Female Consort Chapter 80: Coaxing

As soon as the words left her mouth, Qiu Che looked surprised.
“…So you were the one who drugged him?”

Li Qingwu gave a soft cough.
“I did poison him, but I’m not entirely sure I’m the one who caused him to collapse. I tend to think… someone else may have been poisoning him as well.”

“Oh?” Qiu Che frowned slightly. “What makes you say that?”

“To avoid suspicion, I used a slow-acting poison mixed into incense. Inhaling it occasionally won’t do much harm, in fact, it can even uplift the spirit and make one crave the scent. But the effects take three to five years to become apparent.”

“But it hasn’t even been three years, and he’s already completely bedridden.”

He couldn’t even attend morning court anymore, leaving the kingdom in the hands of an utterly incompetent crown prince.

Qiu Che nodded. “Do you have any suspects?”

“Why don’t you ask me first,” Li Qingwu’s voice softened, “Why did I poison him at all?”

Qiu Che responded gently, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Anyone trapped in that kind of gilded cage, forced to learn those tedious, antiquated rules for over a decade, would eventually snap.

The fact that Li Qingwu chose to use poison instead of driving a blade through his chest just reflected her nature, she wasn’t the type for rash, violent acts.

Li Qingwu smiled faintly, the tension in her heart easing a little.

She was about to continue when Qiu Che suddenly added, as if idly,

“After all, you’re someone who would deliberately bleed into a censer just to trigger an emotional calamity in order to escape your cage.”

Li Qingwu: “...!”

Their eyes met for a long moment. Seeing Qiu Che’s eyes curved with amusement, Li Qingwu instinctively pursed her lips. Her ears flushed red.

“You... when did you figure it out?”

Qiu Che remained calm, reaching out to straighten the fur collar of Li Qingwu’s coat.
“I had my suspicions before. I only just confirmed it.”

In truth, she had started sensing something off more than a year ago, during the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet.

Li Qingwu had laid out all possible escape routes. She had taken great care to guard against every unexpected variable. And yet, she still ended up injured during the banquet, still went off alone to change clothes, and still ended up poisoned by the emotional calamity.

And she had still run into Qiu Che.

Qiu Che had once suspected that slicing her finger while playing the zither had just been a pitiful excuse to dodge a performance, but the emotional calamity? That was something else.

In her past life, she hadn’t even known such a thing existed, so she had never suspected Li Qingwu of being drugged.

But in this life, she knew the truth.

To trigger an emotional calamity, the blood of a Saintess had to blend with rosemary, and even then, the chance of it working was one in ten thousand.

It was a mythical occurrence. Even the likes of Uncle Jiang and Chen Huichun had never witnessed it firsthand.

Back then, Prime Minister Wu still didn’t take Qiu Che seriously. Would he have bothered to collaborate with the Qiu family on some elaborate play involving something as unpredictable as an emotional calamity?

Besides, could he have even pulled it off?

That left only one conclusion.

Li Qingwu had been poisoned. The censer in the room had contained traces of rosemary.

Qiu Che had considered countless scenarios, but each was too implausible, until the only remaining explanation was that Li Qingwu had done it on purpose.

Li Qingwu had told her that she accessed her memories of her past life through dreams.

She had sought Qiu Che out in the first place because of a dream, because in it, she had remembered Qiu Che’s existence and wanted to verify if she was real.

So, was it possible that at the very start, Li Qingwu had also dreamed about the banquet, and what would happen there? That she had deliberately pressed her bleeding finger into the rosemary-laced censer to replicate her past life?

She was the descendant of a Saintess from the southern tribes. Her blood naturally had the properties needed to trigger the effect.

She’d done it, perhaps, to test if her dream was real, and more importantly, to break free from her nightmarish life.

And when the experiment proved successful, she went to Qiu Che of her own accord.

Which explained why, in this life, Qiu Che hadn’t even been drunk, yet still crossed paths with the poisoned Li Qingwu.

Because from the beginning, Li Qingwu had chosen her as the target.

Even before leaving the palace, she hadn’t forgotten to secretly use her few years of accumulated influence to poison the emperor as well.

And if anything ever went wrong later, she was a married princess, no one would trace it back to her.

How could a girl raised in the inner palace possibly be some delicate, harmless little flower?

Qiu Che had simply underestimated her from the start.

