After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

When Gu Junwan received Li Jianye, Shen Han was not guarding the reception room.

The hotel security had spotted several suspicious foreigners through surveillance and reported the information. Shen Han then led a few team members to investigate personally.

Jiang Xinyue had used half of her ability time in the morning and was now resting in the guard team’s break area.

There would be more guests from the list visiting in the afternoon, at which time she would activate her ability again for screening.

In the reception room, Ning Xi and several guards remained on duty.

As Li Jianye pushed his “wife” in a wheelchair through the door, he greeted Gu Junwan with a smile.

“Your Majesty, it’s been a long time! You’re looking more and more like your grandmother in her prime on the battlefield.”

Gu Junwan rose to welcome them: “Uncle Li, you’re still so vigorous. Thank you and Aunt Zhang for making this special trip.”

As she spoke, she lowered her gaze slightly to the woman in the wheelchair holding a gift box.

Gu Junwan had a deep impression of this kindly smiling woman before her.

Her name was Zhang Qi. She had been on the battlefield in her youth, sharing both a comrade’s friendship and the bond of a couple who had weathered hardships together with Li Jianye.

Both were Betas. They had been loving after marriage, though regrettably childless.

A few years ago, Zhang Qi had fallen at home and nearly became vegetative.

She miraculously awoke but lost the ability to walk. Fortunately, Li Jianye stood by her, even pushing her wheelchair on their daily strolls.

Mention the Li couple in the First Retirement Home, and everyone would give a thumbs up.

After the three arrived in the reception area, Xu Zhao immediately brought hot tea.

Li Jianye politely accepted, first testing the temperature of the cup before thoughtfully handing it to his wife.

He smiled and asked: “Weren’t you clamoring to personally give Her Majesty your blessings at home? Why so reserved now?”

‘Zhang Qi’ gave him a look, then took out a Chinese juniper bonsai from the gift box on her lap.

The bonsai was about the size of an adult’s head, with layered foliage like auspicious clouds, elegant in posture and vigorous in form.

Even Xu Zhao, who had no knowledge of bonsai, could tell it was no ordinary piece.

For the next 5 minutes, Zhang Qi did all the talking, explaining some matters related to bonsai care.

Li Jianye sat upright beside her, occasionally chiming in with a few words.

Although Gu Junwan would not personally tend to bonsai, she showed no signs of impatience.

That elderly Mr. Li had been a reconnaissance officer under her grandmother in his youth, repeatedly achieving remarkable feats. He was a respected senior.

Knowing Gu Junwan had pressing matters of state, the Li couple did not stay long.

After chatting for 10 minutes, they took their leave.

The bonsai had been scanned and inspected before being brought into the reception room.

So Gu Junwan didn’t need to worry about any listening devices hidden in the gift.

She had Xu Zhao place the Chinese juniper bonsai on the desk, while she herself went to continue reading documents.

Li Jianye pushed his “wife” into the elevator to descend.

Seeing the old man’s poor complexion, the elevator attendant solicitously inquired, offering to call a doctor if needed.

Li Jianye, covered in cold sweat, remained silent.

Zhang Qi looked up at the attendant and politely said: “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

She knew her superior’s weakness was due to overusing his ability.

She could also guess that the recent meeting with Gu Junwan had likely been futile.

Li Jianye could perform one-on-one mental infiltration at close range.

The success rate varied by individual.

For someone like Gu Junwan, with a strong logical thinking system and firm will, mental infiltration had basically no effect.

Unless she was physically weak or emotionally unstable, it was unlikely she could be influenced.

For someone like Gu Yuwei, with ample ambition but insufficient strength and an unstable stance, mental infiltration could amplify her inner desires, achieving a certain degree of brainwashing and control.

As for those of lower levels, mental infiltration could directly hypnotize the target, controlling their behavior.

Although the hypnosis didn’t last long, creating one wrong decision at a critical juncture was often enough to change the fate of millions.

Of course, Li Jianye’s ability use had many limitations.

For instance, he couldn’t be more than 3 meters from his target, and once locked on, he couldn’t switch targets midway.

After using his ability once, he needed at least 7 days to recover.

Compared to Shen Han and Jiang Xinyue’s abilities, Li Jianye’s mental infiltration was more dangerous and had more terrifying potential.

If not for this, he couldn’t have orchestrated so many game-changing events from the shadows.

……

It took Shen Han over an hour to handle the suspicious situation reported by hotel security.

It was a team of foreign paparazzi, here to secretly photograph the Federation Empress’s hotel life.

Besides those caught scouting routes, they had even rented a blimp in the nearby area, planning to install cameras on it to film the Empress’s floor around the clock.

