Upon hearing this, Yelan’s gentle expression vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness in her eyes.
Ming Jing and Ming Yao were so furious they nearly stumbled.
They thought, How can this vixen be so shameless?!
Returning you is a gesture of sincerity? Who the hell do you think you are?
Just as they were about to lash out, they caught sight of Yelan’s icy demeanor and immediately shut their mouths.
The wrath of the Spirit Emperor—how terrifying was its aura?
Xiang Liu’s hair stood on end, her tail bristled, and her entire body trembled uncontrollably. Overwhelmed by the Spirit Emperor’s oppressive might, she couldn’t even stand.
Zhao Li, however, remained calm.
The uncontrolled surge of cold energy and pressure from Yelan’s anger was unconsciously directed away from Zhao Li, sparing her entirely.
Zhao Li’s heart ached.
Even when angry, you still unconsciously shield me from your spiritual energy…
Lan Lan, how can you be so good to me?
Yelan stared at Zhao Li with a complicated expression and slowly asked, “…Did Qing Tong trick you into coming here?”
Little Zhao Li couldn’t even bear to share the same air with her. How could she possibly present her as a gift to Yelan?
Warming the bed as a concubine, serving as a slave or maid.
This didn’t sound like something little Zhao Li would say at all.
It had to be Qing Tong.
That damned dog-tail flower!
For her own ends, she exploited the kind-hearted little Zhao Li.
Yelan felt both furious and heartbroken.
Little Zhao Li, you say you love Qing Tong, but that wretch isn’t worth your affection or devotion…
Zhao Li shook her head slowly. “It wasn’t her. You know how much I used to love her.”
At the word “love,” Yelan’s heart twisted painfully, but she forced herself to listen patiently.
“I loved her so much that I obeyed everything she said—except for one thing. If she ever told me to marry someone else, I wouldn’t listen.”
Yelan: “…”
Zhao Li continued, “I used to talk about loving her all the time, dreaming of marrying her. That’s why I could never accept giving my purity to anyone but her.”
Ming Jing & Ming Yao: … (Are you here just to torment our ancestor, damn it?!)
Zhao Li went on, “She knew this well. She could ask me to do anything for her, but she would never say such words to me. Because she knew if she did, I’d be so heartbroken I’d turn against her.”
Yelan: “…”
Zhao Li said, “If she had said it, no matter how foolish, idiotic, or downright stupid I was, I would’ve realized she didn’t love me.”
Yelan: “…”
Zhao Li sighed. “Because no one who truly loves someone would allow them to give their purity to another. If she had said those words, it would’ve exposed the truth that she never loved me at all.”
Yelan’s pupils constricted sharply. Unable to hold back, she asked, “What… what did you just say?”
Zhao Li sighed again. “I said Qing Tong’s past declarations of love were lies. She never loved me.”
Of course, Yelan knew that dog-tail flower Qing Tong didn’t love her little Zhao Li.
If she had, how could she have treated her like a slave?
What surprised Yelan was how little Zhao Li had come to this realization.
She had been so infatuated with Qing Tong before, not even heeding her own father’s advice.
And given how deeply she was trapped, it was impossible for her to have awakened to the truth on her own.
“So, realizing that damned dog-tail flower didn’t love you made you think of our ancestor?”
Ming Yao retorted irritably, “What do you take our Ancestor for? Your backup option?”
Facing Ming Yao’s accusation, Zhao Li simply bowed deeply to him and said apologetically, “I know I’ve been terribly unfair to your Empress in the past. No matter how much I apologize, it won’t make up for my past mistakes. But I still have to say it—I’m truly sorry—”
“You think this pitiful act of yours—”
Yelan shot Ming Yao a fierce glare, forcing him to swallow his words.
She reached out to help Zhao Li up but suddenly froze mid-motion, then awkwardly withdrew her hand.
Little Zhao Li didn’t like being touched by her.
Yelan let out a long sigh and said, “Little Zhao… you, you can raise your head. I’ve never blamed you, and neither have my people.”
The veins on the foreheads of the Ming brothers bulged, but they dared not say a word.