Now she had just one question: “Then why did you end up poisoned by the emotional calamity in your past life?”

Li Qingwu admitted honestly,

“…That really was an accident.”

She had stumbled near the censer and reached out to steady herself on a pillar, just as a drop of blood from her finger flung into the smoke.

It fell in with the most inconvenient precision.

And then she was swallowed whole, gone without a trace.

Seeing Qiu Che lost in thought, Li Qingwu nervously rubbed her earlobe and asked in a small voice,

“…Are you mad?”

“No,” Qiu Che returned to herself as if nothing had happened. “Go on. Who else do you suspect poisoned him?”

Li Qingwu studied her expression carefully, but saw nothing, so she reluctantly brought the topic back.

“I’m not sure. But there’s something very odd.”

“What is it?”

“No one in the Imperial Medical Bureau has been able to identify the cause of His Majesty’s illness,” Li Qingwu said quietly.

Qiu Che noticed that she almost never referred to him as “Father” anymore.

“Three months ago, after he collapsed for good, the Crown Prince quickly stepped in as regent. Now the two main factions are locked in bitter conflict.”

“The Emperor also gave strict orders, no one but the Crown Prince was allowed to visit or tend to him. But that’s just what the Crown Prince claimed. No one actually knows what’s going on with the Emperor.”

Li Qingwu paused, then added as an afterthought,

“Oh, wait, there is one other person who can visit him.”

“Who?”

“Consort Xian.”

Qiu Che had told Li Qingwu to keep a tight grip on the capital in her absence, and for the past year, she’d done exactly that. At first, Qiu Che would still ask detailed questions, but later she mostly just read what Li Qingwu wrote in her letters.

She didn’t go out of her way to inquire further.

Partly because of the war, and partly because she believed Li Qingwu had matured enough not to need constant help.

As a result, Qiu Che was now in the dark about much of what had happened in the capital.

Li Qingwu would always report major events, but some details simply couldn’t be squeezed into letters. And many things, she hadn’t wanted Qiu Che to worry about, so she kept them to herself.

For instance, after the Crown Prince assumed regency, Consort Xian’s unborn child had died in a miscarriage. She gave birth to a stillborn baby.

Not long after, she sent word to Li Qingwu, calmly expressing her desire to switch allegiances.

Li Qingwu had asked why.

Consort Xian replied that she’d simply had a change of heart.

She said she used to believe that men were everything, that bearing a prince and becoming empress was her greatest life goal.

She loved the Emperor, yes. But she loved her child more.

Not just because a child gave her standing in the harem, but because, at her core, she was a mother.

Since the Emperor couldn’t give her what she wanted, couldn’t protect her child, couldn’t even stir affection in her anymore…

Then why not switch allegiances?

If Qiu Che hadn’t stepped forward to travel north, her ten-year-old daughter would’ve been sent off to some barren, godforsaken place in Northern Xiongnu for a political marriage.

And the Emperor hadn’t stopped it, in fact, he was the one who had initiated the whole thing.

How could she not be chilled to the bone?

What truly made her decide to join Qiu Che’s camp was the miscarriage.

The child in her womb had been harmed by the Crown Prince. The arrogant expression on his face after gaining power lingered in her mind like a nightmare.

She would never have another child. There was no hope of supporting a son to inherit the position of Crown Prince.

The Emperor was useless. With his condition deteriorating like this, the Crown Prince’s ascension was likely just around the corner.

And once that happened, would he really spare her and her daughter Pingyi?

Consort Xian had already lost one child. She saw Pingyi as her last treasure. She couldn’t bear to let the same tragedy strike again.

After long and careful deliberation, she turned her gaze toward Qiu Che’s faction.

They were both women.

Qiu Che had ability, vision, status, and she opposed political marriages.

That alone meant she wouldn’t harm Pingyi.

Li Qingwu had always been close to Pingyi even when she was still in the boudoir, and even after marriage, their bond never wavered.

Consort Xian made the boldest decision of her life.

She would place her bet on these two women.

She was betting that one day, history would remember their names.

Li Qingwu asked her again, “What do you want?”

Consort Xian gave her a single reply:

“I only want Shushu to be safe.”

By the time they returned to the Princess’s residence, it was already deep into the night.

