The night the white silk was wrapped around her neck, he stood at the foot of the steps and coldly uttered two words: “Execute her.” She suddenly laughed through her tears. Ten years of deep devotion had earned her nothing but the distant title of “Empress.”
She smashed the phoenix seal at his boots, then ran her bloodstained fingers over his dragon robe. “From this day on, Duan Wanqiu will live for herself alone.”
Three years later, Duan Wanqiu knelt to beg forgiveness in the Golden Throne Hall, while the emperor’s eyes were bloodshot. But the woman who had once gone through fire and water for them had long since ridden out of the imperial city, leaving them far behind.
The north wind carried her final words: “The mountains and rivers stretch far between us. There’s no need to see me off.”
