
She clenched her fists tightly, her nails sinking deep into her palms, bringing a sharp sting.
Master... her Master... the one who gave her a new life at her most desperate moment, who was like the bright moon, the high mountains, and the entire world in her heart... was actually being treated like this by another woman right now.
Even though that woman was the ruler of a territory, peerless in elegance and incredibly powerful.
But... but!
Ye Ling'er felt a rush of blood to her head, her eyes suddenly stinging and aching intensely, her vision becoming somewhat blurred.
Why... why could this woman be so close to Master?
Could it be that Master felt... No! Impossible!
Master is so cold and noble, how could she... but how could this scene before her be explained?
The hall fell into an extremely eerie, almost solidified silence.
Only the melted syrup from the Tanghulu in Ah Yao's hand dripped onto the floor, making an extremely faint "tap."
This tiny sound, however, was like a key that instantly unlocked the stagnant time and space.
Gu Han was the first to react.
As if receiving an electric shock, she abruptly moved back half a step, increasing the distance between her and Empress Ling Shuang.
At the same time, she raised her hand and hurriedly tidied her slightly disheveled lapels and hair in near panic.
"A... Ah Yao, Luoli, Linger, you're back?"
Gu Han spoke, her voice carrying an imperceptible trace of hoarseness as she tried to maintain her composure, yet she clearly lacked confidence.
Empress Ling Shuang also slowly straightened up.
The extremely faint emotional fluctuation on her face, caused by the close-range confrontation with Gu Han, had already quickly vanished.
She regained her cold and indifferent appearance.
However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the edges of her ears were also tinged with an almost invisible shade of pink.
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