The empire was moving forward, momentum building like a boulder rolling downhill, everything she'd set in motion continuing to execute even without her direct oversight because she'd built the systems well enough to function on autopilot.
But here, in this quiet room insulated from the chaos of the outside world, time seemed suspended. Frozen. Nothing moved forward. Nothing changed. Just a woman keeping vigil beside a man who wouldn't wake up, waiting for the moment when his eyes would finally open and she could show him everything she'd built while he slept.
Zhou Yuxi's phone buzzed in her pocket, the vibration loud in the quiet room. She pulled it out, expecting Li Feng with some urgent question that required immediate attention, but it was a message from Tang Yuze instead:
Breakfast is here. You need to eat something. We're bringing food to the room. Don't argue, you're eating even if I have to feed you myself.
