Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As I emerged from Fengzao Palace, I encountered a woman surrounded by a crowd like stars orbiting the moon.

Adorned in gold and jade, she led a large entourage and offered me a perfunctory, improper bow.

“So this is the famous Miss Su, the future Crown Princess?”

I frowned slightly.

Who was this?

Among the noblewomen of the Imperial Capital, who would dare speak to me in such a manner?

“I am Zhang Liangdi, newly promoted in the Eastern Palace. I’ve come specifically to pay my respects to the future Crown Princess. I had intended to come sooner, but alas… the Crown Prince insists on my attendance every night. I simply couldn’t get out of bed this morning~” A flirtatious, apologetic smile played across her charming face.

“If you can’t get up, then don’t bother coming at all instead of making a fool of yourself in front of our lady!” Shuxian snapped.

Shuxian was my personal maid. She was young and lacked composure, and she had just walked right into Zhang Liangdi’s trap.

“What a sharp tongue you have, girl. We who serve closely must attend to the Crown Prince’s food, clothing, and comfort. We aren’t like Miss Su, who has reached the age of twenty and yet remains unwed, with nothing better to do than leisurely stroll through the gardens.” Zhang Liangdi sighed, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction.

Shuxian opened her mouth to argue further.

I raised my hand, cutting her off.

A sparrow had just flown onto a branch and thought it owned the sky. It hadn’t even seen the horizon yet.

There was no need to waste my breath.

I looked away and walked past her with indifference.

To my surprise, she didn’t step aside. Instead, she lunged straight toward me.

She collided with me, sending me stumbling, then promptly sat down on the ground, clutching her stomach and wailing.

“Even if I have upset you, Sister, there was no need to strike me! I am carrying the Crown Prince’s child!”

I paused in my tracks. “What did you say?”

A flash of malicious triumph crossed her eyes. “I am carrying the Crown Prince’s flesh and blood. It has already been three months…”

“Someone, bring a seat.” With a flick of my sleeve, I had Shuxian help her to the nearest pavilion. “Summon an Imperial Physician.”

Zhang Liangdi grew uneasy. “My personal physician is at the Eastern Palace…”

“Weren’t you just injured? Can you even walk back?” I stared at her with a piercing gaze. “I am summoning the most senior physician, Imperial Physician Ren. He was the one who attended to the Grand Princess when she was pregnant with me. What are you afraid of?”

-*Of course, she’s afraid I’ll cause her to miscarry.*

Though she didn’t say it aloud, she couldn’t hide the look in her eyes.

She glanced anxiously toward the main road. Clearly, she had already sent word to the Crown Prince and was waiting for him to arrive.

She wanted him to see how weak and helpless she was.

She wanted him to see how overbearing, arrogant, and jealous I was.

And then she expected him to rescue her from her plight.

But the Crown Prince did not come. Instead, Imperial Physician Ren arrived first.

“Physician Ren, please check this lady’s pulse.”

Zhang Liangdi clenched her fists.

Shuxian pressed her hand down onto the table.

Imperial Physician Ren took her pulse.

“Reporting to the Orchid Terrace Magistrate, it is indeed a pregnancy.”

My heart gave a jolt. “How many months?”

“Three months.”

“She just had a fall. Is the fetus stable?”

“There is no great harm.”

“This is joyous news.” Suppressing the intense emotions churning in my chest, I forced myself to remain calm. “Shuxian, prepare a gift list. Find some tonics and medicinal herbs for stabilizing a pregnancy from the storehouse and send them to Zhang Liangdi.”

I smiled and patted her hand. “You must ensure this child is born safely.”

Zhang Liangdi’s body stiffened.

“It would be best if it’s a girl,” I remarked. “I like girls. The firstborn must be a daughter.”

The look she gave me shifted to one of awe and fear.

I knew exactly what kind of schemes these women played in their heads.

Fighting back and forth within the household.

Scrambling for favor.

Short-sighted.

They assumed everyone was just like them.

