Imperial Throne Hall – One Month Later

The dragon seal felt heavier than she expected.

Not in weight, but in consequence.

Empress Shen Lianhua sat beside Emperor Li Shenzhao, her robes layered in ivory and gold, her crown set with phoenix jade—rare, sharp, radiant. Like her.

Below her, ministers debated border treaties and grain taxes. But it was her voice they turned to now when a decision tilted the court.

Shenzhao remained steady, always letting her speak first.

It wasn’t just symbolic.

It was respect.

“Redistribute the surplus rice stores from the southern ports,” Lianhua commanded evenly. “And ensure the merchants pay fair weight, or lose their license.”

The ministers bowed.

“As Her Majesty decrees.”

She had once dreamed of revenge.

Now she ruled.

And it required something even harder than vengeance: restraint.

Later – Empress’s Study

The scrolls came in piles now—petitions from noblewomen requesting reforms, village girls asking for protection against arranged marriages, scholars proposing women-led schools under her patronage.

She read each one carefully.

She made notes. Corrections.

“They don’t want just a crown,” she told Xiao Fen. “They want a symbol that fights for them.”

“And I won’t be the last woman to wear this seal.”

Evening – Moon Garden Pavilion

Shenzhao joined her under the magnolia trees, still dressed in court black.

They didn’t speak for a while.

The breeze smelled like early spring.

“You’ve grown quieter,” he said finally.

“Quieter or older?”

He smiled. “Both.”

She sipped her tea.

“Do you ever wonder what kind of Empress I’ll be?” she asked.

“No,” he said simply.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve already become her.”

“Now I wonder what kind of mother you’ll be.”

She froze. Slowly lowered her cup.

“Mother?”

He reached into his robe and set a single object on the table between them.

A carved wooden rattle.

Not ornate. Not royal.

Just something handmade… for hope.

“I overheard the physician.”

Her fingers brushed the rattle’s curve.

“You knew before I did.”

“I suspected,” he said. “And I prayed.”

She swallowed hard.

For the first time in months, tears stung her eyes—not from fury.

But from possibility.

“Then let me be more than the woman who brought down the empire’s wolves,” she whispered.

“Let me raise the cubs who will rule after them.”