Shen Tang did not agree right away.
She waved for everyone else to leave. Silence fell all around them, broken only by the clear sound of the daughter of the You Kingdom's imperial clan growling like a dying beast. Having outsiders see her in such a humiliated, groveling state would wound her pride, too. Shen Tang had nothing to do, so she picked up the memorials at hand and began reviewing them.
As time passed, the beast's breathing gradually slowed.
All her resentment fermented into despair.
She nearly wept blood. "Lord Shen won't agree?"
What made her feel even more hopeless was that she had no right to ask the other woman to do anything. She could not avenge herself; all she could do was watch helplessly as her family's blood feud remained unavenged. The daughter of the You Kingdom's imperial clan murmured, "...That's right. I was just a commoner indulging in wishful thinking, reaching for the impossible, not knowing my place... But I can't accept it! I hate her! I wish I could drink her blood and eat her flesh, skin her alive, scrape off the fat, and use it to light a lantern. Then I'd dig out her heart and see what color it is..."
Shen Tang paused her brush, then continued writing the remaining strokes.
The daughter of the You Kingdom's imperial clan seemed oblivious to the changes around her, still trapped in her own world. Her eyes reddened as if she were gnashing her teeth in fury. "She's a woman herself. She's been at the mercy of others, too. She's been treated like a plaything, so why couldn't she spare the women of the You Kingdom? Letting her troops run wild in the city for three days—what was she..."
Aside from Shen Youli, the two women