Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 554 - 281: The Furious Empress

Chapter 554: Chapter 281: The Furious Empress

Jiang Shouzhong entered the room that once belonged to him.

Mist hovered around the room.

On the screen hung a large golden gown and a bellyband, golden and glittering, oppressively luxurious.

In the bathtub, a woman was leisurely bathing.

The bath she was using was not the usual wooden kind but one crafted from fine jade, ornately carved, fairly spacious, and featured skin-nourishing effects.

"It’s a pity you didn’t die in Qingzhou," she said.

Luo Wanqing comfortably leaned against the edge of the jade bathtub, her legs casually perched on the rim, her toenails painted bright red, small and translucent, her fair arches tinged with a hint of pinkish-orange, including her long, straight shins, dripping with water droplets.

In the petal-strewn water, one could vaguely see the woman’s small, round knees and the undulating snowy curves.

Since they were considered an "old married couple," Luo Wanqing felt no need for concealment.

Jiang Shouzhong cleared his throat and asked, "Is it too bad I didn’t die, or is it too bad you didn’t die?"

"Guess," she replied.

Luo Wanqing squinted her almond eyes at him, her allure mixed with provocation.

Jiang Shouzhong pulled up a stool, sat next to the bathtub, and propped a hand on the edge, staring directly into the woman’s enchanting phoenix eyes, and asked, "Did you know about the massacre in Qingzhou beforehand?"

"I had a rough idea," she responded.

Luo Wanqing’s arm gently swayed, scooping up some of the crisp water to sprinkle on her snowy neck. Droplets rolled down her smooth skin, carving out a high curve.

Although she was the Empress, she had no interest in politics whatsoever.

Even knowing, she preferred not to attend to it.

Jiang Shouzhong fell silent for a moment, then softly said, "Probably more than eighty thousand people died."

"Oh," the woman responded indifferently.

Seeing the man slowly clench his fist, Luo Wanqing laughed, "What, are you going to blame their deaths on me?"

Jiang Shouzhong shook his head, turned to look at the clothes hanging on the screen, his expression somewhat puzzled: "No, I just can’t understand... can’t understand many things."

"What can’t you understand?" the woman asked.

...

Jiang Shouzhong remained silent.

Luo Wanqing stretched out her legs, placing her wet, petal-covered instep on the man’s face, forcibly turning his head, though her smile appeared cold:

"Look at me, and tell me what you cannot understand."

Before him, the woman’s evenly straight, impossibly white legs gleamed with a watery sheen, like a piece of art, causing Jiang Shouzhong to be somewhat captivated.

"An adult acting like a child, how childish," Luo Wanqing lazily mocked as she tapped the man’s cheek with her foot, "if you can’t even understand this, you might as well find a place to hide away and not mingle in the vast pool of the court."

The woman’s peach-orange foot, soft as a cat’s paw pad, landed softly on his face, not painfully.

Yet the action was somewhat humiliating.

It was more like a queen, with a disdainful gesture, educating her subordinate.

Of course, this suited Luo Wanqing’s queenly persona.

In her eyes and heart, Jiang Shouzhong was a little cat favored by her, while she was the master.

Jiang Shouzhong didn’t mind and said lightly, "Maybe sometimes, being childish is better; it at least preserves some humanity and lets one live like a normal person."

"Oh, taking a roundabout way to accuse me of being inhumane?"

Luo Wanqing drew back her legs, sat up straight, and leaned forward, the ripples spreading out in the water as she sat arms on the rim of the bathtub, smiling warmly at him,

"What’s the value of a conscience in this age? You’re just standing too low, and you haven’t reaped benefits crazy enough to drive you mad."

With that, Luo Wanqing raised her wet hand, lifting a lock of the man’s hair,

"When one day you stand high up, you’ll find out that the deaths of a few people, to gain two, ten or even dozens of times the benefits, really aren’t anything significant."

Jiang Shouzhong looked into her eyes, corrected, "It’s eighty thousand people, not just a few."

Luo Wanqing smoothed the strands of hair stuck to her face, her cheeks flushed red from the steam, and spoke casually,

"So what? Does it make a difference whether eighty thousand or just a few people die? It’s all just numbers.

Dying a hundred thousand or a million, those are just numbers too. Can you or I stop it?

Jiang Mo, you’re a smart man, why bother with such trivialities.

Li Guanshi knew many would die in Qingzhou, did she think to stop it? Zhuge Xuanji calculated that Qingzhou would run with blood, did he think to stop it? Why don’t you question them?

Are you questioning me now? Do you think because we’ve been intimate twice, you can manipulate me at will?"

Jiang Shouzhong exhaled slowly, shaking his head:

"I’m not questioning you; you’re a favorite of the Empress. I thought you might know some inside information..."

"Hmph, naive," Luo Wanqing scoffed, giving Jiang Shouzhong a slanting glance, standing up from the bathtub, "Enough, let’s not talk about these unlucky things, let’s get down to business."

Amid the sound of splashing water, the dazzlingly beautiful body was exposed before the man.

Jiang Shouzhong immediately felt the hot, fragrant breeze in his face, his eyes filled with an overwhelming sight.

Being one of the top experts and also the Empress, her body exuded the charm of a mature woman, extremely enticing, rightly considered a natural beauty.

There are few men in this world who could resist such temptation.

However, although Jiang Shouzhong was aroused, he did not display excessive lust or obsession, still subduing his desires, stood up and said:

"I just arrived in the Capital and am a bit tired, let’s talk in a few days."

He planned to visit Zhang Yunwu’s house to check on the situation.