No matter what, the Empress of Xiliang could not believe that her only sister, the person she was most willing to trust in this world, would join forces with the eight great families to pull her down from the throne.

She turned her head to gaze at the brocade quilt that Li Tianfu had pulled halfway open, and called Li Tianfu by her childhood name in a low voice: “Jiaojiao, elder sister has something to ask you…”

Li Tianfu’s palms tightened, and she responded cheerfully: “Whatever elder sister wants to ask, just ask!”

The corners of the Xiliang Empress’s lips curved into a smile. She reached out to pull away the brocade quilt and glanced inside. Upon seeing Lu Tianzhuo’s old clothes, she closed her eyes, then put the quilt back down as if she had seen nothing. She turned to look at Li Tianfu, whose smile was no longer as natural as before, trying to keep her tone calm: “Jiaojiao, do you want this imperial throne?”

When Li Tianfu heard the Empress say this, the smile on her face gradually sank: “Elder sister, you already know everything…”

Indeed it was so. The Xiliang Empress’s heart immediately sank considerably. The Great Zhou envoy Bai Qingqi had indeed not spoken without basis.

“Since childhood, whatever Jiaojiao wanted, elder sister would do her utmost to satisfy, because you are my only sister. This imperial throne… if you want it, elder sister is not unwilling to give it! But the current Xiliang faces internal political instability and external threats from surrounding wolves. If this imperial throne were handed over to you to occupy, Jiaojiao, do you already have confidence in your ability to control the situation? And what methods would you use to control the situation?” the Xiliang Empress slowly asked.

Li Tianfu’s lips curved as she laughed lowly: “Elder sister speaks as if… if I could explain how to control the situation, you would willingly hand over the imperial throne to me.”

“Yes, as long as you can control the situation, as long as you have the means to resolve Xiliang’s crisis, as long as you can avoid becoming a puppet of the eight great families, then you would be stronger than elder sister. You can take this imperial throne, and elder sister would have no complaints whatsoever.” The Xiliang Empress spoke frankly and sincerely, every word from her heart.

Li Tianfu’s smile stiffened: “Elder sister speaks as if it’s easy, but doing it is difficult. Even elder sister… do you currently have the means to resolve Xiliang’s crisis? Elder sister is nothing more than a hypocrite who speaks pretty words.”

“Do you really think that elder sister truly wants to sit on this imperial throne?” The Xiliang Empress showed signs of fatigue. “Grasping power feels exhilarating, but the burden of responsibility that comes with it is as heavy as a mountain. Think of our late father… before father ascended the throne, although he was tired, most of the time you could still see smiles on father’s face. But later…”

Later, she could never again see a smile on father’s face. Every time she was with father, all she heard were his heavy sighs. Even when the family gathered together, father might have brief moments of joy on his face, but they would quickly be replaced by sighs and deeply furrowed brows.

Father worried about the eight great families that clung like vines climbing on Xiliang, this towering tree. The vines of the eight great families were tightly wrapped around Xiliang’s trunk, impossible to easily remove!

Father also worried about Xiliang’s scarce farmland, wanting to expand territory to strengthen the Kingdom, worrying about being unable to match Jin, which had the most fertile farmland.

Later… father’s smiles existed only in her memories. Now that father was gone, the image of him that remained in her heart showed only his furrowed brow.

From the very beginning, she believed this imperial throne… would steal away one’s happiness, so she was unwilling to take it. But mother said this was her responsibility as Xiliang’s legitimate princess, that she was the eldest princess whom father had held in his arms since childhood, using memorials as her primer. She should shoulder the burden on father’s shoulders and support Xiliang.

Only by taking this position could she protect mother and Jiaojiao from being bullied.

So she took this imperial throne.

And now, the eight great families were like stubborn weeds difficult to remove, strong nations oppressed while external troubles pressed in, but what chilled her heart most… was that this only sister of hers would actually conspire with Xiliang’s eight great families to pull her down from the throne. They were blood sisters!

“If you want this imperial throne to grasp the lofty power, elder sister tells you… once you sit in this position, you will experience the hardships within, being constrained everywhere, controlled everywhere, without even freedom…” The Xiliang Empress spoke slowly, hoping to persuade her sister.

“Jiaojiao has never sat in this position, so how would I know if elder sister is lying to me?” Li Tianfu straightened her back, seeming no longer afraid of the Xiliang Empress.

She and the eight great families had prepared for this day—they were just one final strike away. Would she still be afraid?

“Elder sister comes to show weakness today, you must already know that nothing can be done to turn the tide!” Li Tianfu’s lips curved in a smile, as delicate and beautiful as a peony blooming for the first time in morning light. “If elder sister hadn’t insisted on implementing new policies, making things difficult for the eight great families… causing internal chaos in Xiliang, Jiaojiao wouldn’t have had this opportunity to see elder sister show weakness to me.”

The Xiliang Empress closed her eyes and asked again: “Answer me honestly, do you want this imperial throne… because you’re dissatisfied with my new policies, or… or because you want to send troops to fight Great Zhou to the death, to avenge this eunuch?”

As soon as the words fell, the Xiliang Empress yanked away the brocade quilt, sweeping Lu Tianzhuo’s old clothes to the floor, her voice filled with rage.

When Li Tianfu saw Lu Tianzhuo’s clothes swept to the floor, the smile on her face also sank. She bent down to pick up Lu Tianzhuo’s clothes and held them in her arms, looking at the Xiliang Empress with eyes full of hatred: “I just want to avenge Lu Tianzhuo! If you and mother hadn’t insisted I marry into Jin, how would Lu Tianzhuo have gone to Jin with me?! How would he have lost his life! I want all of Xiliang to help me take revenge for Lu Tianzhuo!”

The Xiliang Empress was enraged by Li Tianfu’s words. She stood up and raised her hand, slapping Li Tianfu so hard that she fell to the ground, her face burning with pain.

“Li Tianfu! You are a princess of Xiliang! From childhood you’ve lived in luxury thanks to the people! Even if you were to rebel against me, for the sake of the people, for the stability of the court! Both father and I would be gratified! At least… you would be shouldering your responsibility!” The Xiliang Empress’s reddened eyes stared at the clothes in Li Tianfu’s arms. “But you… you’re actually doing this for a eunuch! For a completely dead eunuch, you disregard our ancestral foundation, you don’t even care about all the people of Xiliang! Are you worthy of being a princess of Xiliang?”

Li Tianfu tasted blood at the corner of her mouth. She laughed lowly, then turned to look at the furious Xiliang Empress, using the back of her hand to wipe away the blood from her lips: “What people, what court situation! What responsibility! What duty! Elder sister… those are all things mother said to coax us into being pawns in her hands! Making me marry into Jin… saying that if I bore Jin’s future heir, Jin would be half ours, half Xiliang’s!”

Li Tianfu held Lu Tianzhuo’s clothes, looking directly at the Xiliang Empress. Her slender arms supported her body as she looked with eyes like a venomous snake, cold and filled with hair-raising malice. She sneered loudly: “Look at you again… listening to mother’s words, dressing like a man, neither male nor female!”