In early spring, when all things come back to life, the Hundred Clans reach the season for seeking spouses and continuing their lineages.
Within the Phoenix Clan’s Fenghe Hall, Li Xuanyue, dressed in crimson, gazes at the five Imperial Consorts kneeling before her. Her eyes hold turbulence and complexity, but beneath it all lies the profound sense of rebirth belonging to one who has survived a catastrophe.
Yes. She has been reborn.
In her previous life, on her wedding night, she had suddenly gone mad and tortured three of her Imperial Consorts to death. Before the dawn could break, the news had already spread throughout the Hundred Clans. From that point on, Li Xuanyue bore the stigma of being bloodthirsty and cruel.
Later, when the Phoenix Emperor passed away and the Hundred Clans gathered to choose a new ruler, Li Xuanyue was forcefully excluded. The throne ultimately fell to her younger half-sister, Li Qinghe.
The first thing Li Qinghe did upon ascending the throne was to target her. The justification was that the Phoenix Clan’s First Princess had brought no glory or benefit to the clan since her birth; instead, she had allowed the noble sons sent by the Hundred Clans for matrimonial alliances to die wretchedly within Fenghe Hall. Li Qinghe claimed that because of the late Phoenix Emperor’s protection, she had previously been unable to act, but now that the late Phoenix Emperor had been gone for a month, allowing Li Xuanyue to live was an insult to her own authority.
That night, Li Qinghe appeared in Taihe Palace, accompanied by her attendants. Clad in the new monarch’s robes, her features were clear and beautiful, and an indefinable, charming smile played upon her lips. Her every movement radiated nobility and dominance. Compared to Li Xuanyue, who was imprisoned in the dilapidated Taihe Palace, they were like heaven and earth.
This was the outcome Li Qinghe had coveted for years. With her dream finally realized, she felt a profound sense of satisfaction.
"Why?" Li Xuanyue lifted her eyes to look down at her younger sister, who stood towering over her. She could not understand why she had been so heartless. When their mother was alive, she had never once felt she had treated this half-sister unfairly or owed her anything. How could she have plotted against her time and time again?
"For no reason." Li Qinghe’s voice was cold. "This Empress simply wanted to trample you underfoot. I wanted you to die."
She crouched before Li Xuanyue, reached out, and gripped her jaw tightly, her eyes dark. "You pride yourself on being the First Princess of the Phoenix Clan, don’t you? So noble and grand that everyone in the Hundred Clans must bow to you. But do you know that for years, this noble Princess has been drinking the drugs I used to control your mind?"
Li Xuanyue’s eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?" She gasped for air. "You mean all those times I went mad... it was because of you?"
"Hmm-hmm!" Li Qinghe hummed, admitting it with chilling ease. She then shoved aside Li Xuanyue’s face with disgust and stood up.
"So what if you are the First Princess of the Phoenix Clan? So what if you were born noble? Do you think that because you are the First Princess and were good to me, I must be grateful and bow to your every whim?"
"On what grounds?" Li Qinghe asked the question flippantly, though her dismissive gaze was filled with an unspeakable, bottomless hatred for Li Xuanyue.
"We are both princesses. Why should you be born noble while I was left to suffer in the cold palace?" Whenever Li Qinghe thought of the scenes where she and her Imperial Father Consort were bullied and humiliated in Taihe Palace, a bloodthirsty madness flashed in her eyes.
"Am I just a supporting character for you?" she muttered to herself. "Or is it because your Imperial Father Consort is the primary consort, and you crawled out of the Empress’s belly while I didn't, that I must always be beneath you?"
"From the day I understood the world, I swore to myself that one day I would trample you, the high-and-mighty First Princess, into the mud. I am so glad that I have achieved that today."
Li Qinghe stood before Li Xuanyue like a victor, eager to share the fruits of her malice. "And one more thing—your Imperial Father Consort was right about one thing he said to you that day." She curled her lips, pausing for a few seconds to savor the look of devastation on Li Xuanyue’s face before whispering in her ear: "I did indeed have ill intentions toward you."
"It is a pity that you, always so self-righteous, never took a word of what your Imperial Father Consort said to heart. That is why he ended up meeting the same tragic, deathly end as you." Li Qinghe’s eyes darkened; as she recalled the way Hua Shan had died in Zhonghe Hall, a look of unprecedented pleasure appeared in her gaze.
"You!" Upon hearing these truths, Li Xuanyue was so infuriated that she failed to notice she had bitten her lower lip until it bled.
"What is even more laughable is that you eventually drove away the two Imperial Consorts who survived. Do you know that once they left the Phoenix Clan, they faced certain death? Their clans never intended for them to return from the moment they were sent here. You thought you were doing them a favor, not wanting them to die because of you... but you were the one who ended up killing them!"
At these final words, Li Qinghe erupted into crazed laughter. Li Xuanyue trembled like sand falling through an hourglass, her complexion deathly pale, her lips tinged with an abnormal, dark purple—a clear sign of deep poisoning.
"Li Qinghe, you will die a miserable death!" Li Xuanyue’s eyes were filled with endless regret and madness as she cursed her sister. If there were another life, she would never let Li Qinghe live in peace. "Just you wait! Even if I die, I will return as a vengeful spirit to haunt you!"
*
"Your Highness, the Second Princess is here."
Within Fenghe Hall, Li Xuanyue, still lost in the memories of her previous life and plotting how to systematically dismantle Li Qinghe’s facade, was interrupted by a maid who hurried in to report.
"Congratulations, sister. Many congratulations."
Before Li Qinghe had even entered the hall, her voice preceded her. Li Qinghe, who usually wore white, had made the rare choice to dress in a light pink ensemble today. With eyebrows like painted ink, a cold expression, and a slender waist, she was the picture of a cold, aloof beauty. However, the moment she stepped inside, her eyes darted repeatedly toward the five Imperial Consorts.
"What is my sister looking at?"
Li Xuanyue knew exactly what Li Qinghe was searching for. She was checking to see if they had been drugged. In her previous life, the reason her five Imperial Consorts had been unable to resist and were tortured to death was that they had been secretly given the Ten-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder. Had it not been for that, their martial prowess would never have allowed them to be slaughtered on their wedding night.
The culprit behind it all was the very person standing before her.
Li Qinghe!