When Shen Han told them sternly that their behavior violated regulations, the team leader was particularly arrogant.

He raised his neck and shouted: “This is a public place, you have no right to prohibit photography!”

Shen Han eyed his stylish glasses and first showed him her military officer ID, then said: “Your glasses are model BG, supporting wireless audio, with integrated camera and microphone for video capture.”

“After our officers identified themselves, you didn’t stop filming. I have reason to suspect you of espionage.”

With that, she handed the matter over to her colleagues and returned to the hotel.

White Egret Hotel, Empress’s reception room.

The new batch of visitors had not yet arrived, but Jiang Xinyue was already in position.

As soon as she entered the reception room, she saw Gu Junwan sitting in a chair, frowning in thought.

Not daring to disturb her, Jiang Xinyue quietly moved to the work area, nodded greetings to Ning Xi and her teammates, then stood silently in place without further movement.

Gu Junwan pondered for a moment, then looked up at Xu Zhao: “When Uncle and Aunt Li visited earlier, did you notice anything odd?”

Suddenly meeting her Empress’s authoritative golden eyes, even the long-serving Special Assistant Xu felt a twinge of unease.

Xu Zhao steadied herself and replied earnestly: “I didn’t notice anything amiss. Did you sense something, Your Majesty?”

Gu Junwan shifted her gaze to the Chinese juniper bonsai on the desk: “They didn’t mention a single word about the coup from over a year ago.”

“But all the groups who have come to this reception room never completely avoided that matter. Whether embarrassed, regretful, or apprehensive, even if they didn’t speak of it, they expressed some attitude through their demeanor and actions.”

Xu Zhao considered, then said: “Perhaps Mr. Li deliberately avoided the topic? After all, before the coup, he visited your family every New Year.”

Gu Junwan shook her head slightly: “That’s precisely why I find it strange. In terms of seniority, even Mother would call him Uncle Zhang. After this series of events, their behavior today shouldn’t have been like this.”

As they were talking, Shen Han pushed open the door and entered.

She felt both amused and exasperated. She had planned to quietly tell her Omega about the foreign paparazzi she’d encountered earlier, but seeing the solemn atmosphere upon entering, she put aside her joking mood.

With other security members present, Shen Han couldn’t directly question Gu Junwan, so she seized a moment to ask Xu Zhao: “What’s wrong? Did some part of the morning not go smoothly?”

Xu Zhao pointed at the bonsai on the desk: “You were out earlier and didn’t know, a retired old cadre brought Her Majesty an early New Year’s gift. Her Majesty feels something was off about those two, but can’t pinpoint exactly what the problem is.”

“Oh? That bonsai—”

Shen Han walked over to the desk of her own accord. Looking at the landscaping technique, she felt a vague sense of familiarity.

Gu Junwan closed the file in her hand and looked up at her Alpha: “Captain Shen, are you familiar with bonsai art?”

Given this opening, Shen Han bent down to examine the bonsai closely.

As she looked, her eyes widened.

She thought: Damn! Isn’t this the style unique to a certain artistic school in Japan from before I transmigrated?

On this planet, Shen Han knew of a place called Yin Country that was somewhat similar to the Japan in her memories.

But examining the details, there were still significant differences between the two.

She knew that country called Yin Country didn’t have good diplomatic relations with neighboring countries.

Federation citizens also had low acceptance of Yin Country in many aspects, let alone any real understanding.

“Who sent this bonsai? I think there might be an issue. May I examine it?”

Gu Junwan naturally wouldn’t refuse her Alpha’s request.

After completing the small routine procedure, Shen Han turned to her teammates and guards standing nearby.

“All of you guard outside. Don’t let anyone in to disturb us.”

The two guards acknowledged and left the reception room first.

Ning Xi and another informed guard member also complied on the surface.

But inwardly they thought sourly: Huh~ The captain’s gotten quite skilled at using this trick! The Empress doesn’t even rein her in. No intimacy during work hours!

Jiang Xinyue walked out with her head down, disappearing as silently as she had entered.

Xu Zhao hesitated slightly, then pushed up her glasses and looked at Shen Han, asking in a voice only the three of them could hear: “Do I need to go out too?”

Seeing everyone’s reactions, how could Shen Han not guess what they were thinking?

She said to Xu Zhao, embarrassed but politely: “You don’t need to leave. I really am going to talk about the bonsai.”

After a thought, she added with a rueful sigh: “Young people, your thoughts are quite dangerous!”

Xu Zhao chuckled and shifted her gaze to her Empress, no longer bothering with that theatrical Alpha.

In her heart, she cried out to Gu Junwan: Your Majesty, your dog really needs to be reined in!