Disguised as a Man: The Empress Makes Waves at Court Again

[Cross-dressing heir to the throne × broken, noble young gentleman | ultimate salvation and possessive love]

I am Lin Shuye, heir to the Prince of Yan, whose power rules the Northern Frontier.

And I am also... a “man” who must hide that I am a woman forever.

On my first night in the capital, I paid a fortune at an auction to claim Lu Qingxian.

Once the most celebrated young gentleman in Jiangnan, now the most expensive “property” in a brothel.

He knelt in a cage, his body covered in scars, his eyes shattered like glass, yet his proud spirit remained unbroken.

I brought him back to my residence and kept him by my side.

Everyone said the prince had taken a canary, just a plaything.

They had no idea

I taught him the art of political intrigue, gave him a dagger, and let him touch my greatest secret.

He curled up beside my bed to sleep, ground ink and kept watch in my study, and shielded me from a fatal blow when I was attacked.

Gripping his chin, I warned him, “Your life belongs to me. Without my permission, you’re not even allowed to hurt yourself.”

Later, I led my army into the capital and turned my sword against the throne.

On the night of the coup, dressed in white and stained with blood, he opened the palace’s final gate for me.

I donned the imperial robes and claimed the empire.

But I imprisoned him in the most magnificent palace in the inner court, chained his wrists in gold, and forbade anyone from looking upon him.

The officials called me a fool, besotted with a man.

They didn’t understand.

He wasn’t a plaything

He was the one living heartbeat in my cold grasp on power.

The only warmth of the human world I wanted to keep imprisoned in my palm after a lifetime of killing.

“Three years after the new emperor ascended the throne, he still had no consort.

His one ‘forbidden secret’ was the caged bird who never showed his face, yet could make the emperor let down every guard...”