1 Chapter 1 5yr

Translator: AristophanesoEditor: Chrissy

Prologue I: In My Dreams I Am Still Emperor [1]
"How will you kill me?" In the dim light of a cold, secluded palace, a woman asked, her palms on the table and her smiling face like a rose in the wind before his face. "Poisoned wine? A white silk rope? Carrying a dirt bag? [1] Knife?"
"What kind of death do you want?" The man poured himself a cup of wine with steady hands, the transparent rice wine that filled the tilted cup reflecting her misty eyes… These years, she had lived a life of mystery, and even to death refused to let him see through her.
"The most delightful way, I mean for you." She smiled and rolled up her cuffs gently, showing him her palms. "Allow this concubine to attend you one last time."
He smiled back, his thin lips curling up in mockery as he handed over the cup of wine.
The wine was green like jade, and her wrist white like snow. A line of deep emerald green fell from her slender fingers and into a white jade cup like the tinkling of jade jewels. It was quiet, and the colorful silk bed curtain hung around the bed, covering all earthly sounds.
This included the massacre of the rebels in the palace.
Her people, the rebels.
The blood and smoke were bloc