Chapter 1 Farewell to the Moon Gazing Tower
The snow particles hit my face as I stood at the edge of the roof of Moon Gazing Tower.
Below, the forbidden army stood dark and dense, their armor dusted with fresh snow like a silent forest of steles.
They had been ordered to guard this cold palace, yet none dared raise their heads to look at me.
Perhaps they feared seeing the fallen consort reduced to a prisoner.
Perhaps they feared this scene would offend imperial authority.
Imperial authority... Xiao Huai An's authority.
The sharp voice of the imperial eunuch delivering the decree still echoed in my ears.
But I clearly remembered that the officials accused as "party members" were those I had personally exposed for corruption.
The "slander" evidence was the ironclad proof I had stayed up late to organize.
The only mistake was perhaps that I had forgotten what Xiao Huai An had always wanted: not a fair consort, but a disposable chess piece.
The snow fell thicker, blurring my vision.
I remembered the year I was sixteen, a similar snowy day.
Xiao Huai An had stuffed a hand warmer into my arms, his eyes red-rimmed as he said, "Wen Yan, when I ascend the throne, I will treat you as the nation's consort and never let you suffer."
The snow had fallen on his hair then, like stars scattered across his body.
I had believed him, willing to break the worldly chains and marry into the Eastern Palace; willing to spy on my own relatives and personally send my elder brother to prison; willing to wait in the cold palace even when the entire family was confiscated, hoping for an explanation from him.
Until yesterday, when the prison guard delivered my elder brother's blood letter with only four words:
"Do not grieve. Escape quickly."
But where could I escape to?
My roots had been severed by my own hands.
The vermilion palace walls beneath my feet were a cage I had built over fifteen years with the lives of my entire clan.
The wind carried the snow into my collar, and the bone-chilling cold cleared my mind somewhat.
I looked down at the ground below, the white snow-covered surface like a vast sheet of blank paper, waiting for my final stroke.
Well, since Xiao Huai An had spared my life, he probably wanted to see me linger on.
But even if I died, Wen Yan would die with some dignity.
As I jumped, I seemed to see Xiao Huai An standing at the end of the palace walls, his yellow dragon robe fluttering in the wind and snow.
His face was blurred, but the shock in his eyes was clearer than the pain of hitting the ground.
It was... ridiculous.