Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After returning from an incognito tour, the Emperor brought back a woman.

As the rumors suggested, the woman was exceptionally seductive.

She had slender willow-leaf brows and a hint of pink on her lips. She looked as pure as a lotus emerging from the mud, but in reality, every detail was meticulously crafted.

My maid, Qiuling, was mesmerized. “She… she looks exactly like someone.”

“Empress Dowager, I want to marry Shuang’er and make her my Empress. Otherwise…”

The Emperor glanced at Chen Shuang. “Otherwise, I won’t be the Emperor anymore.”

He was fuming, but I was amused.

“Suit yourself. You were gone for half a year on your little tour; it’s been the same whether you’re here or not. If you hadn’t come over just now, no one would have even known you were back.”

The Emperor lowered his head, looking aggrieved. “I’ve been back for nearly half a month, and yet no one has called me to attend the morning court.”

Chen Shuang clenched her fist and gave a light cough, prompting the Emperor to get back to the point.

“Empress Dowager, why won’t you agree? Look at Shuang’er and me-don’t we have the perfect ‘husband and wife’ resemblance?”

Qiuling whispered, “Your Grace, the two of them really do look a bit alike.”

Isn’t that obvious?

They are half-siblings sharing the same mother. It would be stranger if they didn’t look alike.

The Emperor pleaded with me, “Empress Dowager, look, Shuang’er even bears a resemblance to you. Isn’t this fate?”

Alright, my most ‘filial’ son, I beg you to stop talking.

Any more and the secret will be out.

I told the Emperor to leave the girl with me first so I could teach her the palace etiquette.

As soon as the Emperor left, Chen Shuang threw herself into my arms.

“Mother, I finally get to see you!”

Chen Shuang was none other than my illegitimate daughter, whom I had raised in Jiangnan.

Qiuling had a sudden realization. “I was wondering why Miss Chen’s ‘seductress’ act looked so familiar. It’s exactly how Your Grace used to be!”

Chen Shuang said with a beaming smile, “Of course, I learned from the best.”

Ever since the year Chen Shuang was born, I had traveled to Jiangnan every year to stay with her for a few months.

I had watched Chen Shuang grow up; our bond as mother and daughter was exceptionally strong.

She was practically the spitting image of me in my youth.

“Shuangshuang, what are you doing here in the Imperial Palace?”

Chen Shuang pulled out several books and slapped them confidently onto the table. “Looking for my father.”

I scanned the titles one by one.

*The Boundless Romance of the Demon Empress and the Prince Regent*, *A Few Tales of the Poor Monk and the Demon Empress*, *There Are No Virtuous Ministers Under the Demon Empress’s Skirt*…

Qiuling covered her mouth. “Heavens, these are all banned books!”

And I was the one who banned them.

Because the “Demon Empress” in these books referred to me.

I closed my eyes in frustration, clenching my fists while chanting internally: *She’s my own flesh and blood, she’s my own flesh and blood…*

Chen Shuang picked up the books and introduced them to me in order.

“The first one tells the story of Mother and the Prince Regent. While the Emperor lay on his deathbed, the Empress and the Prince Regent were caught in a poignant, lingering affair, so scandalous that it made the old Emperor kick the bucket in a fit of rage.”

My silence was deafening. Was I really that wild?

“The second one is about Mother and the Imperial Mentor. Inside the Thousand Buddha Hall, the Empress seduced the cold, detached Buddhist practitioner into breaking his vows, making it impossible for him to ever find zen again.”

Chen Shuang added, unable to put the book down, “By the way, this one is incredibly popular. I had to go to the black market to get it.”

This was a perverted plot that even a pervert like me couldn’t have come up with.

“The third one is about Mother and the Chief Minister. After her former childhood sweetheart became the Chief Minister, he broke into the Empress Dowager’s palace late at night, using both soft persuasion and hard pressure on her.”

Chen Shuang critiqued, “This one is a rising star; it’s also quite popular right now.”

She looked at me and asked, “Mother, which one of these is my father?”

I felt extremely awkward. “Well… even your mother isn’t quite sure.”

Chen Shuang’s expression turned strange.

“Mother, you always said the palace is a place that devours people. It turns out… you’re the one doing the devouring, aren’t you?”