She recited a string of flower names. Finally, after wracking her brains, she managed to come up with names for the Thirteen Guards.
When everything was settled, Yun Xing stepped forward timidly. "Then, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, will I be serving you personally from now on?"
Mei, the leader of the Thirteen Guards, was the first to decline on behalf of Shi Muyuan upon hearing this.
"From now on, it'll still be us - Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju - who will serve Your Majesty the Empress Dowager personally. The four of us sisters have always been on very good terms and work in great harmony. Yun Xing, you can do the cleaning outside. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Shi Muyuan had exactly the same intention, so she just followed Mei's words.
"Very well. Yun Xing, from now on, you'll stay outside. I like tranquility. Remember not to make any noise, and don't cause any trouble outside. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless."
A flicker of dissatisfaction flashed across Yun Xing's eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
She thought she had hidden it well, but actually, Shi Muyuan had seen it all.
"Your servant obeys."
Thinking that no one was allowed to enter the inner room, she specifically instructed, "Without my order, no one except Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju can enter the inner room. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
She led Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju into the inner room. Finally, Lan couldn't hold back her impatience and finally asked,
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, we Thirteen Guards are clearly one entity. Why do you still separate us so clearly? What if the other sisters develop grudges in the future?"
"If we don't separate so clearly, some people may overstep their bounds. You don't want to have someone watching you all the time, do you? Besides, unless it's absolutely necessary, no one must know your identities."
After hearing these words, Mei bowed.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager is meticulous and far - sighted. We are your subordinates, and we'll follow all your instructions."
"I'll surely treat everyone equally. By the way, where is Cui Qizhou? I want to see him."
Upon hearing this, Mei glanced at the ceiling from the corner of her eye.
With just one look, the young girl understood immediately.
She waved her hand. Thinking of something, her face became increasingly gloomy.
Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju exchanged glances. They always felt that something was about to happen.
But they didn't say anything and retreated one by one.
After they left, the young girl had a cold face.
"When will the two of you show yourselves? Do you want me to kneel and kowtow three times and nine times?"
As soon as the words fell, two figures appeared in the room.
The man still had his perennial ice - cold face. On the contrary, Jing Hong walked up with a flattering smile.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I'm so glad you're safe. I thought those good - for - nothing things would really succeed. I had even thought about how to rescue you."
Shi Muyuan didn't answer her directly. Instead, she grasped the key point in her words.
"It seems that you were nearby when I was attacked. In that case, but you didn't stop it immediately. You two don't really want me to survive, do you?"
Her eyes became sharp, as if she could pierce through the two people's minds.
Jing Hong felt a bit embarrassed because of her previous words. She secretly glanced at the person beside her.
"You can't put it that way, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. We surely hope you're well. Besides, we're loyal to you."
"Judging from the two collusions between you this year, it doesn't seem that you hope I'm well. Jing Hong, if you're really that loyal to the National Master, then you might as well go back with him. There's no need to suffer here with me."
At this, Jing Hong got anxious and stepped forward to defend herself.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager has misunderstood. How could I not want to stay by your side? Since I first saw you, I've decided that you're the only master I'll serve for the rest of my life."
"I don't seem to fit what you said. Didn't I say before that I won't keep people with divided loyalties around me?"
Jing Hong panicked. From these few contacts and what she had found out before, she knew that the person in front of her was actually a person who dared to love and hate and was also decisive.
It seemed that if she couldn't explain this matter clearly today, she wouldn't have a chance to stay by her side in the future.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Your servant knows her mistake. It was the National Master who didn't allow me to take action at that time."
The last sentence easily shifted the young girl's gaze to the man.
She clenched her fists. "I've known for a long time that the National Master has always had objections to me. I thought that after several life - and - death experiences, you had let go. I didn't expect that I had underestimated myself. In your eyes, you always think that I'm an obstacle to the peace of this country. From now on, let's go our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other."
After saying these words, for some reason, she always felt a stabbing pain in a certain part deep in her heart, like being pricked by dense needles.
But soon, she suppressed that feeling.
Whether in modern times or in ancient times, whether it was the original owner or she, a junior urban management officer, she didn't want to keep people around her who she couldn't trust at all.
When the man saw her dejected expression, his eyes slightly shrank. He gave Jing Hong a look and strode closer.
Jing Hong knew that she shouldn't stay any longer and slipped away.
Cui Qizhou bit his thin lips tightly and subconsciously hugged her into his arms.
"In your heart, you actually think of me like this. We thought that by silently guarding you all the time, you would understand my feelings."
This sudden confession directly stunned Shi Muyuan.
Although she did have some feelings for the man before, the man had never revealed them. She only thought that she was over - thinking.
Now, facing the man's passionate words, she was stunned for a long time.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you understand what I mean? Or did I not make it clear enough? Shi Muyuan, I must be crazy. Knowing that there's a huge gap in our identities and that we're on the cusp of the storm, I still say such crazy words to you."
The young girl was a bit angry. "I didn't know that the National Master was such a timid person. Fortunately, I didn't get together with you."
"Really? Judging from Your Majesty's words, does Your Majesty also have feelings for me?"
For the first time, there was a different kind of emotion in the man's deep eyes. When the young girl looked into them, she seemed to be deeply trapped.
She looked flustered. Thinking of their identities, she finally pushed the man away.
In this feudal era, as the Empress Dowager, while enjoying supreme power, she also had to pay a lot, including spending the rest of her life alone.
Feeling the heat on her face, she opened another window to distract herself.
"The process doesn't seem to be that important. The National Master just needs to remember that you're a subject and I'm the Empress Dowager. There's no future for us. Besides, life is also carefree now. I don't need to be scolded by the world for some love affairs."
God knows how much courage it took for her to say these words. Her heart ached so much that it was hard to breathe.
Fortunately, she was facing away from the man, so he didn't notice the ocean of tears in her eyes.