The crown prince, missing for half a year, returned with the pregnant Liu Yan’er and announced that he would make her his crown princess, leaving me to be only a secondary consort. I refused to become a concubine, but the crown prince and empress coveted my family’s military power and meant to seize it by any means. At the critical moment, the regent, Qi Jiuzhao, agreed to marry me. The crown prince and Liu Yan’er tried every trick to ruin my reputation and bring me and the General’s Mansion under their control, but each attempt was thwarted. In a fit of rage, the crown prince conspired with Mobei to poison the emperor and force him to abdicate. With Mobei’s army at the gates, my father, brothers, Qi Jiuzhao, and I were confined inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation. But Mobei betrayed the crown prince and sent its army straight for the imperial capital. In a panic, the crown prince discovered that Liu Yan’er was a Mobei spy, and that their entire relationship had been a trap from the very beginning. At the eleventh hour, my mother arrived with the Song family army and drove back Mobei’s forces. The crown prince killed Liu Yan’er and descended into madness. At last, after the court officials knelt and begged him day after day, Qi Jiuzhao agreed to ascend the throne. From then on, the realm enjoyed peace and prosperity.
