After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

A brief silence fell over the phone.

Gu Yuwei felt she might truly be light-headed, her mind somewhat unclear.

Otherwise, how could she have asked such a question?

After a three-second pause, Gu Junwan gave her answer.

“No, I’m not willing.”

Gu Yuwei immediately felt her heart constrict.

But then, Gu Junwan’s cool yet gentle voice came through the current again: “But I can try.”

Gu Yuwei raised her sleeve to wipe away the tears on her face.

A strange mix of joy and defiance welled up, leaving her feeling quite conflicted.

At this moment, she felt as if she and the person on the other end of the phone had suddenly returned to their childhood.

Back then, neither of them had differentiated yet, but their personalities already showed extremely different traits.

People around them often joked that the older sister had the demeanor of an Empress in all aspects, while the younger sister was both cute and sincere-hearted, as if cut from the same mold as Teacher Tang.

When the sisters grew up, the younger one would surely be well taken care of.

As a child, Gu Yuwei strongly agreed with these words and clung to her sister all day.

But as she grew older, she gradually began to feel uneasy.

They were both their mother’s daughters, so why should she necessarily be the one under protection?

This feeling became even stronger after they both differentiated.

Gu Yuwei became fiercely competitive in everything, like a rebellious girl in a prolonged adolescent phase.

Gu Junwan, on the other hand, became increasingly reserved and calm. Though not much older, she already showed signs of surpassing her elders in dealing with people and matters.

Towards her sister who always threw tantrums in front of her, Gu Junwan never used her external methods to suppress or intimidate.

On the contrary, she gave her the utmost tolerance and trust.

At that time, Gu Junwan could never have imagined that it was precisely because of this unguarded attitude towards her own sister that a series of accidents would occur later.

Recalling this, Gu Yuwei shook her head vigorously.

Gripping the phone, she spoke in a muffled voice: “Are you at the White Egret Hotel now? I’ll come find you.”

Gu Junwan: “The hotel is crowded with prying eyes. Let’s meet secretly at Yusheng Manor.”

“Your two advisors are also there. Their situation can’t be made public yet. You need to handle the matter of their sudden disappearance first, then come over.”

The White Egret Hotel is located next to the central avenue of the capital. It’s unsuitable as a meeting place for two current heads of state, both in terms of geographical location and security level.

Of course, there are some well-guarded, fully-equipped command posts in the capital that could be used.

But those places are all controlled by Yu Xiao, the commander of the Fifth Army Group Gu Junwan couldn’t possibly choose such a dangerous location.

The current situation is different from the last meeting with Yu Xiao.

What if she had just uprooted the deeply embedded tumor in the Federation, only to be killed at all costs by Yu Xiao right after?

This possibility couldn’t be ignored.

……

Two days passed in a flurry of activity.

The bombs in the First Retirement Home had been completely removed. There were five detonation points in total, all distributed around Li Jianye’s villa.

After all, the security system in the Retirement Home wasn’t just for show. They couldn’t hide bombs in every location.

Significant breakthroughs had also been made in the interrogation of Chen Yihe and Sun Xianglong.

The two confessed that initially, they were set up by Li Jianye and others, forced to join the criminal enterprise.

Later, having tasted the benefits of power, they couldn’t stop themselves and committed grave errors.

In just two short days, eight secret bases of Li Jianye’s team were uncovered across the entire Second District.

The illegal funds and criminal cases involved were all shocking.

Despite these results, neither Gu Junwan nor Gu Yuwei could feel at ease.

Not only because so many terrifying bloodsuckers had been hidden right under their noses, but also because they still hadn’t caught Li Jianye.

Gu Junwan was burning with anxiety.

Because if he escaped back to Yin Country, it would be extremely difficult to punish this major criminal in the future.

She stood in the temporary command post at Yusheng Manor, her back straight, eyes fixed on the holographic military map before her, not uttering a word for a long time.

Shen Han, looking at the faint dark circles under her Omega’s eyes, felt a pang in her heart.

Seeing that no one was paying much attention to her side, she walked over to Gu Junwan with a cup of warm water mixed with vitamin supplements.

“Take a break.”

Suddenly hearing someone speak to her, Gu Junwan instinctively replied: “Not necessary.”

Her voice was cool, as cold as glacial water.

Immediately after speaking, she sensed something.

She quickly shifted her gaze from the holographic map and turned to look at the person beside her.

Upon seeing it was Shen Han speaking to her, Gu Junwan’s stern expression immediately softened.

She lowered her eyes slightly apologetically and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: “I was too focused just now. I didn’t realize it was you.”

Shen Han naturally wouldn’t mind such things.

She handed over the warm water in her palm and said softly: “No matter how urgent it is, you can’t go without food, drink, or rest. If you wear yourself out, won’t the enemy be celebrating?”

Gu Junwan understood these principles.

But many things are like this – understanding in your heart is one thing, being able to do it is another.

This chess game with Li Jianye was too important.

It was both a major hurdle in her life and a knot in her heart.

She had to catch him to give an explanation to the countless victims, both known and unknown!

Gu Junwan nodded slightly, took the cup and sipped lightly.

