To secure his throne, Lu Ci offered me, barely recovered from childbirth, to Noble Consort Mu.
From then on, my legs were crippled, I could barely speak, and ugly scars covered my body.
When Lu Yu'an was six, Lu Ci announced that he would bring Lin Shang into the palace as empress.
An'er shoved me away. "I don't want an ugly mother like you!"
"I want Consort Lin to be my mother!"
Shards from the shattered glass cup pierced my flesh, but I couldn't feel a thing.
I had been in the palace for ten years. It was time for me to leave.
Five years later, I returned to the capital. Lu Ci stood waiting with Lu Yu'an at a crossroads I had to pass.
"Yun Mu, An'er and I have missed you so much."
Lu Yu'an timidly called me Mother.
I kept my eyes straight ahead and smiled at the person beside me.
"Huai Nian, it's snowing so hard. Let's hurry inside and take shelter."
The snow fell thick and fast.
Soon, the man and boy had completely disappeared into the boundless white.
