Laila opened her eyes wide, and Eustar also looked up at the towering rock with a fresh gaze.
“This is supposed to be a door?”
Eustar asked as if talking to himself, then looked at Myuge.
“So what do we do now?”
Myuge let out a short sigh, then approached the rock with a reluctant expression.
“We go in. The proper way.”
“The proper way?”
Myuge turned to look at the two of them.
“To open this door, you have to offer a bit of your power. What kind of power it is…”
She paused briefly and tapped the rock with her small hand. Her expression looked like an evil sorcerer from an old tale. One who lures passing travelers with emeralds and rubies, only to trap them in prison.
“This rock decides.”
Laila tilted her head and asked. Her complexion had improved a lot after sleeping for a night.
“Do you mean magic power?”
“It could be magic power, or it could be physical strength. Sometimes people lose their eyesight, or their ability to speak.”
Eustar and Laila’s expressions darkened simultaneously. Myuge shook her head with a mischievous giggle, as if she had expected this reaction.
“Don’t worry. It’s temporary and returns to normal once you enter the city.”
“Really?”
“If you don’t believe me, you can wait here, Eustar.”
Eustar raised one eyebrow slightly.
“Eating venison? No thanks.”
Myuge laughed out loud, and Laila turned her head to press her fist against her mouth to suppress her laughter. The joke seemed to have eased the tension a bit.
“Touch the stone. Anywhere.”
Eustar and Laila hesitated but did as Myuge instructed, touching the surface of the rock.
It was very cold and strangely damp. Myuge glanced at the two holding hands with their free hands while touching the rock, and snorted with a scornful expression, lowering her gaze.
“The long shadow has returned from its journey, so please welcome it. Hide your tears and sighs behind your back, and admire the returning footsteps.”
Laila had never heard Myuge’s voice sound so solemn before. It sounded lonely, as if standing in the middle of solitude.
The moment she turned her head to look at Myuge, the rock she was touching slowly began to glow. Light seeped out from the cracks and old holes.
“It’s getting cold.”
Eustar said softly, looking up at the rock. Laila also shivered at the chill filling her palm. She tried to move her fingers, but they wouldn’t budge, as if glued down with a thick layer of adhesive.
“My hand won’t move…”
At that moment, sand and gravel began to whirl around like a gust of wind. Laila and Eustar groaned involuntarily from the severe headache.
The pain continued, as if small stones were randomly bouncing inside their skulls. At the same time, Laila felt nauseous, as if her insides were being turned upside down. It was a familiar feeling.
It’s similar to using a portal, Laila thought. But much worse. There’s no comparison…
Just as she was about to call out Myuge’s name, unable to endure it any longer, she suddenly felt dizzy, as if someone had struck her head.
And in an instant, her vision cleared. Laila and Eustar raised their heads, staggering. Their faces were pale, and they still felt unwell.
At first, the two thought they had entered the ancient giants’ obsidian mine. But it wasn’t a mine. They could see an oddly smooth sky, and the black things rising in strange shapes were all buildings.
“Welcome to my hometown.”
Myuge said with a bitter expression.
[This is the timeline separator]Despite Ord’s banishment order, Himierd did not leave the royal palace obediently.
Anyway, no one except those who were in the conference room knew what had happened to her. Himierd quickly passed by people who greeted her with polite attitudes and headed towards the king’s quarters.
The court physicians coming out of his quarters bowed their heads with worried expressions when they met Himierd’s eyes.
“How is His Majesty?”
Himierd asked in a nonchalant attitude, hoping her voice would sound as calm as possible. Among the court physicians who were looking at each other’s faces, the most experienced and senior one stepped forward.
“Lady Himierd, His Majesty is currently in an unconscious state. He has a fever and rash, so we have urgently prescribed medicine, but we don’t know when he will wake up.”
The implication was clear – don’t unnecessarily agitate him and go back.
It was somewhat amusing, but Lady Himierd was indeed the court physicians’ public enemy. Whenever she had a private audience with Ord, his condition would always worsen.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t come to see His Majesty. I was just concerned.”
“That’s fortunate. Then we shall…”
Himierd waited until the court physicians’ presence disappeared far away. When all footsteps of passersby had ceased, she tried to enter Ord’s quarters before the guards walking from the far end of the corridor.
“Ah!”
However, before she could take a step inside the door, Baso suddenly appeared as if he had known Himierd would come. Himierd, who almost bumped her head into his shoulder, looked up in surprise.
“Lady Himierd.”
