"Brave words for a girl walking into a lion's den," The Empress said with a little laugh.
"This subject has never feared lions, Your Highness," Shayue replied, inclining her head with perfect, poisonous grace. "This subject was raised among them."
She straightened her composure unbroken, her spine a line of steel beneath silk. The empress turned, her robes sweeping across the courtyard stones, she said, her back towards Shayue,
"Write your letters, send your information, fulfill your duty properly, but remember…"
She paused at the middle the of courtyard before reaching the gate, looking back, her smile restored flawless, empty,
"…A bird that feeds from two hands may find itself trusted by neither. And a bird with no trust… is merely a prey."
Shayue stood alone in the courtyard, the wind stirring her crimson sleeves.
'Two hands, Your Highness mistake's me. I do not feed from hands. I sharpen my claws upon the bones of those who try cage me.'
She thought while her lips curving into something cold and true. She raised her gaze to the sky, where clouds gathered beyond the palace walls.
'Fengyu needs a spy. Longlin needs a bride. And I?
She turned towards the gates, her spine straight, her step unhurried.
'I want what was taken from me. And I will take it from both of them.'
The bells began to ring in the distance, calling her towards her fate, Shayue walked forward, alone and unafraid, into the sound.
The Empress paused at the gate, her hand upon the carved jade frame. She did not turn, but Shayue was not finished, she stepped closer, her voice dropping into a whisper that carried the weight of poisoned silk.
"Your Highness."
The Empress stilled, Shayue moved closer, until she stood at the woman's ear, her lips barely brushing the jeweled edge of her headdress.
"Do you really think…" Shayue breathed, each word like a blade drawn slow across stone,
"…that the Emperor does not have another woman beside him, while Your Highness polishes your crown? Do you truly believe he made you Empress because he loved you?"
The Empress's shoulders went rigid,
Shayue's smile widened, cold and terrible.
"You were the daughter of the Liutai Clan. You brought him ten thousand swords and the loyalty of three western provinces. He did not marry you for nothing, Aunt. He conquered you. He wore your father's army like a cloak and left you in this gilded cage to rot while he—"
"Silence." The Empress's voice cracked like a whip. But Shayue did not silence.
She burned.
"While he found softer beds, younger smiles, woman who do not remind him of the price he paid for power every time he looks at your face." Shayue titled her head, her eyes glittering with vicious knowing, "How many nights have you sat alone the Phoenix hall, staring at an empty throne? How many times has he promised to visit you, only to have a eunuch send behalf of him to excuse himself with the 'state affairs'?"
The Empress face turned towards Shayue, her face was pale beneath the paint, her painted lips trembling.
"You know nothing." She hissed.
"I know everything," Shayue countered, her voice dropping lower, sharper, like a dagger twisting in an old wound.
"I know because my mother knew. She wept for you once, did you know that? She wept for her little sister who sold the Liutai name to a throne and called it a crown. She wept because she knew—" Shayue leaned in, her breath hot against the Empress's ear,
"She knew—that in the end, her little sister that she cared about would be alone. The last Liutai in a court that has already forgotten your clan ever existed."
The words landed like a death sentence. The Empress couldn't bear to hear any further, her hand shot up, palm open, aimed for Shayue's cheek with all the fury of a woman who had buried her pride beneath powder and protocol for twenty years.
Shayue caught her wrist mid-air, her grip was stronger than the Empress force.
Her eyes—hellfire.
"Liu Ruxian, you are nothing,"
Shayue said, her voice no longer a whisper but low, savage growl that seemed to come from somewhere deeper than her throat. It was enough for the Empress to hear every bit of her conversation.
"Nothing, more than a pawn to him, he moved across the board to secure the West, and now that the west is his? Now that your father's generals are dead and now that the Liutai brothers are exiled to the western frontier, their bones whitening in the sand?"
She tightened her grip, feeling the Empress's bones shift beneath her fingers,
"You are expendable, Aunt. A decoration, a relic that he keeps in a glass case to remind himself of victories past. The Liutai Clan burned into ashes. And you are the only ember left—to dull to burn, too stubborn to die."
