Shrouding the Heavens: The Years I Was the Female Emperor's Strictest Master

"What do you mean?"

By then, Shao Hanyun had already walked up to Tan Lin. She bent slightly, leaving barely any distance between them.

As she spoke, her breath was like orchids, the warm air nearly brushing Tan Lin's face. Up close, her dark golden pupils appeared even more bewitching and captivating.

"Since you have seen through Hanyun's circumstances, you should know that I cannot control my own fate. I am like a bird in a cage, a fish in a pond.

"Though I may seem glorious on the surface, the Big Dipper Divine Church uses the Life-Deliverance Art to control my mind and force me to do things I do not wish to do, meet people I do not wish to meet...

"Those old monsters in the church harbor vile thoughts. The only reason they have left Hanyun's body untouched is to maximize their profits.

"For instance, when they sent me to the Chi Family this time, they gave me a death order: at all costs, I was to win you over to the church..."

Her voice was soft and melodious, carrying endless grievance and pitiful sorrow.

As she spoke, a pair of jade-like hands quietly settled onto Tan Lin's shoulders. Her fingertips seemed charged with electricity as they gently stroked through the fabric over his shoulders.

"Meeting you today is like holding the bright moon in my arms, like a clear breeze brushing my face.

"You possess peerless talent and a lucid heart. Now, you have even seen through Hanyun's circumstances and understood my suffering..."

By this point, a hazy sheen of tears had risen in her eyes, making her utterly pitiable.

"Hanyun asks for nothing else. I only wish... only wish to receive a trace of your tenderness, a fraction of your sincerity.

"Here, today, heaven knows,