"See the Crown Prince?" Empress Waner’s eyes glinted coldly as she looked at Silver Consort. "Didn’t you see him last time?"
"Your Majesty, the last time I saw the Crown Prince was five years ago. I’ve spent all this time in seclusion, training and never leaving the mountain, so..."
"Silver Consort, I hope you understand—Jue’er has his own grand destiny. He is meant to become emperor one day, and I won’t allow him to be distracted by anything else."
At this, Silver Consort immediately dropped to her knees with a thud, pleading, "Your Majesty, please, let me see the Crown Prince! I promise I won’t say anything—I’m his mother, I would never harm him!"
"What did you say?" Empress Waner glared at her, furious.
"Oh—I mean, I’m his... his teacher... That’s why I would never hurt him." Silver Consort quickly corrected herself, realizing she’d said too much.
"Silver Consort, don’t blame me for being ruthless. If I hadn’t saved you back then, your husband would have beaten you to death, right? Now I’ve made your son the Crown Prince, and soon he’ll be emperor. What more could you possibly want?" Empress Waner sipped her tea, her tone icy. "Jue’er doesn’t know his true identity, and I don’t want him to find out. If he did, with his pride, he’d never tolerate your existence. He wouldn’t call you ‘teacher’—he’d never see you again for the rest of his life!"
Every word from Empress Waner cut Silver Consort like a knife. No matter how much she’d suffered before, this was still her flesh and blood. How could a mother feel nothing at all?
"Silver Consort, I’m not trying to stop you from seeing him. I just want you to realize how hard it’s been for us to get this far. You know how much Jue’er has sacrificed for this." Empress Waner sighed. "You know every imperial child is born with a golden tail, but Jue’er could never have one. That’s why, when he was born, I broke his legs so he could never show a tail. Only by making him crippled could he survive. If he ever found out his legs weren’t crippled from birth, but cut off because he’s not the emperor’s son, do you think he could accept that truth?" As she spoke, Empress Waner calculated—she had to crush Silver Consort’s urge to claim her son. Now, Jue’er was all she had, and she would never let anyone take him away!
Listening to Empress Waner, Silver Consort’s heart ached even more. She wondered whether her choices back then had been right or wrong.
Back then, she sold herself to bury her father, and it was Gordon Gao who gave her the silver to fulfill that wish.
From that day on, she hid her martial arts and devoted herself to following him. She knew he had other wives and concubines, but when you truly love someone, those things become smoke in the wind—she didn’t care.
To her relief, he didn’t disappoint her devotion. Against his parents’ objections, he insisted on marrying her as a concubine. Even though the other wives shunned her, she still felt happy—so long as he was there, she was content.
But it wasn’t long before he fell in love with gambling. The family fell into decline, his parents died of grief, and the wives and concubines stole the last of the family fortune and left.
After that, he turned to drinking. Every time he got drunk, he would beat and curse her, blaming her for all the misfortune that befell the family.
Because she loved him, she endured the beatings and the scolding. But her patience only brought more abuse. When he beat their first child to death, something inside her finally died too. Just as she was about to leave, she ran into him again, stumbling home drunk.
That day, he saw her on the street with her bundle and berated her for being ungrateful. He didn’t care about appearances—he beat and cursed her right there in the open, and the crowd all pointed and whispered that she was a jinx. If it weren’t for her, how could the Gao family have fallen so low? In that moment, her heart went cold, and even her clenched fists slowly relaxed.
But just then, Empress Waner appeared. She never expected someone so high above to reach out and save her.
Gordon Gao, thrilled to get some money, sold her off without a second thought.
After that, she followed the Empress into the palace—never expecting that she would become pregnant again.
Empress Waner found her and asked if she wanted everyone who ever mocked her to regret it—if she wanted that heartless man to truly repent, to know that his child wasn’t a curse, but destined to be a mighty emperor.
Only then did she learn that Empress Waner, due to her own physical condition, could never bear children. To secure her position, the Empress needed a perfect solution—one that would benefit both of them.
Maybe it was all the scorn she’d endured, maybe it was the memory of her first child lost—at that moment, she agreed to Empress Waner’s plan.
From then on, Empress Waner pretended to be pregnant, while Silver Consort was hidden away in a Cold Palace within the harem.
She gave birth to a serpent egg that was taken away, and three days later heard that Empress Waner had produced a Crown Prince—except the prince was crippled from birth and had no tail.
Only she knew the truth—the child couldn’t possibly have no tail. It was just that showing a tail would expose his identity, so the Empress must have cut off his legs. If he couldn’t walk, his tail would still manifest, but if his legs were amputated at the knee, then the tail would never appear again.
No one knew the agony she felt upon learning her child’s legs had been cut off. In that moment, she regretted everything—but what could she do?
Her child had already lost his legs—how could she bear to see him lose the throne too? No, she couldn’t let that happen!
Seeing Silver Consort’s pained expression, Empress Waner finally relaxed. "Crescent."
"Your Majesty," Crescent hurried in from outside.
"Is the Crown Prince painting in the Garden of Ten Thousand Blossoms right now?" Empress Waner asked, lifting her tea for another sip.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good. Have Qiuyue escort her to see the Crown Prince."
Silver Consort looked up at Empress Waner in shock, eyes filled with disbelief. "Your Majesty..."
"I may not let you acknowledge him, but you are his teacher in name. Just remember the bigger picture, understand?" Empress Waner’s words carried a warning.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. Silver Consort will obey your teachings and never disappoint you!" she replied, then excitedly kowtowed before leaving with Crescent.
A while later.
"Your Majesty, won’t letting her see the Crown Prince just make her even more attached?" Crescent asked, genuinely confused—she was Empress Waner’s most trusted maid.
"Hmph. You know Jue’er’s temperament—his ambition is huge. If he doesn’t ascend the throne soon, he’ll be more anxious than me. Now this ‘teacher’ is a top martial artist. If she can keep the Jianghu folks in line, that gives him leverage—he won’t have to fear anyone using the imperial seal against him. Jue’er is just using her, nothing more!" Empress Waner declared confidently.
"The Crown Prince respects you most of all, Your Majesty," Crescent smiled.
"I’m letting her see him just to keep her in line. When she sees Jue’er, she’ll feel guilty—she’ll work even harder for us." Thinking this, the cunning Empress Waner flashed a sly smile.
"Your Majesty, you really do think of everything," Crescent praised.
"Hmph. She dreams of claiming her son—absolute nonsense. Once Jue’er’s throne is secure, she won’t be allowed to stay alive!" Empress Waner’s words drifted out, icy and threatening.
"By the way, Your Majesty, the demoness’s child is now in the Soaring Phoenix Realm. Should we start planning? I bet that child is plotting something too!" Crescent said urgently.
"Of course. Do you know how long I’ve been weaving this invisible web? Seventeen years! I knew they wouldn’t be so easy to deal with, and now I’ve been proven right. No matter who she is, if she comes—she’s dead!" Empress Waner was full of confidence in her schemes, never allowing herself a single mistake.
Crescent’s eyes widened in awe, but then she quickly reported, "Your Majesty, the madwoman is making a scene in the Cold Palace again."
"She’s been yelling for seventeen years—still not tired?" Empress Waner stroked the gem in her hand and smiled strangely. "Crescent, make sure that madwoman is well taken care of. She’s going to be a very important chess piece."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Crescent replied. From Phoenix Palace came Empress Waner’s triumphant laughter, as if everything was going exactly as she’d planned.