A Throne That Bleeds
399 Words
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*Episode 13:
The palace buzzed with tension. Guards surrounded Crown Prince Zhaohan’s quarters. He wasn’t arrested—but he was caged. And everyone knew it.
From the shadows, Shen Weining watched silently, her heart filled with rage.
“He promised me the crown,” she hissed. “Now Liyue wears the glory that should’ve been mine.”
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Meanwhile, *Liyue* stood at the Eastern Pavilion, staring at the golden koi pond her mother used to visit. The scent of jasmine lingered in the air.
Tang Shi approached quietly. “They’ll strike soon. They’re too desperate not to.”
She nodded. “Let them come. I’ll turn every strike into their downfall.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “You’ve changed.”
She turned to him, fierce and calm. “I was reborn in blood. I didn’t come back to be soft. I came back to rule.”
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That night, an assassin entered her chamber.
Silent.
Swift.
Lethal.
But before the blade could reach her throat—*Tang Shi’s dagger pinned the attacker to the wall.*
“Did you really think I wouldn’t have her watched?” he asked coldly.
The assassin gasped, revealing a hidden token—*marked with Shen Weining’s sigil*.
Liyue didn’t flinch. “She’s getting reckless.”
---The next morning, Shen Weining was summoned before the Dowager.
“You’ve been linked to an attempted assassination,” the Dowager said.
Weining smiled sweetly. “Anyone can fake a seal. Liyue’s hungry for attention—maybe even power.”
The Dowager narrowed her eyes. “You forget—Liyue has the support of Tang Shi. Accuse her wrongly again, and you may face exile.”
Shen Weining’s smile faded.
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Elsewhere, Liyue visited the orphanage her mother once built—burnt years ago under mysterious fire.
There, she found a lone survivor—a woman with burn scars and a memory sharp as steel.
“I saw them set the fire,” she whispered. “Nobles. Men sent by Prince Zhaohan.”
Another piece of the puzzle. Another brick in the tomb she was building for her enemies.
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That night, she wrote a letter:
**“To the Emperor—
I have more than enough evidence to destroy the Crown Prince. But what I want now… is the throne he sits beneath.”**
She sealed it with her name.
*Liyue Tang.*
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