Empresses in the Palace Fanfiction: Zhu Que’s Dream

She was a flower blooming on the banks of the Yellow Springs. After a thousand years of cultivation, she took human form.

By the River of Three Crossings, she had seen the souls of too many ill-fated women pass by, burdened with regret, resentment, and bitterness, unable to cross the River of Forgetfulness. She made a vow: she would give them another life, change their fates, and fulfill their dreams.

In the first world, she was An Lingrong.

She swallowed bitter almonds and died once. Reborn, she won Xuan Ling’s heart before anyone else, became his empress, and stayed by his side until they grew old together. Smiling, she crossed the Bridge of Helplessness and drank Granny Meng’s soup. A woman in white asked her, “Where would you like to go in the next world?” She replied, “To the place of a girl who deserves the most pity.”

In the second world, she was Fang Chunyi.

Fourteen years old, with a round face and big eyes. She loved osmanthus cakes and flying kites. In her previous life, she had done nothing wrong. She had simply picked up a kite with a broken string in the imperial garden, and someone had held her underwater until she drowned. This time, she wouldn’t be a little white rabbit. She would smile, show affection, and scheme, until Consort Hua was on her knees, the empress paid for what she’d done, and that man held her in the palm of his hand.

Under an apricot tree, Xuan Ling saw her for the first time and said, “You have beautiful eyes.”

She tilted her head and smiled innocently. “Your Majesty, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

He pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, “I’ll wait for you, until you turn sixteen.”

She got her wish. At sixteen, in the Hot Springs Palace, beneath glowing red candles, he kissed her between the brows and said, “Yi’er, you belong to me now.”

She replied, “I belonged to Your Majesty long ago. Even in my previous life.”