Chapter 362: Then Why…

After a nerve-wracking lunch,

Lin Xun’s back was already slightly damp with sweat.

Lin Xun always felt that Sister Mimi was recklessly testing the boundaries of life and death.

Of course, he himself was also forced to recklessly test those boundaries.

If this were discovered, Lin Xun felt he would be a dead man.

But fortunately, everything turned out to be a scare without real danger.

In the end, nothing that would lead to the ruin of a family happened during that lunch.

After finishing lunch, Lin Xun thought this would be the end of it.

But what Lin Xun didn’t expect was that Sister Mimi actually wanted to take Qinger and Yaya to tour the Imperial Palace.

If it were just Sister Mimi taking Qinger and Yaya, then it wouldn’t be a problem.

But as the Attendant Official, he definitely had to accompany them.

And when Lin Xun thought of all the things that had happened at noon,

he felt a deep sense of unease in his heart.

Lin Xun really didn’t want to go along.

But Lin Xun had no other choice… Besides,

within the Imperial Palace, in full public view, and with Qinger right by his side, surely Sister Mimi wouldn’t dare to get handsy with him, right?

But in fact, Lin Xun found he was wrong.

When the group walked together,

Xia Xiaomeng walked on Lin Xun’s left, Jiang Qingshang walked on his right.

And just as they were chatting and laughing, suddenly, Lin Xun felt his finger being pinched.

Lin Xun wanted to pull his hand back, but soon, he felt a slender, soft index finger gently hooking his own.

Jiang Qingshang on his other side didn’t notice at all.

And whenever there was a risk of being discovered, Xia Xiaomeng would quickly let go of Lin Xun.

As if nothing had happened.

Not only that.

Since it was currently summer,

and the Qian Kingdom’s Imperial Palace only had maidservants, not even eunuchs,

in this daughter-kingdom-like imperial city, Xia Xiaomeng wore a cool, strapless court dress, her exquisite and perfect collarbones exposed.

The skirt’s hem was slit all the way up to the top of her thigh. With each step the young woman took, her fair thighs became faintly visible, playfully concealed and revealed by the swaying hem.

Taking advantage of moments when Jiang Qingshang wasn’t paying attention, Xia Xiaomeng would occasionally bend down in front of Lin Xun, or brush her thigh against him.

Or she would squat down in front of Lin Xun, leaving his gaze nowhere safe to rest.

Even when Qinger took Yaya away temporarily, Xia Xiaomeng couldn’t resist stealing a kiss from Lin Xun.

Over the course of the afternoon, they didn’t tour much of the palace; instead, Lin Xun ended up drenched in sweat.

It was just fortunate that Sister Mimi wouldn’t, and didn’t dare to, take any further steps.

Otherwise, Lin Xun felt he would definitely die within the Imperial Palace.

And besides, it wouldn’t be long before he and Qinger would go to cultivate at the Zilin Holy Land.

Otherwise,

if things continued like this every day, his heart might give out first.

By evening, after dinner, it was already 7:30 PM.

Xia Xiaomeng knew she couldn’t keep Lin Xun tied up any longer; she had to return him to Qinger.

After all, what kind of logic was it for an Elder sister to keep her younger sister’s husband all to herself?

In the end, Xia Xiaomeng could only let out a soft sigh, her eyes filled with immense reluctance as she watched Lin Xun leave the Imperial Study.

If it were possible, Xia Xiaomeng truly wished she could follow Lin Xun to rest for the night.

But that was ultimately an impossibly extravagant wish.

Xia Xiaomeng, clad in a thin gauze dress, leaned against the threshold of the Imperial Study.

The half-dreamlike twilight enveloped the girl’s slender, graceful, yet fragile figure.

Within the Imperial Palace, candles were lit one by one, heralding the arrival of the summer night.

The faint chirping of cicadas, drifting from an unknown place, also drifted into the young woman’s heart.

Everything was so quiet, so quiet that the girl felt as if she were the only person between heaven and earth.

“A Female Elder from the Zilin Holy Land has expressed a desire to visit the Imperial Palace. The formal request has already been sent; she should arrive at the latest by the day after tomorrow.”

At some point, Le Sha stood by the young woman’s side.

“This Elder was probably summoned by Jiang Qingshang.

If my speculation is correct, Jiang Qingshang likely wants this Elder to intentionally notice Lin Xun under the pretext of visiting the Qian Kingdom.

Finally, this Elder will invite Lin Xun to participate in the Zilin Holy Land’s upcoming Disciple Selection Assembly.

Barring any surprises, Lin Xun will leave the Qian Kingdom’s Imperial Palace in a few days.”

“Mm,”

the young woman responded softly, her beautiful eyes still gazing into the distance.

Her gaze was fixed on the place where Lin Xun resided within the Imperial Palace.

Le Sha said nothing more, simply standing to the side, quietly accompanying her own Disciple.

For this foolish girl, when Lin Xun was in the Mortal World before, even if she couldn’t lock him up deep in the palace, she could still occasionally sneak out to see him.

But if Lin Xun truly went to the Zilin Holy Land, the next time they met would truly be an unknown number of years away.

“Master, you say… if I weren’t the Female Emperor of the Qian Kingdom, and Qinger weren’t the Saintess of the Zilin Holy Land, if we were just ordinary girls from a common family… then we…”

Xia Xiaomeng lightly bit her thin lips, her words trailing off as a cool evening breeze gently rose.

“…then, could we marry the same boy? Could we live happily together, without being as entangled and conflicted as we are now?”

The evening breeze grew stronger, brushing through the young woman’s black hair. Her waterfall-like tresses, flowing like algae in a stream, drifted backward, thick as cloth.

Though the clear wind made her dress cling more closely to her shapely figure, the beauty that went unappreciated was so very lonely.

“Probably.”

At some point, Le Sha had come to stand by the young woman’s side.

“If you were just from an ordinary family, then Lin Xun would probably be enjoying the bliss of having multiple wives.

However, there are no ‘ifs’ in this world. You are the sovereign of the Qian Kingdom, and your younger sister is the Saintess of the Zilin Holy Land.

You both hold supremely noble statuses.”

“Does that mean I cannot be with Xiao Xun? What kind of logic is that?”

Xia Xiaomeng turned her head, looking somewhat angrily at her Master.

The young woman’s chest rose and fell more prominently against her clothing.

However, the young woman’s anger wasn’t directed at her Master, but at herself, or perhaps at the prevailing notions of this world.

Le Sha looked directly at her Disciple:

“Xiaomeng, both your and Jiang Qingshang’s identities are too special. If you both marry him, who would be the primary wife? Who would allow either of you to be a Secondary Wife?”

“Then why…”

The young woman’s skirt fluttered in the wind, like gentle waves, or a flag kneaded from white clouds.

A strand of hair swept across her cheek, caught at the corner of her mouth.

Her eyes held a young woman’s tenderness, heartbreaking unwillingness, and a resolve willing to sacrifice everything for him.

“Why… why can’t we both be primary wives!”