Book 8: Chapter 33: Politics (2)
Hsiao Jiayi worried that she might not be able to continue the conversation if she wasn’t allowed a moment to regain her calm. Fortunately, there was a commotion outside the main door into the room they were all occupying. Someone was arriving and, by the noise, it was someone important.
“Lai Dongmei, matriarch of the Golden Phoenix Sect,” choked out the man at the door.
Hsiao Jiayi turned to look. This was another person she had heard stories about, although stories of a different kind. The stories about Lai Dongmei centered on all of the tragic, doomed loves she inspired. As with the tales about Judgment’s Gale, she had largely discounted those stories. Cultivator beauty was nothing new. It was to be expected of those in the nascent soul stage, even if there were freakish exceptions like Lu Sen. Yet, the moment Hsiao Jiayi laid eyes on Lai Dongmei, she felt a stab of almost instant hatred. No living creature should be allowed that kind of beauty. It was impossible, unearthly beauty. If Lu Sen was the sun, this woman was the moon.
The matriarch gave the king an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgment, and then her eyes fixed on Lu Sen. She… Walked wasn’t the right word for it. There simply wasn’t a word for someone moving with that much grace. It was almost comical watching people try to speak with her, only to have the woman move past them like she was in an empty room and the singular item of interest in it was Judgment’s Gale. Hsiao Jiayi realized that the only person who hadn’t turned to look, who hadn’t been instantly enthralled, was Lu Sen himself. He was looking at her, his expression expectant. He had asked her a question, but it was just gone from her mind, blown away like an errant leaf in a hurricane. Lai Dongmei arrived and didn’t hesitate for a second as she pressed herself against the man and kissed his cheek.
“Hello, lover,” said the matriarch, running a finger down the front of Lu Sen’s robe. “I see you dressed up for the occasion. I very much approve. It makes you look positively delicious.”
Hsiao Jiayi felt a completely irrational flare of jealous rage take hold. She knew it was irrational. She knew it was stupid. She’d had a five-minute conversation with this man. And none of those facts mattered in the slightest. It still took every ounce of her restraint not to attack the other woman. A reaction that was not helped in the slightest when he looked at that unfairly, wretchedly beautiful woman. There was something there in his eyes, something that smoldered. Something that she wanted to see there when the man looked at her, instead of that infuriating distant politeness. Lai Dongmei finally deigned to look at her then.
“Oh, I see you’ve met the princess.”
“Princess,” said Lu Sen, his expression going positively icy as he drew out the word. “I thought you were some manner of ambassador.”
Hsiao Jiayi didn’t understand what had just happened. All she knew was that a single word had left a frigid shell where at least vague friendliness had been before.