What I wanted was different from what they wanted, so she couldn’t understand me.

I sent people to escort Zhang Liangdi back to the Eastern Palace in one piece.

Then, I strode back to my own manor.

The moment I stepped through the door, I looked up at the sky and laughed heartily.

“Good, good! This is perfect!” In three years, I had never felt this relieved.

The butler asked me, “What good fortune has the Head of House encountered?”

“There is a pregnancy in the Eastern Palace.” I flicked my sleeve. “Set a banquet and play music. I intend to drink my fill today-until I am well and truly drunk.”

The butler obeyed.

“In seven months, Zhang Liangdi will give birth. Before then, I must marry into the Eastern Palace and become the rightful mistress. Tell the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to find an auspicious date immediately. We need to get my marriage to the Crown Prince settled.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

The current Emperor had always been in poor health and was no longer able to manage affairs of state.

The Crown Prince was a mere brute, entirely unfit to be Emperor.

I couldn’t wait to see them both off.

I would hold the child and rule from behind the curtain.

I had been dreaming of a child.

And here was Zhang Liangdi, handing me exactly what I needed on a silver platter.

She was a bit foolish… but that didn’t matter.

As long as she could give me a daughter, I could provide her with a lifetime of wealth and honor.

She was a canary either way.

What did it matter if she belonged to a man or to me? At least I wouldn’t require her to share my bed.

In time, she would understand who truly ruled her world.

The next day, I finished processing the petitions at Fengzao Palace early. Dressed in my full regalia, I led my entourage to the Eastern Palace.

Zhang Liangdi came from a lowly background; every gesture she made carried the air of a courtesan.

It was said she was born of the demimonde.

When a woman like that became pregnant, she would surely be targeted by everyone else in the inner quarters.

Without someone to protect her, she wouldn’t even know how she died.

I was going to put on a show of support for her, a warning to the other concubines to put away their filthy schemes.
Upon entering the square before the main hall, I saw the Crown Prince in hunting attire, playing polo.

He was as elegant as a jade tree in the wind, his posture heroic and spirited.

For a fleeting moment, I mistook him for Brother Linhuai, and I couldn’t help but stare in a daze.

But when he turned his head, his sharp features-with his high bridge and deep-set eyes-snapped me back to reality instantly.

Brother Linhuai was gone.

The Eastern Palace now belonged to this man.

I closed my eyes briefly.

If Brother Linhuai were still alive, I would have long since been the mistress of this place.

“Oh, if it isn’t Miss Su.” Zhao Huan rode over with a frivolous air and leaped down from his horse in front of me. “What, finally remembered you have a fiancé?”

I gave a dignified salute. “Su Jingyan, Orchid Terrace Magistrate of Fengzao Palace, pays her respects to the Crown Prince.”

Zhao Huan tilted my chin up. “With such a beautiful face, how can you be so dull? Be a good girl and say something sweet. Tell me you missed me.”

Tsk.

How did we ever let him become the Crown Prince?

A complete miscalculation.

“Please conduct yourself with dignity, Crown Prince.” I coldly pulled my face away. “I have come to visit Zhang Liangdi.”

“What Zhang Liangdi? Never heard of her.”

“A young lady I met yesterday in the Imperial Garden. We felt like old friends from the start and had a very pleasant conversation.”

Zhao Huan toyed with his riding crop, his eyes sweeping over me with a listless gaze. “Oh, Miss Su must have remembered incorrectly-there is no Zhang Liangdi in the Eastern Palace.”

Alarm bells rang in my heart.

“Then I shall go have tea with the other sisters.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Huan followed lazily by my side as we entered the inner quarters of the Eastern Palace. “Call everyone out.”

The women of the Eastern Palace lined up before me. Zhao Huan slumped into a chair, crossing his legs. “Miss Su wants to see you. Raise your heads and let Miss Su get a good look. See if there’s anyone called Zhang Liangdi.”

They lifted their faces.

