Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A daughter of the Wang Clan would never be a consort. She would only be Empress.

And so Xiao An could only grant Bao Siyun a cup of poisoned wine.

On the night the wine was bestowed, I asked Father to let me go. Father asked, “Why?”

“I want to see what kind of woman she is.”

Father glanced at me and took it for a young woman’s petty urge to compare herself with a rival, so he agreed.

That was how I met the woman Xiao An loved.

She was very beautiful. Xiao An had spent years campaigning at war, and she had stayed by his side through it all, yet her looks had not faded in the slightest. It was clear just how carefully Xiao An had cherished her.

A pity that all of it had now become a reflection in a mirror, the moon on water.

Dressed as an inner attendant, I stood at the back and watched as she lifted the cup. “Did His Majesty leave any words for me?” she asked.

The chief attendant replied, “His Majesty said that in the next life, he and my lady will be husband and wife again.”

When Bao Siyun heard this, she gave a desolate smile, then nodded. “All right. I accept.”

What a devoted woman.

The wine entered her stomach, and within a few breaths, the pain in her abdomen became unbearable. She rolled across the floor, but she neither screamed nor begged for mercy.

That wine was, in truth, agonizing.

Yet she merely bit through her own lip and did not utter a single word.

I admired her from the bottom of my heart.

I stepped forward, looked down at her struggling form, and instructed the chief attendant, “All of you, leave us.”

The chief attendant hesitated. “…I fear she may offend you, my lady.”

I said, “Leave.”

The chief attendant did not dare say more. Though he served in the palace, he belonged to the Wang Clan. Since I had come tonight, he knew what he was supposed to do.

The door closed again. I crouched down.

Bao Siyun was drenched in sweat, but her eyes remained fixed on me.

She had probably guessed who I was, but she still said nothing.

I said, “Is there nothing you want to ask me?”

Bao Siyun let out a muffled groan and forced out, haltingly, “…Why did you come?”

I said, “I wanted to meet you.”

“Ha.” Bao Siyun gave a cold laugh. Cold sweat covered her brow, and the poison had turned her entire face as pale as paper. “Afraid I won’t die?”

“No,” I said. “Afraid that you will.”

Bao Siyun’s gaze flickered, as if she did not understand me.

I took a pill from my sleeve and pushed it into her mouth. Then I told her, “The one who wants you dead is the Wang Clan. Not me.”

Bao Siyun’s breathing gradually steadied, though her body was still weak. Unable to rise, she clung to the bedpost and leaned against it.

She asked, “Why? Why would you save me?”

“Who should it have been? Xiao An?” I asked in return.

My question left Bao Siyun speechless. After a long while, she said, “He has his reasons. I don’t blame him.”

Truly, their love was stronger than gold and stone. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that felt like.

I rose and sat to one side, then said to her, “Xiao An does indeed care for you deeply, and he did want to save you. Unfortunately, he cannot protect you. If you die, he will surely remember you for the rest of his life.”

Bao Siyun said nothing.

“That is exactly why my father insists you must die.” I lightly smoothed back my sleeve, my tone calm. “Once you are dead and I enter the palace, Xiao An will never love me in this lifetime. Only then can I become the Wang Clan’s eternal Empress.”

Rather than Xiao An’s wife.

By using Bao Siyun’s life to place a barrier between Xiao An and me, I would forever need to depend on my family.

My father would not allow me to escape his control. Even less would he allow the emperor and me to be of one heart as husband and wife.

Bao Siyun stared at me with wide eyes, as though she thought I was spouting nonsense.

“You don’t believe it either, do you?” I smiled faintly. “But that is why I saved you.”

“You did this for… for Xiao An?”

“How could you think that?” I feigned surprise. “I have never even met Xiao An. How could I do anything for him?”

“But aren’t you…”

“I am doing this for myself.” I cut her off and leaned closer, smiling sweetly. “Bao Siyun, remember this. I saved you. A life-saving grace is repaid with one’s body, so from now on, you belong to me.”

“…” Bao Siyun stared blankly.

Of course she did not understand.

She did not understand what kind of hell I lived in, nor did she know what kind of thunder raged inside my heart.

But that did not matter. I had no intention of explaining.

She was merely a bargaining chip of mine, a bargaining chip I could one day use to negotiate with Xiao An.