When Lu Linxuan heard the waiter say that those people came from Fengxiang, he also thought of Ji Ruxue. After seeing Shen Ye deep in thought, he immediately knew that he must be thinking of Ji Ruxue, and his face was full of jealousy.
Having his thoughts exposed by Lu Linxuan, and seeing the dissatisfaction and jealousy on her face, Shen Ye smiled helplessly at her. Just as he was about to say a few words to comfort her, Zhang Zifan, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly widened his eyes and excitedly said, "Wow, Brother Li, what I said this afternoon really came true! We really met a whole bunch of beauties."
Since Zhang Zifan was the only one sitting facing the guest room, Shen Ye and the other two didn't react when he said this. Then, Li Xingyun, who was sitting to his left, turned her head to look in the direction he was staring at, and her eyes widened immediately.
"Damn, they really are a group of beauties, Brother Zhang, your daydream has come true."
Seeing the two reacting so dramatically, Shen Ye and Lu Linxuan turned around curiously and saw a large group of young women of different looks coming down from the second floor. However, the leader looked to be a man, but Li Xingyun and Zhang Zifan, who were blinded by beauty, ignored him.
However, they ignored it because they didn't recognize the newcomer's identity, but Shen Ye recognized the leader at a glance.
"The Empress...why is she here?" Shen Ye was somewhat surprised. This wasn't part of the plot, was it? Could it be another coincidence?
Just as he was feeling puzzled, he saw Ji Ruxue among the young women coming down from the second floor.
As if by telepathy, the moment he looked at Ji Ruxue, Ji Ruxue also saw him, and her originally indifferent expression instantly turned into one of great joy.
Whether she was blinded by longing or not, she blurted out, "Brother Shen."
The result of that shout was that everyone in front of and behind her turned to look at her.
The empress, who was walking at the front, stopped. She slowly turned her head, gave Ji Ruxue a cold look, and then pointed at the people sitting at the tables in the courtyard. She asked through gritted teeth, "Xue'er, which one of them is your Brother Shen?"
……
Chapter 404! Confrontation with the Empress
……
After Ji Ruxue shouted that earlier, the courtyard of the inn fell into an eerie silence. Now that the Empress spoke, her voice naturally spread throughout the entire courtyard without any interference.
"This is... someone coming to cause me trouble?"
Shen Ye had exceptionally sharp eyesight; he clearly saw the Empress's gritted teeth and furious expression. Combined with what she said, he was suddenly startled, and then inexplicably felt a little guilty.
Lu Linxuan was also a little guilty. When Ji Ruxue was around, she used to call her "Sister Xue'er" affectionately. She was even jealous when she guessed that Shen Ye was thinking about Ji Ruxue. But now that Ji Ruxue had appeared, she became a little timid and lowered her head, not daring to look at Ji Ruxue.
At this moment, Ji Ruxue was also looking down. She regretted it as soon as she shouted it out. Now that she heard the Empress ask her to identify Shen Ye, she didn't know what to do.
"What, you dare to shout but not admit it? Are you afraid I'll lay a hand on your lover?"
Seeing Ji Ruxue hesitate and look at a loss, the Empress's anger, which had been barely calmed down in the past two days, was reignited. After saying a cold sentence, she glanced at the seats where several people were sitting in the courtyard.
Then, her gaze fell on the table where Shen Ye and his group were sitting. After all, apart from their table, which was full of young people, and handsome men and beautiful women, the other tables were mostly filled with ordinary people.
"Is he one of those people?" A cold glint flashed in the Empress's eyes as she continued, "To be able to steal your soul, he must be very handsome. Is he that white-haired pretty boy?"
"No," Ji Ruxue quickly shook her head.
"Then who do you think it is?" the Empress emphasized.
Ji Ruxue had no choice but to raise her hand with difficulty, but quickly put it down again.
Seeing this, the Empress's chest heaved violently, and she said coldly, "As expected, daughters grow up and leave home, and they don't even listen to me anymore. It seems you still need to be taught a lesson."
Just as she finished speaking, Shen Ye stood up and called out to her, "It's me."
Ultimately, it wasn't anything shameful. It was just that his inexplicable guilt at the beginning prevented him from admitting it immediately. But after hearing what the Empress said next, if he continued to hide, he might as well dig a hole and bury himself on the spot to avoid losing face.
