The Vampire Empress: Blood Queen & Her Kings

Jiang Ying Yue woke up when she felt someone calling her name softly. Her eyes remained closed as she felt reluctant to leave the sweet dream that she was having.

"If you kept sleeping then you will be late for your physical training class with Silver and then your maids will find out that you are not in the Cold Palace. In fact, you never returned there last night." 

As soon as her ears registered the familiar voice of the Third Prince, her eyes immediately flew open. As she found herself wrapped in the arms of her mate, she finally recalled the memories of the previous night.

Though she was now wearing a thin silky robe, she could still picture her soul mark that had become even more alive after getting connected with Wu Xie the previous night. She was now finally connected with all four of her mates through the soulbond. Though she hadn't completed even one of her bonds yet.

"Looks like you are finally awake." Wu Xie commented when he noticed her staring at his chest while her head remained resting on his shoulder.

"I'm just thinking about last night." Jiang Ying Yue replied softly as she touched his chest right where the soul mark was carved and it immediately started glowing bright yellow as she touched it. They were connected through the first stage soulbond. 

Wu Xie watched silently as she traced the markings on his chest. Those familiar electrical tingles laced with pleasure once again started traveling all over his body that became alive because of her touch.

The woman didn't even need to do much to make him lose all his calm and patience. Only he knew how hard it was for him to stop the previous night. If not for the fact that he was aware of how tired she really was, he would have not even thought about stopping in the first place, especially after getting connected with her through the soulbond. 

Silver was absolutely right! The feeling of being connected with your mate through such a sacred bond was really a feeling that one could only experience once in their lifetime. It was a feeling filled with love, affection, care, and a lot of warmth that he had never felt before toward anyone.

"You are right. I should be leaving now." Jiang Ying Yue said as she sat up on the bed and started adjusting her hair which was a tangled mess.

Wu Xie followed her actions and also sat up, immediately wrapping one of his hands around her shoulder as he pulled her back to rest against his chest. Unlike her, he was still shirtless, leaving his well-built upper body on full display.

"Let me send you back. I'll come to see you later in the evening." He whispered next to her ear before he pulled both of them into a teleportation array that led them directly into her bed-chamber in the Cold Palace.

*****

Imperial Palace ~

As the morning session of the court came to an end, Prime Minister and Grand Tutor followed Empress Dowager as they still had some important matters that they needed to discuss.

"Your Grace, it's been so long since His Highness, Prince Xie returned to the Imperial Palace. However, he hasn't joined the court even once. Besides, there's still no news about the First and the Second Prince." Grand Tutor hurriedly notified Empress Dowager of the issue that had been absorbing fire among the officials of the court.

"Did you ask Prince Xie to attend the court?" Empress Dowager asked as she first looked at the Grand Tutor and then turned her attention at the Prime Minister.

Every time she had to see the face of the Prime Minister, she felt like killing someone. If not for the fact that she needed someone to control the court in her stead, she would have already taken care of that greedy old man long ago.

She had always been aware of the deeds that he had been doing by using his power and influence of his position and her support for all these years. She was also aware of how he had pulled most of the officials under his wing while crumbling the officials who supported General Gu.

Though she wasn't really happy about his actions, she never interfered. As long as he didn't cause any troubles in her plan, she didn't care whatever he was doing or wanted to do.

Though she was only a fake Empress Dowager of the Hyuang Empire, she had made sure to keep the people of the country as happy, satisfied, and safe as she could. She didn't really care about them but she also didn't want to fail her trial because of causing trouble to the mortals.

But looking at her current situation, it seemed like passing the trial or not passing it was no longer important to her. At current, all her focus was pointed at the ultimate goal that she had to achieve at every cost.

"Your Grace, His Highness never allows anyone to enter his palace, and according to the servants, he hasn't left his palace ever since his return." Prime Minister hurriedly came forward to throw his excuse.

"Forget it. Since His Highness wants to rest, for the time being, let him rest then. We will talk about this later. If there are no more important issues, you both can leave." She had her own personal and important matters to attend to. She had no time to waste on the trivial matters that these two old men deemed important. 

"This..." The Grand Tutor seemed to have something more to say but he was stopped by the Prime Minister who hurriedly cane forward to bow as he took their leave and pulled the Grand Tutor out of the hall.

"Your Grace..." 

A woman in black robes appeared out of nowhere and kneeled in front of Empress Dowager as she bowed to greet her master.

"Did you find any trace of the Grand Prophet?" Empress Dowager asked the other woman.

"This servant asks for punishment for failing her mission. We were too late. His body was found in the river this morning. It's still not clear if he died by accident, or if he was being murdered. Or maybe... he just committed suicide." The guard woman replied while she kept her head bowed.

Empress Dowager didn't seem too happy after hearing the news. Since the Grand Prophet was dead, she could no longer keep tabs on the future as well as the girl who was locked up in the Cold Palace.

"Your Grace, what are we going to do next?" The guard woman asked when Empress Dowager remained silent for several minutes. 

The woman sitting on the high throne-like seat take in a deep breath as she replied, "Keep investigating Grand Prophet's death case. Just in case he was murdered, you will need to find the culprit." 

The guard nodded her head before she stood up and disappeared from the hall with a puff of black smoke that too vanished within a few seconds. 

After the guard left, Empress Dowager took out a stack of parchments and scrolls from her sleeve and spread them over the table before she started reading them.

That was how she spent most of the day, reading those mysterious scrolls and parchments that contained a lot of lost and secret information about the formation of the realms.

******

Back at the 'Glamour and Fashion', Jiang Ying Yue was having a busy day as she got an entire group of young ladies who wanted to have experience of her skincare routine and makeup techniques.

That's why by the time she finally got a break, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.

"Here. It's a present from me and my mother. Thank you so much for curing my mother." Gu Chen said as he placed a wooden box on the table as soon as she sat down to have a little bit of rest.

"You can keep this gift to yourself. I don't need it. Instead of giving me such things, you should be giving me what I asked you in return for curing your mother." Jiang Ying Yue didn't waste her energy to sound polite as she immediately moved to talk about business.

However, even though she sounded so cold and heartless, the smile playing on Gu Chen's lips didn't even dim for even half a second. "Don't worry. I'll never go back on my words. As I promised..." He stopped to place a stack of papers on the table before continuing, "... Here are the papers of the ownership of our Jewelry shop. From today onwards, you will be the owner of the seventy percent shares of the Jewelry shop." 

Jiang Ying Yue picked up the papers and looked through the contents. A smile appeared on her lips that was hidden beneath the veil. 

It was time for her to begin with her new business plan.