Chapter 8: Ghosts Of The Past

Consumed by envy, the Empress enters the Emperor's chambers, determined to claim what she believes is rightfully hers—an heir. But will her desperate advances win his favor? As tension mounts, the shadows of a forgotten past begin to resurface.

—————————————————

The candlelights flickered beneath a full moon, its pale light filtering through the latticed windows

The Empress was dressed in a sheer golden nightgown that leaves little to the imagination. The gold threads hugged her silhouette and shimmered with her every move.

Her hair was loosed from its usual crown of pins, cascading down her back in waves, her eyes were made up to be more sultry but ignited with determination.

She glided her way to the emperor's bed and sat calmly by the edge.

The cold air smelled of peonies. She had prepared for this night carefully—down to the exact blend of flowers she chose to bathe in.

It has been ten years. Ten years of cold nights and colder silences.

She did not want to be ignored any longer.

"Your Majesty," she greeted him with a gentle, seductive smile. "You are late."

He paused for a moment then replied coldly. "I do not wish to see you"

"Your Majesty forgets, I am your wife, and tonight is a full moon" she said. "Where else should I be?"

He didn't answer. He just stared at her, distant as always.

She took a step closer, closing the distance between them. Her fingers brushed the lapel of his robe

"Ten years of standing beside you, bearing your crown but never your affection. "

"After all these years, you've never touched me. I am still... untouched."

Her voice trembled slightly, but she didn't let herself waver. She placed a hand gently on his chest.

"Tonight, I merely want to claim what is mine. I want to carry your heir, your rightful heir"

The Emperor's eyes showed indifference, but he didn't push her away.

A humorless chuckle escaped him. "Did you really think an heir will bind me to you?"

"Or because you believe, after all this time, I'll finally see you?"

Her fingers started to trace the intricate embroidery of his robe, her touch was like a snake slithering on his torso.

She worked her fingers from his torso, to chest then traced around his shoulders as she orbited around him.

She had never been the one he sought, never the one he reached for. He had kept her close—so close—but never truly there.

She looked into his eyes, desperate and wanting for even a hint of affection.

"You've never looked at me," she whispered, "Not really looked at me."

"What do you think, your Majesty?" she whispered, her voice like a siren, "After all these years, should I be content with nothing?"

A flicker of amusement passed through his eyes before he let out a cold sigh.

He reached up his hand to brush his fingers along her jaw. The touch was gentle, yet it burned.

The Empress was bewildered by the sudden intimacy.

"You've never once touched me. Do I repulse you?"

His eyes darkened. "You know it's not that."

"Then what is it?" Her hand slid up his chest, over the steady, unyielding beat of his heart.

"Am I not beautiful enough? Not clever enough? Or is it simply that you refuse to let go of the past?"

His fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her. "You tread on dangerous grounds."

"I don't care." She lifted her chin up.

He could sense the defiance burning in her eyes.

"You really don't have to do this" sighed the Emperor

"But I want it! I have been patient for all these years, vying for your love"

"I am your Wife! And if you won't love me, then at least want me. Even for one night."

The Emperor looked at her then, truly looked at her—not as a ruler, not as a husband, but as a man haunted. His jaw tightened.

For a moment, she thought he might push her away. But then his grip tightened, pulling her against him with a roughness that stole her breath. His other hand tangled in her hair, tilting her face up to his.

The tip of her lips swept the edges of his jaw in a motion that was both timid and bold, a desperate softness that she had never allowed herself before.

"You owe me this," she murmured.

"Take me, I will give you something you've never had," she said

He grabbed her waist tightly and moved his lips to her ears

"You are my Empress," he said in a tender voice. "And that is all."

Then his lips turned and smiled at her

But it wasn't warmth. It wasn't love.

It was pure pity.

"Did you really think that doing all this would change anything?" he said softly, letting go of her.

"Or that I would forget everything?"

The Empress was taken aback by his act but gathered herself quickly.

"I have compromised enough," she said, stepping closer.

