Chapter 1 Past Events, His and Her Fate

The Empress's bedroom.

Inside the hall, two red candles flickered, illuminating the luxurious furnishings with a dazzling light.

Liu Yu sat beside the dragon and phoenix wedding bed.

My thoughts are racing!

It has been a full ten years since she was betrothed to Crown Prince Xiao Qingxuan when she was sixteen.

They were unable to consummate their marriage for ten years.

The first two years were spent preparing for the wedding.

For five years in between, her favor was stolen by a concubine named Qian, who suppressed her and prevented her from entering the household.

The last three years.

Even though she was already the new empress, she still had to live as a widow for three years because of the deceased concubine, Qian.

But none of that matters.

The important thing is that Consort Qian died, while she lived to the end.

As the saying goes, "He who laughs last laughs best!"

She's the woman who has the last laugh!

Today, the new emperor welcomed her into the palace; this is a new beginning.

She made thorough preparations for this.

She bathed, scented herself, and carefully dressed up.

even……

She also kept some colorless and odorless aphrodisiac powder in her sleeve for emergencies.

Wasn't that the reason Qian Yueshu, that bitch, gained favor back then?

The door was suddenly pushed open.

"Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time." Xiao Qingxuan's voice was calm, revealing no emotion.

Liu Yu looked up.

He was dressed in a bright yellow casual suit, and his features remained handsome.

Even after ten years, time seemed to have left no trace on him; on the contrary, it added to his imperial majesty and coldness.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

Xiao Qingxuan offered a slight helping hand.

Then came a long silence.

The crackling of the red candles only amplified the suffocating silence within the hall.

Liu Yu mustered her courage and took the initiative to speak, trying to find some topics to talk about.

Xiao Qingxuan would only nod occasionally or give a brief response; the atmosphere remained cold and distant.

She waited ten years, and finally her grand wedding arrived.

The Emperor personally welcomed her into the Empress's Palace and lifted her red veil.

But what about the most important thing: consummating the marriage?

Time passed slowly, and Liu Yu's heart sank little by little.

She couldn't wait any longer.

Just as she was about to get up and take the initiative to undress the new emperor.

Xiao Qingxuan also spoke up: "I still have matters to attend to tonight, and I haven't finished reviewing the memorials yet. Empress... you should rest early."

What did he say?

Are you leaving?

She was overwhelmed by immense disappointment and humiliation.

"Your Majesty!" She looked up, tears finally bursting forth and sliding down her pale cheeks.

Although she had prepared aphrodisiac powder in her sleeve, she did not want to use it.

but……

She knelt at Xiao Qingxuan's feet, clinging to the man's legs and pleading, "Your Majesty, if you must leave, please...please drink this cup of wine before you go. This is the nuptial wine...please consider my ten years of waiting!"

Xiao Qingxuan stopped in his tracks, looked down at the glass of wine, and then at her tear-streaked face.

That's all.

In the end, he let her down.

So he picked up his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

The alcohol went down my throat.

Xiao Qingxuan's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

Almost immediately, I felt an unusual heat rising within my body.

The drug took effect quickly and strongly; his cheeks flushed an unnatural red, and his breathing became heavy.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze shooting like a sharp arrow towards the new Empress Liu Yu.

Liu Yu bit her lip and mustered her courage to approach.

Xiao Qingxuan growled, "Don't come any closer!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried the unquestionable majesty of an emperor and extreme disgust.

He staggered.

Instead of heading towards the dragon and phoenix wedding bed covered with a bright red mandarin duck quilt, she stumbled towards the soft couch by the window, which was used for daily rest.

The chaise lounge and the master bedroom are separated by a curtain!

Liu Yu found it hard to believe.

The Emperor, with his back to her, sat on that cold, soft couch, relieving his physical torment in a self-torturing manner: "My Yue'er... Yue'er, I miss you so much... Qian Yueshu, are you doing well over there?"

When emotions run deep.

Xiao Qingxuan began to reach into the sachet hanging from his waist.

That was something he always carried with him and considered his most precious possession.

at first.

Liu Yu thought it was embroidered by Qian Yueshu, so the emperor wore it every day, thinking of her whenever he saw it!

Moreover, the sachet was embroidered in a strange and incongruous way, and it was much larger than a typical sachet.

It's not aesthetically pleasing at all.

It can hold a little more than a regular sachet!

I never expected this.

Xiao Qingxuan took out the sachet and carefully opened it.

Liu Yu then realized what it was...

The woman's red undergarment.

Liu Yu saw Qian Yueshu pass by.

now.

The emperor was busy with the woman's undergarments.

Xiao Qingxuan, he is now the emperor.

What kind of woman can't you have?

But he chose the most shameful, the most secretive, the most... shameful way.

"Why?" Liu Yu asked hysterically.

But her response was Xiao Qingxuan's self-indulgence...

He would rather use his hands than have sex with her.

Is Qian Yueshu really that good?

The red candles inside the hall were still burning, illuminating the empress's deathly pale face and the emperor's seductive voice from the soft couch.

It turns out she lost not only the past ten years.

She lost to Qian Yueshu for the rest of her life!

Spring, the first year of Yamato.

This is the fourth year since Emperor Xiao Qingxuan ascended the throne.

It was also the year he completed his three-year mourning period for a woman and began to expand his harem.

It seems to be to congratulate the new emperor!

The peach blossoms in the capital are blooming more profusely than in previous years.

Inside and outside the palace walls, crimson, pink, and white hues were layered upon each other.

The enchanting spring scenery failed to dispel the gloom on the new emperor's face.

Since he ascended the throne.

No one ever saw him smile.

