On the day Xue Yuanqi ascended the throne, he pulled me into a night of heavy drinking, then made love to me with desperate abandon.
But when I woke the next morning, my body covered in red marks, all I saw was him personally welcoming a noblewoman from the capital as his bride, with a wedding procession stretching ten miles.
Only then did I finally understand what he had muttered while we were together the night before:
"Don't blame me, Niannian. An imperial guard's identity is something that can't be brought into the open."
But he must have forgotten that I had once been the capital's most precious jewel, a woman skilled in both letters and arms, a female general who had ridden across the battlefield.
For his sake, I sheathed my sword and hid my insignia, becoming the sharpest blade in his hand.
Yet in the end, I was left with no name or place, lost my child, and had my face disfigured.
Ten years of my life wasted, and I couldn't even win a shred of tenderness from Xue Yuanqi.
So on the day the Empress bestowed me upon a eunuch as his companion, I shouted with all my might, and a hundred thousand Zhenbei troops came to take me home.
Later, rumors spread that the deeply devoted emperor sent urgent messages over eight hundred li ten times, all just to see General Su one last time.
