After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

The villa where the former Empress was recuperating didn’t have much of a modern feel.

The scenery, with artificial mountains reflecting in the lake, had a sense of ancient Chinese gardens.

Most of the buildings in the villa were only two stories high, without elevators.

There were also no strict access controls between houses.

But if anyone thought this place had lax security, they’d be sorely mistaken.

The former Empress’s residence was a restricted area within a three-kilometer radius.

If any vehicle or person not included in that day’s access system approached, alarms would sound before they could get near the houses.

Only the former Empress’s family and a few trusted individuals like her personal caretakers and butler had unrestricted access to enter and leave.

Six authorized vehicles stopped in a designated area of the villa.

All guard team members disembarked first, standing at attention on either side, constantly protecting the personal safety of the two heads of state.

In the past, Gu Junwan wouldn’t have needed so many guards when returning to her residence.

But given the current special circumstances, she didn’t dare to be careless at all.

Gu Yuwei had eight people with her.

Besides her assistant Chi Xuan, the rest were all guard team members in camouflage uniforms.

Chi Xuan got out of the front passenger seat of one car and went to open the back door for his leader.

His peripheral vision kept glancing towards another official car.

Ever since being attacked by Shen Han’s pheromones during the disaster area visit, he had been somewhat afraid of her.

Now hearing that she was also accompanying the Empress here, he wished he could ask his leader for leave to slip away.

At this moment, Chi Xuan felt a bit nervous.

Even though he knew very clearly that the other wouldn’t do anything to him, psychological shadows aren’t so easily eliminated.

That feeling was like someone who had nearly drowned involuntarily recalling their fear upon seeing rivers or seas.

Noticing that the guard team captain called Shen Han wasn’t looking his way, Chi Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But immediately after, he noticed something strange.

That terrifying Alpha seemed to be nervous too?

Chi Xuan was a bit confused, unable to understand where her nervousness came from.

Secretly glancing around at the other members of the Empress’s team, Chi Xuan became even more bewildered.

‘Huh? That’s not right. I see all the Empress’s other guard team members looking quite happy.’

‘Why does Captain Shen look so tense?’

The questions in the Northern Commander’s assistant’s mind were destined to remain unanswered.

After both heads of state had disembarked, the group walked straight into the villa.

Gu Junwan’s guards were uniformly dressed in black suits, while Gu Yuwei’s wore gray camouflage.

Both sides were composed of handsome and valiant elite Alphas. Even just walking side by side, they exuded an aura of cold hardness and iron-blooded vigor!

Not far away, several servants who had worked in the villa for years watched this scene, feeling both emotional and excited.

Young Miss Junwan has come home!

They must quickly notify the kitchen to prepare more of the young miss’s favorite dishes.

The winter sunlight had its unique brilliance.

Golden halos spread a layer of warmth over the entire villa, yet the light wasn’t harsh.

Just as the two sisters Gu Junwan and Gu Yuwei walked into the open-air garden in front of the main house, they saw their Alpha mother walk out from inside.

Tang Yucai wore a white turtleneck sweater under a black woolen coat, with exquisite features and a scholarly aura.

Her outstanding body proportions made her look so graceful and elegant.

However, when Shen Han saw Teacher Tang give her a meaningful smile, she inexplicably began to feel uneasy.

Especially when she watched Tang Yucai stand together with Gu Yuwei, talking.

Many scenes involuntarily floated through her mind.

There was the scene of her turning her head to ask Tang Yucai if she preferred flip-top or sliding-top coffins.

There was the scene of her punching Tang Yucai in the stomach.

There was the scene of her tackling Gu Yuwei and bruising half her face.

And there was the scene of Gu Yuwei whistling through her speech with a missing tooth.

As Shen Han thought about these, cold sweat began to break out on her back.

“Go on, Qianqiu is waiting for you in the study.”

Hearing Tang Yucai’s words, Gu Junwan nodded slightly.

She turned to give Xu Zhao a couple of instructions, then secretly winked at her Alpha before going inside alone.

When the former Empress wanted to speak privately with the current Empress, no one else could follow.

At this moment, Gu Yuwei suddenly turned around and nodded slightly to Shen Han and Ning Xi.

“Our parting was hasty that day, and I never had the chance to properly thank you.”

Saying this, she first fixed her gaze on Ning Xi: “Is your shoulder injury alright now?”

Ning Xi stood straight, replying appropriately: “Thank you for your concern, Commander. The injury has long since healed!”

Gu Yuwei nodded, then looked at Shen Han.

“Are… are you feeling unwell?”

She had originally intended to express her gratitude more formally, but before she could speak, she saw a bead of sweat roll down Shen Han’s temple.

She had also heard about a guard team member fainting outside the conference room this morning.

So Gu Yuwei’s first reaction was to wonder: Have Gu Junwan’s guards fallen ill one after another?

Shen Han raised her hand to gently wipe away the sweat on her cheek.