With the previous dynasty stable and the people living in peace, it's another year of talent selection with spring in full bloom!

The imperial harem should be filled with joy and excitement.

But at this moment, the inner palace remained deserted and quiet.

Actually, before the draft.

The Emperor first brought back the new Empress, whom he had appointed three years prior, to the palace, since she was still needed to preside over the selection of concubines.

He accepted her but did not favor her.

It seems that after that woman passed away, the emperor lost interest in women.

The palace servants were whispering amongst themselves.

They were all speaking out for the talented, dignified, and understanding new Empress Liu Yu.

"...The Empress was the one who initially fell in love with the Emperor, but she's already twenty-seven and still a young woman. How pitiful..."

"...Ten years of acquaintance and six years of friendship are still not as good as the five years that the man entered the mansion."

"Actually, everything else is fine. But the Emperor is truly head over heels in love with that woman, having lived like a widow for three years!"

As for why an emperor would observe three years of mourning for a woman?

It all started eight years ago...

That year, Xiao Qingxuan was still the Crown Prince, eighteen years old, and full of vigor and ambition.

He was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, able to compose poetry at three and prose at five, and at seven, with the late emperor's tacit approval, he began to observe the court affairs.

By the time he turned eighteen, he had gained considerable prestige among both the imperial court and the common people.

The great Confucian scholars who taught Xiao Qingxuan once gave him the highest praise: "His Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent and wise, and has the style of Emperor Taizu."

He was supposed to marry Liu Yu, the prime minister's daughter and his childhood sweetheart, that year.

Liu Yu is the granddaughter of Liu Wenyuan, the prime minister of the current dynasty.

She was not only of noble birth and stunningly beautiful, but also exceptionally talented, proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

He and she.

They were a perfect match in talent and family background, admired each other, and were even granted a marriage by the emperor, with blessings from everyone.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were a match made in heaven!

Yes.

It was also from this year that the struggle for the throne officially began.

As the rightful heir apparent, the crown prince naturally had many followers.

Among these people.

There were renowned scholars who had once taught the crown prince, as well as scions of noble families who were on good terms with him.

Within the imperial harem, there is an empress.

In the previous dynasty, the crown prince had his maternal grandfather's family, who controlled 300,000 troops, as a solid backing.

He will marry Liu Yu in the future.

This means that even the prime minister, who is the head of all officials, has sided with the crown prince.

In this way...

The Crown Prince's power was at its zenith, and he was enjoying unparalleled prominence.

As the saying goes, "The tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind."

The Crown Prince's brilliance was so dazzling that it provoked a united opposition from the other princes.

Even his father, who had always doted on him, began to feel wary of him.

After all, power is a good thing.

Even if the emperor's health was poor, he did not want anyone to have more power than himself before he died.

Actually, everything else is fine.

Whether in the imperial court or the harem, the crown prince possesses overwhelming power.

Even if the princes joined forces, they could only manage a draw!

But the only thing lacking is money...

After all, the army is the most expensive, and the Crown Prince's maternal grandfather's 300,000 troops required him to privately sponsor a lot of them every year.

We are now at the most critical stage of the struggle for the crown prince position, and we need a lot of money to win over various forces.

The Crown Prince's advisors began to earnestly persuade him to accept Qian Yueshu as a woman.

Firstly, the Crown Prince had saved Qian Yueshu's life.

Qian Yueshu fell in love with the Crown Prince at first sight, and as long as the Crown Prince agreed, the marriage would be a piece of cake.

Secondly, the Qian family had been in business for generations and possessed a large fortune that the Crown Prince could exploit.

The most important point.

Qian Yueshu's two older brothers also did well in the imperial court.

One of his elder brothers served as the fifth-rank Junior Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, while another cousin served as the third-rank Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Both were positions of real power, making them rising stars in the court.

In conclusion.

A marriage alliance with the Qian family.

Not only could she obtain financial support, but she could also leverage the power of her brothers to further solidify the Crown Prince's position in the court.

Xiao Qingxuan had no intention of using a woman.

But he was so short of money that he had no choice but to compromise with Qian Yueshu.

He thought that since Qian Yueshu loved him so much, everything would fall into place naturally.

I never expected that we would actually start talking about marriage.

Neither the Qian family nor Qian Yueshu were easy to deal with; their conditions were increasingly demanding.

For example, in the future, they will support Qian Yueshu's older brother to become a third-rank official in the Jingzhao Prefecture, while Qian Yueshu's cousin will become a first-rank official in the Ministry of War.

Although Qian Yueshu entered the Crown Prince's residence as a concubine.

However, when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will give Qian Yueshu the title of Imperial Noble Consort, which is equivalent to that of a secondary empress.

After several rounds of negotiations.

Both sides ultimately reached a satisfactory result.

At that time, Xiao Qingxuan still cared about his childhood sweetheart Liu Yu and didn't want to wrong her.

Therefore, it was proposed that the concubine Qian Yueshu could only enter the household after the principal wife, Liu Yu, had entered.

Before the Crown Prince's principal wife, Liu Yu, gives birth to a legitimate son, Qian Yueshu cannot have any children.

But Qian Yueshu and the Qian family had made a good promise.

Who knew that Qian Yueshu would drug the Crown Prince and make a scene at the banquet, forcing the Crown Prince to bring her into the mansion first.

They're just a family of merchants, not respectable at all!

In order to gain the upper hand in entering the mansion, they even disregarded their reputation.

In Xiao Qingxuan and his mother's original plan.

After his eighteenth birthday, he married Liu Yu as his crown princess in the autumn, and in the late winter, he brought Qian Yueshu into his residence.

This way, the Crown Princess will have six months of exclusive favor!