CHAPTER 45: THE HEART OF EMPRESS

Wei Ji folded his arms, his expression calm but his tone a little smug. "I didn’t really beat him up," he said casually. "Those were just friendly taps."

He lied so smoothly it almost sounded believable.

To his side, Furer’s head jerked violently from left to right, fur bristling in denial. The great black wolf’s eyes darted toward Lu Shaohua, as if pleading for her to see the truth. But the moment Wei Ji’s cold gaze slid toward him, the beast froze. Its trembling body went still, and then—almost robotically—it began nodding, nodding so fast its ears flapped.

Lu Shaohua blinked, caught off guard. Furer had always been proud and fearless, loyal only to her and aggressive toward anyone else. Even when surrounded by her strongest subordinates, he never showed weakness. Yet now, in front of Wei Ji, the same beast was practically groveling.

Her lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief. Did young master Han Ji really beat him up that bad?

Wei Ji, noticing her expression, turned away with a faint smirk. "Anyway," he said, brushing invisible dust off his sleeve, "what’s your plan now that you know you’re being controlled by demonic cultivators? Do you want me to handle them?"

Lu Shaohua’s expression stiffened. The question hit her harder than she expected. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. She looked down, her long lashes trembling.

Wei Ji’s tone softened slightly. "Would you like me to handle them?" he repeated.

Still, no answer.

Wei Ji studied her face for a moment. "You look hesitant," he said quietly. "That tells me I was right. There’s a curse on you, yes, but that’s not the only thing keeping you from speaking. Something else is weighing on your heart."

Lu Shaohua’s breath grew shallow.

Wei Ji continued, his eyes narrowing slightly as he pieced his thoughts together. "You’re protecting someone. Or something. It’s not your parents, not your people. Judging by how close you are to your spiritual beast, I’d say it’s the beasts of the Shen Flame Kingdom, isn’t it?"

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Wei Ji pressed on, his tone sharp but measured. "They’re probably the only ones untouched by the curse, right? That’s why you’ve been so careful. The reason you didn’t want me to harm one of your subordinates last time... it wasn’t because of loyalty to them. You were afraid they would retaliate. And when they do, your only friends, those beasts, would suffer. Am I wrong?"

Lu Shaohua couldn’t answer. Her chest tightened, her throat closing up. The sound of her heartbeat grew deafening in her ears.

Her vision blurred for a second as memories surged—old and painful ones that clawed their way back into her mind.

---

Lu Shaohua’s Point of View

She remembered the heat first. The blazing warmth of the crimson sun over the endless savannahs of the Shen Flame Kingdom. Back then, she was still that girl everyone avoided. The "ugly princess." Her face was covered by a thin veil, not because she wanted to, but because everyone else demanded it.

They whispered when she walked by.

They looked away when she smiled.

Even the palace maids pitied her in silence.

She was born cursed, they said. Born to bring ruin, they said.

Her mother—gentle and kind—was gone before she even understood what love was. Her father, the king, buried himself in war and politics, leaving her to the mercy of cruel tongues and fearful hearts.

But amid that loneliness, there was light.

The beasts.

The fiery-winged hawks that circled her palace. The jade-scaled serpents that basked near the springs. The golden-furred deer that visited the gardens at dawn. They did not fear her. They did not judge her face or her name.

They stayed.

She used to feed them by hand, talk to them, sing to them. At first, the guards thought she was insane—talking to animals, smiling at creatures that could rip her apart. But the beasts understood her. They became her family, her friends, her only source of warmth.

And among them, one stood above all—Furer.

He was still small back then, just a cub when she found him shivering beside his dead mother in the valley. His fur was black as coal, his eyes bright and full of rage. She remembered kneeling beside him, her small hands trembling as she tried to feed him a piece of roasted meat.

The cub growled, snapped at her hand. But she didn’t pull back. She kept feeding him, again and again, every day. Until one morning, he stopped growling. Instead, he walked beside her. From that day on, they were inseparable.

Years passed. Furer grew strong. He protected her when courtiers mocked her. He slept beside her chamber when nightmares came. She laughed with him when there was no one else to talk to.

But that peace did not last.

One night, a woman came.

She was cloaked in red silk and carried an aura so dark that even Furer hid behind Lu Shaohua. Her voice was smooth, almost kind, but there was cruelty beneath every word.

"I will make you beautiful," the woman said. "I will make them all bow before you."

Lu Shaohua had refused.

The woman smiled. It was not a human smile. "Then I will make you watch," she said softly. "I will make you watch as every beast in this kingdom dies screaming."

That night, the mother of Furer was killed before her eyes, the woman’s cursed flames burning her alive. Lu Shaohua screamed until her voice broke, but the woman only laughed.

"Bring me the Lotus of Reincarnation," she said. "Do that, and the beasts will live. Refuse, and they will all die before the next moon rises."

And so, Lu Shaohua had obeyed.

She left the palace under the guise of pilgrimage. She searched for the Lotus across mountains and deserts, carrying Furer at her side. Along the way, she met the five subordinates—men and women who offered help when she was lost. They were strong, confident, and knew things about cultivation she didn’t. She trusted them.

Or so she thought.

When she finally arrived at the Forest Dragon Kingdom, those same subordinates whispered that they could help her get closer to the Lotus. She had no choice but to stay with them.

Then, before she could realize what was happening, she was betrothed to the Han Family’s second son.

And everything changed.

---

Lu Shaohua’s lips trembled as the memories faded. She raised her gaze slowly. Wei Ji was still watching her, his expression calm, but his eyes sharp and knowing.

"How," she whispered, "how did you know all that?"

Wei Ji smiled faintly. "I didn’t. I just guessed."

Her eyes widened, disbelief flashing through them.

He shrugged slightly. "Your eyes said the rest."

Lu Shaohua didn’t know what to say. She wanted to be angry, but the way he spoke—firm yet understanding—made her chest ache in a way she couldn’t describe.

Wei Ji stood up then, brushing his robe lightly. "I’ll be leaving now."

She blinked in surprise. "Wait—"

Wei Ji smiled, that faint, infuriatingly calm smile that always made her unsure whether he was serious or joking. "Don’t worry," he said. "I won’t harm them directly. I’ll use another force to deal with them. You just focus on resting."

And with that, he turned away.

The golden light of the afternoon stretched across the courtyard, casting long shadows as Wei Ji’s figure gradually grew smaller.

Lu Shaohua stood there, frozen, the gentle breeze brushing through her hair. Furer sat beside her, head lowered, silent as the world around them grew still.

For the first time in a long while, she didn’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified.

Of whom? Her husband—Young Master Han Ji.

Suddenly, as if something had just occurred to her, she called out, "Wait!"