Chapter 37

📖 CHAPTER 37: THE BLOODLINE'S CURSE

The storm that had been gathering in the distance finally broke. Thunder rumbled across the heavens as rain poured down, drumming against the rooftops of Gu Manor.

Gu Qingyan sat by the window, her silver eyes tracing the rivulets of water sliding down the glass. The jade pendant lay cold in her palm, its once-faint warmth now replaced by an eerie stillness.

Something was coming.

She could feel it.

A sudden gust of wind forced the shutters open, sending papers fluttering across the room. Xiao Yue rushed in, her face pale.

"Miss! Someone—someone left this at the gates."

She held out a small wooden box, drenched from the rain. Gu Qingyan took it, unfastened the latch, and lifted the lid.

Inside, wrapped in black silk, lay an ancient bronze seal.

Her fingers tightened.

This was no ordinary relic.

This was the Imperial Bloodline Seal—a symbol that should have been destroyed decades ago. A symbol that belonged to a lineage erased from history.

Her lineage.

Xiao Yue shivered. "Miss… what does it mean?"

Gu Qingyan's lips curled into a slow, knowing smile.

"It means," she said softly, "our enemies are finally showing themselves."

—

📍 Secret Chamber – The Imperial Palace

Deep beneath the palace, hidden beyond the golden halls, an underground chamber lay undisturbed for years. Tonight, however, its silence was broken.

Crown Prince Feng Yusheng stood before an altar of black stone, his fingers brushing the dust from an inscription carved into its surface.

Footsteps echoed behind him.

"You knew this would happen."

Feng Yusheng didn't turn. "It was only a matter of time."

A shadow stepped forward, revealing a man in dark robes—Prime Minister Wei.

"The Bloodline's Curse is not just a legend," Wei murmured. "If that seal has resurfaced, it means—"

"That someone from the lost lineage is alive," Feng Yusheng finished.

The Prime Minister's expression darkened. "Then she is in more danger than we anticipated."

Feng Yusheng's golden eyes gleamed in the dim light.

"Danger?" he echoed.

Then, he smirked.

"She is the danger."

—

📍 Gu Manor – Midnight

Gu Qingyan traced the edges of the bronze seal, its weight familiar yet foreign in her hands. She had read about it in forbidden texts, whispered stories of a royal family that had been purged from existence.

The true rulers of the empire.

And yet, here it was—proof that the past had not been erased completely.

Her fingers tightened.

Then a soft sound.

A whisper.

She stilled. The shadows in the room shifted, curling unnaturally toward her.

A voice, low and ghostly, brushed against her ear.

"The throne was never theirs to take."

The candlelight flickered.

Gu Qingyan exhaled slowly.

"Then," she murmured, her smile razor-sharp, "let's take it back."

The storm raged on outside, but within her, a new fire had begun to burn.

The first real battle had begun.