Chapter 243: The Emperor’s final breath

The palace bells began to ring before dawn. One deep toll rolled through the sleeping capital, then another, and another. Each strike seemed to shake the darkness from the tiled roofs.

Maids stumbled from their quarters. Guards abandoned their posts to look toward the inner palace. Ministers were summed from their beds half-drressed, their faces pale with confusion as the bells continued to thunder across the capital.

Something terrible had happened inside the imperial palace.

In the Empress’s chamber, Han Shuying heard the bells through the heavy doors. Her eyes opened slowly.

For a couple seconds she did not move. The back of her head still throbbed where Empress Lihua had struck her with the vase. Even her wrists were raw beneath the iron restraints.

She had spent the night chained to the bed, staring into the darkness as she wondered what had become of her father.

It was laughable really, how she was still worried about him even though she was in the hands of captivity.

There were hurried footsteps outside the door before it opened. A maid stumbled into the chamber, breathless, her face drained of color.

She stopped when she saw Han Shuying awake. "My lady..."

Han Shuying’s blood ran cold. The maid was certainly about to deliver bad news. "What happened?"

The maid’s lips trembled. "The Emperor—" She could barely force the words out. "He was with the royal physician when he collapsed."

Empress Lihua finally got rid of her husband just like she had planned from the beginning. What did this mean for Han Shuying?

"Where is the Empress?"

The maid hesitated.

Before she could answer, another set of footsteps approached. It was slow...measured...almost graceful.

Empress Lihua entered the chamber wearing a dark crimson robe embroidered with golden phoenixes. Her hair had already been arranged despite the hour, and her face was perfectly composed.

She looked more like she was celebrating the death of her husband instead of mourning him.

Han Shuying stared at her. "Do you want me to clap for you?" she asked in a voice dripped with venom. "Maybe pat you on the head and tell you you did a good job?"

Empress Lihua smiled. "The latter would be nice. No one has ever told me they’re proud of me before."

"Are you here to gloat in my face? Surely you need to address the ministers?"

"Of course." Empress Lihua walked closer. "But there is one piece of news I must deliver myself to you." She sat on the bed and stroked Han Shuying’s hair. "General Han Zheng is dead."

There was really no way to soften the news.

"He’s what?" Han Shuying felt something similar to a stab wound pierce through her chest. "You killed him, didn’t you?"

Empress Lihua shook her head. "I wish I did. Turns out Lieyein had intercepted the imperial convoy. She was the one that killed your father." She studied Han Shuying’s lack of reaction. "Ru Yi was there too."

Han Shuying pushed against the chains. "Did you hurt her?"

"Relax." Empress Han Shuying raised her hands in mock surrender. "Your father was the one that stabbed her. Even before his death he still found a way to hurt you."

Han Shuying felt disarmed. "Don’t tell she’s dead." She shook the chains violently. "Ru Yi cannot be dead. I will not allow it. Release me right now!"

"I’m afraid I cannot do that." She cleaned the sweat on Han Shuying’s brows just as the palace bells began to ring again.

This time it did not stop.

The news of the Emperor’s death had traveled through the palace faster than fire through dry grass. The physician announced that his Majesty had succumbed to a life long illness.

Ministers were already demanding an investigation, while the whispers of a certain poison swept through the heavily guarded walls.

The first place of light was already beginning to creep across the horizon.

"What are you still doing here?" Han Shuying asked. "You’ve finally gotten all that you’ve wanted. It’s time for you to celebrate."

"Shuying—"

"A low life whore climbing in ranks to become the Empress..." Han Shuyiing laughed even though her chest twisted from the pain of uttering those words. "I really am proud of you."

Empress Lihua’s eyes brightened with a rare excitement. "Really?" She placed her fingers on Han Shuying’s cheeks. "At least I have you."

She crossed the chamber toward the table where several pieces of red silk had been laid out.

Han Shuying’s blood ran cold. "What is that?"

Empress Lihua lifted one of the fabrics. "The Imperial wedding colors. I have already sent word to the ministry of rites."

Han Shuying was horrified. "NO!"

"The empire needs stability," Empress Lihua reasoned. "The throne will soon be contested and the people need a figure capable of maintaining order. The crown prince has gone mad so he is out of question."

Han Shuying shook her head, fingers curling into her palm. "No. You’re the one that has gone mad."

"It does not matter. Everything has already been settled." She looked at the woman chained to her bed. "You will be my wife, just like I’ve always imagined."

Han Shuying’s face twisted with disgust. "I would rather die."

For the first time Empress Lihua’s composure cracked. Her hand seized Han Shuying’s jaw. "You will not leave me. I will keep you chained to this bed if I must!"

Han Shuying looked into the darkness of Empress Lihua’s eyes and saw that they mirrored the darkness in hers. Was that not why their relationship had worked in the beginning?

They were two women whose hearts had been forever tainted by the darkness of all the things they’ve lost.

Empress Lihua released her. "Get her cleaned up, but make sure the chains remain. You might hate me now for what I’m doing, but I don’t care. I will rather have the ugly parts of you than nothing at all."

Han Shuying’s eyes burned. "Just let me go."

"I’ll find one of the ministers to stand in for your father." She opened the door. "But, good riddance. Now the only person you’ll ever need validation from is me."