Ling Shuang stared at Gu Han for a long time, seemingly trying to judge the truth of her words.
Finally, she gave a slight nod.
"This Empress believes you."
After a pause, she added:
"That girl's talent is startling, and her future achievements will be limitless. However, The tree that stands out in the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind."
"Since Fellow Daoist Gu has taken her as a disciple, you should look after her well."
She spoke seriously, even carrying a hint of concern.
Gu Han was slightly taken aback; she hadn't expected this ice-cold Empress of the Northern Region to say such things.
"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist."
Gu Han's tone softened slightly.
"I will naturally ensure her safety."
Empress Qingxuan watched from the side and gave a faint smile.
"Younger Sister Ling Shuang has actually learned to speak some human words today."
Ling Shuang gave her a cold glance.
"It is better than certain people who only know how to speak frivolous words all day long."
"Frivolous?"
Empress Qingxuan walked toward Empress Ling Shuang, the hem of her purple nightgown brushing against the floor.
"Sister's words really hurt this elder sister's heart."
"This elder sister's concern for Sister Gu is truly sincere."
Her voice was soft and seductive, carrying its usual laziness, but her eyes held not a single trace of a joke.
"On the contrary, you keep talking about official business—isn't that just a roundabout way of wanting to spend more time with Sister Gu?"
Having her thoughts exposed, Empress Ling Shuang's face grew even colder, and the chill around her body rose abruptly.
"Qingxuan, stop your nonsense!"
"Nonsense?"
Empress Qingxuan chuckled, her gaze sweeping over Ling Shuang's clenched fist and her slightly whitened knuckles.
"Then why is my younger sister clenching so tightly? Are you nervous? Or..."
She deliberately dragged out the end of her sentence.
"Are you afraid this elder sister will say something she shouldn't?"
Empress Ling Shuang's breath hitched, momentarily rendered speechless by the remark.
Gu Han watched the two of them—one lazily smiling yet pressing forward step by step, the other cold and proud yet restricted at every turn.
She sighed softly, just about to speak up and interrupt this increasingly out-of-control conversation—
"Qingxuan, Gu Han is not a plaything you can flirt with at will."
Empress Ling Shuang's voice suddenly rang out, colder than before, yet faintly tinged with suppressed anger.
"She deserves more sincere treatment, not your frivolous probing and ambiguous tricks."
These words were direct, even carrying an air of accusation.
The smile on Empress Qingxuan's face faded a bit, and a sharp glint flashed in her eyes.
"More sincere treatment?"
She slowly stepped in front of Empress Ling Shuang, the distance between them less than three feet, their auras clashing silently.
"Ling Shuang, is the'sincerity' you speak of just keeping a cold face all day, unable to even speak a full sentence properly?"
"Or do you think that your blunt, straightforward way is what sincerity is?"
Empress Qingxuan's voice grew cold, carrying undisguised mockery.
"How this Empress and Sister Gu get along is our business; it is not your place to interfere."
"Moreover—"
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze drifting and landing on Gu Han's face, her voice returning to that lazy softness.
"This elder sister has always been truly sincere toward Sister Gu."
"It's just that some sincerity requires time, requires a method, and even more..."
She paused, looking back at Ling Shuang, enunciating each word.
"Requires understanding what she needs."
Empress Ling Shuang's pupils constricted slightly.
Qingxuan's words were clearly pointed.
Gu Han's personality was cold and detached; she disliked ostentation and, even more, disliked being forced.
Qingxuan's 'boiling a frog in warm water' style of flirting, though it made Gu Han embarrassed, had never truly crossed her bottom line.
On the other hand, herself... thinking of her blunt 'gift-giving' speech in the Main Hall that day and Gu Han's faint resistance at the time.
For the first time, a trace of uncertainty arose in Empress Ling Shuang's heart.
Could it be... she really had used the wrong approach?
No!
Empress Ling Shuang violently shook the thought away.
She had fought with Qingxuan for thirty thousand years; how could she admit defeat in this matter?
"Sincerity?"
Empress Ling Shuang sneered, the phantom of the frost heaven sword flickering behind her.
"Qingxuan, as for your'sincerity,' I fear even you cannot distinguish how much is true and how much is false."
"You have lived for nearly fifty thousand years; the scenery you have seen and the people you have met are countless."
"To you, Gu Han might just be a temporary novelty, a unique piece of scenery."
"Once the novelty wears off, you will turn and leave to find the next existence that interests you."
These words were sharp, striking directly at Qingxuan's lazy and casual nature.
