On the Eve of Leaving the Palace, I Became the Tyrant's Prize

Jiang Wanyu took the blame for her family and entered the palace as Qi Rang’s bedchamber attendant. Qi Rang watched coldly as she struggled to survive in that man-eating palace. He never showed her the slightest pity, and even let his jealous favorite consort poison her and make her mute. Wanyu silently endured his daily torment and humiliation until she gradually grew numb and her heart turned cold. She only hoped to leave the palace once she was old enough and go far away, never to see him again in this life. Yet, three days before Wanyu was due to leave, the cold-blooded, high-and-mighty emperor suddenly became a different person, pursuing her relentlessly and refusing to let her go. “You belong to me, and so does this empire. Wherever you go, you’ll never escape my grasp.” Qi Rang had no heart. He killed his father and elder brother, and was cold and brutal, never falling for any of the women in his harem. Much less a lowly mute servant. For five years, he had never once looked Wanyu in the eye, yet he had grown used to her quiet company and had never imagined she might leave one day. Only when Wanyu was about to leave the palace did he realize that her heart belonged to someone else. In that moment, jealousy drove him mad, and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep her in the palace. Later, he finally understood that even though he ruled a vast empire, he could never claim this woman’s heart.