Scorned by the Emperor for Ten Years, I Burned My Way to Freedom

On the day of my investiture as Noble Consort, I wore the late Empress's ceremonial gown by mistake.

The husband who had stood beside me for ten years regarded me with flat indifference. "A poor imitation. Unfit for the title."

The ceremony ground to a halt. The princess I had raised for a decade turned on me with open disgust:

"I knew it! You've been trying to take my mother's place all along! I will never let a scheming woman like you get what she wants!"

She hurled the blessing charm I had spent half a year embroidering into the brazier, then beat her small fists against my body.