Seeing Shen Ye step forward, Ji Ruxue was overjoyed, but then panicked. She knew that the Empress had come in person not only to find the descendant of the Li Tang dynasty, whose identity had been confirmed by the rumors spread by the Xuanming Sect, but also to cause trouble for Shen Ye.
"Is this the kid?" Seeing Shen Ye step forward, the Empress turned to Ji Ruxue to confirm.
Ji Ruxue nodded slightly: "He is my Brother Shen."
"Well done, Brother Shen."
The Empress snorted coldly, then slowly walked towards Shen Ye, while Ji Ruxue and the other disciples of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion followed in neat rows behind her.
"Brother Shen, could it be that someone has come knocking on your door to settle old scores from your past romantic escapades?"
Zhang Zifan had never met Ji Ruxue, let alone the female emperor in men's clothing. In addition, he joined the team the latest. When he saw the female emperor and others coming, he was completely unaware of what was happening and started teasing Shen Ye.
Shen Ye ignored him, staring intently at the Empress, wondering what she wanted to do.
At this moment, the Empress had already walked up to him, her beautiful eyes scanning him up and down, a hint of anger flashing in them.
As the Empress sized up Shen Ye, Shen Ye was also sizing her up. Looking at the Empress's face, which, even with androgynous makeup, was enough to make most women feel ashamed, he could imagine how stunning the Empress would be when she changed back into women's clothing.
After sizing each other up, their eyes met by chance. The Empress's gaze was cold and angry, while Shen Ye's was calm and puzzled.
He couldn't understand why the Empress would personally come over to discuss his affair with Ji Ruxue. In the original drama, even after learning Li Xingyun's true identity, she only sent three of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maidens to serve him.
The two stared at each other for a while before Shen Ye finally spoke first. He clasped his hands and said, "I am Shen Ye, and I greet the Empress of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion."
"You know me?" The Empress was surprised that Shen Ye had revealed her identity so directly. She then turned sharply to look at Ji Ruxue behind her: "Xue'er, did you tell her?"
"This servant doesn't have any," Ji Ruxue quickly shook her head.
"It has nothing to do with Xue'er, it's just my guess," Shen Ye explained.
At this moment, Li Xingyun, Lu Linxuan, and the other two behind him widened their eyes again. They never expected that the person dressed in men's clothing in front of them was actually the Empress of Huanyin Pavilion.
"No wonder she's so beautiful, she's a woman disguised as a man." Zhang Zifan breathed a sigh of relief. After seeing the Empress in men's clothing, he felt no less pressure than Shen Ye. For the first time, he felt inferior about his appearance.
Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan looked at Shen Ye with concern.
"Guess? Do you think I'd believe that?" The Empress didn't believe Shen Ye was just guessing. She gritted her teeth and said, "I don't know what kind of spell you cast on this little bitch that made her turn against you in just a few days."
"Hey, you can curse me if you want, why are you cursing Xue'er?" Hearing the Empress call Ji Ruxue a "little bitch," Shen Ye immediately became dissatisfied. Although he knew that Ji Ruxue was just a maidservant by the Empress's side, and that this was ancient times, and that as the master, he could discipline his maidservant however he wanted, he was still very unhappy.
But upon hearing his words, the Empress was also displeased and angrily retorted, "Do I need your permission to discipline my maid?"
“But she’s my woman now,” Shen Ye retorted, and then he saw Ji Ruxue’s eyes instantly fill with tears.
At the same time, he also felt a resentful gaze coming from behind him.
"Your woman? You've only known her for a few days? I've raised her for over a decade!" the Empress said angrily, involuntarily taking a few steps forward until she was only a step away from Shen Ye.
At such close range, even though the Empress was dressed in men's clothing, a faint fragrance still wafted into Shen Ye's nose, causing him to wrinkle his nose slightly and seem to weaken his aura.
"So what if it's been more than ten years..." he said, but his tone was not as firm as before. It was unclear whether it was because of the Empress's words or something else.
His subtle movement naturally did not escape the Empress's eyes. Knowing that she was too close and that he could smell her body fragrance, a hint of shyness flashed in her eyes. After all, in the more than ten years she had been in charge of the Huanyin Pavilion and the Qi Kingdom, this was the first time she had been so close to a strange man.
