Chapter 2

Chapter 2

On our wedding night, Xiao An did not lift my bridal veil.

He entered the inner hall, dismissed the attendants, then sat alone at the table.

Nor did he seem inclined to drink the nuptial wine with me.

So I lifted the veil myself.

In the flickering glow of the red candles, I saw his face for the first time.

He was indeed as handsome and tall as I had imagined, with an extraordinary bearing that set him apart from ordinary men.

I had heard he, too, had been born into a distinguished family, though his clan had later fallen into decline.

Sensing movement, he turned to look at me. His eyes were dark as ink, calm and rippleless.

I was very satisfied.

The women of the Wang Clan were famed throughout the realm for their breathtaking beauty, and I was the finest among them.

But I seemed to hold little attraction for Xiao An. After all, Bao Siyun was already a beauty in her own right.

“Empress, you should rest first.” Xiao An rose. “I still have state affairs to attend to.”

I stood and dipped in greeting. “Safe travels, Your Majesty.”

I did not ask him to stay, nor did I complain. His steps paused, and he glanced sideways at me, thoughtful, before leaving.

I slept peacefully.

The next day, I went with him to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to receive the witness of Heaven, Earth, and our ancestors. The temple was built on a high terrace. Standing atop it, all I could see below were dense clusters of human figures.

Standing high and facing north, looking down upon the masses like ants-this was what it meant to be second only to one, yet above all others.

This was the family glory my father had yearned for day and night. This was the Wang Clan’s moment of triumph.

The great aristocratic families hid behind the emperor, able to summon clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with the other. They looked more like the true masters of the realm than the Son of Heaven himself.

Truly impressive.

Unfortunately, my father did not know that from the moment I stood here, the positions of the Wang Clan and me had been reversed.

I had become the player at the board, and the first table I intended to overturn was the Wang Clan’s.

I wondered what expression he would wear then.

Would he wail in misery like my mother? Or would he kneel and beg for mercy, as I once had?

A smile touched my lips as I gazed out from the heights, until Xiao An came to take my hand.

His hand was very warm. He looked straight ahead and did not look at me.

“Do not lose focus,” he said.

I smiled. “Your Majesty, I am perfectly clearheaded.”

He glanced at me, his eyes showing clear disapproval.

He must have thought I was not docile enough. I had heard Bao Siyun was gentle by nature, soft-spoken and proper, a woman like a dodder flower.

Xiao An liked women like that.

But I thought perhaps what he liked was simply Bao Siyun being that way.

I had heard many rumors about the two of them. How they never abandoned each other in desperate straits. How they used their own bodies to keep each other warm in the bitter winter…

They had met when they were humble and insignificant, sworn themselves to each other early on, and endured countless hardships, treading over blades and sword edges before finally reaching this age of splendor.

Yet at the end of it all, he could no longer protect her.

If I were Xiao An, I would be in agony.