Zhao Li didn’t raise her head, still bowing as she said, “I sincerely represent the Qingqiu Clan in seeking an alliance with the Asura Clan. I came here of my own will, without being ordered by anyone. Every word I’ve just spoken is from the heart. As long as the Empress is willing to accept our clan, whether you want me to serve as a slave, a maid, or even a concubine, I won’t utter a single word of refusal.”
Yelan’s cold aura gradually dissipated as she stared deeply at the back of Zhao Li’s head, chuckling wryly. “—Concubine?”
Zhao Li replied, “I understand the significance of the position of Empress Consort—I neither dare nor am worthy of it. But since you once said you liked me, I thought becoming your concubine and staying by your side to serve you might satisfy you.”
“Princess!” With Yelan retracting her spiritual pressure, Xiang Liu could finally move again.
He hurriedly interjected, “Please reconsider!”
No matter how small the Qingqiu Clan was, a princess was still a princess. She couldn’t be reduced to someone else’s concubine.
Zhao Li turned her head slightly and chided softly, “Xiang Liu, silence! Your princess is negotiating with Empress Yelan. You have no right to interrupt here!”
Xiang Liu lowered his head in distress.
His impulsive interruption was a grave disrespect to the Asura Empress.
The princess’s mild rebuke was actually protecting him.
Otherwise, the two Spirit Saints would have made things difficult for him.
Ming Jing and Ming Yao, however, found themselves looking at the little fox with newfound respect.
In the past, this fox would never have had the wits to retreat in order to advance, protecting her subordinate like this.
Was their Asura Clan’s treasure really that useful? Could it even rebuild intelligence?
“You wouldn’t feel wronged, becoming my concubine?” After a long silence, Yelan finally asked slowly.
“No,” Zhao Li answered instantly.
How could serving as a concubine be considered wrong?
Compared to everything you’ve done for me in the past, what you endured was true suffering.
What I’m doing now is nothing.
“The condition for your Qingqiu Clan to ally with my Asura Clan… is for you to become my concubine?” Yelan’s tone carried a hint of complexity in this question.
Little Zhao Li’s willingness to approach her of her own accord filled her with joy.
Yet the thought that someone might have coerced Zhao Li into this desperate move filled her with anger.
Though the Qingqiu Clan was weak, they had their pride. They would rather endure oppression from other races than degrade themselves to the status of lowly concubines.
Especially someone like Zhao Li.
Yelan had watched over little Zhao Li for so many years. She might understand her better than even Zhao Wu.
If it wasn’t Qing Tong, then who had forced her to come here and say these insincere words?
Zhao Li stiffened her neck and declared, “Though my clan is weak, we value our freedom. While becoming a vassal to the Asura Clan would be an honor, I refuse to let my people wear collars around their necks.”
“How dare you speak like that!” Ming Jing rebuked sharply.
Yet Yelan raised a hand, silencing him.
Zhao Li continued, “Therefore, a marriage alliance is the most prudent solution I can think of.”
—After all, you want me anyway.
Of course, this unspoken implication was something Zhao Li wouldn’t voice in front of the two Spirit Saints and Xiang Liu.
Moreover, it was also for the sake of the entire Qingqiu clan.
The Asura clan had far too many subordinate factions. Even some human aristocratic families, dissatisfied with the treatment from the human emperor, had defected to the Asura clan. One could only imagine how many other races had done the same.
Qingqiu was weak, insignificant even among these subordinate factions.
It would only shift from being at the mercy of one to being at the mercy of another.
But a marriage alliance was different. Even as a concubine, the Qingqiu clan could at least claim the status of in-laws, and the subordinate factions would have to show them some respect.
Yelan let out a long sigh and said, “Do you realize that if you give yourself to me, you will never see Qing Tong again? This lord will never allow his woman to show favor to another.”
Though the words sounded stern, the tone was surprisingly gentle.
Zhao Li knew full well that even if she sought out Qing Tong after giving herself to Yelan, Yelan would still relent.
