“I don’t know,” replied Mu Qing straightforwardly. “What do you mean by having me touch the memorials? It couldn’t be that you want to pass me the throne to compensate me, right?”
Ning Shu could sense that Mu Qing was smart. It was just that she often shot her mouth off and said whatever she thought.
“Do you think the throne is that comfortable to sit on?” Ning Shu called for the hidden guards and had them bring Mu Qing back to the cold palace.
Mu Qing’s face was filled with confusion as she left. She couldn’t understand what the emperor meant.
Ning Shu sent several hidden guards to keep an eye on Mu Qing’s every move. She wanted to see Mu Qing’s attitude after this incident to see if her behavior changed any.
After Mu Qing left, Court Lady Qiu helped Ning Shu to the bed. Ning Shu’s mind kept racing with various things. She thought about Liu Changqing, Mu Xue, and also the issue of Mu Qing. There were too many things that she needed to deal with.
The pain from her body made it so that she couldn’t fall asleep at all. It was like there were needles constantly stabbing at her brain.
The next day, when Ning Shu returned from the agonizing court session, she found that Liu Changqing was waiting for her at the entrance of her resting palace.
Ning Shu was in so much pain that she didn’t have any strength left at all. She didn’t want to pay attention to Liu Changqing.
Liu Changqing walked to Ning Shu with a food box in his hand. He was about a head taller than Ning Shu and his voice contained a sigh as he said, “Your Majesty!”
Ning Shu: →_→
“Phoenix Empress, have you come for something?” asked Ning Shu.
There was a faint smile on Liu Changqing’s face. Under the illumination of the morning sun, it seemed to be cast with a warm halo that allowed his generally cold and indifferent face to have some warmth. “Changqing has come to bring Your Majesty nourishing soup. Your Majesty’s body needs more nutrition.”
Why was it soup again? Ning Shu was speechless.
Ning Shu tugged at the corners of her lips as she looked at Liu Changqing. She couldn’t figure out whether or not he had gone through a rebirth.
“Why is Your Majesty looking at Changqing like this?” asked Liu Changqing mildly.
Ning Shu wanted to smile, but her face was stiff and contorting, so she could only expressionlessly say, “Phoenix Empress, you’re just as graceful and sophisticated as you were when you were young.”
Liu Changqing didn’t respond to this and simply took out the soup to place it in front of Ning Shu. “Your Majesty, you should drink the soup. If it gets cold, it’ll taste greasy.”
Ning Shu shook her head. “Phoenix Empress, we don’t wish to drink such oily soup so early in the morning.”
Liu Changqing pressed his lips together, then finally revealed a trace of a bitter smile. “Since Your Majesty doesn’t wish to drink it, then Changqing will.”
Liu Changqing then proceeded to drink half the soup in front of Ning Shu. Ning Shu lifted her brows. What did Liu Changqing mean by this? Was he trying to tell her that the soup he brought her wasn’t poisonous?
Liu Changqing sighed, then said, “Your Majesty, Changqing can tell that the situation of your body isn’t good. Changqing only hopes that Your Majesty can be safe and healthy.”
Ning Shu drank a cup of water to force down the blood rising in her throat. “Many thanks for phoenix empress’s concern. We’re simply not feeling well. It’s just an old ailment.”
Liu Changqing pressed his lips together again. It was a good while before he said, “Your Majesty, do you still take the immortality pills?”
Ning Shu nodded, seeming unconcerned. “I do. If I don’t take them, I don’t have any energy. There are still so many government matters that need to be dealt with. Taking the pills gives us a bit more energy.”
Liu Changqing reached out with his slender hands to take Ning Shu’s hand. Ning Shu could faintly smell his clean and elegant scent.
Ning Shu: Friiick! Can we not hold hands!? Would it kill him to just talk properly?
Ning Shu could sense how stiff her own hand was. The pain caused all the muscles in her body to be extremely stiff, so her hands no longer had the luster and softness that a woman’s hands normally had.
However, this Liu Changqing still kept reaching out for her hand all the time.
