The Emperor's Consort

She had once been the regent of the Xia Dynasty. To fulfill the late emperor's wish of uniting the realm once more, she controlled half the Xia Dynasty and commanded its armies. Yet after a war that shook the nation, the ruler of Xia married her off to Su Qing, the Third Prince of the Zhao Kingdom, under the title of Princess Changyang. On the day Su Qing married her, a line of iron-armored soldiers formed her bridal procession, and crimson silk stretched from the Regent's Mansion in Xia all the way to Prince Rui's residence in Zhao.

For him, she cast aside the crown prince, who had kept her in his heart and treated her with every kindness, and helped Su Qing seize the throne. She led a million soldiers from Xia in an attack on her own kingdom. The upright ministers of Xia cursed her as a traitor, faithless and heartless. That day, she personally slaughtered every minister in the court, and blood soaked the magnificent palace hall. He simply watched from the side, smiling like a peach blossom, as her homeland and her ministers died at her hands.

The Crown Prince of Xifeng brought down his kingdom for her, hoping only to make Su Qing cherish and love her. But Su Qing stood beside her and plunged his sword into the Crown Prince of Xifeng. She pretended not to see.

Several of her loyal followers, who had stood with her through life and death, objected to Su Qing taking another wife and disrupted the wedding. Su Qing nearly had them executed. She pretended not to hear, while her heart silently crumbled to dust.

Yelü Feng, king of the great grasslands, asked Su Qing to give her to him as his principal wife, using his submission as the pretext. Su Qing waved his hand, sending a million soldiers to attack the grasslands. She thought that must be what love was.

Yelü Feng had submitted for her sake, but all he got was a red bridal sedan chair carrying home a dream. He had once asked her,