—Because she was the kindest, warmest fool in the world, even more foolish than her past self had been.
She said this to make Zhao Li reconsider.
Zhao Li replied, “Never seeing Qing Tong again would be… difficult.”
The Ming brothers’ eyes darkened. Yelan, however, seemed to have anticipated her response, her expression unreadable.
Only her heart ached faintly.
Zhao Li wasn’t finished. “There’s still some unfinished business between me and that delicate little flower. If you forbid me from seeing her, it complicates things. But I promise you, aside from you, I won’t show favor to anyone else. Aside from you, I won’t love anyone else. Especially not that delicate little flower, I could never love her again!”
All I want is to whip her corpse! Whip the corpses of her entire clan!
Yelan’s heart skipped a beat.
Such words would never have come from the Zhao Li of the past—she would have died before uttering them.
It made Yelan wonder what had happened to Zhao Li to bring about such a drastic change.
And then there was—
“Aside from you, I won’t love anyone else.”
“Then, do you love me?” Yelan couldn’t help but ask.
“…I don’t know,” Zhao Li answered honestly, her gaze lowering.
If Yelan had asked, “Do you have feelings for me?” the answer would have been yes.
Even if asked, “Do you like me?” Zhao Li could have answered truthfully—she did.
In her past life, Yelan had done so much for her, even exhausting her own cultivation in the end just to preserve Zhao Li’s soul for reincarnation—how could Zhao Li not feel something?
Beyond fondness, there was boundless guilt and heartache.
To say she liked Yelan wasn’t a lie.
After reincarnating into the Flower Clan and reading the records left by Elder Ming Yao—each entry detailing acts that were trivial to Yelan but life-changing for Zhao Li—how could she not feel endless gratitude and joy born from remorse?
Besides, foxes prized beauty above all. Yelan’s peerless elegance was enough to make any fox drool.
So, did she like Yelan? Yes.
But it wasn’t the kind of love that whispered, “If we were star-crossed in a past life, let us vow to reunite in the next.”
—Love?
That was out of the question.
Just because Yelan sacrificed herself to save her, just because she had silently done so much for her before, just because she was overwhelmed with shame. Could that really turn her previous dislike for Yelan into love so quickly?
Impossible. It couldn’t change that fast.
If she had witnessed Yelan’s actions for her firsthand through the phantom power Yelan left in her soul, perhaps her heart would have been moved, and love could have blossomed.
But Zhao Li hadn’t seen it.
She had only read about it in Ming Yao’s journal.
Of course, given Ming Yao’s status and character, there was no need to fabricate events, so Zhao Li, ten thousand years later, could confirm that the records were true.
But still, it was something she had read, not something she had experienced firsthand, seen with her own eyes, or felt in her heart.
Logically, the phantom power left by Yelan contained only memories belonging to Yelan herself.
The reason Zhao Li now understood the Asura Clan and Yelan so well was because she had seen these memories.
How Yelan had painstakingly cultivated her way to becoming a Spirit Emperor, how she had spent those tens of thousands of years—Zhao Li had seen it all through these phantom memories.
Yet, these memories contained nothing related to her.
All memories connected to “Zhao Li” had been erased.
Zhao Li didn’t understand why Yelan had gone to the trouble of doing this when transferring her cultivation to her.
…Did she not want her to become a burden?
Did she not want her to live in endless regret after reincarnating?
But at that time, Yelan hadn’t known that she would retain memories of her past life.
Why there were no memories of her remained an unsolved mystery.
Thus, Zhao Li had no way of learning from Yelan’s memories how she had come to love her, nor could she develop feelings by witnessing Yelan’s kindness toward her bit by bit.
So, Zhao Li’s feelings for Yelan now couldn’t directly transform into love.
“But I can try to love you,” Zhao Li said, looking at Yelan with clear eyes.
“I don’t love you yet, but that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future. Starting now, I’ll try to slowly understand you and fall in love with you. Is that acceptable to you?”
Yelan was stunned. “You…”
“At the very least, I can tell you with certainty now—I don’t dislike you at all.” Zhao Li smiled gently.