[An old draft of an old-school angst novel]
“If I’d known you would haunt my heart like this, I should never have met you.”
At sixteen, I traveled thousands of miles to the Central Plains for a political marriage, becoming the emperor and empress dowager’s beloved and the crown prince’s wife.
Life as crown princess was pleasant and carefree. Then, one day, I made a mistake and was punished. After that, everything changed.
The torment of the mind, the pain of the body: every day, I felt as though I were living in a prison. Like a golden bird in a cage, I could neither breathe nor escape these palace walls.
“My longing for freedom ultimately lost to the emperor’s all-or-nothing love. Yesterday’s happiness became a sacrifice to the throne. My family was fighting to seize the throne, and every day I was torn between family and love. I escaped his clutches to win my freedom, only to be caught again and again and tossed back into the palm of his hand. Xi’er was hurt by her family time and again, while I was wounded by the emperor’s cold-hearted cruelty.”
“A prison in the name of love, without a single hysterical outburst.”
Every day, I felt as though I were living in a prison. Like a golden bird in a cage, I could neither breathe nor escape these palace walls. This splendid cage imprisoned my whole life, a life filled with grief.
