“Jiu’er, let me be frank. I can give you all my love and lavish you with favor for a lifetime. I can place a phoenix crown and bridal robes on you and seat you in the position countless women dream of. But I will not give up this splendid realm for you. Do you want this favor or not?”
“Though I was born a woman, I look down most on those who forsake their realm for a beauty. My father once said that the one thing an emperor must beware of most is love. I, Ye Zhen, cannot see through it, which is why I never took the throne, even when my father once offered it to me. But if someone were to betray me for the sake of the realm, I would still resent him, even knowing he had made the wisest choice. That is what I am like: I condemn the flaws of ordinary women, yet have become one of them myself. Do you want me or not?”
