The Caged Swallow

[The emperor takes his minister's wife / coercive possession / love and hatred intertwined]

In the third year of Yongxi, Emperor Xiao Jie traveled south in disguise. While taking shelter from the snow at a roadside tavern, he met a woman.

Her robes were as red as fire, and she was radiant and enchanting. She offered him a cup of hot wine to warm him and smiled as she asked where he was from.

Her graceful figure was reflected in his wine cup. By the time he answered her, the wine had gone cold, and she was gone...

That very night, he had someone investigate the woman's family background.

His attending eunuch understood perfectly: His Majesty was finally going to choose a consort.

Farther south lay his elder brother's fief. The Prince of Wei came out with his wife to welcome him.

He looked down from above and saw the woman in red from that day kneeling at his feet. Only then did he learn that she was his elder brother's wife, Yun Yan.

*

When war broke out in Jiangnan, the Prince of Wei led troops to put down the rebellion and asked his wife to follow the imperial entourage back to the capital and settle at their residence.

Yun Yan accompanied the emperor to the capital, but she was not taken to the prince's residence. Instead, she was carried into the palace in a sedan chair.

A minister's wife, dressed in fine silks and surrounded by jewels, enjoyed every luxury day after day.

The civil and military officials all praised the young emperor as diligent and benevolent, respectful to his elder brother and faithful in his duties. They said that he treated his sister-in-law with great respect as well, making him a rare and enlightened ruler.

One day, a young palace maid entered the hall to bring a meal to the Prince of Wei's wife. The bed curtains were half drawn, and the woman weakly told her to set the food down.

When the maid left, she found a piece of paper inside the food box. Two words were written on it: Save me.

*

At the end of the year, Xiao Jie sent the three armies to Yumen Pass to repel the enemy.

The Prince of Wei's wife, dressed in splendid clothes and looking dignified, walked up onto the city wall with them to watch her husband depart for the frontier.

No one knew that the shackles beneath her wide hem clinked loudly.

Xiao Jie took her hand and pressed her forehead. "Come. I permit you to see him off properly, for the last time."

Xiao Jie remembered that when they were children, everyone had said his elder brother was the one destined to be emperor.

But in the end, he was the one who sat on the Dragon Throne.

He was the Son of Heaven.

What could he possibly want that he couldn't have? Whatever he wanted, he could take.

(First draft of the blurb and inspiration written in May 2025. Screenshots and other evidence have been saved.)

[Content warnings]

The female lead is not a virgin; the male lead is a complete bastard; limited moral scruples.

The female and male leads become romantically involved only after she has divorced her former husband, so there is no family relationship between them.

Theme: Be brave enough to be yourself.