Chapter 970: Mind-Reading is Wonderful

‘Could this girl be Her Highness’s illegitimate daughter?’

‘Are the rumors true?’

The Secret Guard was thinking nonsense but held no malice toward Long Qingyue, only reverence. Curious, Ye Wenxin turned her attention to another Secret Guard’s thoughts. They all seemed intrigued by Ye Wenxin but dared not gossip aloud due to rank and decorum.

As they walked further, a passing eunuch who felt hollow and lonely considered finding a bed partner.

A hurried palace maid had recently developed feelings for a guard. However, after not seeing that guard for some time, she was growing irritable.

Thoughts reflecting the myriad aspects of life gathered around her. At first, they were quite interesting, but the troubles were so trivial that Ye Wenxin quickly lost interest.

When more people appeared, it became hard to distinguish who was thinking what. Ye Wenxin found the noise unbearable. Long Qingyue stopped pushing the wheelchair and used both hands to cover her ears.

Their eyes met. Seeing the calmness in Long Qingyue’s gaze, Ye Wenxin also tried to compose herself. She worked to block out the incoming thoughts lest they drive her mad.

After a few breaths, Long Qingyue removed her hands and held Ye Wenxin’s hand. “Follow my breathing rhythm and use it to ground yourself. This isn’t a joke. Too much doubt in your mind will cause Qi Deviation.”

She guided Ye Wenxin in how to use mind-reading with the patience of a mentor.

Ye Wenxin nodded seriously, matching her breathing to the counting of Long Qingyue’s fingers. The pressure on her body eased significantly as the surrounding voices faded away.

Ye Wenxin had always envied Long Qingyue’s mind-reading. But now that she had experienced it, she finally understood the saying, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’

The mind-reading ability had chosen Long Qingyue because her willpower was a hundred—no, a thousand—times stronger than Ye Wenxin’s. Without such strength, Long Qingyue would never have survived until now.

“Good, keep calm. You have the knack for it. There’s no need to rush.” Long Qingyue resumed the role of that gentle mentor from the past. Ye Wenxin nodded again, and Long Qingyue continued pushing the wheelchair forward.

The Secret Guards nearby didn’t utter a word after witnessing everything. Even though their dramatic thoughts were so turbulent that Ye Wenxin nearly laughed out loud, they maintained expressions of complete calm and composure.

Long Qingyue had raised these Secret Guards. They were reverent to her yet harbored deep affection as well. Only Long Qingyue could have achieved such mastery in winning hearts and minds.

Ye Wenxin sighed inwardly, only to feel Long Qingyue tap her shoulder hard. She understood instantly that it was a silent warning. Though it looked like a light pat, it felt heavy on this hypersensitive body.

And she still had no feeling in her legs.

Ye Wenxin tried to move them, but her lower half remained unresponsive. Resigned, she focused on practicing mind-reading again. After a while, they finally arrived at the imperial study.

Four ministers stood outside the door. Ye Wenxin didn’t recognize them but surmised they were powerful figures from their aura and demeanor.

And because she didn’t know who they were, she had no idea how Long Qingyue would interact with them. So, instead of speaking, she did the safest thing—stay silent and observe their thoughts first.

‘Ugh, it’s the demoness again.’

‘Had she caught wind of our plans and came to confront us?’

Each minister looked like a seasoned old fox, faces trained to remain unreadable. Yet, beneath those calm exteriors, their inner monologues laid bare their unease.

Long Qingyue spared the ministers a glance and pushed the wheelchair forward without pause. None of them dared say anything, much less stop the two. They watched helplessly as the women entered the imperial study.

A nearby eunuch wanted to shout, but when he saw Long Qingyue seated in the wheelchair, he clamped his mouth shut and scurried forward with exaggerated deference.

‘Why has this ancestor shown up? Could she have objections to the new concubine?’

The eunuch’s inner monologue couldn’t escape the mind-reading ability. Ye Wenxin glanced at Long Qingyue and beckoned her closer with a finger.

“Your brother’s taken another consort? Want me to teach him a lesson?”

The emperor’s licentious nature had long been common knowledge. And early on, he even harbored inappropriate thoughts toward his elder sister, Long Qingyue. If his mother hadn’t kneeled outside Long Qingyue’s palace for an entire day to seek forgiveness, the man would’ve become the first eunuch emperor in history.

Ye Wenxin had always treated that story as a dark joke. Yet, her impression of the emperor had been poor ever since.

“Aren’t you curious who his new concubine is?” Long Qingyue leaned in close to Ye Wenxin’s ear as she spoke, making Ye Wenxin weak. It was truly hard to imagine how Long Qingyue had survived until now with such a broken body.

Ye Wenxin stifled the sound that almost escaped her lips. She noticed Long Qingyue’s subtle smirk, her expression as calm as a breeze, but a teasing glint appeared in her eyes.

“It’s not Senior Sister Qing’er, is it?” Ye Wenxin considered Long Qingyue’s fondness for her niece despite her lack of regard for the emperor.

Long Qingyue’s gaze turned cold. “If he dares touch Qing’er, I’ll see his Golden Age Dynasty fall!”

She was enraged. Every dragon had an inverted scale (trigger), and Long Qing’er was one of the few people Long Qingyue cared about.

Ye Wenxin’s lips curved slightly. All of a sudden, she found Long Qingyue not entirely without warmth.

Her smile unsettled Long Qingyue. After switching bodies, there were certain things she no longer needed to suppress. But whenever she got angry, this new body seemed to possess a force that dissolved those emotions entirely, quickly returning her to a calm state.

Long Qingyue grew increasingly curious about the secrets of Ye Wenxin’s body. That was why she wanted to study her for a few days.

Ye Wenxin still waited for an answer. Worried she might slip up later, Long Qingyue whispered in her ear again, “That woman’s name is Fang Cheng.”

Ye Wenxin found the name familiar. A second later, it hit her. Fang Cheng was the second daughter of the Fang family, Sister Hong’s younger sister and Young Master Lü’s elder sister.

She had no doubt Long Qingyue had arranged this. However, the eunuch and the emperor had no idea.

“As expected of you, truly a clever move,” Ye Wenxin praised without emotion. Long Qingyue said no more.

Perhaps she made a deal with Fang Cheng, or this was Long Qingyue’s way of retaliating against Ye Wenxin for being close to Sister Hong.

A chill ran through Ye Wenxin, but when Long Qingyue ushered her deeper into the imperial study, she had already schooled her expression.