The Seventh Day After Her Death

Xie Zhaozhao died in the seventh year of Jingming.

That year, the emperor, who had been a puppet for many years, took back control of the empire.

The Xie clan, which had held the imperial power in check for centuries, was wiped out.

The whole realm celebrated, and the ministers cheered in unison.

But inside Yaohua Hall, a lone lamp glimmered faintly. Outside, heavy snow blanketed the golden rooftops.

She lay on her bed, her abdomen cramping as if it were being twisted apart. Sweat poured from her like falling snow, yet from beginning to end, all she did was listen to the snow falling outside. She never made a sound.

The news of the empress's death reached the Hall of Diligent Governance. The emperor, bent over his desk, paused, casually brushed the flecks of scarlet from the paper, and said with a faint smile, "So she died."

Everyone knew the emperor hated the Xie clan with all his heart.

She had become empress only because the Xie family had forced this humiliation upon the emperor. Now that His Majesty had reclaimed his throne, how could he tolerate such a disgrace?

With one pot of poisoned wine, the empress's seat, occupied by the Xie clan for so many years, was finally vacant.

.

On the seventh day after her death, she sat atop her own coffin, legs swinging, and watched the emperor sit alone in the mourning hall, wasting away until he was nothing but skin and bones.

Blood flowed from the blade, pooling across the floor.

From the emperor's torn dragon robe drifted a yellowed sheet of paper. When he was young, he had written and rewritten it, fussed over it for three days and nights, and never sent it: a marriage proposal.

I wish to be with Zhaozhao, our hair turning white together, sharing every day and night, and resting in the same grave in life and death.

#If I could live it all over again, I'd tell you every day that I love you.

P.S. The heroine was not killed by the male lead.

Theme: Say you love them before it's too late