40: As long as... it will make you stay.

"What... do you mean?"

Luo Qiuping clearly hadn't expected Luo Yongan to say such a thing. But what she found even more unbelievable was that her Former Prince Consort had actually remarried, and the other party was her own maidservant?

"I remember now, I remember! Was it that bitch Ju Qing!" Luo Qiuping suddenly stood up, her eyes bloodshot. "Back then, she was the one who volunteered to care for my husband. I never thought they would dare to carry on behind my back!"

"Well, that's truly a shame. The Former Prince Consort is a respectable man, and Ju Qing understands propriety. Although their feelings developed over time, they never overstepped any boundaries." Luo Yongan rubbed her temples. "Aunt Ying Hong, she's of no more use. Escort her back. Oh, right, inform the Imperial Palace to keep a close watch on her. If she dares to make a scene or tries to run, don't hesitate. Deal with her as you would have dealt with any palace servant in the past."

"Luo Yongan, you..."

Luo Qiuping was utterly bewildered by these two sisters. What exactly were they scheming? They invited her to their residence, not to help her, but just to reopen her old wounds and berate her?

But she didn't have time to think further. Ying Hong had already arrived with several maidservants. They appeared subservient, but their tone carried a threat: "Please come with us. Don't force us to lay hands on you, or else... things will truly become undignified."

"Don't take it to heart. We were merely using you as a point of reference and comparison." Luo Yongan smiled. "Yingqi harbors quite a bit of resentment towards me and Yongning, largely because he handled your case in the past. I simply had to set his mind at ease."

"Luo Yongan, don't get too smug. How do you know the you of today won't become the me of yesterday!" Though she still didn't understand Luo Yongan's meaning, Luo Qiuping let out a cold laugh. "Among the Imperial Relatives, dissatisfaction with your family isn't a matter of a day or two. In the court, Grand Chancellor Zhou also pays lip service to The Emperor while acting contrary. Aren't you afraid that when the day comes your wealth and status vanish, Mo Yingqi will leave you?"

"That is no longer any concern of yours." Luo Yongan slowly rose to her feet. "First, I am not you. I have never, and will never, give myself, much less him, the opportunity to betray. There's no need to elaborate on that to you."

Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning had never left themselves any path of retreat. From the day the 'Love Follows' entered their bodies, she and Luo Yongning had already bound themselves inextricably to Mo Yingqi.

'Love Follows', the most vicious, yet also the most tragically beautiful, of the Southern Border's gu arts. Both the man and woman... although in their case it was three people... simultaneously ingested the dual gu of yin and yang.

To put it simply: the betrayer dies by exploding, and the other half dies simultaneously. And 'Love Follows'... has no cure.

In the matter of loving Mo Yingqi, Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning had never left themselves any way out. It wasn't even like moths flying into a flame; it was mutual destruction.

Even in death, they would take Mo Yingqi with them. Even if this was madness, they... had long since ceased to care.

"Second, some principles you understand perfectly well yourself. Saying more would only be undignified." Luo Yongan slowly turned and began walking away. "Since my Imperial Father has ascended this dragon throne, he will continue to sit upon it. The Imperial Relatives are dissatisfied? Then let them endure it. The Grand Chancellor pays lip service? Then let him be dismissed!"

Ignoring whatever happened to Luo Qiuping afterward, Luo Yongan walked straight back to the inner courtyard without a backward glance. The moment she pushed open the door to the room, she saw her younger sister pinning Mo Yingqi down on the bed, kissing him fervently.

"Could you show a little restraint?"

Her face dark, Luo Yongan grabbed her sister and pulled her aside. Just as Mo Yingqi was about to get up, Luo Yongan unexpectedly pounced on him, pushing him back down, and then... proceeded to repeat what her sister had just been doing, only even more... fervently.

"Sister! How could you!"

"Because I'm your elder sister."

"Cut it out! I want to be intimate with Yingqi too!"

"Have you no shame?"

"Ha, ha, ha! Sister, maybe you should put your shawl back on before saying things like that?"

For the first time, Mo Yingqi felt the... terror of women. Ever since last night, these two sisters had completely let themselves go. If he hadn't used official business at the yamen as an excuse today, he probably wouldn't have been able to leave the house at all!

"Um, Sister Yongan, Sister Yongning, it's broad daylight..." Mo Yingqi reminded them kindly. "Besides, I have serious business to attend to... Wait, no, Sister Yongan, why are you taking off my flying fish robe?"

"That's right, I'm helping you change into casual clothes. What are you thinking, Yingqi?" Luo Yongan said while simultaneously undoing his belt. "Of course I know it's daytime. I just missed you, that's all. So Yongning and I got a little carried away by our feelings. We weren't thinking of anything else."

"Right, right, Yingqi, you weren't thinking of doing something else, were you?" Luo Yongning also moved closer. The sisters had practiced martial arts since childhood; they looked delicate but were quite strong. Mo Yingqi, pinned down by them again, had no way to resist. "Yingqi, are you feeling happier in your heart now?"

"Huh? What would I be happy about?" Luo Yongning's seemingly random question left Mo Yingqi baffled. "What should I be happy about?"

"It's about... that woman." Luo Yongan slowly sat up to the side and gently took Mo Yingqi's hand. "After you entered the Pacification Bureau, Yongning and I had people inquire about every case you handled, specifically asked about them... We just wanted to know how you were doing..."

"Yingqi, I don't know exactly what you think about this matter, but I still want to tell you: we are different from her. Having her come today was also to let you know... Yingqi, we won't let you end up like that Former Prince Consort. The two of us married you, and we will not betray you."

As Luo Yongan spoke, tears slowly fell, and her grip on Mo Yingqi's hand unconsciously tightened.

"I wasn't thinking that..." Mo Yingqi said this, but still somewhat guiltily averted his gaze. "You don't need to worry so much. Actually, I..."

Mo Yingqi also found himself at a loss for how to explain. What could he say? That he truly hadn't cared at all? That he hadn't been affected by the matter? He probably wouldn't believe those words himself.

Moreover, if they could be so attentive to him now, what if one day they truly stopped caring? Given the sisters' status, he, a powerless Captain with no influence, would probably end up no better off than that Former Prince Consort.

Mo Yingqi's heart was in extreme turmoil at this moment. Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning treated him with a kindness that was beyond reproach. Not to mention, they were unmarried maidens in their chambers, yet they had given him everything.

Yet, precisely because of this, Mo Yingqi felt even more uneasy and apprehensive. Orphaned of his mother from a young age, leaving behind a father worse than a beast to follow his master, among all the people he had met, only they had truly been good to him, truly cared for him.

The more he cared, the more afraid he became. This plunged Mo Yingqi into a state of complete passivity, and he truly didn't know what to do.

"Yingqi, let me show you something..." Luo Yongan seemed to have made a great resolve. "Last night... you lost your senses, so you probably didn't notice. But it doesn't matter. You, me, and Yongning will be husband and wives sooner or later. We never intended to hide it from you."

"As long as... it can make you stay, we truly don't mind how much we have to give, or how much hardship we have to endure."

With that, Luo Yongan suddenly got off the bed. Turning her back to Mo Yingqi, she slowly began to remove her dress...