Golden Boughs Behind the Bed Curtains

In the tenth year of Tianning, Princess Yongchang returned to the capital. The emperor and empress dowager rejoiced, an amnesty was declared, and all under Heaven celebrated.

Princess Xie Shunrong of Yongchang had been caught up in the ravages of war as an infant, then sent abroad as a hostage. Thirteen years had passed. Now that she had returned to the palace, she was showered with favor, and the rest of her life should have held nothing but wealth and comfort.

Xie Shunrong grew more radiant and beautiful with each passing year, yet no one in the deep palace could see her. Remembering the hardships she'd suffered as a child, the empress dowager was all the more determined to marry her to the finest man in the land.

But her elder brother, Emperor Xie Yuanjing, always found one reason or another to stop it, and things never went as planned.

Her brother Xie Yuanjing was handsome and noble, with a bright, dignified bearing. Before he was even twenty, people across the land were already calling him a wise ruler of the age.

When the empress dowager fretted over Xie Shunrong's marriage, he teased, "If my younger sister can't find a husband, it seems I'll have to support you for the rest of your life."

Xie Shunrong merely smiled at that.

Only she knew what Xie Yuanjing was really like in private.

The day a tipsy Xie Yuanjing appeared among the curtains of her bedchamber after a palace banquet, she finally understood: the look he gave her was not a brother's fondness for his younger sister, but the desperate gaze of a man coveting her.

But by then, it was too late.

That night, Xie Yuanjing remained impeccably dressed. Perhaps Xie Shunrong was the only one who lost herself in their passionate embrace.

If the truth ever came out, she alone would be ruined.

A wise ruler is never at fault.

Later, the real princess was finally found, and the imperial family was reunited.

Xie Shunrong's identity as an impostor was exposed, and the empress dowager flew into a rage, consulting with the court officials about how to punish her severely.

As everyone prepared to tear her to pieces, Xie Shunrong remained peacefully in Xie Yuanjing's bed.

Lying beside him, she whispered, "Your Majesty, how will you punish me?"

Xie Yuanjing's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he lifted a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger.

The precious branch he'd lovingly raised was not for anyone else to defile or slight.

"Your Majesty, won't you punish me for impersonating a member of the imperial family?"

Xie Yuanjing smiled and placed a hand on her slightly rounded belly. "I gave you permission."

She might not be a princess anymore, but becoming his empress was just as good.

***The male and female leads are not siblings and are not related by blood. The female lead did not impersonate the princess of her own accord, and the male lead knew long ago that she was not his sister.

Theme: Ride the wind and break the waves, and in the end find yourself.