Chapter 1

Mother had not always been Father’s consort. She had been the wife of Cui Yong’an, General of Cavalry. They had known each other since childhood, and their marriage had been a loving one.

But she was too beautiful. A glimpse of her across a palace banquet was enough to captivate the emperor. Disregarding what the world might say, he took his subject’s wife by force, brought her into his palace, and made her a noble consort. He lavished his favor on her.

Later, he even deposed the wife he had first married and made Mother empress, heedless of his ministers’ objections.

General Cui knelt outside the audience hall for five days and nights. He bowed until his forehead split and his blood stained the long flight of steps. Still, his pleas could not bring his wife back.

Generations of his family had served loyally, yet in the end he could not even protect his own wife. Grief broke him. He took to his bed and never recovered.

The old palace servants said Mother had wanted only to die when she first entered the palace. Father had bound her hands and feet himself and personally fed her three meals a day. Only after she became pregnant with me did she stop trying to end her life.

By rights, Mother ought to have hated me. I had been conceived through Father’s violence against her.

Yet once I was born, she loved me dearly.

Father thought his devotion had finally moved her. With my birth, he gradually withdrew the guards watching her.

General Cui died when I was seven. I lost Mother that very same day.

After her death, Father spoiled me until I was the most exalted princess in the Ying dynasty. Whatever I wanted, he would find for me.

“Ling’er, you look so much like your mother.” He gently stroked my hair, his gaze growing distant. I knew he was remembering her as she had once been.

“Has His Majesty’s health improved?” I turned to the imperial physician beside us.

I was sixteen now. Father had been sick with longing ever since Mother’s death. He was growing worse, often mistaking me for her.

“Your Highness, His Majesty…” The physician did not know how to answer. Sweat gathered on his brow.

“Enough. All of you may leave.” I waved them away and looked at Father. I knew he did not have much time left.

Once everyone was gone, I watched him drifting in confusion and gave a disdainful smile. “Father, when you die, I shall see that your body is properly buried in the imperial mausoleum. As for Mother, I shall bury her beside General Cui Yong’an. Do leave her in peace after that.”

If you had truly loved her, you should have let her go.

As I left Father’s bedchamber, I noticed a man standing guard a short distance away.

He was young and handsome. Even dressed in black, he seemed as radiant as the sun.

A beauty without equal.

Yet I had never seen him before.

The eunuch beside me explained, “Your Highness, that is Cui Zishan, the late General Cui’s nephew. He has been fighting the enemy on the western frontier and returned only today.”

I repeated his name to myself. Cui Zishan.

As though he sensed it, he turned toward me. His eyes narrowed, and one corner of his mouth lifted. There was something fierce in his gaze, like a beast that had singled out its prey.

Cui Zishan, the young general who had followed the army to the western frontier at ten, was the first to break through the city gates after Father’s death. He planted his spear, gave a single command, and claimed the throne.

“Your Highness. Forgive me for being late.”

His roguish laugh pulled me from my memories. Rough fingers brushed my cheek, scraping painfully against it.

I had grown up in the imperial city. Everyone who approached me observed the proper forms. I had never met anyone so brazen or so familiar.

“How dare you!” Revulsion rose in me, and I slapped him.

He did not dodge. He took the blow.

I had struck with all my strength. A red mark quickly spread across his face.

“Well.” He pushed his tongue against the inside of his injured cheek, then looked at me with a reckless, rakish smile. “Since Your Highness has given me a gift, I ought to return the courtesy.”

His gaze stayed on my face, stubbornly intent. “I had long heard that Your Highness’s beauty could topple cities. One look told me the rumors were wrong.”

He reached for me. I tried to strike again, but he caught my hands in one of his and pinned them above my head.

His other arm barred my way, preventing me from leaving. “Your beauty is without equal, Princess,” he sighed. “I cannot put you from my mind.”

He looked infatuated. I felt only humiliated.

“Cui Zishan! Your family served loyally for generations. Now you rebel against your country and usurp the throne. How will you face your ancestors?” As Ying’s most honored princess, when had I ever endured such an insult?

He might as well have killed me rather than degrade me like this.

His expression darkened. Suddenly he covered my eyes with his hand and sighed. “Do not look at me that way, Princess. I shall forget myself.”

He leaned close to my face and gave a low laugh. “Had I not taken the throne, how could I have kept Your Highness by my side?”