Early autumn, outside Hanshan Temple. The maple forest was dyed a fiery, brilliant red.
In a quiet, rustic guest room in the temple’s rear courtyard.
Zhou Mingyi’s simple pale green dress had half-slipped off, revealing her porcelain-white shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shimmering with tears as she was pinned down by a tall, burly man.
Moonlight poured into the room, cascading over them both.
The man had handsome features and a sharp jawline, his deep eyes currently a bloodshot haze.
“Are you the person arranged by the Em—by my mother?”
His voice was hoarse, as if he were exerting immense effort to suppress something.
Startled, the girl’s eyes instantly filled with tears.
Emperor Qianwu’s sword-like brows knitted slightly. Why was she so delicate?
He had only asked a question; why was she crying?
The girl before him was unexpectedly stunning.
Under the moonlight, her figure was lithe and graceful, her skin as white as translucent jade. She had a small, palm-sized face with a delicate, straight nose, and her ruby-red lips looked like cherries inviting one to pluck them.
Her long black hair was spread across the simple couch, emitting a faint, delicate fragrance.
This girl was so beautiful she felt surreal.
Because of this, Emperor Qianwu felt a flicker of doubt and hesitation.
Where had his mother found such a woman?
The middle-aged monarch was not a lecherous man, yet he couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of possessiveness.
With such peerless beauty, who else in the world but him was worthy of possessing her?
He simply hadn’t expected the Empress Dowager to be so impatient for success that she would resort to drugging him to ensure the deed was done.
Emperor Qianwu’s expression turned dark and profound. Regardless of her intentions, her hand had reached too far this time.
He had ascended the throne as a youth and had ruled for twenty years now.
Yet time had been exceptionally kind to him; he showed no signs of aging. Instead, his aura of authority had only deepened, commanding respect without even needing to speak.
Seeing Zhou Mingyi’s flushed face and blurred, enchanting eyes, Emperor Qianwu realized something was wrong.
If his mother could drug him, she naturally could have drugged this girl as well…
Forget it.
“I ask you one more time, are you willing?”
Zhou Mingyi let out a soft moan, her slender, snow-white fingers clenching the man’s lapels tightly. This posture was, without a doubt, a silent invitation.
Emperor Qianwu no longer restrained himself.
With a sharp rip, the girl’s clothes were torn away.
Outside the ancient temple, the autumn chill deepened, but inside the guest room, the air was thick with the warmth of spring…
However, in a corner Emperor Qianwu could not see, the corners of Zhou Mingyi’s lips curled slightly.
Brother, wait just a little longer!
Mingyi will be able to rescue you very soon!
Zhou Mingyi’s parents had died young, leaving only her and her older brother to depend on each other.
Her brother, Zhou Mingchong, was handsome, elegant in his writing, and exceptionally gifted.
When they were young, he would have rather given up his future just to earn a bite of food for her.
How could Zhou Mingyi bear that?
Highly intelligent even as a young child, she not only taught herself embroidery but was also lucky enough to save an old seamstress, receiving her lifelong legacy of skills.
Her embroidery soon became somewhat famous. By working hard, she had no trouble providing for their household.
At her pleading, her brother returned to the academy to study.
Zhou Mingchong did not disappoint; he was a natural scholar and quickly rose to prominence after returning to his studies.
However, on the day he placed third in the imperial examinations as the Tanhua, he was spotted by Princess Zhaoyang. She seized him and kept him in the palace, forcing him to be her male favorite.
After her brother had been missing for many days, Zhou Mingyi did not know the reason. She only heard rumors that someone had behaved improperly in the imperial presence.
Naturally, she was terrified.
Her brother was talented and refined, but he was also brilliant.
Talented men were often prideful; if he had spoken out righteously, it wasn’t impossible for him to have angered the Emperor.
Without time to think, Zhou Mingyi immediately went to her fiancé, Cen Shaoyuan, for help.
Her marriage to Cen Shaoyuan had been arranged by their elders, but since her family had fallen on hard times and her parents were dead, she wasn’t sure if the Cen family still recognized the match.
But she had no other choice; she had to grasp at any straw.
When Cen Shaoyuan first saw her face, he was stunned.
Not only did he immediately agree to help her, but he also took her into his manor to wait.
However, Zhou Mingyi never expected that instead of helping her, he would offer her to the Crown Prince.
Trapped in the Eastern Palace, Zhou Mingyi was no longer her own master.