……
(I'm updating early today, hehe)
Chapter 405! Are you serious?
……
Thinking of this, the Empress instinctively wanted to take a step back, but seeing that Shen Ye's aura was weaker than before, she felt that retreating at this time would be tantamount to giving up the advantage she had inexplicably gained. So she simply straightened her chest, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Shen Ye.
There was nothing she could do; she was almost a head shorter than Shen Ye. It was fine when they were far apart, but when they were this close, she could only see Shen Ye's chin without looking up.
However, this also meant that Shen Ye could only look down at her, otherwise he could only see her forehead. But to outsiders, the taller Shen Ye clearly had the advantage in terms of presence.
Seemingly realizing that this was disadvantageous to her, the Empress wished she could have her subordinates bring her a chair so she could stand on it, but that would seem too childish. So she went along with what Shen Ye had just said and said, "What do you mean, 'So what if I raised her for more than ten years'? Can the few days you spent together compare to the more than ten years of nurturing I've given you?"
Looking at the Empress who was arguing with him about the debt of gratitude for raising him, Shen Ye suddenly felt a headache. He didn't understand why the Empress was so entangled in this small matter and insisted on finding a winner and loser. Did Ji Ruxue not belong to her anymore now that she was with him?
Shen Ye pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve his frustration, then asked helplessly, "So, according to you, do I need to ask you for permission to see Xue'er in the future?"
"Of course." The Empress suddenly became somewhat smug. "After more than ten years of raising her, I am no different from her mother. Who she is with and who she likes naturally requires my consent."
The Empress's words made Shen Ye sneer. He pretended to be puzzled and looked her up and down again, teasingly saying, "Oh, I didn't expect that the Empress of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion has reached the age of being a father and mother. May I ask how old you are this year?"
Upon hearing this, the Empress immediately cursed him, "You bastard."
The question of probing a woman's age has always been a taboo topic, especially since Shen Ye's words included the phrase "you old lady," which immediately ignited the Empress's temper. However, as a woman who had been in a high position for many years, she was clearly well-mannered and rarely swore. The three words that came out of her mouth were incredibly gentle.
So Shen Ye provocatively picked his ear with his little finger, then casually asked, "That's it? Nothing else? Can't even swear?"
Shen Ye's three deadly counter-questions became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Empress, clenching her fists in anger, took another half step forward, almost touching Shen Ye. She said through gritted teeth, "Very good, very good. In all these years, no one has ever made me this angry as you have. It seems I must teach you a lesson and let you taste what bitterness is like."
"Really? I'm looking forward to it. After all, I've tasted plenty of sweetness, but I don't know what bitterness tastes like," Shen Ye said, not to be outdone.
As the atmosphere between the two grew increasingly tense, the onlookers also became anxious, especially Ji Ruxue, who was caught in the middle and didn't know what to do. She couldn't decide whether to help Shen Ye or the Empress.
At this moment, Zhang Zifan, filled with envy, saw the two standing so close and, as if courting death, muttered something underhanded:
"They're so close, it looks like they're having an affair."
"Who's having an affair with him?"
The Empress's eyes blazed with anger upon hearing this, but since Shen Ye had almost completely blocked her view, she didn't see who had said it. She immediately blamed Shen Ye and raised her hand to slap him across the face, but Shen Ye, quick as a flash, grabbed her hand.
However, the Empress's slap was merely an act of venting her anger; she hadn't used any real power. Shen Ye, on the other hand, saw that she suddenly attacked with tremendous force and even made a pushing motion.
However, the two were too close, and when he pulled the Empress's hand back, he pressed her hand directly onto his own body, and coincidentally, the position was right on her chest.
Time seemed to stand still for a moment, even the air seemed to freeze. Shen Ye only heard the Empress's breathing become more and more rapid, and then, in a voice only the two of them could hear, she said, "Let...you go..."
She practically squeezed those two words out from between her teeth.
"I didn't do it on purpose, and I didn't touch it. It was your hand that touched it, okay?" Shen Ye said in a low voice. He didn't let go, but looked down and saw that his hand was on the Empress's hand, while the Empress's hand was on his chest.
Fortunately, neither side witnessed this scene. Since the two were so close, those standing behind them only saw them raise their hands. What happened next was completely hidden from them, leading them to believe that the two were secretly competing, which caused concern among the group.
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