"Your Majesty, are you building momentum for Liu Ji?"
Yu Ji's slender fingers plucked the strings of her qin, filling the room with the tranquil melody of her playing. Yet, in the midst of this serene and peaceful atmosphere, she couldn't help but speak up.
As a spirit of nature, she was most attuned to its harmony. But now, she had actively disrupted it.
Roy, seated on a cushion not far from her, had been resting his chin in his hand, eyes closed as he listened to her music. At her words, he opened his eyes and looked at her with an amused smile. "…Your heart is unsettled, Yu Ji."
A faint blush spread across Yu Ji's cheeks. She felt a surge of irritation but quickly suppressed it, leaving only a lingering shyness.
Roy found it quite satisfying to see this temperamental fairy maiden acting so demure.
From their first meeting until now, nearly a year had passed. The two of them had traveled with their soldiers across the land, and outside of wartime and official duties, they had spent almost every moment together. Roy had always made an effort to understand her, never forcing her into anything. Even in the midst of war, he had strived to create a peaceful and pleasant environment for her. Slowly but surely, a subtle affection had taken root in Yu Ji's heart.
Roy admired his own restraint—after a whole year, he still hadn't made a move on her.
After teasing her lightly, Roy answered her question. "…Indeed, I am building momentum for her. 'Comparison' is a great vice of humanity. When people compare me to her, her greatest virtues will shine all the brighter."
"But why go to such lengths, Your Majesty? You don't need to treat her so well!"
Yu Ji pressed her lips together, clearly displeased.
Roy shook his head gently and replied in a soft voice, "…You wouldn't understand, Yu Ji."
"Your Majesty always says I don't understand!"
Yu Ji gritted her teeth. She had asked Roy about Liu Ji's matter several times, and each time he responded in this manner. It seemed evasive, yet his gentle expression and the sincerity in his words made her feel he wasn't brushing her off. But precisely because of this, Yu Ji felt even more stifled.
"Are you blaming me, my fair Yu, for not paying more attention to you?"
"I wouldn't..."
Yu Ji wanted to deny it, but she wasn't particularly tsundere. With a flushed face, she lowered her head and murmured, "...I just feel His Majesty is a bit biased. What merit does Liu Ji have to deserve such treatment from you? Aside from her decent looks, she's utterly worthless compared to Your Majesty."
As she spoke, she subtly straightened her chest, her actions and words resembling the petty rivalries among concubines in the emperor's harem.
Roy's gaze instinctively drifted to Yu Ji's bosom, taking in the fair, rounded curves. He mused thoughtfully, "...My fair Yu seems to have grown larger."
Yu Ji said nothing, merely bowing her head to pluck the strings of her zither. Her heart pounded wildly, thinking Roy had finally noticed.
She had reshaped her form once again.
Yu Ji often enjoyed exploding into a sea of blood when fighting opponents. But every time she reformed her human body from the blood, she did so carelessly, resulting in slight differences each time—sometimes a little shorter, sometimes a little taller, sometimes fuller in the chest, sometimes smaller.
Not long ago, she had taken advantage of Roy's absence to secretly explode herself again, then took the opportunity to fine-tune her body. Now, Roy had finally noticed.
Roy found teasing Yu Ji increasingly amusing. She was quick to anger, yet every time he provoked her to the brink of fury, she would ultimately turn bashful. Watching her display such maidenly charm made it impossible for Roy to resist.
With a flick of his wrist, a beautiful flower appeared in Roy's hand. It resembled a poppy, radiant and alluring.
"Do you know what this is, my beauty?"
"A flower?"
Yu Ji lifted her delicate face and glanced at it.
Roy chuckled and nodded. "...Indeed, it is a flower. But this one only grows in the land of Chu..."
His fingers twirled the stem of the blossom before he raised his voice. "...Is the scribe present?"
"What are your orders, General?"
An elderly man quickly entered the room.
"Issue a decree. From this day forth, this flower shall be called 'Yu Meiren' (Beauty Yu). The people of Chu are forbidden to trample upon it."
Roy had issued a rather tyrannical command.
"As you command, General!"
The scribe said no more and immediately knelt to record the order. Though Roy had no authority yet to govern all of Chu, neither he nor the scribe seemed to care—as if his ascension as the King of Chu was already inevitable...
Only after the scribe left did Yu Ji furrow her delicate brows and say, "...My lord, isn't this decree a bit inappropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about it? To win a smile from a beauty, the Overlord enshrines the Yu Meiren flower as sacred, forbidding the people of Chu to tread upon it. Surely this will ensure Yu Meiren's name endures in history."
Roy laughed heartily.
Yu Ji paused, then retorted, "...Then I suppose my reputation will be about as good as that fox Daji's."
"Haha, but Yu Meiren doesn't care about that, does she?"
Roy winked at her and grinned. "...So, won't Yu Meiren give this king a smile?"
Yu Ji bit her lip lightly with pearly teeth, casting a rather coquettish glare at Roy. Gradually, the corners of her lips curled up, revealing a smile so devastatingly beautiful it could topple cities.
It was truly like the blooming of the Yu Meiren flower—gentle as a breeze, delicate yet dazzling, as enchanting as the blossom in Roy's hand.
Roy stared for a moment before finally averting his gaze. "...Yu Meiren, do you know if there are any other lands of immortals in this vast land of Huaxia, like Kunlun or Penglai?"
By now, Kunlun and Penglai should be empty, long since ransacked by the First Emperor. Roy wanted to seek out the anomalies in this land's human order and felt he might need to follow the First Emperor's example—to search for the immortals. Having lived on this earth for so long, Yu Ji must know of some hidden places.
4.1 Yu Ji gave Roy a deep look, initially thinking he also sought the elixir of immortality, but then reconsidered. Since he had asked, she saw no reason to hide anything: "...Kunlun and Penglai are empty, but there is one place even the First Emperor likely doesn't know about."
"Oh? Where might that be?" Roy asked with interest.
"The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor!" Yu Ji named a place that left Roy astonished.
"The Mausoleum has guards. Even if the First Emperor once sent people to explore it, they surely returned empty-handed. If my lord wishes to investigate, I can take you inside." Yu Ji lowered her head slightly, fiddling with the flower Roy had named 'Yu the Beauty' as she spoke softly.
"Good! Once our army reaches the Mausoleum, you and I shall go there together." Roy's interest was instantly piqued by the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor.