Chapter 34 Queen's Hand 01
A Thousand and One Nights Short Stories 5
The Queen's Hand
By Sang Jie
01
*
Country A, City D.
Zander Center, Central City, the city's largest indoor venue.
The venue, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people, was now packed. A woman in a dark blue suit was standing on the huge stage and giving a speech.
She has a beautiful face, with long wavy hair draped behind her, exuding a strong femininity. She is also very tall, with long legs in suit pants that are straight and slender. It is not an exaggeration to say that she has the body proportions of a supermodel.
Most of the men in the audience looked at her with eyes flashing with admiration and obsession.
"...If I am fortunate enough to be elected, I will do my best to bring true freedom and equality to Country A. The journey to change our country's future is still long. I hope I can be a pioneer you can trust and rely on. I would be deeply grateful if you could cast your precious vote for me."
At this point, Liang Yushi curled her lips and said, "This is the end of my campaign speech today. Thank you everyone."
Before he finished speaking, the audience burst into thunderous applause.
She smiled brightly at everyone, bowed deeply, and turned to walk towards the backstage.
The moment she walked down the stairs, she put aside the shrewdness and dominance she had just shown on the stage, and winked mischievously in the direction of the backstage curtain.
There was a tall, handsome man with a stern face standing quietly beside the curtain backstage.
The man's eyes were fixed on her the entire time. He hardly moved at all during the entire speech. He stood still, listening intently and seriously to her every word and watching her every expression and movement.
Seeing her little expression at this moment, although he didn't say anything, his eyes softened inch by inch without any expression.
The staff standing next to him turned their backs and whispered to each other, "Hey, who is this handsome guy to Queen Liang?"
"Ah? You don't even know him? Anyone who knows Queen Liang must know him. He's almost always by the Queen's side."
"...I...I think I'm really out of touch. I never noticed him in the news before. I met him for the first time today, and he seemed like a very low-key person. He hardly spoke."
"His name is Shen Yixi. He is Queen Liang's trusted advisor. You could also say he is her chief steward and personal knight."
"Also known as the Queen's Hand."
-
After getting into the car from the underground garage of the venue, Liang Yushi quickly took off her suit jacket and her high heels. She curled up lazily in the seat as if she had no bones.
Shen Yixi sat beside her, watching her complete a set of extremely smooth processes of transforming from a social elite to a foot-picking big man, feeling a little speechless.
Then, as if she still didn't feel comfortable enough, she turned to look at him and said to him delicately, "I'm so tired."
He said nothing, looked up at the driver driving in front, then pressed a button next to him, raising the black baffle between the front and back seats.
Then he raised both hands and said to her helplessly, "Come on."
She whistled happily and lay down on his knees skillfully. She adjusted several times before finding the most comfortable position. She stretched, closed her eyes, and gave him a thumbs-up. "Knee pillow service is the best."
Shen Yixi lowered his eyes to look at her delicate face, and his lowered hand originally wanted to touch her delicate and smooth skin, but then he paused, and finally just restrained himself and stroked her soft hair.
"Thank you for the hard work," he whispered after a moment.
She slowly opened her closed eyes, looked at him and said with a smile, "Did I behave well just now?"
"Good," he stroked her hair gently again and again. "It's clear that many people genuinely like and support you. Your support rate just increased by a few percentage points, jumping from third to second place."
She let out a long breath, "There are still several games to come, so I can't let my guard down. After all, I'm not number one yet."
He looked at her and whispered, "Shishi, you are too strict with yourself."
"Hey," she looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Hand of the Queen, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but being strict with me should be your job, okay? Why do I have to do it all by myself now? Look at you, your expectations of me are getting lower and lower every day. No, you don't expect anything from me at all now. You think everything I say is fine. You weren't like this before. You used to be so mean to me, okay?"
"When I was mock-speaking before," she said, imitating the way he spoke with a sullen face, "if I looked serious, you'd say, 'Liang Yushi, are you attending a funeral?' And if I relaxed a little, you'd say, 'Liang Yushi, are you performing stand-up comedy? Do I need a ticket?'"
Shen Yixi looked at her vivid imitation and couldn't help but smile with the corners of his mouth curved.
"Why, isn't my imitation show first-rate?" Seeing that he didn't refute her, she became even more excited and waved her fist at him, "If Uncle Shen sees you slacking off like this, he will definitely beat you up."
He lowered his eyes and said gently, "You don't need me to be so strict now."
"Why?" She was a little puzzled.
The hand that was touching her hair stopped, his eyes moved slightly, "Because your wings have matured."
Liang Yushi felt that there was something in his eyes at this moment, but it was obvious that he had no intention of continuing the discussion with her. Before she could say anything, he changed the subject and returned to his usual working state.
"We still have half an hour to get to the hotel. Take a nap. You didn't get enough sleep last night preparing for your speech. The guests at tonight's dinner are all very important chaebols, so you need to be more energetic than you were during your speech just now."
She is a sensible person. After so many years of experience, she has a first-class perception of other people's emotions. Moreover, the two of them have been together day and night for more than 20 years. She understands his temperament better than anyone else.
He was her closest confidant, her most caring childhood friend, her most trusted partner, and her hand.
She talked to him about everything, even treating him as her second self.
Without him, she wouldn't be who she is today.
She knew very well that if he didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't want her to ask, let alone know.
She didn't want to make him angry, so no matter how curious she was, she didn't ask.
