Everyone says Pei Yan and I are a devoted couple.
Back when he was still a down-and-out prince, I stood shoulder to shoulder with him, spear in hand, fighting our way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood to seize the throne.
When I fell from a cliff and broke my leg, he broke one of his own ribs to set it for me. When witch poison invaded my body, he cut out the blood near his heart to keep me alive.
It was all because he held my hand before the beacon tower and pointed toward the vast realm, saying, "A Yan, half this kingdom is yours."
So even as empress, I spent much of the year stationed at the northern frontier, defending his realm against foreign enemies.
But after half a year of fighting in the north, I returned to the palace to find the attendants kneeling in terror, saying that someone else had taken up residence in Kunning Palace.
I laughed.
Coolly, I pointed at a palace maid. "Tell Xiao Yan to come collect a corpse."
With that, clad in armor and wielding a blade, I fought my way from the gates of Kunning Palace to the woman's bedchamber.
Heads rolled across the corridor, blood flowed everywhere.
By the time Xiao Yan hurried over with the imperial guards, I had already grabbed the woman's hair and brought my blade down.