The slightly sour fruit flavor bloomed on her taste buds, stimulating her mouth and senses uncomfortably.

After one sip, she didn’t want to drink anymore.

Shen Han stared at her without speaking, but her eyes clearly expressed her meaning: Finish it.

Gu Junwan looked at the glass still more than half full of liquid, her eyes moving slightly, but she didn’t comply.

She tilted her face up slightly, confirming that her Alpha was still supervising her, then mouthed to her: “You drink it.”

At any other time, Shen Han would have happily obliged.

But today was different. She didn’t reach out to take the glass Gu Junwan pushed towards her. Instead, she raised an eyebrow, looking at the other’s beautiful golden eyes with an ambiguous smile.

These past two days, Gu Junwan had eaten little and slept less, spending all day in the command post.

If this continued, even an iron body couldn’t withstand it.

At this moment, Gu Yuwei came over with a dejected look.

She didn’t notice the subtle atmosphere between the two and directly started talking to Gu Junwan about business.

“All water, land, and air transportation near Yin Country in the Second and Third Districts has been basically locked down. All personnel entering and exiting must undergo iris verification, but still nothing has been found.”

“Could he choose to continue hiding within Federation territory? Like concealing his identity in some remote town or mountain area, waiting for the storm to pass before starting to move?”

Gu Junwan inconspicuously pushed the glass in her hand towards Gu Yuwei while answering her: “That is indeed a possibility.”

“But judging from his personality and style of action, his first choice would be to return to Yin Country as soon as possible.”

“Every day he stays within Federation territory is another day of fear – fear of being betrayed by his own people, and fear that if time drags on, the Yin authorities will abandon him.”

Gu Yuwei very naturally took the glass and gulped it down.

Nodding in agreement, she said: “That’s true. He’s been undercover in the Federation for so many years. Any military value that could be squeezed out has long been exhausted by the Yin authorities-”

As the sisters began to discuss, Shen Han nodded slightly, then silently turned and returned to the area where the guard team members were on duty.

Gu Junwan stole a glance at her Alpha’s retreating figure, feeling a tiny bit guilty.

‘The silly Alpha won’t be angry, right? No, she shouldn’t be. It’s such a small matter, she’ll forget about it in a moment.’

Once they started discussing the serious matter of the arrest, Gu Junwan quickly threw this small episode to the back of her mind.

Until 10 o’clock that night.

Xu Zhao sneakily came over to add a word: “Your Majesty, I think Shen Han seems a bit off today.”

“How so?”

“Well, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I felt she’s been listless all afternoon, and her conversations with people have been dry and dull.”

“Alright, I understand. Don’t worry, perhaps it’s because the arrest operation isn’t going smoothly, so her mood is affected.”

Hearing her Empress say this, Xu Zhao didn’t respond outwardly.

But in her heart, she thought: It’s probably not because of the arrest operation. The only one who can affect Shen dog’s mood is you, isn’t it?

After issuing a few more orders, Gu Junwan prepared to return to her room.

After three consecutive days of staying up, she was also worried that excessive fatigue would affect her analysis and judgment, causing her to overlook some key information and miss the best opportunity to catch Li Jianye.

But before returning to her room, she had to appease her Alpha first.

The Empress had spent almost the entire day in the command post, so naturally, the guard team members were on duty nearby.

Gu Junwan easily found Shen Han standing guard outside the command post.

She walked slowly to her and calmly said: “Captain Shen, come with me for a moment.”

Shen Han raised her hand in a military salute and fell in step beside Gu Junwan.

Xu Zhao, carrying a tablet computer, followed behind the two. As they walked, she very tactfully disappeared on her own.

Yusheng Manor is Yi He’s private property. In other words, this place is Gu Junwan’s territory.

The path she took with Shen Han had no personnel or surveillance equipment.

They only needed to lower their voices to talk, not needing to be as cautious as they were in the command post during the day.

“I heard you ate very little at dinner. Do you have no appetite? Would you like me to accompany you for some late-night snacks?”

Gu Junwan spoke first, not mentioning the water glass incident at all, directly launching a ‘precision strike’ at her Alpha.

She knew Shen Han would never say ‘no’ to her.

Later, if she took the initiative to feed her more food, given that person’s personality, she would cheer up on the spot.

Shen Han indeed wouldn’t refuse her Omega, but this time, she didn’t intend to let her get away with it so easily.

She turned her head and sighed softly: “You handed off what I gave you to someone else right away. If it were something else, it wouldn’t matter, but it was a water glass, and one you had drunk from.”

Seeing that she was indeed upset about this matter, Gu Junwan quickly softened her voice to coax: “Silly Alpha, don’t be angry.”

Shen Han stopped walking, holding the other’s hand, and lowered her head to Gu Junwan’s ear, whispering: “Kiss me on your own initiative, and then my anger might subside.”

The warm breath hitting her cheek and ear quickly turned the Omega’s earlobe red.

Gu Junwan looked at the night around them and asked quietly: “Can I kiss you when we get back to the room?”

She added: “It’s a bit cold here.”

Shen Han smiled with narrowed eyes, touching her lips to the other’s heated ear: “Alright, but the duration needs to be extended.”