"good,"
After a while, she nodded and closed her eyes obediently.
She was afraid of only one thing in this world.
——He left her.
-
Rochina Hotel.
The huge banquet hall was packed with people, including celebrities and wealthy people from almost half of the country.
The outfit she wore for the speech was obviously not suitable for an occasion like a dinner party, so as soon as she arrived at the hotel, Shen Yixi accompanied her directly upstairs to the suite that had been arranged for her long ago to change clothes and put on makeup.
Several people in black uniforms, looking alert and vigilant, were standing quietly at the door of the suite. When they saw the two of them coming out of the elevator, they all saluted them in unison. Then the leader took out a door card from his pocket and swiped it to open the door.
After swiping, he handed the door card in his hand to Shen Yixi respectfully, “Mr. Shen.”
"Thanks,"
He took the key card and said to them calmly, "Has the entire hotel been checked?"
"We've checked everything,"
The man said, "Especially around the banquet hall, we focused on checking that area, but we didn't find any suspicious people."
"Where are the people in the banquet hall?"
"Everything is arranged. When Miss Liang goes in, everyone will be disguised and follow her closely."
"Thank you for your hard work," he nodded and went into the room with Liang Yushi.
Her personal makeup artist and costume designer had been waiting in the bedroom for a long time. He sat down on the sofa in the living room and motioned for her to go in by herself.
Who knew that just as she reached the bedroom door, she suddenly stopped, turned around and smiled at him slyly.
He looked at her and immediately understood. "Are you going to ask for something I won't agree to?"
"Hehe, I'm hungry," she said coquettishly to him with a childlike expression, "I want to eat cake. Luo Qinna's cake is especially delicious."
"Dinner will be held soon."
He said this, but when he saw her sparkling eyes, he swallowed the rest of the sentence and sighed, "...Okay, I'll have someone make it for you and bring it up now."
Only then did she hum a little tune with satisfaction and went into the bedroom.
Shen Yixi rubbed his eyebrows, told the person beside him to get the cake, then leaned back on the sofa and took out his cell phone.
The screen showed the missed call that Shen's father had just called. He put on his headphones and called back.
"Dad," he said when the phone was connected.
Father Shen asked, “Have you and Shishi arrived at the hotel?”
"Um."
"The speech this afternoon was very successful," Father Shen's voice on the other end sounded quite gratified, "If Shishi can gain the support of more chaebols tonight, she will be one step closer to the top spot. Our management and hard work over the years will soon be rewarded."
He didn't say anything.
"By the way, have you asked Shishi about the proposal I told you this morning?" Father Shen asked in a low voice at this time.
His fingers trembled slightly, his face expressionless, and he replied calmly, "I haven't had time to ask yet."
"You should hurry up and ask her later, they are still waiting for a reply."
Father Shen said, "Marrying the eldest son of the Luo family, the number one chaebol in our country, will be a strong foundation for Shishi's campaign success. The financial resources of the second and third chaebols combined are only two-thirds of the Luo family's. With the Luo family's support, we don't even need to put in the extra effort for a second round of tour speeches."
"Moreover, Luo Jingqu, the eldest son of the Luo family, is known for his excellent reputation. He possesses none of the ignorance and extravagance of other chaebol sons. He is intelligent, rigorous, and upright. He and Shishi are a perfect match. I believe that if Shishi gets along with him, she will also fall in love with him. Shishi is the child I have watched grow up. I would never harm her. This suggestion was made after careful consideration."
Shen Yixi listened silently the whole time.
"Yi Xi,"
Father Shen sighed deeply at this time, "Dad is not unaware of your thoughts, but you should understand that our Shen family has assisted the Liang family for generations. I assisted Shishi's father, and now it is your turn to assist Shishi. This is the fate of our Shen family. As long as the Liang family can sit on the throne, our Shen family will have fulfilled our lifelong responsibilities."
"The relationship between the emperor and his meritorious officials can only ever be that of master and servant."
"That is impossible and cannot be surpassed."
Until Mr. Shen on the other end hung up the phone, Shen Yixi didn't say another word.
He leaned silently on the sofa, his eyes fixed on a point in the void.
It wasn't until his men beside him gently called him for the fourth time that he came to his senses.
"Mr. Shen, the cake is ready," the subordinate pointed to the dining cart nearby.
He cleared his eyes of everything, nodded, picked up the cake and walked towards the master bedroom.
"It's me," he whispered, knocking on the door.
"Come in," Liang Yushi's sweet voice came from inside.
He opened the door, paused, and stared ahead motionlessly.
She was wearing a black backless evening gown and sitting in front of a floor-length mirror. Her lines were graceful and she looked dazzling. The black color made her skin look even whiter and more translucent. She was as delicate as a porcelain doll.
As soon as she saw him, a smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Does it look good?" She looked at him in the mirror and asked with a smile.
He didn't say anything at first. After a few seconds, he suppressed all the emotions in his chest, walked in, and said in a hoarse voice, "It looks good."
Liang Yushi watched him approaching her and signaled the makeup artist and costume designer beside her to leave the bedroom.
The bedroom door was closed. He put the cake on the table beside him and wanted to leave, but she gently grabbed his wrist.
She looked up at him and suddenly called him in a low voice, "Brother Yixi."
Hearing this name, his Adam's apple rolled up and down.
She pointed to the high heels beside her and said, "Can you help me put on my shoes?"
"I want you to help me put it on."
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