Everyone says I married into an immortal sect and married well. My husband is impossibly handsome, and his path to immortality is smooth.
Only I know this marriage alliance is a carefully laid trap.
On our wedding night, I remove my phoenix crown and begin cultivating. A child quietly takes shape in my womb. Only when the baby is born and the nine heavens rumble with thunder does my husband realize I saw through everything long ago.
“Shuang'er, how dare you scheme against me?” he demands, gripping my throat.
I gently stroke the baby in my arms. “It wasn't a scheme. It was self-preservation.”
A hundred years later, I crush the Immortal Alliance and ascend to the highest peak. The child in my arms has grown into a young immortal lord.
The immortals of all the heavens bow to their new ruler, while in my palm rests the phoenix crown abandoned all those years ago.
