The Moon-Gathering Tower, Cloud-Deep Pavilion.
Dusk had all but settled outside the window, and the last streak of sunset filtered through the gauze curtains.
A Gilt Goose-Foot Lamp burned in the corner, its flickering light bathing the room in warmth and quiet.
Luo Qingge and Bai Qianqian sat facing each other.
Two cups of clear tea stood on the table, their fragrance curling into the air, but neither had been touched much.
The atmosphere between them could hardly be called tense, but it was certainly not relaxed.
After all, their relationship was rather delicate.
Today, Bai Qianqian had changed into an understated, elegant Moon-White Ruqun that Luo Qingge had someone prepare for her. She had lost some of the earthshaking ferocity she had displayed in the Eastern Market yesterday and gained a measure of gentle domestic grace.
She knelt on a cushion beside the table, her back perfectly straight and her hands resting properly on her knees, her eyes lowered to her nose and her attention turned inward. She looked as meek as a newlywed bride. If the people who had collapsed in the Eastern Market yesterday had seen her like this, their eyes might have popped out of their heads.
Opposite her sat Luo Qingge, her white robes brighter than snow and her ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall. She looked as cool and otherworldly as ever, but she knew perfectly well that most of her composure was forced.
In truth, she had little confidence when facing Bai Qianqian.
Bai Qianqian feared her, afraid that she, the "principal wife," would refuse to accept her. But was she not afraid of Bai Qianqian in turn? In beauty, Bai Qianqian could truly topple cities and kingdoms; in cultivation, she stood at the peak of the Sixth Realm, capable of changing the