The Empress Awakens: I Was the Demon Lord's Moonlight All Along

> **Three hundred years of solitude, one sword to seal the heart; ninety thousand leagues of rivers and mountains, all laid out as a game of chess.**

She is an empress who commands the world, yet in the dead of night, a wisp of apricot-blossom fragrance pierces her heart.

He is a young general of the Ping'an Marquis's household, his smile as clear as spring waters in Jiangnan, yet hidden in his sleeve is the Flowing Cloud Sword technique of the Western Regions' demon clan.

Three hundred years ago, the senior disciple of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers carved a sword by cutting out his heart, offering his soul as a sacrifice to pass into the cycle of reincarnation.

Three hundred years later, the demon army of the northern frontier came knocking at the gates. On an urgent dispatch sent over eight hundred li, the words “An old friend shall return” were written in blood and tears.

**“Senior Brother, you taught me to protect these lands. Now you want me to kill you with my own hands?”**

When the Cold Star Sword pierced Murong Lingchuan’s chest, Empress Xiyao finally saw the truth:

The vow she had carved into her bones, “I will protect you for a hundred lifetimes,” had never been a promise. It was a curse.

**This life: Demon clan heir × Human empress | Forbidden love × Fated reincarnation**

**Previous life: Peerless sword cultivator × Heaven-appointed junior sister | Entanglement between senior and junior disciples × Karmic cycle**

As the nine-tiered palace collapsed, a sugar-frost-dusted apricot hairpin lay hidden beneath the gilded robes of the empress.

In the Demon Lord’s palm rested half a piece of sweet osmanthus cake, never given to its intended recipient all those years ago.

The player had been laying down pieces in this game of chess for three hundred years.

And my sword has always been tempered for one person alone.

**“If this cycle of reincarnation is a trick, I will make myself the blade,

cut through three thousand illusions, and give you a moonlit night that is truly yours.”**