The moment she heard Baso’s voice, Himierd felt an inexplicable chill. With the sensation of her spine stiffening, she unconsciously took a step back as if trying to escape from Baso.
“What brings you here? His Majesty clearly…”
Baso trailed off, glancing at the passing guards, and then smiled faintly.
“I believe he banished you, Lady Himierd.”
Himierd’s lips pressed together firmly. Her legs trembled as if standing barefoot on a sharp gravel path, and her clasped hands involuntarily tensed. It was an alien sensation she had never felt before.
She tried to find the source of this unfamiliarity in Baso standing before her, but she couldn’t exert her usual keen observation skills. The longer she looked at him, the hazier her mind seemed to become.
No. Himierd thought. She couldn’t back down like this. She had something she needed to know. But what was it again…?
“I have something to ask you.”
“Are you speaking to me?”
Himierd took another half step towards Baso. She couldn’t understand why such a simple act was so difficult.
“What did you mean by what you said to me last time?”
“What are you referring to?”
There was a grinding sound. It was the sound of Himierd’s molars clenching tightly.
She still remembered clearly what Baso had said. And she guessed that Baso was thinking the same thing. He was just pretending not to know.
“You told me. That there’s a time for everything.”
— Everything has its proper time.
— My disloyalty is nothing new, but what exactly do you mean by those words?
— You will know when the time comes. Now, if you’ll excuse me.
Himierd said.
“It was at His Majesty’s birthday celebration. Don’t give me excuses about not remembering. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Baso’s pupils moved slowly. For a moment, Himierd thought his face looked very unfamiliar.
Even though she had seen him aging while coming and going to the royal palace with her parents from a very young age, even before her debutante.
“It means exactly what I said, Lady Himierd. What other meaning could there be? ‘Everything has its proper time’ – isn’t that a truth that needs no special explanation?”
“What matters is the context of our conversation at that time.”
— His Majesty is more disappointed by that point than by your rash and presumptuous plans to put the prince forward.
Himierd’s lips twisted nervously.
“Do you remember what you said then? I have no intention of hiding the fact that I wish for the prince to receive the throne. It’s already known that I am the most disloyal among His Majesty’s subjects. But you, Baso? Did you tell me to wait for the right time, meaning that His Majesty’s body is gradually deteriorating?”
Then, unexpectedly, a deep smile appeared on Baso’s lips. It was a mocking smile.
“What you really want to ask me isn’t that, is it, Lady Himierd? The real question in your heart is, ‘How much longer until His Majesty’s death,’ isn’t it?”
Himierd’s face turned pale.
Something’s wrong. She thought. She even had the absurd thought that this person might not be Baso at all.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Baso smiled again.
“There’s no need to pretend, Lady Himierd.”
His voice lowered ominously. His eyes, which were always full of concern and calm, now seemed to burn fiercely.
“As you said, there’s no one in this palace who doesn’t know about your disloyalty to His Majesty. Haven’t you always wished for it?”
“I have never wished for His Majesty’s death!”
Himierd’s agitated voice echoed through the empty corridor. But Baso was still smiling, and even poked her shoulder with his finger as if toying with her.
“Put your hand on your conscience and ask yourself, Lady Himierd. Have you truly never wished for His Majesty’s death? You cherish the prince more than anyone. Isn’t His Majesty lying in that chamber of no concern to you? Your loyalty is only for the prince, after all.”
“Who are you?”
Himierd asked sharply. She was now certain that the person in front of her was not Baso.
“Tell me, who are you!”
“What a strange thing to say. Who else would I be? I am Baso, the chamberlain who serves His Majesty.”
“No, you’re not Baso. You’re…”
Her gaze fixed on Baso. But her feet kept trying to move backward, backward. An indescribable fear had gripped Himierd. It made her tremble, she who feared nothing.
“It’s time for you to leave, Lady Himierd.”
“What?”
“Have you already forgotten His Majesty’s order? You are no longer a duchess, and you cannot enter this royal palace. Go back and reflect, grateful for His Majesty’s mercy. Guards!”
The soldiers came running at Baso’s call. Himierd tried to retreat, feeling uneasy, but Baso’s strong hand gripping her arm was faster.
“Let go of me!”
“Escort the duchess out of the royal palace. His Majesty has stripped her of her title and banished her, so she can no longer stay here.”
The soldiers, though surprised by Baso’s words, faithfully followed the order. As he watched Himierd’s struggling figure being taken away, Baso, or rather Deceptor’s eyes flashed with red flames that quickly disappeared.
“How refreshing to have that noisy chatterbox gone.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
