Chapter 46: She Cannot Be Forgiven

“This… Your Majesty has been training relentlessly these past months, his physique is now utterly transformed. Two delicate young ladies hardly require my assistance, do they?”

It was clear that the Empress was displeased. Now Liu Xie, the Emperor, was asking her to help subdue his rebellious sister—how could Fushou possibly be pleased with such a request?

“Well then, let it be. Empress, wait here for a moment. I shall return shortly!”

Having spoken, Liu Xie rubbed his hands together, humming a tune that Fushou could scarcely make sense of, and strode toward the chamber where the two Qiao sisters resided.

Though Liu Xie felt an itch of curiosity about these two, his motives leaned more toward seeing what they looked like now, rather than seeking some illicit pleasure in broad daylight. After all, they already belonged to him; sooner or later, that would come to pass.

The Qiao sisters had already awakened. While Liu Xie ate, he ordered the kitchen to send them a meal as well, and the two girls were eating in bewilderment.

“Sister, he brought us here, but now he only provides food and ignores us? Why not leave us with Father in the city?”

After a night’s rest and quiet, Qiao Shuang had begun to adapt to this new rhythm; her nerves, once taut, now relaxed. She was feasting heartily upon a freshly cooked fish.

Her elder sister, however, ate sparingly, lost in silent contemplation.

“Don’t wander far in this estate. Sun Ce should not be here, and this food certainly wasn’t prepared for us alone. Who lives here, truly?”

At dawn, Qiao Feng had taken a cautious tour around the mansion. She found its scale far surpassed any ordinary residence; it was more akin to a palace. In Jiangdong, only Sun Ce could have the right to occupy such a place.

Yet it was clear Sun Ce was absent. This was obvious to her, which raised the question—who lives here?

The sisters were but ordinary young women, accompanied solely by their aging father and a handful of attendants. Sun Ce, having taken an interest in them, brought them and their father to Wu Commandery.

Their father dared not resist. Sun Ce had subdued all the local lords of Jiangdong; ordinary folk, like themselves, could only hope for their daughters to survive. To marry Sun Ce would not be a bad fate.

Qiao Feng and Qiao Shuang, educated from childhood, understood that beauty in an era of peace could be a family’s fortune, but in chaotic times, it might bring ruin upon their kin.

Thus, when taken by Sun Ce, they were outwardly obedient, at least on the surface.

Having spent so much time in Wu Commandery, they had resigned themselves to becoming Sun Ce’s concubines. Yet now, with this sudden change, Qiao Feng felt unsettled.

She knew well the allure their appearance held for men. Sun Ce was at least a young man of twenty-five. Her greatest fear was that, for the sake of his ambitions, Sun Ce might give them to some grizzled elder, who would treat them as mere playthings. Their lives would then be miserable indeed.

Qiao Feng was strong-willed; she might accept her own fate, but would never let her little sister, who had always followed her, become such a woman.

Through the night, Qiao Feng considered many possibilities; none promised a good outcome for herself.

“Whoever lives here is irrelevant to you. Remember—when the crucial moment comes, you must do as I say, without hesitation.”

Qiao Shuang, less burdened by worry, nodded as if this was nothing new; she’d been following her sister’s lead since childhood.

Just then, their door swung open, without warning.

Qiao Shuang was still stuffing fish into her mouth, while Qiao Feng instantly rose and turned toward the door, tense like a lioness ready to defend her cubs—though perhaps she lacked the power even to frighten anyone.

The visitor was Liu Xie, who now carried himself as master of this palace. He had not yet announced his intention to move the capital, but he was in no hurry; once he did, leisure would be a thing of the past.

Once, though in the prime of youth, Liu Xie had been confined in the deep palace, pallid and frail, lacking any charm to attract even the most tender young woman.

But since the new Liu Xie arrived in this era, he had secretly trained his body. Though dressed, he appeared healthier of complexion, if not much changed otherwise. Fushou knew, however, that beneath the clothes, Liu Xie was a very different man.

To use a saying from later times: “Slim in clothes, muscular without.”

Thus, when Liu Xie appeared before the sisters, Qiao Shuang barely registered what was happening, but Qiao Feng, oddly, felt less nervous.

Yet, though calm, she clearly recognized that the young man before her was not Sun Ce.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

“Who am I? Everything here belongs to me—including both of you. You have nothing to do with Sun Ce anymore.”

“This is Wu Commandery. Sun Ce has just united Jiangdong. How can you speak so boldly?”

“If I told you I am the Emperor, would you believe it?”

“The Emperor? From what I hear, he’s a youth whose throne is barely secure, who wet himself in fear before Cao Cao. What difference does it make here in Jiangdong?”

Qiao Feng was evidently well-informed about the current state of the Han dynasty. Upon hearing “Emperor,” she showed neither shock nor terror, but only disdain.

For a man, nothing stings more than being called weak by a woman. Liu Xie, hearing this, would not let it slide.

“Whether I wet myself before Cao Cao, I cannot recall. But before you two, there’s something similar I could demonstrate—shall we?”