The Empress and Her Secret Guard

Three months after Shen Zhaoning ascended the throne, she noticed that her most loyal shadow guard had changed.

He was skilled at investigating court officials and intimidating her male consorts. Beneath his obedient facade lurked a possessive, obsessive desire, and ten years of suppressed longing churned beneath the surface.

Everyone knew Shen Qi as the emperor's sharpest blade and strongest shield: a man of few words who obeyed every command. No one knew that his eyes, cold as a deep pool, concealed ten years of love he dared not confess.

He had protected her from the days when she was a fallen princess until she ascended the throne, shielding her from blades and bloodshed and enduring countless long nights. He only dared whisper to her like a lover in his dreams.

The gulf between sovereign and subject was insurmountable, and their forbidden feelings impossible to speak of.

Until one rainy night, Shen Zhaoning bowed her head and kissed him as he lay wounded.

His lips were cold and cracked, tasting of blood and rain.

His whole body stiffened as though his acupoints had been sealed. Even his breathing stopped.

Then he began to kiss her back.

From hesitation to passion, from restraint to abandon.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head toward her.

They kissed in the morning light, like two drowning people clinging to each other...

Related short stories available through the author's monthly subscription:

"Coveting the Emperor's Sister-in-Law"

"After the Aloof Master Falls"

"The Empress Dowager and the Powerful Eunuch"

"After I Was Widowed, Someone Set Their Sights on Me"

"My Dark, Twisted Disciple Won't Leave Me Alone"

Theme: Love like a rising tide