[Gentle, honest daughter of an official × sinister, cold-blooded, obsessive emperor]
[Possessive pursuit / Emperor takes his minister's wife / The powerful one bends low]
Yu Qingge was the wife of the prime minister, envied by everyone in the capital. She and her husband were deeply in love and perfectly in tune, even in the bedroom she always followed his preferences.
Her husband liked her to wear a blindfold and moan sweetly, so she obediently closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch, never resisting.
Until that night, when the spring rain fell in torrents and the silk blindfold suddenly came loose.
She opened her eyes and met a pair of dark eyes filled with desire. The emperor, Xiao Yucheng, had one hand on her waist, his robes in disarray as he pressed down on her.
Trembling, she demanded an explanation from her husband, but received only a cold reply.
"His Majesty is willing to have you. You should consider it a blessing."
It turned out their loving marriage over the past few years had all been a performance. Each night, beneath the warm red candlelight and bed curtains, it was always the lofty emperor who undid her robes.
*
Xiao Yucheng stopped hiding his cruelty. His entire being radiated menace, and he even ordered the prime minister to personally serve tea and water as he watched the emperor take his wife.
As Yu Qingge attended the emperor, she looked through tear-filled eyes at her husband. The prime minister only lowered his head and stood with his hands at his sides, saying nothing.
At that moment, her heart died.
"Why are you crying?" Xiao Yucheng murmured with a laugh, biting her earlobe. "Is there any part of you I haven't tasted over the years?"
Later, she happened to overhear Xiao Yucheng speaking privately with her husband. It turned out the emperor had taken her to bed only because she resembled the woman he had loved, who was now dead.
Her husband was weak and cowardly, unable to withstand the emperor's pressure. So, without a shred of feeling, he had secretly offered her up for the emperor's pleasure...
*
Until Xiao Yucheng forcibly abducted her into the palace and imprisoned her deep in the Cold Palace.
Her heart was torn to pieces, but there was nowhere to run. All she could do was submit to the emperor's advances again and again.
While staying in the Cold Palace, she merely hid an apricot blossom given to her by a guard. Three days later, that guard had become a eunuch and was stationed outside her palace.
She had thought of taking her own life to end it all, but each time she was rescued. During their nights together, she heard him whisper in her ear, "You want to die? Did you ask me first?"
Yu Qingge finally broke down. She tilted her head to look at him as clear tears rolled down her cheeks. "I deserve to die, Your Majesty. Why don't you... grant me death?"
Behind the red silk curtains, Xiao Yucheng seized her delicate foot and suddenly laughed.
"What could my beloved consort possibly have done wrong?"
"Even if you miss that dead husband of yours beneath his gravestone, or long for that eunuch dog at the door, I'll forgive you."
Love or hate, it makes no difference.
In the end, it's always me.
# [Bonus Scene]
Historical records say that Emperor Chenghe never took an empress.
One day, an old palace attendant shook the dust from a history book. A dried apricot blossom slipped from its yellowed pages.
"The seventh day of the twelfth month: The emperor did not attend court."
The Cold Palace duty log recorded: "A woman's cries, like an oriole's song, were heard. The sound of chains continued through the night."
The official history recorded: "The emperor caught a chill and missed court for one day."
Reader's Note:
1. Gentle, honest daughter of an official × sinister, cold-blooded, obsessive emperor.
2. Happy ending, both leads are each other's first and only, fictional dynasty, so please don't nitpick historical details.
Theme: Love helps people grow together.
