Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In my seventh year as Empress, the imperial harem remained barren. To be precise, there were no children at all.

Emperor Liu Hong, noting my failure to conceive over the years, proposed taking my maid as a concubine. He suggested that any future child she bore would be recorded under my name.

I used the lid of my teacup to gently brush away the foam, looking at him with composed leisure.

“Your Majesty comes to my palace only two days a month. With whom exactly am I supposed to conceive?”

Liu Hong hadn’t expected me to be so blunt and choked on his tea.

“Empress, are you… disagreeing?”

How could I? Fearing he might misunderstand, I immediately smiled and agreed.

I turned to the maid and said, “I consent. Those two days are yours now as well.”

Liu Hong set down his teacup, his expression darkening with a hint of displeasure. “Since the Empress is so magnanimous, then so be it.”

Three months later, the imperial physician took my pulse and diagnosed me with a ‘joyful pulse’-I was pregnant.

Liu Hong’s expression froze. He stammered, “Empress, how… how many months has it been?”

The physician replied, “One month, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor’s face shifted instantly from shock to fury, and finally to murderous intent.

A faint smile played on my lips as I withdrew my wrist into my sleeve. This was indeed a joyous occasion.

Liu Hong ordered everyone to leave the palace.

His face was distorted with rage, veins bulging on his hands as he clamped his fingers around my wrist.

“Empress, I haven’t touched you in three months. Where did this child come from?”

Recalling his tone from before, I mimicked it perfectly. “Noting your failure to produce an heir over the years, this child shall be recorded under your name.”

In a fit of peak fury, the Emperor snatched a precious sword from the wall and unsheathed the blade, his killing intent palpable.

“Your Majesty, Zhao Zhen’s entire family died for the country. The late Emperor himself bestowed this marriage. I am the Empress of this dynasty; you cannot kill me on a whim.”

He threw the sword aside but grabbed my throat with his hand, dragging me back a few steps and pinning me against the wall.

“I won’t kill you, but I will kill this bastard child. Then, I’ll send you to the Cold Palace to regret the rest of your life.”

I knew Liu Hong. He was simple-minded; he was truly capable of doing such a thing.

Fortunately, I had called for reinforcements in advance. That person would come. They definitely would.

Liu Hong laughed in extreme anger. “Are you waiting for your paramour to come and save you?”

I struggled, patting his hand, and spoke with difficulty, “Don’t… you… want to know who it is?”

“Whoever dares to come save you, I shall kill them.”

In all the world, there was only one person who could intervene during the Emperor’s wrath.

“Does the Emperor intend to kill me as well?”

The Empress Dowager, Liu Hong’s biological mother, stepped into the hall alone.

I shot Liu Hong a look: Go on, go send the Empress Dowager to her grave.

Liu Hong released me in a fury. I slumped to the floor, gasping for air.

“Imperial Mother, this slut of an Empress has defiled the palace. She is carrying a bastard.”

“My son, you have been on the throne for seven years and have nearly a hundred concubines. Yet this pregnancy of the Empress is your first child.”

“Imperial Mother, this is absolutely not my child!”

I walked over and helped the Empress Dowager to a seat. She gave me a sharp, cold glare.

“Imperial Mother is being too subtle. Your Majesty, have you never doubted your own body?”

Liu Hong recoiled two steps, looking dazed. It seemed he truly had never considered the possibility.

Today was the day for the imperial physician’s routine check-up. I had sent a personal letter to the Empress Dowager in advance, informing her of my pregnancy.

As early as a year ago, the Empress Dowager and I both knew the Emperor suffered from a hidden ailment that rendered him unable to father children.

This child was indeed not the Emperor’s. But if the Emperor was destined to have no biological children…

The Empress Dowager was a woman of deep calculation; she would not act on impulse.

“Emperor, if you must adopt from the imperial clan in the future, it would be better to have the child in the Empress’s womb. He will honor only you as his Father Emperor.

“The plan for now is to let the Empress give birth. We shall deal with the rest later.”

Liu Hong was forced to swallow his resentment, but his eyes were like daggers, looking as if they wanted to carve me apart.

“Empress, I will keep the child and dispose of the mother. As for that paramour, I will investigate thoroughly. Very thoroughly.”