Dual Queens GL - Chapter 6

Since the other person was willing to wait, Liu Yan naturally felt too embarrassed to actually make her wait. If word got out, people might think her Miss was deliberately slighting the guest. So, Liu Yan went inside anyway and woke up the new Empress on the phoenix couch.

“Miss, wake up…” Liu Yan gently shook her Miss’s body.

“Don’t… I’m still sleepy…” The still very sleepy Liu Hening frowned slightly and asked discontentedly. Her beautiful eyes were not fully open, clearly unwilling to get up.

“Miss, don’t sleep anymore, wake up quickly…” Liu Yan couldn’t let her Miss continue sleeping, so she kept shaking Liu Hening’s body, determined to wake her up.

“Has the sky fallen down?” The somewhat cranky Liu Hening asked with dissatisfaction, reluctantly opening her eyes.

“The sky hasn’t fallen, but you can’t keep a dignified Empress waiting outside, can you? You’ve only just become Empress, so you need to build a good relationship with others. She doesn’t know your temperament yet. If you keep her waiting, she might think you’re putting on airs!” Liu Yan started chattering away.

Empress? What Empress? Liu Hening, having just woken up, still felt a bit dazed, but she quickly reacted. This was no longer the Liu Residence in Jiangdu, but the palace.

“Ye Guichen? Why is she looking for me so early in the morning?” Thinking of the beauty Ye Guichen, Liu Hening immediately cleared her head. She was very curious. She felt like Ye Guichen treated her as a stranger last night, but today she proactively came to see her.

“She said she came to pay her respects to you. Honestly, her dignified, graceful, and appropriately generous demeanor truly makes her look like an Empress should.” Liu Yan couldn’t help but praise her.

“Right? I also think Jun Shen’s Empress is truly impeccable. She’s beautiful and sensible. If I were a man, I’d want to marry a woman like her. Unlike Jun Shen, who has her but still isn’t satisfied.” Liu Hening felt somewhat happy seeing Liu Yan praise Ye Guichen, thinking Liu Yan had the same good taste as herself. She then didn’t forget to complain about her new husband. She thought, this new Empress looks like a woman with a temper. If Jun Shen loses the beauty’s heart, it won’t be easy to win her back.

“Didn’t you say yourself before that you wouldn’t mind adding another kind of flower?” Liu Yan felt the Emperor’s mindset was quite understandable. If you could have both fish and bear’s paws, naturally you shouldn’t give up either, and more is better.

“That’s true. I’ll quickly clean up; I can’t let the beauty wait any longer.” Liu Hening took some water and a willow branch for rinsing, gargled, washed her face, and then grabbed a few tender green mint leaves, put them in her mouth, and began chewing.

“Let the servants help you with your hair and makeup,” Liu Yan hadn’t grown up in the palace. Only the palace staff knew what kind of headdress and clothes the Empress should wear after her wedding.

“How long would that take? I’ll just change my clothes.” Liu Hening disliked wearing the palace clothes, always feeling more comfortable in her own clothes from before.

“Miss, this is the palace, not home!” Liu Yan said, exasperated.

“Didn’t Jun Shen say I could do as I please after the wedding?” Liu Hening ignored Liu Yan’s objection, picked a set of plain, elegant clothes she brought from Jiangdu, and rushed out with her hair down, unwilling to let the beauty wait any longer.

Although Ye Guichen still maintained a very patient, gentle, and virtuous facade, she was already quite displeased internally. When had she ever waited for anyone like this? This Liu Hening indeed had quite the imposing manner.

Just then, she saw Liu Hening rush out from inside, with her hair loose, clearly having just woken up. Dressed in plain white, she looked less like a new bride on the day after her wedding and more like someone observing a recent widowhood. She lacked any Empress-like dignity, Ye Guichen thought somewhat meanly. Yet, this outfit, on Liu Hening, somehow felt appropriate for her, perhaps because of the ethereal clarity in Liu Hening’s eyes. Dressed in white, she had a clean, unworldly feel to her. Yang Zhao’s affection for her was probably due to this unpolluted aura.