A chill ran through my heart.

They were of different heights and builds, but one could see they all shared a similar face.

My face!

Thinking back, when yesterday’s Zhang Liangdi smiled, she did bear some resemblance to me.

“Well? Is she here?” Zhao Huan arched an eyebrow, a flicker of fire dancing in his dark eyes.

I looked through them carefully three times.

She wasn’t there.

I nodded slightly. “I remembered incorrectly.”

Zhao Huan patted the chair beside him. “Since you didn’t find the person you wanted, stay and have tea with me.”

Just as he finished speaking, an official from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau arrived for an audience, presenting a tray. “All the auspicious dates within the next six months are here. Please make a selection, Crown Prince.”

“You’ve come at the perfect time. Jingyan, you should also pick a date for our grand wedding.” Zhao Huan leaned back lazily in his chair, the corners of his lips curling upward.

I maintained my dignified posture. “It has been less than three years since the Late Crown Prince passed away. Jingyan is still in mourning.”

I was originally Brother Linhuai’s fiancée.

He passed away before we could marry.

Only then was I betrothed to Zhao Huan.

The Crown Prince might change, but my position as his consort was set in stone.

“In mourning, are you?” His peach-blossom eyes swept over me from head to toe. “Then why aren’t you wearing mourning clothes?”

“You’d look particularly striking dressed all in white.”

I stormed back to Fengzao Palace in a rage. “Have you found out where Zhang Liangdi is?”

Shuxian gave me a look of fearful awe. “In the well under the camphor tree on the east side of the Imperial Garden…”

I grabbed a teacup and smashed it onto the floor. “Zhao Huan, that beast!”

Zhang Liangdi would never have imagined it.

The very man she desperately wanted to please by stepping over me would be the one to take her life.

Fuming, I threw all the memorials onto the floor.

It had been nearly three years, and not a single child had been born in the Eastern Palace.

Did they expect me to marry into that place and give birth to one?

Is Zhao Huan even worthy?!

While I was in the middle of my fury, my aunt arrived.

I straightened my collar. “Greetings, Empress.”

Wearing her phoenix crown, my aunt was advanced in years but remained as elegant as ever.

She stroked my chest with a doting gaze. “I’ve heard everything. Yan’er, don’t be angry. Don’t be angry, now.”

“I want to depose the Crown Prince,” I said coldly.

“To depose the Crown Prince… then there is only Prince Huai.”

The current Emperor had few offspring; few had survived to adulthood.

After my Brother Linhuai passed away, the position of the Eastern Palace was a choice between Prince Huai and Zhao Huan.

Prince Huai was the son of Consort Jian and had his own maternal family’s support.

That was why my aunt had allied with the Twenty-Three Families of Guanlong to put Zhao Huan in the Eastern Palace.

He was merely someone who had picked up a lucky break.

“Zhao Huan is not honest; he has too many schemes. The way he stares at people… he’s like a wolf.”

“You can’t handle him?” My aunt looked at me with a smile. “He’s a mere soldier who spends all day playing polo. Give him some gold, silver, and women, and he won’t care about anything else. Wouldn’t such an Emperor be good?”

That was true.

My aunt had discussed the matter of appointing the Crown Prince with me back then.

Zhao Huan’s mother was a low-ranking palace maid who died early. He hadn’t even attended the Imperial Academy; I doubted he even knew many characters.

After the Emperor fell seriously ill, my aunt began ruling from behind the curtain. I entered Fengzao Palace as the Orchid Terrace Magistrate to draft the imperial endorsements.

Zhao Huan, as Crown Prince, indeed did not interfere in state affairs.

His monthly expenditures on food, drink, and pleasure were within the range I considered acceptable.

If things could continue like this, it would indeed be fine.

“If you marry over there sooner and leave behind a son or daughter, you’ll be able to rid yourself of him.” My aunt looked at me meaningfully.

I remained noncommittal. “Someone, send a few more women over to the Eastern Palace to attend to him.”