The words from morning court spread through the palace faster than wildfire. Before the imperial decree had even reached the inner palace, the concubines already knew.
The emperor had dissolved the harem.And he was personally marching to war.
Several palaces instantly descended into chaos. Porcelain shattered across the floors, servants were slapped in panic, and more than one concubine locked herself inside her chambers crying hysterically. Some cursed the emperor for being heartless. Others cursed the empress instead, convinced he had finally bewitched the emperor completely.
But under all the outrage, everyone understood the same thing. The emperor was serious.
The older concubines understood it fastest. They had entered the palace early enough to remember the emperor during his crown prince years. Back then, once he decided something, not even the late emperor could force him to change it.
And today, that same coldness had returned.
The emperor from recent years had become quieter, more restrained, enough that people slowly forgot what kind of person he originally was. But the emperor who stood in morning court today was once again the infamous crown prince who controlled half the court at sixteen and executed corrupt officials without hesitation at seventeen.
That was what truly frightened people. Not the decree itself.
Within the harem, the outrage slowly faded into fear. Because no one doubted the emperor's words. If he said the harem would disappear, then it would disappear. And if he said anyone remaining after one week would die, then they would die.
The empress sat beside the window while Tao'er laid across his lap playing with a jade pendant. Ruan'er sat nearby reading, while Hu Feng silently drank tea beside the table as he continued his studies.
A head eunuch hurried inside before kneeling immediately.
"Your Majesty," he said carefully, "news from morning court has spread through the palace."
The empress did not look surprised.
"What did he do now?"
The eunuch hesitated briefly before lowering his head further.
"His Majesty dissolved the harem."
The entire hall went silent.
Even the empress stopped moving and looked up at the eunuch in shock.
The eunuch immediately lowered his head further beneath that gaze, his voice becoming even more careful. "His Majesty also announced he will personally lead the campaign against Northern Beijiang."
Ruan'er's book nearly slipped from her hands. Hu Feng's teacup paused slightly in midair. They might still be young, but they were royal children raised within the palace. Even they understood what it meant for an emperor to personally march to war.
Especially against Northern Beijiang.
The northern battlefield was not some minor rebellion that could be crushed in a few days. Northern Beijiang had troubled the empire for years. The terrain was harsh, the winters brutal, and the enemy cavalry notoriously difficult to suppress. If the emperor personally entered war and something happened to him, the entire dynasty could collapse into chaos overnight.
Tao'er blinked in confusion, looking between the adults. "Daddy is leaving?"
No one answered immediately.
The empress lowered his gaze slowly toward the decree in his hands. The paper remained steady, but his expression had already darkened slightly.
That madman.
YOU ARE READING
My Sin
Fiksi SejarahLiu Quiaqio, the Empress of the Jin Dynasty has given his heart, soul, and body to the emperor, he loved him to the point it exhausted him, but the cold emperor only had eyes for one person, and that person wasn't him, the warmth in his eyes when he...