Liu Hening saw Ye Guichen sitting formally in a chair, her body rigidly straight, her makeup exquisite, and her posture beautiful, dignified, lofty, and inviolable. She truly had the bearing of an Empress. However, Liu Hening felt that Ye Guichen at this moment was like the most beautiful and vibrant flower queen in the garden—noble, self-assured, and radiating a hint of pride. It made Liu Hening feel a desire to touch those brilliant petals on her. Ye Guichen’s current demeanor and charm were different from the cold, clear beauty she had when they first met, merging into the plum grove and the snow. Flowers have a thousand forms, and every one of them is so pleasing to the eye.

“Guichen pays respects to Your Ladyship (Niangniang),” Ye Guichen stood up from the chair and paid her respects to Liu Hening.

Liu Hening immediately stepped forward to support Ye Guichen’s body.

“You are also an Empress. Why are you paying me respects?” Liu Hening said disapprovingly.

“Your Ladyship is the Central Palace Empress, superior to me in rank. I should naturally pay my respects to you,” Ye Guichen said strictly, adopting an attitude that everything must adhere to the rules.

“Did Jun Shen say that the Central Palace is above the East Palace? No, he didn’t. Since it wasn’t explicitly stated, there is no difference. You and I are naturally the same. Let’s sit down and talk slowly.” Liu Hening said, feeling that Jun Shen was being overly troublesome, insisting on distinguishing between Central Palace and East Palace, which made Hua Chao very concerned, and that was very inappropriate.

“Since ancient times, the Central Palace has been considered the most honorable. Even without an explicit statement, it is a well-known fact. Your Ladyship does not need to specifically be considerate of Guichen,” Ye Guichen could only sit down, then continued to speak respectfully.

“Hua Chao, let’s not talk about these boring things. How old are you this year?” Liu Hening didn’t like hearing Ye Guichen talk about these matters, so she steered the conversation to something she was interested in. She simultaneously held Ye Guichen’s hand in her palm, asking in a very intimate tone.

Ye Guichen saw Liu Hening intimately holding her hand and calling her by her pet name, ignoring her previous words, and asking about her age instead. She wondered what her intentions were.

“Guichen was born in the year of Yisi (42nd year of the Sexagenary Cycle). I came today because I wanted to hand over the Empress Seal to Your Ladyship for safekeeping.” Ye Guichen answered Liu Hening’s question and then explained the purpose of her visit.

“So Hua Chao is one year older than me.” Liu Hening seemed not to have heard the latter part, only picking out the information she wanted. Ye Guichen was only twenty-three years old; she should be more lively.

Liu Hening’s repeated disregard for her words made Ye Guichen feel somewhat displeased.

“Your Ladyship is the most honored in the Central Palace. This Empress Seal should rightly be kept by Your Ladyship,” Ye Guichen patiently brought the topic back again. Although she was displeased inside, her tone on the surface remained very gentle, as if nothing could ever make her lose her temper.

“Hua Chao is clearly unhappy inside, yet her expression remains so gentle. Does Hua Chao have two people inside her body?” Liu Hening asked Ye Guichen with a smile. She found herself growing more and more fond of Hua Chao, feeling that Hua Chao must be a very interesting person.

Ye Guichen’s face stiffened slightly upon hearing this, feeling the humiliation and awkwardness of having her mask stripped away. A clever person wouldn’t expose something even if they saw through it. This Liu Hening was truly a woman who didn’t play by the rules, and she was more formidable than Ye Guichen had anticipated.

“Your Ladyship is overthinking. Guichen is not unhappy at all,” Ye Guichen denied with an even softer tone, adopting a posture as if Liu Hening’s comment was a baseless accusation, appearing very innocent.

“Alright, if Hua Chao says no, then it is no.” Liu Hening said in a spoiled tone, thinking that Hua Chao probably didn’t like others to know she had two sides.

In Ye Guichen’s view, Liu Hening’s attitude was equivalent to saying, I’ve seen through your pretense, but since you deny it, I won’t expose you. It was utterly sarcastic, making Ye Guichen almost explode with anger. On the surface, however, she could only manage a generous yet awkward smile.

Liu Hening didn’t understand why she felt Hua Chao seemed even angrier at her. She didn’t know which words she had said wrong. She thought, A beauty’s heart is as hard to fathom as a needle in the bottom of the sea.

“What did you say about the Empress Seal just now?” To prevent the beauty from getting so angry, Liu Hening dutifully brought the topic back.