Once a consort entered the imperial harem, the first thing she was expected to do was attend the emperor. Yet for years, she never once shared his bed.
A hundred years after its fall, the Great Zhi Dynasty had risen from the ashes and returned.
With the realm on the brink of ruin, she said, “I want you to kneel and repent for the sins you committed against the souls of the Great Zhi Dynasty.”
The emperor said, “I won’t kneel. If I do, the people will curse me, and I’ll have no face to meet our ancestors in the underworld.”
He smiled. “If Imperial Brother won’t kneel, then I, your younger brother, will. If you won’t do it, I will. And if that still isn’t enough, I’ll take my own life right here. I’ll atone for your sins, Brother. May we remain brothers in every lifetime, and fulfill the bond we could not complete in this one in the next.”
So he knelt. He kowtowed. Then he plunged a dagger into his belly, and blood spread across the ground…
She gave a bitter smile. “Is this the price of restoring the dynasty?”
He smiled faintly. “The wise do not fall in love. But after meeting you, I could no longer be wise. I would gladly become a fool.”
