Volume One, Chapter One: Once More

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The night was as black as ink. Lou Hongling lay sprawled on the cold, damp floor of the Changle Palace, her vision filled with the distant, indifferent silhouette of Empress Dowager Deng, high and unapproachable, merciless and unfeeling. Encircling her were eunuchs with vicious faces, their gleaming blades flashing with the chill of death.

“You wretched maid, the daughter of a traitor, dreaming of becoming a consort? What a delusional fool!”

The Empress Dowager’s voice seemed to echo from the depths of hell, frigid and biting, saturated with boundless contempt.

Blood trickled from the corner of Lou Hongling’s mouth; her body had been battered to the brink of ruin, bones snapped and shattered. With the last of her strength, she raised her head and looked toward the man standing at the Empress Dowager’s side—the very man who once promised she would be his only wife, who had once shared days and nights of tender affection with her. Now, he was the new emperor, Deng Chumo, and her eyes brimmed with disbelief and despair.

“Husband… why?”

Her voice was barely more than a dying ember, laced with profound longing and anguish.

The vows once sworn, the sweet moments beneath flowers and moonlight, all crumbled to dust in this instant, leaving nothing but endless betrayal and heartbreak.

Deng Chumo's gaze was cold as ice, as if he looked upon a stranger of no consequence. His lips curled into a mocking sneer.

“Lou Hongling, you were nothing but a pawn on my path to power. Did you truly believe I could have genuine feelings for the daughter of Lou Xiao, that mere commoner?”

At the mention of her father, Lou Hongling felt her heart plunge into a bottomless abyss. Memories, unbidden, swept her back to the past—the man who once gazed at her with such devotion during their wedding ceremony, promising that when he ascended the throne, he would reexamine the case in which General Lou Xiao had been wrongly accused of treason.

Because of that accusation, her family was executed, and she was sent to the palace as a maid. Trusting the Empress Dowager’s words, she became Deng Chumo’s spy, drawing close to Xu Qing on his behalf.

Back then, she naively believed Deng Chumo’s affections were true. For him, she betrayed Xu Qing, who had always treated her with genuine kindness, and delivered the throne to Deng Chumo instead.

She helped Deng Chumo secretly contact courtiers, delivered confidential messages, and repeatedly aided him during the power struggle between Xu Qing and the Empress Dowager. She watched, powerless, as Xu Qing was drawn, step by step, into a desperate plight. Never did she expect that on the very first day of his reign, Deng Chumo would name his cousin Li Shangyan as Empress, and order the execution of herself—the “maid” who never had any official standing.

At this moment, Li Shangyan glided forward with enchanting grace, leaning coquettishly against Deng Chumo’s shoulder.

“Miss Lou, we really must thank you. It’s only thanks to you that the Deng family now holds all of the Dahe Empire in its grasp…”

Li Shangyan couldn’t help flaunting their triumph, all of which was won by Lou Hongling’s years of scheming and counsel.

At this moment, no words could capture the searing pain and hate in her heart. If she could, she would have torn these people apart with her teeth. At last, she could only gaze helplessly toward the throne, whispering in anguish and regret,

“Xu Qing… I was wrong…”

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Tears mixed with blood blurred her vision. She recalled the gentle, lingering gaze Xu Qing had given her before he died from the poison she herself had handed him—the love and trust that shone in his eyes. Now, she saw how foolish and cruel she had been.

“Hmph, even now, you still think of Xu Qing? Have you forgotten it was you who poisoned him with your own hands?”

The Empress Dowager snorted coldly, her eyes filled with contempt and ridicule.

“Kill her. Throw her body to the mass grave!”

At the order, the eunuchs raised their blades. Waves of agony followed, worse than death.

Lou Hongling slowly closed her eyes, her heart full of regret. As consciousness faded, she silently vowed: if there was another life, she would atone for her sins and protect those who truly cared for her…

Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted her awake. Lou Hongling’s eyes flew open and she found herself in a secluded corner of the imperial garden. Dazed, she touched her intact body and the sky-blue maid’s uniform she wore.

She had returned to her sixteen-year-old self. Wasn’t this the very day she first met Xu Qing?

She barely had time to comprehend before the familiar scene unfolded again.

Rain veiled the imperial garden as Xu Qing, terrified and in disarray, stumbled into view, the footsteps of assassins close behind, shattering the peace of this hidden spot.

Lou Hongling saw before her the young emperor Xu Qing, just fourteen, not yet the frail invalid he would become after years of being poisoned by her. Unnoticed tenderness and guilt flickered in her eyes.

“Who are you? Are you with those assassins?”

Seeing a maid hiding here, Xu Qing recoiled in alarm, his voice trembling.

Only now did Lou Hongling truly realize she had been reborn. Confronted with Xu Qing’s helplessness, she felt a surge of pity.

She understood that, just like in her previous life, Xu Qing was beset on all sides, living in constant fear, unable to trust anyone. Yet even so, he had once trusted her…

Suppressing the ache in her heart, Lou Hongling strove to keep her voice steady.

“Your Majesty, if I were an assassin, you would already be dead.”

But just then, the assassins’ footsteps drew near—heavy and chaotic, clearly many in number.

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Hearing the commotion, Xu Qing glanced back in fear, stepping away hurriedly.

“Go! They’re after me, not you.”

She was stunned. Xu Qing was still so kind—just as before, when she’d saved him here. This time, she would do the same.

Quickly surveying her surroundings, she drew on memories from years past and asked,

“Your Majesty, will you trust this servant?”

Xu Qing’s eyes held hesitation, but there was no time for doubt. He nodded resolutely.

Lou Hongling seized his arm, and with the lightness of a swallow, leapt onto a sturdy branch of a nearby tree using the rockery as a springboard.

Fortunately, the dense foliage concealed them well.

A band of eunuch-clad assassins searched the area. One spoke in a low, menacing tone,

“Where did that young emperor go? We saw him come this way. With this rain, it’s the perfect time to finish him off. If we let him escape, how will we answer for it?”

Another assassin replied impatiently, “Search carefully. He must not get away.”

Their footsteps circled below. Lou Hongling gripped the branch tightly, supporting both their weight. A gust of wind shook the tree, making it sway perilously.

She watched below with wary eyes. Xu Qing cowered behind her, barely daring to breathe, his heart pounding violently as he clung to her sleeve. The two huddled together on the trembling osmanthus tree, the assassins’ footsteps growing ever closer, shadows looming swiftly.

The branch groaned under their weight, threatening to snap, as the assassins sensed their quarry was near, their fierce gazes scanning the area.

At this critical moment, Lou Hongling swiftly surveyed their surroundings, her mind racing.