* A deposed empress is reborn and awakens to her ambition; a young, repressed emperor pursues his wife desperately after realizing his mistakes
She was the only person to be deposed twice and made empress three times: Meng Yunyu.
Meng Yunyu had always thought she and Zhao Yong must have loathed each other.
But later, she learned that Zhao Yong's feelings for her were not merely suspicion.
More than thirty years had passed, and the stationery in her vanity case had long since yellowed and curled. She had never imagined Zhao Yong had loved her, but the handwriting on the page was unmistakably his.
He would not have written such words if he had never loved her.
The wind stirred the bead curtain, breaking the slanting sunlight into pieces. Meng Yunyu suddenly remembered something that had happened many years ago.
After she moved to Yaohua Palace, she suddenly came down with a terrible illness. She could neither see nor hear. Believing she had little time left, she refused to take any more medicine and only wanted her suffering to end sooner. The palace attendants must have run out of options, because they found someone else to tend to her medicine. She knew the scent of the person who came very well. But he had personally stripped her of her title as empress and declared he never wanted to see her again. How could he possibly be here?
After all, Zhao Yong had believed the slander back then and was convinced that she meant to harm him. She was certain the person who kept vigil at her bedside, day and night, could not have been him.
But looking at the letter before her, Meng Yunyu could no longer deceive herself.
*
In her new life, Meng Yunyu had considered taking revenge on everyone who had framed her. But for the sake of political stability, she had to keep holding back.
Gradually, though, she realized that many people and things had changed.
Especially Zhao Yong. He had never looked at her with such deep affection before, nor had he ever confided his worries to her.
How strange.
By then, she was tipsy. The dripping of the water clock outside came faintly through the window, stirring a few strands of worry in her heart. As she gazed at the wavering candlelight, she could hardly tell whether she was in Lin'an or Bianjing.
Zhao Yong came close and raised a hand to smooth the furrow between her brows. His eyes seemed to hold rippling spring waters, reflecting the bright moon. For some reason, the next moment his eyes reddened, and every word he spoke was an apology to her.
Meng Yunyu suddenly sneered and looked up at him. "Your Majesty needn't do this. Do you truly not know whether what you feel for me is love or guilt?"
Zhao Yong tried desperately to explain. "My feelings for you have never changed."
Meng Yunyu did not want to say more. She pushed his hand away. "Your Majesty can tell those things to other people if you like, but don't fool yourself."
Reader's Note:
1. Both the hero and heroine are reborn. Before their rebirth, the hero had other women in his harem, but he was intimate only with the heroine. Afterward, the heroine is the only empress in his harem.
2. The setting is inspired by the mid-to-late Northern Song Dynasty, with official institutions modeled on the Song.
Theme: Keep your brilliance concealed, and you will have less to regret.
