The Deposed Empress and I

Yu Peizhu was banished to the Cold Palace. The mistress of the inner palace, who had once risen to power through her maternal clan and wielded authority with an iron fist, had finally fallen with her clan's ruin. Her former glory vanished in an instant. Cold rain fell in sheets, and she did not even have a brazier by her side. Her face impassive, she walked down the long alley of the Cold Palace. From the ruined buildings on either side came the mad inmates' laughter, sobs, and screams. In a corner of a dilapidated hall, she found a boy in tattered clothes, his eyes filled with malice. She bent down and lifted his chin. Before he could angrily bite her finger, she spoke coldly: "Do you want to become crown prince?" - The emperor had three thousand women in his harem, countless beauties, and had replaced even the empress four times. Not long after Xue Li's mother entered the palace, she went mad. He, too, was suspected of inheriting her illness. He was born in the Cold Palace and nearly lost his chance to live. People trampled on him and bullied him. He also had to endure the endless torment of the mad inmates year after year. He thought he would spend his whole life in this lightless place. Until a woman appeared. She came from a powerful family and was famed for her beauty. She had served as his father's empress longer than anyone else. He never imagined she would end up here, too. But even after falling so low, why did she still look down at him with such superiority?! He thought she belonged in the mire with the rest of them, condemned to remain there forever. He never expected her to ask him a question he'd never once considered in his life. Do you want to become crown prince? Without the slightest hesitation, he replied, "I do." So she drew him out of the darkness, saw to his food and clothing and every need, taught him manners and rules, and instructed him in strategy and schemes. Sometimes he grew tired and wanted to rest, even briefly. But she would only look at him coldly and say: "Either become crown prince or die." Following her, he step by step escaped the Cold Palace, seized the Eastern Palace, and finally climbed over a mountain of blood to cut off the head of the man on the throne. Yet in the dead of night, deep within the palace gardens, he knelt beside her knees. Pushing aside the late emperor's head in her hand, he pressed his forehead to her palm. His eyes were bloodshot, his gaze pleading, his posture near-mad. "Don't abandon me. I'm still useful." Again and again, he kissed her fingers. "Please." - Beautiful, cold, ruthless deposed empress x sinister younger prince, nine-year age gap. 2025.8.28 Theme: .