But now, with warm fragrance and soft jade in her arms, the faint scent of Empress Qing Xuan lingering at the tip of her nose, and her arm around that slender waist... Gu Han's heart also skipped a few beats uncontrollably.
Their eyes met, inches apart.
In Empress Qing Xuan's eyes, the initial shock was gradually replaced by a more complex emotion.
The surprise faded, replaced by a strange... interest that arose after being offended.
Interesting... so interesting!
In over thirty thousand years, who had dared to do this to her?
Let alone pulling her into their arms, even approaching within three feet of her required immense courage and qualification.
But this mysterious Palace Master Gu from the South Region had not only done it, but had done it so naturally and dominantly.
Furthermore, in those originally calm eyes of the other woman, an almost imperceptible ripple was now surfacing.
Was that... awkwardness?
Embarrassment?
Or... something else?
Empress Qing Xuan felt that this experience was fresh and unprecedented.
She didn't immediately break free, nor did she get angry.
Instead, maintaining this posture of being half-embraced, she shifted her body slightly, adjusting to a more comfortable and... ambiguous angle.
This made their bodies press even closer together.
She could even clearly feel Gu Han's body momentarily tensing, and her heartbeat, which had quickened slightly, through the layers of fabric.
"Palace Master Gu..."
Empress Qing Xuan's red lips parted slightly, her voice even lower and softer than before, carrying a hint of languid teasing.
She raised her free jade-like hand!
Instead of pushing Gu Han away, she naturally placed it on the arm Gu Han had wrapped around her waist.
Her fingertips brushed across the fabric of Gu Han's arm as if by chance.
"Do you... want to hold this Empress so badly?"
She tilted her face up, barely an inch away from Gu Han's chin.
In those beautiful eyes, the light was rippling, as if containing endless charm and inquiry.
"Didn't the Empress just ask me if I was ill at ease?"
Gu Han forced herself to be steady, maintaining a surface calm.
Her fingers gripping the Empress's wrist did not loosen, and the arm wrapped around the other's waist also unconsciously tightened a fraction.
"I only wanted to tell the Empress..."
Gu Han met those beautiful, soul-stirring eyes so close at hand, trying to make her tone sound firmer,
"Even at such a distance, I will not be ill at ease."
"I just wonder... is the Empress at ease now?"
Despite her words, Gu Han could feel her own earlobes burning.
The body heat and fragrance of the person in her arms, and that undisguised, playful gaze...
All of it presented her with an unprecedented... challenge.
Hearing this, Empress Qing Xuan suddenly let out a low laugh.
The laughter was like jade stones clashing, clear and moving, yet with the unique charm of a mature woman.
Instead of retreating because of Gu Han's words, she slowly moved the hand she had placed on Gu Han's arm upward.
Eventually, she gently looped it around Gu Han's neck.
This movement caused her entire person to almost completely nestle into Gu Han's embrace.
Their cheeks were almost touching.
"At ease?"
Empress Qing Xuan breathed like orchids, her warm breath gently brushing past Gu Han's ear.
"This Empress has lived for so long, yet this is the first time I have conversed so 'at ease' with someone."
"Palace Master Gu's cultivation is not only unfathomable, but even this... Dao of Ease is impressive."
Gu Han felt a wave of numbness in her ear from the other's breath, and the calm she was feigning was about to collapse.
This Empress... why isn't she following common sense at all?!
Shouldn't she be angry, scolding, or at least reservedly pushing her away?
Why has she... become even more proactive?!
"The Empress... overpraises me."
Gu Han almost gritted her teeth to make her voice sound steady.
"I have always acted according to my whims. If the Empress feels uncomfortable, just say so."
As she spoke, she made a move to loosen her grip and let the woman down.
However, the arm Empress Qing Xuan had around her neck tightened slightly.
"Who said this Empress was uncomfortable?"
Empress Qing Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she had discovered some rare treasure.
"This Empress just feels that... Palace Master Gu's embrace is much warmer than that cold Imperial Throne."
"And... much more interesting."
As she spoke, she actually leaned her head gently against the hollow of Gu Han's shoulder.
Gu Han: "!!!"
She completely froze.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
What... what was going on?!
She failed to tease her and was instead... flirted with?
And flirted with by a woman who had lived for tens of thousands of years?!
Gu Han felt her heart rate completely lose its rhythm, and her face began to heat up uncontrollably.
She could even feel the slender yet powerful body in her arms giving a slight, amused tremor.
She was laughing!
She was actually making fun of her!
How could she endure this...
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