Chapter 133: Are you cheating?

The door to the bathhouse had opened without either of them noticing. The faint shift in the air barely registered until now.

There Yexue stood, just beyond the veil of steam, her silhouette familiar and unmistakable.

Ru Yi started to panic.

She couldn’t let Yexue see her and Han Shuying in this position. She’d misunderstand them for sure, and they were already on thin ice.

"Ru Yi?" Yexue called again, a note of confusion threading into her voice as she stepped closer. "Are you—"

Ru Yi didn’t answer right away. "You need to leave right now!" She hissed at Han Shuying. "It’s not going to end well if she sees both of us together."

Han Shuying had an easy smile on her face. "I don’t mind. It’s not like we’ve both no shared women in the past—"

Ru Yi slammed her palm over Han Shuying’s mouth before pulling her into the water with all her strength.

Good heavens she felt like a wife that was about to be caught cheating!!

"What the hell..." Han Shuying’s words were muffled as she struggled in the water.

"Yexue!" Ru Yi tried to keep the panic off her voice. "I’m still bathing. You shouldn’t be here while you’re still disguised as a man. Someone might misunderstand."

Yexue scratched the back of her neck. "Sorry, I didn’t think of that. Are you alone? Do you need any help?"

There was the sound of struggling in the water as Han Shuying tried to come up for air. Ru Yi kept her pinned down. The weight of Han Shuying’s wet cloak didn’t help her case.

"What was that?" Yexue sounded worried. "Should I come over?"

"NO!" Ru Yi yelled without meaning to. "There’s another woman here. Don’t worry I’ll be done soon."

Yexue took a step forward but paused, withdrawing. "Don’t stay in there too long or you’ll make yourself dizzy. I’ll be waiting." Then she left.

Ru Yi finally released her hold on Han Shuying, sighing in relief as she held onto the edge of the bath. That was close.

"What was that for?" Han Shuying gasped as she fought to the surface. She glared at Ru Yi, her eyes flashing in anger. The calm expression she wore so easily before was gone, replaced by something colder that did not bother to hide itself.

Fury. Loud and explosive.

Ru Yi could feel every inch of space between her and Han Shuying become charged. She found herself shrinking away.

"I did not want Yexue to see you here," Ru Yi finally answered, her eyes darting around the bath. "Please, leave." She held her ground despite the way her pulse had started to climb again.

"Why?" Han Shuying asked in a dangerous voice. "You don’t want her to find out that you’re really just a conniving woman that would do anything to save herself?"

Han Shuying watched Ru Yi flinch in the water, like she’d been physically hit.

"Call me whatever you want," Ru Yi replied, her voice defeated. "But...please, leave me alone."

Han Shuying could feel something start to shift in her chest as she watched Ru Yi’s solemn face. But she would not apologize, not when she meant every word she said.

"It’s already too late for that," Han Shuying said as she climbed out of the bath, all her clothes dripping with water. "You cannot hide anymore from me."

"Han Shuying—"

She switched to more important matters. "I saw your shadow in my dream."

"What?" Ru Yi no longer cared that she was bare and naked as she climbed out of the bath. "You see the shadows too?"

Han Shuying’s expression was finally schooled into the cold blank one that she was famous for. "What I saw that day after you were stabbed...I’ve never seen anything like it. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were practising shadow magic."

Ru Yi could feel the soft mess her skin had turned into after staying in the water for so long. "My meridians have been shattered since birth. I can’t even cultivate, talk more about practicing energy magic."

Han Shuying nodded in understanding. "Which makes it dangerous. Have the princesses asked you about it?"

Ru Yi thought about it briefly before shaking her head. "Not really."

"And you don’t find that strange?" Han Shuying asked with a tilt in her head. "Reclaiming the throne is their ultimate goal, and they’ll do absolutely anything to achieve that."

"I don’t understand what you’re trying to say."

"We can’t deny the power of that shadow inside you," Han Shuying continued. "It healed you like it was nothing. Not even the best energy healers in the capital can heal a stab wound as fast as it did."

"I’m still not getting what you’re driving at."

"If the princesses did not ask you about it..." Han Shuying paused. "Then it means they might be trying to find a way to use it to their advantage."

Ru Yi shook her head. "Stop trying to put ideas in my head. They’re just as clueless about the shadow as I am."

Han Shuying shook her head like that was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard. "Do you really think someone as tactical as Qingyue would’ve let you travel with them if she didn’t see any use of you?"

The doubt was starting to creep in. "What do you mean?"

"Out of the three princesses, Qingyue is the one you should be most worried about." Han Shuying walked towards Ru Yi, closing the small space between them.

Her eyes dipped to Ru Yi’s bare chest briefly, before coming back up. "Don’t delude yourself with the notion that the princesses are capable of truly loving you. Everything they do is for their goal, you’re just a pawn to them."

This time Ru Yi drew a sharp inhale, her face contorting in pain. "You don’t know that."

Han Shuying put her cold fingers under Ru Yi’s chin. "My aim is not to hurt you...believe it or not. I’m just trying to remind you that anyone would do anything to survive, and that doesn’t exclude the best of us."

Ru Yi knew that.

Heck! She’d heard Yexue admit it herself. Their goal for the throne will always be more important than her. But she wasn’t going to give Han Shuying the satisfaction of being right.

Instead, she reached for Han Shuying’s wrist and snapped the bracelet into half. They both watched the beads scatter across the floor and fall into the bath.

Ru Yi– with a calm face.

While Han Shuying’s held complete horror that bordered on rage. "What did you do that for?"