At first, the Crown Prince promised to rescue her brother from Princess Zhaoyang’s hands.
She believed him.
In the end, once the Crown Prince grew tired of her body and beauty, he gave her away like a plaything to someone else.
The Crown Princess took the opportunity to frame her for debauchery in the Eastern Palace, ordering her to be beaten half to death with clubs.
As she lingered between life and death, she begged someone to drag her to the city gates.
There, Zhou Mingyi saw her brother. He had been flayed and stuffed with straw, his remains hanging above the city gate.
The Crown Princess’s people said that it was her brother’s good fortune that Princess Zhaoyang took a liking to him.
Since her brother didn’t know what was good for him, he deserved his retribution.
Zhou Mingyi wept tears of blood. She crawled desperately toward her brother and took her own life by smashing her head against the city wall.
…
To her surprise, when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the beginning.
Zhou Mingyi felt hatred—hatred for her own lack of cleverness.
She hated Cen Shaoyuan for treating her as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the Crown Prince.
She hated the Crown Prince for his fickle ruthlessness, and she hated the Crown Princess even more for her cruelty.
But if she were to name the people she hated most, it was naturally Princess Zhaoyang and the current Emperor.
Princess Zhaoyang was a noble “golden branch and jade leaf,” the Emperor’s only child. But wasn’t her brother her only brother as well?
After her rebirth, Zhou Mingyi obtained a System.
The System told her that if she entered the palace and bore the Emperor’s child—ensuring Princess Zhaoyang was no longer his only offspring—she could rescue her brother and take revenge for their past lives!
Without a second thought, Zhou Mingyi bound herself to the System.
As long as she could have her revenge, she was willing to do anything!
The reason the Emperor doted on Princess Zhaoyang—never severely punishing her even when she acted wantonly and forced handsome young men into her manor—was simply because she was his only biological child.
The current ruler, Emperor Qianwu, had been without heirs for years, having only Princess Zhaoyang as his biological daughter.
As for the Crown Prince, he was an adopted heir taken from the imperial clan.
The “father and son” were not close in appearance or in heart.
If she could give birth to a prince, Princess Zhaoyang would no longer be unique.
At that point, she would be nothing more than an insignificant princess.
Her own child might even inherit the throne.
She would no longer be a discarded pawn to be thrown away at will, nor a toy for others to manipulate.
She would save her brother and kill Princess Zhaoyang!
She would also get revenge on the Crown Prince and his wife for everything in her past life!
Once she bore the Emperor a biological son, she wouldn’t even need to lift a finger against the so-called Crown Prince and Crown Princess; the Emperor would surely clear all obstacles for his own son.
And as for the Emperor who indulged his daughter in kidnapping officials…
If the day ever came when power was in her hands, she would deal with him personally to soothe the hatred in her heart from her past life!
As for the act of seducing the monarch, Zhou Mingyi didn’t care in the slightest.
As long as she could have her revenge, any sacrifice was worth it. A person shouldn’t fear being used; they should fear having no value to be used for.
Zhou Mingyi used the System to adjust her physical condition to its peak.
A lithe figure, skin like ice and bones like jade, hair like a black waterfall, and eyes like autumn pools.
Her natural appearance was already peerless, and with the System’s additional adjustments, she had reached perfection.
In her past life at the Eastern Palace, she had heard that the Emperor had favored a woman at Hanshan Temple outside the city and brought her back to the palace, doting on her for a long time.
Zhou Mingyi simply followed that blueprint, replacing that woman’s identity and being personally delivered to the dragon bed by the Empress Dowager.
…
Inside a simple yet solemn guest room in Hanshan Temple, the Empress Dowager, dressed in understated clothing, was focused on her Buddhist prayers.
After about an hour, the Empress Dowager opened her eyes.
Although time had left some marks on her face, it was clear she had been a beauty in her youth.
“Zhulan, what time is it?”
The Empress Dowager’s personal maid immediately stepped forward. “Reporting to the Empress Dowager, it is already past the hour of the Dog (7-9 PM).”
The Empress Dowager nodded slightly.
“Regarding the Emperor…”
Aunt Zhulan had been by the Empress Dowager’s side for many years and was a steady person.
She lowered her eyes slightly. “It is done.”
A look of joy finally appeared on the Empress Dowager’s face.
But then, she thought of something.
“Do you think the Emperor will blame me for doing this?”