The Empress's eyes were wide, her chest heaving, the perfect mask started to shattered into jagged pieces.
"Let go of me, Shayue." She choked out.
Shayue released her slowly, deliberately, her fingers trailing down the Empress's trembling arm like the memory of a noose. She stepped back and
Smiled.
A smile that held no warmth, no mercy, no remnant of the child who had once looked up to this woman with something like hope,
"Be careful, Aunt, don't try to burn yourself in this empire." Shayue said softly, slightly adjusting the sleeve that the Empress had disturbed,
"The cage you helped build for others… has a door that locks from the outside, and the Emperor holds the key."
She turned, her crimson robes sweeping across the stones. The wedding bell rang the auspicious hour had arrived. From the main hall the shattering, and hurried steps began rumbling in unison. The announcement rang through the corridors,
"The Longlin Empire wedding procession has entered the imperial palace!"
"Sleep well in your empty bed, Your Highness. Dream of love, dream of loyalty from your dear husband, dream of the Liutai banners flying high once more. But when you woke up—"
Shayue paused at the courtyard door, looking back over her shoulder, her eyes dark with prophetic fire,
"—remember, my mother was the only person who had weep tears for you while you were eyeing on her husband. Remember that the only person who ever truly wept for you is… dead. And remember what you have done to Liutai Clan, it will not be forgotten, even in the hell."
Her voice dropped, deeper like a blade,
"You will be a ghost without a grave, Aunt and i?" she said looking back for the last time, "I will be the storm that will buries you."
Shayue stepped out from the courtyard, leaving the Empress standing motionless among the flowering branches, she did not look back. The woman who had been her mother's sister, the last blood of the Liutai Clan, faded into shadows of the palace walls like a ghost unworthy of farewell. The courtyard had never felt so empty. The Empress now had no one in her side.
'Aunt, The Liutai clan that you had destroyed, I will make sure that, it will stand again, without you, hey will never remember your name, nor the pain you have given them. I will make sure of it that you will regret every decision you have made, for hurting my mother and for hurting her clan.'
She glanced at the Empress for a fleeting moment,
'Some farewells are not worth giving. Aunt.'
A deep ceremonial drum echoed across the imperial palace, one after another. The solemn rhythm rolled through the halls like a distant thunder, announcing to every noble and servant alike that the long-awaited hour had finally arrived. From beyond the palace walls came the resonant blare of bronze horns, followed by the orderly footsteps of countless attendants moving in unison. The palace eunuch hurried into the main hall where Shayue had reached, before dropping to his knee.
"Your Highness! The auspicious hour has arrived.
"The Longlin Empire has send, a ceremonial carriage, accompanied by the imperial escort and the betrothal gifts, that awaits Your Highness."
The moment Shayue crossed the threshold of the main hall, the palace erupted into a controlled activity, Rows of ministers stood respectfully on either sides. Servants hurried to complete the final arrangement. Stacks of crimson lacquered chests filled with gold, jade, silks, rare medicines, and priceless treasures stretched almost beyond sight, the imperial dowry prepared for Shayue.
Nanny Wei approached towards Shayue with a relieved smile,
"Your Highness, Everything is ready."
"Your Highness!"
Rapid footsteps echoed through the hall, Mei Yi nearly forgot the palace etiquette as she rushed towards Shayue, her face glowing with excitement. As of Ying, she followed closely behind her, she came with a composed yet little smile on her face.
"We've just received the news from the Northern frontier!"
"The Crown Prince of Longlin… has won the war!"
There was a glimpse of smile on Shayue's lips and eyes.
"As expected… from my future husband."
She said carrying her voice across the hall with deliberate clarity.
A brief hush fell over the hall, whispers started to bloomed liked poisonous flowers. The ministers exchanged glances at each other, some of them impressed while some of them unsettled by the boldness of a bride who spoke of her groom as though he were already hers to command.
Shayue did not cared for their whispers,
"Then let us get going," her crimson sleeves sweeping forward,
"I would not keep Longlin waiting for long. Not when they have given me such a worthy welcome gift."
To Be Continued...