The Empress Dowager Is a Wicked Vixen

[Unhinged, seductive empress dowager x cold, possessive emperor | Reborn for revenge | Forbidden romance | Intense push and pull] A short story nearing its finale

She died once.

The day her own father paid three thousand taels of silver to have her strangled, she swore: if she ever got another chance, she would become the most unhinged woman in the imperial harem.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing beneath a peach tree in a red dress, waiting for the emperor who had killed his brother to seize the throne, cold and merciless.

His hand settled on her waist.

She turned and smiled.

“Your Majesty, I’ve been waiting for you.”

That night, she slept with him.

Three times.

Afterward, the emperor, who had abstained for twenty-three years, became addicted to her and entered the Cold Palace night after night.

He thought she was his prey.

He had no idea he was already hers.

When Prince Duan confessed his feelings for her, the emperor listened from the shadows until the end, then stormed out and punched his own younger brother to the ground.

When her former fiancé came to seduce her, she merely said, “Go home first,” and sparked a family war when he got back.

When their fingers touched as Prince Ning handed her tea, the emperor crushed his wine cup, his hand running with blood.

When the consorts joined forces to frame her, she sat in a Dali Court cell and waited for him to come save her.

He pinned her to the bed, his eyes dark as an abyss.

“Shen Zhaoning, what exactly are you trying to do?”

She smiled and rolled over, pinning him beneath her.

“I want everyone to go mad for you.”