Hearing this, Empress Qingxuan was not angry but instead laughed softly.
However, that laughter did not reach her eyes.
"Ling Shuang, oh Ling Shuang, you are always like this, liking to use your own conjectures to define others."
She raised her hand, her fingertips gently brushing the Profound Heart Bracelet on her wrist, but her gaze remained on Gu Han's face, her voice soft yet clear.
"This Empress has lived for so long and has indeed seen much scenery."
"But it is precisely because I have seen too much that I know even better what is truly'special'."
She paused and looked at Ling Shuang, a trace of pity flashing in her eyes.
"On the other hand, there's you, Ling Shuang."
Your nature is cold, your heart is cold, and you understand even less about what emotions are."
"Is your current persistence toward Sister Gu truly out of sincere liking, or..."
She tilted her head slightly, putting on a thoughtful expression.
"Is it just because she is the first person to make you feel 'different'?"
"Or perhaps..."
Empress Qingxuan's voice dropped low, carrying a meaning only the two of them could understand.
"Is it just because you want to fight for the person this elder sister has set her eyes on?"
These final words were like a sharp sword, stabbing directly into the most sensitive part of Empress Ling Shuang's heart!
"You—!"
Empress Ling Shuang flew into a rage, and the chill around her body erupted!
It looked like the two were about to fight again!
"Enough!"
Gu Han's cold voice suddenly rang out as she stepped forward, blocking the space between the two!
"This place is the Jade Pool Immortal Palace, not a battlefield for the two of you to settle your private grudges!"
Gu Han's voice carried an unquestionable majesty, her gaze sweeping over both of them.
"If you want to fight, then please leave the Jade Pool Immortal Palace and go to the Outer Heavens to fight to your heart's content!"
These words were extremely heavy.
Empress Qingxuan and Empress Ling Shuang were both startled simultaneously.
They could feel that Gu Han was truly angry this time.
Empress Qingxuan quickly returned to her lazy appearance, though the smile at the corners of her lips had faded significantly.
"Sister is right; it was this elder sister's loss of composure."
Empress Ling Shuang gave a cold snort and also slowly withdrew her chill, simply turning her head away and no longer looking at Qingxuan.
The atmosphere in the hall remained tense, but there were no longer signs of an imminent fight.
Gu Han looked at these two Empresses who had lived for tens of thousands of years yet were arguing and acting out of spite like children at this moment.
The bit of anger in her heart suddenly turned into a deep sense of helplessness.
She rubbed her brow, her voice softening slightly.
"It is late. Both of you, please return."
Empress Qingxuan's eyes flickered. She took a deep look at Gu Han, then glanced at Ling Shuang, and suddenly gave a soft laugh.
"Very well, this elder sister will listen to her younger sister."
She turned, the hem of her purple nightgown tracing an elegant arc as she walked toward the hall door.
Just before stepping out, she paused, tilted her head toward Gu Han, and said very quickly in a volume only the two of them could hear:
"Those words just now—this elder sister was serious."
Having said that, without waiting for any reaction from Gu Han, she had already departed.
Inside the hall, only Gu Han and Empress Ling Shuang remained.
Empress Ling Shuang stood in place, silent for a long time before slowly turning around to look at Gu Han.
In her eyes, the anger had dissipated, replaced by a complex, almost dazed expression.
"Fellow Daoist Gu..."
She spoke, her voice much lower than usual, even carrying a trace of imperceptible dryness.
"What Qingxuan said just now..."
She paused, seemingly not knowing how to continue, just looking at Gu Han with a flash of struggle in her eyes.
Gu Han watched her quietly without speaking.
Empress Ling Shuang took a deep breath, as if having made a certain resolution, and slowly said:
"This Empress has a cold nature, is not good with words, and understands even less about those convoluted schemes."
"But toward you..."
Her words suddenly got stuck.
Those eyes, which were always cold and majestic, actually showed a rare trace of panic at this moment.
She looked away toward the moonlight outside the hall, her voice so low it was almost inaudible.
"It is not because of Qingxuan, nor is it a temporary whim."
After saying this, as if she had exhausted all her courage, she did not stay any longer and turned to leave the Main Hall.
Her pace was still composed, but her slightly reddened earlobes betrayed her current unquiet state of mind.
Gu Han stood alone in the empty Main Hall, gazing in the direction where the two had left, not moving for a long time.
Qingxuan's "serious" remark before leaving and Ling Shuang's clumsy yet direct words... the amount of information tonight was truly a bit too much.
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