A Farewell to You

[The emperor takes his subject’s wife + groveling to win her back + revenge + neither is sexually pure + favoritism] When Xiao Chengyu ascends the throne as the new emperor, he orders all the nobles and their families to come to the capital and pay their respects. That includes her, once the new emperor’s concubine and now the wife of Marquis Changle. Five years ago, when Xiao Chengyu was still a prince, someone made a casual joke at a banquet, and he gave her to that person as if she were an object. That was when she understood: all their past affection had been nothing but a beautiful dream. How could a royal family ever know true love? But the young general Liang Zhaoqing knelt for a long time outside the late emperor’s palace and won an imperial decree granting him permission to marry her. After their wedding, Liang Zhaoqing took her far from the capital. For five years, they lived in harmony, and she bore him a daughter. She thought she could spend her life as a loving wife by her husband’s side, but an imperial decree summoned her back to the capital. After five years away, she returns to find Xiao Chengyu every bit as dashing as before, now enthroned as emperor. He has a loving empress, a harem of three thousand beauties, and many children. She is nothing more than something the new emperor once played with, yet he becomes a madman, torn between love and hate, imprisoning her and tormenting her day and night. With the emperor’s authority hanging over her and her entire family’s lives at stake, she gives in, despairing. The emperor’s gaze is hazy and feverish as he grips her waist, lingering in their embrace and whispering old words of love in her ear... But an imperial decree orders her whole family put to death overnight. Her husband’s whereabouts are unknown, and her daughter lies unconscious from shock. All her humility and attempts to please him have become a cruel joke. She looks crazed, points her sword at the emperor, and stares at him with resolve. The emperor says nothing, opens his arms, and walks toward her...