Chapter 246: An Unwilling Bride

The wedding drums were loud. Their deep, rhythmic thunder rolled through the imperial palace, echoing between the red walls and black roofs until the entire capital seemed to know that the Empress was getting married.

Han Shuying heard them from behind closed doors. She sat before a bronze mirror while two maids worked silently around her. Her wrists were no longer chained, but that made the situation even worse.

There was something humiliating about being allowed to move but never having true freedom. Her wedding robes had been laid out on the bed where she’d been once chained to.

They were crimson.

Beautifully made.

The silk was embroidered with silver clouds and delicate flowers, while a phoenix spread its wings across the back. Gold threads caught light whenever she moved.

Han Shuying hated them. She hated the color. She hated the embroidery. It felt like she had traded the iron chains for more beautiful ones.

One of the maids swept her hair back. They were too short to be put in a bridal braid. "Please hold still, lady Han."

Han Shuying looked at herself in the mirror. The woman looking back at her looked like a true bride, and she couldn’t recognize her.

They’d managed to carefully arrange her short hair and decorate it with delicate gold ornaments. The sharp lines of her face had been softened with makeup, and her lips painted red.

She’d never looked so feminine before. It made her skin crawl with deep discomfort. The empress was forcing her into a role that she wasn’t accustomed to.

Her fingers curled against her robes.

When they were done the doors opened and a palace attendant stepped inside. "Lady Han, your majesty is waiting."

Han Shuying stood up and walked out without paying the reflection in the mirror a single thought.

The palace had been transformed under short notice. Red silk hung from the pillars. Lanterns illuminated the corridors despite the sun still hanging on the horizon.

Officials had gathered in ceremonial robes, their expressions carefully neutral. There were only a few left after the massacre hours before.

None of them dared say what was truly on their mind. The Empress was marrying the daughter of the dead general. It was obvious that it was not a game of romance, but one of power.

Han Shuying walked beneath the ceremonial archway. At the end of the hall stood Empress Lihua. She wore crimson and gold.

Her phoenix crown was larger than the one Han Shuying had been given, its jeweled feathers rising above her head like flames.

Empress Lihua looked breathtakingly beautiful. Like a devil forged from the ashes of heaven. But Han Shuying felt nothing, not even the uneven beating of her heart like it did in the past.

The only thing that remained where the Empress was concerned was resentment.

Empress Lihua’s eyes softened when Han Shuying got closer. "You look beautiful."

Han Shuying put some space between them. "I don’t care."

Several ministers lowered their eyes.

Empress Lihua smiled and stretched out her hand. Han Shuying did not take it. She agreed to marry the Empress, but she never said she would make it easy.

The Empress’s carefully composed smile remained.

An imperial officiant stepped forward and the ceremony began.

"Today, beneath the witness of heaven and the ancestors, Her Majesty the Empress and Lady Han Shuying shall be joined in marriage."

Han Shuying’s jaw tightened. The words sounded obscene. The late Emperor’s death had barely been mourned, his body hadn’t even cooled.

The officiant raised his ceremonial scroll. "First bow–to Heaven and Earth."

Han Shuying did not move.

Empress Lihua looked at her but she kept staring straight ahead.

After several seconds, Empress Lihua said quietly, "If you refuse, the court will interpret it as an act of rebellion. And that will make me so angry I’ll forget where the antidote is."

Han Shuying lowered herself immediately.

"First bow."

She bowed.

"Second bow, to the ancestors."

Han Shuying bowed again. Her hands trembled from the rage she could barely contain.

"Thirs bow...to each other."

She froze.

Empress Lihua turned to her. For several seconds neither woman moved. Then Empress Lihua whispered, "Please..."

That word surprised Han Shuying. She looked at the woman beside her. There was something almost vulnerable in her eyes.

For a fleeting moment— Han Shuying saw not the empress, or the woman who poisoned her husband and chained her to a bed— but someone terrified of being abandoned.

Han Shuying bowed and the ceremony ended. The ministers applauded but it sounded hollow.

There was a bright smile on Empress Lihua’s face. "You are my wife now."

Han Shuying shook her head, expression grim. "No. I’m merely your prisoner." The words struck harder than a scream.

The officiant announced that the newlyweds would proceed to the inner palace.

Han Shuying turned to Empress Lihua when two guards moved into position. "Are you going to put me in chains again?"

Empress Lihua walked beside her. "I would never treat my wife like that. If it makes you feel better, I decorated a new chamber for you myself. I would be a very good wife to you if you let me."

Good wife? The Empress was clearly out of her mind.

That night, the palace finally turned quiet. Han Shuying stood alone beside the window of the chamber. She already stripped out of the wedding clothes.

She stared toward the distant palace walls. Beyond them, the capital slept beneath the illusion of peace, but Han Shuying knew better.

This was only the beginning of their nightmare. They’d previously complained of the raised taxes imposed by General Han Zheng and the Empress and the harsh rules that now governed trading.

Han Shuying almost laughed out loud.

She was leaving the capital the next day and heading to Blood Lotus temple where the divine sword was. But would she be able to make it back in time? Would Ru Yi be able to hold on till then?

There were so many questions and she had no answer to any of them. She heard the Empress come up from behind, putting her hand on Han Shuying’s back.

"How long do I have to put up this facade?" Han Shuying asked in a quiet voice.

The Empress leaned into her. "Until one of us dies."

Beneath the crimson silk and golden lanterns, the Empress and her unwilling bride stood as enemies bound together by a marriage neither of them could escape.