"I accepted your beloved Consort Shu into the palace. I welcomed her son as your firstborn. I played the dutiful sovereign, while my own womb remained empty.

"I am the one wearing the Phoenix crown, it should have been me!"

"She gave me a son because I let her," the Emperor replied sternly.

"But you? You will never bear my child."

"Why?" she asked, voice cracking. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you." His gaze turned cold.

"But I cannot give myself to the daughter of the man who killed the only woman I ever loved."

"And you are punishing me?" she asked, her voice rising. "For a crime I did not commit. For the sins of my family. I was only a girl when she died!"

"And yet you wear their name. You sit on the throne they bought with blood. Do not pretend that you are innocent!!" The Emperor lashed out at her.

The air between them froze with tension.

"...She's dead," the Empress whispered. "That girl from your youth—she's been gone for years. Are you planning to be haunted forever?"

"I loved her," he said simply. "I still do, my heart is unwilling to move on"

He turned from her, walking toward the moonlight. "She cannot rest while her murderer still walks these halls."

The Empress shook her head, tears threatening to spill.

"Then you'll never move forward. Never be whole."

"Perhaps not," he murmured. "But I'd rather sleep with every single woman in the harem before I ever touch you."

The words echoed in the halls. She could believe that Emperor would be this cruel.

The Empress stepped back, trembling with rage and humiliation.

"So I am to be your Empress in name only? No love. No child. No future?"

"You were given that crown to secure my throne" the Emperor said. "Be content with your title. You knew the price."

Her heart thudded dully in her chest.

She straightened her composure, with the last of her pride.

"Very well," she said coldly. "But remember this, Your Majesty."

She turned to leave, her voice low but laced with venom.

"I always get what I want. Sooner or later… I will have an heir. Whether you grant it or not."

She did not look back.

The door slammed behind her.

Then she was gone, her footsteps echoing like the final beats of a war drum.

The Emperor stood alone in the silence. In the shadows of the moonlight, the past stirred

He felt it—something had changed tonight. The Empress would not wait quietly anymore.

—————————————————

At the other end of the palace, Yue tossed and turned in her bed.

She is deep in her slumber but her mind was racing with vivid imagery. Her dreams, almost like a vision, surfaced from her memory.

In her dream, she was a child again, small and trembling, hidden behind a half-collapsed pillar as shadows moved like demons through her family's estate.

The sounds came next—shouts, the clash of metal on metal, the cries of those she had loved.

The pain of that moment was sharp, but the details were lost in the fog. Faces were smudged, their expressions blurred but she could feel the horror and rage.

She didn't know where she was, but she was alone and afraid

There was a flash of fire. She could almost hear Her mother's voice, pleading, desperate, but the words were tangled, muffled, as if drowned by the roaring inferno.

There was a tall figure which she felt was her father, his face was masked, his hand was reaching towards her, but it was too late. It always felt too late.

Yue twisted in her sleep, her fingers clawing at the silken sheets as the nightmare dragged her under.

The air was suffocating with dark and heavy smoke, the once-elegant halls of her home now painted in crimson.

"Find the girl!" a voice snarled.

A figure standing in the smoke, dark and imposing. She couldn't see his face. The figure moved toward her, slowly, like a shadow closing in on its prey.

She pressed her hands over her mouth, tears cutting hot tracks down her cheeks.

Then—a flash of gold.

Something glimmered in the chaos. A pendant? A seal? It swung from the belt of her attacker, catching the firelight as they turned—

She sees it clearly, it was a symbol of a

dragon wrapped around a mountain covered in clouds.

Then a sharp noise broke through — the sound of the ground shattering beneath her, the very earth she stands separating into pieces.

She fell, tumbling into a void where nothing existed but the infinite darkness.

Yue shot upright in bed, gasping for air.

Her body was drenched in cold sweat. The palace around her was silent, the only sound the frantic beating of her own heart.

This was the most clear vision she had ever dreamed. She finally had a clue to her past.

That symbol. She'd seen it before. Not just in nightmares, but somewhere else.

And she knew exactly where…

"I need to leave the Palace" Yue said to herself.