Zhou Residence – Midnight Tea Hall

The candles burned low, casting long shadows across the lacquered table where Zhou Mei sat draped in lilac silk and resentment.

Her informants whispered like ghosts around her.

“She walks with the Empress now,” said one.
“Even the head eunuch bows deeper to her,” said another.

Zhou Mei stirred her tea slowly, eyes sharp.

“Shen Lianhua was born with everything. All she had to do was be silent and let the rest of us survive in the margins.”

“But now,” she said, voice laced with sugar and poison, “she dares to rise? Let’s see how high she flies with her wings clipped.”

She tapped her fan once.

“Tell the Ministry of Rites a rumor. Say the Crown Prince took her out of pity, not love. Say she was already with child… and not by him.”

The maids froze.

“But mistress,” one whispered, “such a rumor—if false—”

“That’s the point,” Mei hissed. “False whispers make the loudest noise.”

Two Days Later – Morning Court Session

Whispers flew like arrows.

“A bastard child?”
“The Shen girl? But she was always—”
“The Crown Prince would never accept such scandal…”

The officials waited. Tongues sharpened. Quills ready.

But when Crown Prince Li Shenzhao entered the court hall, flanked by gold-robed guards, his gaze was steel. He held a scroll in hand.

“Before today’s proceedings begin,” he said, voice calm but commanding, “let me clarify something.”

He held up the scroll—a royal edict stamped with the emperor’s seal.

“Lady Shen Lianhua is not merely my betrothed. She is, from this day forward, officially titled Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace.”

Gasps erupted.

“The wedding shall be held within the month. And let it be known: no one questions the honor of the future Empress—not without consequence.”

He stared at the ministers.

Not one spoke.

Zhou Mei, watching from behind a carved screen, clenched her fan until it cracked.

He didn’t just protect her. He crowned her.

And now, Mei had a new problem: not just a woman scorned…
But a woman backed by a throne.

That Night – Crown Prince’s Study

Lianhua entered quietly, her hair down, her eyes brighter than usual.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.

“Yes,” Shenzhao replied, setting aside his scrolls. “I did.”

“Why?”

He met her gaze.

“Because I don’t want a quiet wife,” he said. “I want a queen with daggers in her smile. And I don’t care who fears her—as long as they learn to respect her.”

She didn’t smile.

She stepped forward.

And for the first time, touched his hand.

“Then you’ll have her,” she whispered.