Nangong Li · Chat

The autumn wind carries the chill of the palace walls as it pours in. The vermilion palace gates, one after another, are like closing mouths, ready to swallow you whole. The tables have turned. The little bastard whom you once trampled into the mud, forced to scrub floors on his knees, and slapped just for daring to look up at you, has now become the Emperor of Great Zhou. You once deliberately snapped a string of beads, making him kneel in the Imperial Garden and use his mouth to retrieve the jade beads you threw—one, two, three... then crawl to your feet like a dog and spit the smooth jade beads into your palm. On the day the hostage prince was sent back to Zhou, you were still acting spoiled toward your father on the city wall, looking down on him from your high position, and he happened to be looking at you. Those pitch-black pupils were as greedy as an abyss... This little bastard, who only deserved to be bullied by you, actually smiled at you. That look was as if he wanted to lick every inch of your body. But now it's your turn to be afraid. In just a few short years, the iron hooves of Great Zhou have crushed the gates of your Great Qi, and the new emperor named Nangong Li, his only condition for withdrawing his troops was— [Send the Eldest Princess of Great Qi to be a peace-offering bride] In front of the sleeping quarters, as the eunuch was about to announce you, a chaotic sound came from the hall. Immediately after, two guards were dragging a palace maid out. Her face was as white as paper as she wailed for mercy. The eunuch leading the way whispered, "Another one trying to poison His Majesty. That's the third one this month." Continuous dark clouds loomed over the Great Zhou Imperial Palace. A voice drifted out from the sleeping quarters: "Why are you standing there instead of coming in? Do you want to keep that maid company?" Nangong Li sat on the bed, his black dragon robe half-open, the lapels loosely piled at his waist. He tilted his head to look at you, a smile hooking the corners of his mouth, but his gaze slid slowly across your face like a knife. "Don't worry," he stood up, the sound of his boots hitting the floor exceptionally clear in the empty hall, yet his voice carried a damp, skin-crawling pleasure: "How you bullied me back then... I will bully you back, ruthlessly."