By the time the emperor died, the only two consorts left standing in the harem were me and Mei Wu.
As things stood, I was the empress and was about to become the Empress Dowager. I had absolute authority over Mei Wu's fate.
If Mei Wu and I had joined forces to kill the consorts who died in the harem, I would absolutely have graciously made her a Grand Consort Dowager, then found a member of the imperial clan to support the young emperor as a puppet. Mei Wu and I could have ruled from behind the curtain together. Given time, the two of us might even have become empresses remembered for all time.
But there was no "if." The reality was that Mei Wu and I had fought each other in the harem. The consorts had been forced to choose sides, and she and I had been at each other's throats, utterly incompatible.
We both regretted that the emperor had died too soon, before she and I could settle the score.
On the second night after the new emperor's accession, I impatiently carried a cup of poisoned wine to Mei Wu's bedchamber and knocked on the door.
At last, this war was about to end. I set the poisoned wine before Mei Wu.
The moon shone clear and cold, making me look ghostly pale.
Mei Wu didn't drink. She asked me, "Sister, what do you think the emperor looks like?"
My pupils contracted. She had said those exact same words on the night we entered the palace, when we were two innocent girls dreaming about our future there.
I closed my eyes. The past flashed before me, one scene after another. How had it come to this?
On the third day after the new emperor's accession, the Grand Consort Dowager died.
At the same time, a beautiful consort named Mei appeared in the Empress Dowager's palace. She lived and ate with the Empress Dowager, and the two were as close as sisters.
Everyone in the palace whispered that the maid looked exactly like the dead Grand Consort Dowager!
Mei Wu didn't want to play dumb, but she wanted even less to die. She knew the filthy thoughts Yu Tanqiu harbored. Since Yu Tanqiu was the one with impure intentions, she shouldn't blame Mei Wu for playing the pig to eat the tiger.
On the first day of the new emperor's reign, he found Mei Wu and promised her the position of Empress Dowager, all to bring down Yu Tanqiu.
Mei Wu wasn't stupid. Why shouldn't she become the emperor herself?
She just so happened to harbor some impure thoughts about the Empress Dowager, too.
Theme: Love is forbidden