Before she could speak, Tang Yucai, whose features were very similar to Gu Yuwei’s, interrupted their conversation.

“Yuwei, don’t stand here talking. The weather is nice today, keep mother company and have some tea in this courtyard.”

As soon as she finished speaking, servants began bustling around a wooden table in the center of the courtyard.

With her mother having spoken, Gu Yuwei couldn’t continue chatting with Shen Han.

She instructed her assistant to bring over her tablet, intending to handle some official business while waiting for tea.

The members of the two guard teams naturally couldn’t sit down for tea.

The Northern District team members lined up not far behind their commander.

Shen Han led her team to line up in another area of the courtyard, with Xu Zhao, who also wasn’t qualified to be seated, beside her.

As soon as Tang Yucai sat down, she began playing with her phone.

On the long table, emerald green tea leaves tumbled in boiling water, filling the entire small courtyard with a refreshing tea fragrance.

Suddenly, Shen Han’s work phone in her pocket vibrated with a text message alert.

She kept her eyes straight ahead, showing no intention of checking it.

She generally didn’t look at her phone while on duty. If someone had important business with her, they would choose to call directly rather than send a text message.

Moreover, with her mother-in-law nearby, she didn’t want to leave an impression of ‘slacking off during work hours’.

Just as the phone in Shen Han’s pocket stopped vibrating, Xu Zhao’s phone immediately began to vibrate.

As the Empress’s special assistant, she had to check if someone was contacting her about work.

Xu Zhao tried to keep her movements very gentle as she took out her phone, surprised to find it was a message from Tang Yucai!

After unlocking the screen, there was only a short line: [Tell her to reply to my message.]

Xu Zhao was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood.

Because she was standing right next to Shen Han, she had heard the other’s phone buzzing several times.

Xu Zhao didn’t say anything, just elbowed the Alpha beside her.

When Shen Han turned her head, she waved her own phone and then used her eyes to point at the other’s pocket.

Receiving this signal, Shen Han immediately took out her phone.

Looking down, her eyes nearly popped out.

Tang Yucai: [Why aren’t you calling me Dad today?]

[How does it feel to accompany Little Wan back to her parents’ home?]

[Were you feeling guilty just now? I saw you sweating on your forehead.]

Shen Han hurriedly replied: [Dad! Our family’s house is so big and beautiful!]

[Is this where Junwan grew up? It’s truly a place of outstanding talents!]

When she saw the words “Dad” pop up on the screen, Tang Yucai nearly spat out her tea.

After swallowing the hot tea, she maintained a calm expression on her face, but her fingers began typing rapidly.

[Don’t think you can get away with sweet talk! Let me ask you, did you deliberately knock out Yuwei’s tooth?]

[No, no! I’m such a coward, how could I do such a thing? The situation was really very urgent at the time, that’s why such a small accident happened.]

[Hmph! In our whole family, you’ve taken one away, beaten two. I think there’s no one in this world bolder than you.]

Shen Han looked down at the message Teacher Tang had sent, feeling a bit anxious but not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Fortunately, Tang Yucai was just trying to scare her a bit and didn’t continue the previous topic.

After all, she had saved both of her daughters’ lives at the risk of her own.

She couldn’t thank Shen Han enough in her heart, so how could she really blame her?

Besides wanting to chat with her daughter’s Alpha, Tang Yucai actually also wanted to know how far their relationship had progressed.

She felt awkward asking her daughter directly about such things, but it also felt inappropriate to inquire directly from the Alpha.

So Shen Han watched as Teacher Tang sat in her chair frowning, typing out several words, then pressing the screen to delete them.

She would type new words, then immediately make the motion of deleting them.

Shen Han’s heart was almost in her throat.

‘What topic is so difficult? Come on, Dad, be more direct! This deleting and rewriting is too much for my heart to take!’

Finally, Tang Yucai asked very tactfully: [Has Little Wan stayed overnight at your apartment?]

Shen Han thought for a moment and replied: [Only once. Other times we’re always very mindful of the time and don’t play too late.]

The only time Gu Junwan had spent the night at Shen Han’s place was when she saw someone shooting at Shen Han on surveillance video.

At that time, she was nearly collapsing, so Xu Zhao had sent her to Shen Han’s apartment.

And that night, Shen Han had only slept leaning against the edge of the bed, without any improper advances.

But Tang Yucai didn’t know these details.

When she saw the words on the screen, her blood pressure shot up.

Only once? Other times? Play?

Behind Gu Yuwei, a row of guards watched the Captain Shen in the distance busily typing with lowered eyes, all filled with confusion.

“What’s she doing? As a captain, playing with her phone during work hours!”

“Sigh, that assistant doesn’t even know to manage her. This is the former Empress’s residence after all, and the former Empress’s partner is sitting right there!”

“If this gets back to the Empress, it will surely have some impact, right? Details determine success or failure. That Captain Shen is still too young.”