Juzi's Despair
Gu Yuena rarely showed such approval and recognition as she slowly said, "Ju Zi was in dire straits, but instead of having her edges smoothed out, she dared to have the idea of defying fate. This kind of mentality is definitely not something an ordinary person can have."
One night, she secretly drugged Huo Yuhao, stole his seed, and gave birth to their son, Xu Yunhan.
She did something that everyone in the world thought was outrageous, but it was also the only time in her life that she did something entirely according to her own wishes.
On a cool, still night, she looked at the sleeping boy, feeling guilty, reluctant, and filled with too many unspoken emotions, but she never regretted it.
After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Xu Yunhan.
This child was her only solace in the deep palace, her only weakness in the cutthroat power struggles, and the deepest secret she kept hidden throughout her life.
Wang Dong'er, who was eating, had her wooden chopsticks hanging in mid-air, and she even forgot to move the food that was about to be brought to her mouth.
She stared at the diary entries scrolling through her mind, feeling as if she were nailed to the spot. Even her breathing slowed down, and her eyes gradually reddened with a sour taste.
It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart tightly. Ju Zi's situation brought to the surface the deepest grievances and resentments hidden in her heart, and a surge of hatred mixed with self-mockery rushed up all at once.
Her eyes were lowered, letting the tears well up, her voice trembling with barely suppressed sorrow. "At least she could keep something to look back on, but what about me?"
Star Dou Forest, at the bottom of the Lake of Life.
The golden vertical pupils of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, which had been narrowed to slits, suddenly lit up.
It propped itself up on its front paws, shook the soft fur on its head, and spoke with admiration and confidence in its crisp voice, "She dares to do what she says and take responsibility. Compared to those hypocrites who talk about morality and righteousness but are full of scheming behind the scenes, she lives a much more upright life."
She publicly claimed that he was Xu Tianran's offspring, but whenever she saw Xu Yunhan, she could always think of the boy who called her "senior sister".
Her son's parentage was a secret she kept buried deep in her heart, one she couldn't let Huo Yuhao know.
The walls of the Eastern Palace are very high, and the rules within the palace are very strict. She bears the identity of the Crown Princess, raises the child with her beloved, and lives in a lie every day, yet she can see the shadow of that boy in the child's eyes every day.
She had thought countless times about whether or not to tell Huo Yuhao the secret, but every time the words were on the tip of her tongue, she swallowed them back.
She was afraid. She was afraid that revealing this secret would ruin Huo Yuhao's current life. She was afraid that he would despise her and hate her after he found out. She was even more afraid that she would completely lose the right to even have this secret thought.
She kept this secret her entire life, from Crown Princess to Empress, never telling anyone.
Looking at the diary entries in her mind, Zhang Lexuan sighed softly, a deep sense of melancholy and heartache spreading across her gentle eyes.
Thinking of all the women she had met over the years who were caught in situations beyond their control, she spoke gently, yet with a heavy weight of empathy and understanding. "Women are inherently weak, but become strong when they become mothers. She kept this secret not only to protect her child, but also to protect the boy she held dear in her heart."
Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Female Dormitory.
The moment those words appeared in her mind, Ju Zi felt as if her blood had frozen, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
She stood there, stunned, her back against the cold pillar, her eyes filled with confusion, bitterness, and a hint of fear that she herself was unaware of.
"So... this is my future?"
But this secret is both a weakness and a seed of destruction.
What makes a person gentle is always their weakness; what makes a person fall into the abyss is also always their weakness.
Xu Yunhan was her life, the sole reason she lived, but the child's background was like a bomb buried beside her, ready to explode at any moment and shatter everything she possessed.
She thought she had hidden it well, but little did she know, Xu Tianran had known everything from the very beginning.
Upon seeing this text, Ning Tian raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile curving her lips. Her tone was filled with undisguised disdain and coldness. "How could someone who could climb to the position of Crown Prince in the struggle for imperial power be truly kept in the dark? He just didn't say anything."
The Far North.
The moment Ice Empress saw these words, a chilling glint flashed in his eyes, his aura jolted, and the air around him seemed to drop several degrees in an instant.
Her tone was icy cold, filled with utter contempt for Xu Tianran's ruthless methods. She said in a chilling voice, "The most terrifying enemies are never those in the open, but those who pretend to be ignorant while waiting to destroy you in one fell swoop."
Xu Tianran knew this wasn't his child and didn't care; for the sake of power, he gave up on saving Xu Yunhan.
He never cared whether the child was his own; all he cared about was whether the child could help him consolidate his power and become a pawn in his game.
When Xu Yunhan was kidnapped and had the opportunity to use his power to exchange for the child, he did not hesitate to give it up, simply because saving the child would affect his path to the throne.
In his eyes, the life of a child, the heart-wrenching grief of a mother, were utterly insignificant in the face of overwhelming power.
The Snow Empress's originally calm brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of undisguised coldness spread across his eyes. "Having lived for so long, I have seen countless cold-hearted people, but someone who can so easily abandon even their own nominal offspring—their heart is as cold as the ice of the Far North."
The Phoenix Flame surrounding Ma Xiaotao suddenly surged, and a scorching wave of heat burst forth. She clenched her fists tightly, her eyes filled with burning rage.
Ma Xiaotao's voice trembled slightly with extreme anger, filled with barely suppressed rage and indignation. "This kind of scum deserves to be torn to pieces! Ju Zi gave up so much for him, and he can just abandon the child like that!"
Ju Zi, heartbroken as a mother, conspired with Huo Yuhao to assassinate him and seize complete control of the Sun Moon Empire.
There is no greater sorrow than a broken heart. The moment Xu Tianran gave up on Xu Yunhan, the last bit of fear Ju Zi had of him, and the last bit of compromise with the Eastern Palace, that was her prison, vanished completely.
He threatened her life, so she took his.
This once docile and obedient pawn in his eyes finally revealed the sharpness she had hidden all her life. She joined forces with Huo Yuhao to lay a trap, personally assassinated Xu Tianran, and firmly grasped the power of the entire Sun Moon Empire in her own hands.
She was no longer the Crown Princess who could be manipulated at will, no longer a tool in anyone's hands; she had become the true ruler of the Sun Moon Empire.