Before the Moonlight Enters the Palace, the Empress Has Already Given Up on the Emperor

Rong Shuyue spent three years as a virtuous empress, keeping the imperial harem in order, raising the emperor's illegitimate son, placating the court officials, and protecting the Rong family. Then a nightmare showed her what awaited after his beloved Bai Yueguang, Li Wanyi, entered the palace: she would lose her power and be deposed, the Rong family would be purged, and she would die of illness in the Cold Palace.

When she awoke, dawn had not yet broken. She neither wept nor made a scene. She simply ordered the phoenix seal, palace ledgers, and treasury keys sent to the emperor.

The emperor said coldly, “Empress, don't let your temper interfere with state affairs.”

Rong Shuyue bowed calmly. “Your Majesty needn't wonder whether I'm jealous. Jealousy requires hope, and I have none left.”

Later, the harem's tangled accounts piled up on the emperor's desk, the Empress Dowager pressured her to return and take control, and the emperor's beloved discovered she was nothing more than a pawn of the Li family. At last, the emperor understood: she wasn't waiting for him to come around. She truly meant to leave.