Li Qingwu and Qiu Che went to wash up one after the other. When Qiu Che returned from the room next door, she saw Li Qingwu sitting by the bed, wearing nothing but a sheer, almost transparent robe.

Her graceful figure was only just obscured by the gossamer fabric, and yet she was holding a book and reading it with an expression of complete seriousness.

Qiu Che’s gaze paused for a beat. Her throat inexplicably felt dry.

She cleared her throat and stepped forward to pour herself a cup of tea. “What are you reading?”

Li Qingwu glanced up at her. “...An illustrated storybook.”

“Oh, a storybook,” Qiu Che said casually. “What’s it called?”

Li Qingwu’s expression remained composed, but a faint blush crept up her cheeks.

She replied softly, “Why don’t you come and see for yourself?”

Curious, Qiu Che set down her cup and leaned in to take a look.

She promptly choked, nearly spraying out the tea still in her mouth. “...What is this?”

The Delicate Princess and Her Female General?

These two entangled, naked figures... were them???

Li Qingwu stared at her suddenly flushed face, licking her lips slightly. “I told you, it’s an illustrated storybook.”

It was a new popular tale among the common folk, based on their relationship.

Yes, the public was that nosy. Even though their relationship wasn’t openly flaunted, there was no shortage of people imagining endless versions of their story.

Qiu Che: “…”

She hesitated. “So… it is what I think it is?”

No wonder Li Qingwu was wearing so little in this cold weather…

But hadn’t they just done this last night?

Li Qingwu looked at her earnestly, closing the book and letting the pages flutter shut, hiding the risqué illustrations.

From beneath the folds of the blanket, her smooth calf brushed lightly against Qiu Che’s leg.

The motion was teasing, seductive, her voice as light as a feather brushing against Qiu Che’s heart, though her gaze remained innocent.

“...I was just afraid you were mad at me. But I didn’t know how to apologize.”

After thinking it over, her only real asset seemed to be… her body.

Qiu Che stiffened slightly. “...I’m not angry.”

But… using this method to apologize, Qiu Che was really struggling to hold it together.

Li Qingwu looked doubtful. “You really aren’t?”

Qiu Che looked more confused than her. “Do I seem like someone who says the opposite of what I mean?”

Li Qingwu gave a soft “Oh,” then withdrew her fair leg, sounding slightly disappointed. “I thought you’d be upset.”

“I’m really not,” Qiu Che said after a pause. She tugged at the blanket, gently covering her legs. “On the contrary, I’m glad you’re not as defenseless as I thought… You can protect yourself. Truly, I’m happy.”

Li Qingwu froze for a moment.

Qiu Che reached out and pinched her cheek gently, her expression earnest.

“And even if I was upset, you didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want you to try and placate me like this every time we argue...”

Li Qingwu blinked, her face flushing bright red. “I just thought… you might like it…”

Qiu Che had never been someone overly forward in romance, but every time she saw Li Qingwu flustered like this… she couldn’t help but feel her heart stir.

Qiu Che leaned in and kissed the corner of her lips, her voice husky. “Well… I do like it.”

Li Qingwu’s eyes lit up ever so slightly.

Qiu Che chuckled. “Which is exactly why I’m afraid, if one day you do make a mistake, and try to make it up to me like this… I won’t be able to resist.”

The unspoken message: maybe don’t make this a habit.

But as soon as she pulled away from the kiss, Li Qingwu instinctively leaned forward, seeking her lips again. Then, realizing what she’d done, she licked her lips shyly.

Her lashes trembled. Her eyes were bright, full of a shy yet direct longing.

“…But right now, I want to kiss you.”

At first, she’d done all this just to make Qiu Che happy. But damn it, after hearing what she said just now, she found herself falling even harder.

Besides, she knew with Qiu Che, roundabout tactics never worked.

Directness was the best way to reach her.

And sure enough, Qiu Che’s breath immediately turned heavier.

By the time they’d tumbled onto the bed in a blur of limbs and desire, Qiu Che suddenly snapped out of it. She looked down at Li Qingwu’s dewy eyes and felt her heart thud violently.

She thought to herself, This is bad.

All this indulgence and affection every day, why did it feel like she was becoming more and more like… a debauched ruler?

A true gentleman should not be swayed by beauty.

…Forget it.

Qiu Che lowered her head and kissed the soft curve of Li Qingwu’s pale ear.

After all, she was no “gentleman.”