Chapter 1
I was the most powerful princess in the Li dynasty.
Father once said I had the makings of an emperor.
Because, like an emperor, I fell for every new face I saw.
Heh.
Like a man, he meant.
To make it easier to love men and leave them, I had my people find me a remarkable physician from beyond the frontier.
He could make a love-forgetting potion.
Whenever I grew tired of a man, I simply poured it down his throat.
He would forget all the time we had spent in love and never pester me again.
From then on, I was free to sink my claws into the sons of princes and great families without restraint.
My first target was Lu Liheng, Grand Tutor Lu’s eldest grandson.
His beauty shone as clear and bright as the moon and stars.
He had entered the Grand Secretariat at a remarkably young age and was the most celebrated young gentleman in the capital.
The very first day I saw him, I thought:
By every principle of reason and feeling,
he really ought to kiss me.
But beneath Lu Liheng’s gentle courtesy lay cold indifference.
He ignored every invitation I sent him to a banquet.
Official duties kept him busy, apparently.
Ha. I went straight to Father and begged him to appoint Lu Liheng as my temporary tutor.
To teach me personally.
There. Now I was his official duty.
But Lu Liheng was impossibly cold.
I batted my eyes at him.
He asked if I had an eye disease.
I dressed to keep cool and look hot.
He said my clothes violated propriety and made me copy texts as punishment.
I deliberately fell against him.
He said I was frail and needed more exercise.
The next day’s lesson became riding and archery.
My lower back ached for three whole days.
That was not the sort of backache I wanted!
After half a month,
I had made no progress whatsoever, but I had acquired an eye disease and a bad back.
What a thoroughly invigorating seduction.
Then one day,
another attempt failed.
Fury welled up inside me.
I didn’t dare take it out on Lu Liheng.
I excused myself to change.
In fact, I went to find Chi Yao, the pampered entertainer I kept at my residence.
Chi Yao had alluring eyes and exquisite features. He should have been sent away with a cup of potion long ago.
But he was simply too good at pleasing me.
When I found him, he was playing the qin in a pavilion.
His lovely eyes lit with a smile at the sight of me. “Your Highness, what brings—”
I kissed him before he could finish.
I vented all my anger on him, worrying and biting the soft corner of his mouth again and again.
A trembling sound escaped his throat, but he still yielded to me, letting me take whatever I wanted.
A trace of blood tinged the kiss.
I paused, about to stop.
But Chi Yao caught my waist and held me there.
Wait. How had this become a treat for you?
While we were still entangled,
a cool voice suddenly spoke.
“What refined diversions Your Highness enjoys.”
My entire body went rigid.