Double Queens GL - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Miss, the new Empress arrives tomorrow. I heard the Emperor is going to receive her personally. If you lose your position, what will you do in this palace? Why won’t you fight for it? Why just give it up so submissively?” Ye Meng asked anxiously. She couldn’t understand what her mistress lacked. The Emperor showed no regard for old ties, forcing her mistress to step down. Her mistress possessed peerless beauty and a gentle, dignified character. Since becoming Empress, she had managed the inner palace perfectly, easing the Emperor’s burdens and maintaining such order that not a single fault could be found by the harem or the court officials. To Ye Meng, the Emperor was heartless—he had married her mistress to secure his throne, only to “burn the bridge after crossing it.” Even if there was no love, there should have been gratitude for her hard work.

When the Emperor first proposed a new Empress, the entire court protested. Yet, while the Emperor and his ministers were at a stalemate, her mistress had unexpectedly stepped forward to offer her position to that lady of the Liu family. Before the matter was even settled, her mistress had surrendered without a fight. How would she survive in the palace now? How would she endure the mockery and cold stares? Since the Emperor cared nothing for her dignity, Ye Meng felt her mistress might as well risk everything to fight; the worst outcome would simply be the Cold Palace. In Ye Meng’s eyes, losing the throne and losing face was no different from being exiled to the Cold Palace anyway.

“Fight? How?” Ye Guichen asked with a self-deprecating smile. How could she compete with the “unbreakable love” in the Emperor’s heart? By stepping down voluntarily, she could at least preserve some dignity and leave the Emperor with a lingering sense of guilt. Did she really have to wait for him to formally depose her? Once, she had held expectations for Yang Zhao, but now she saw clearly: no matter how much she did or how hard she tried, she would never enter his heart. It was better to be sensible and stay out of his way.

“Is that just… it, then?” Ye Meng asked indignantly.

“I entered the palace at age six,” Ye Guichen said, comforting her maid instead. “Though I was raised by the late Empress and favored by the previous Emperor, I lived cautiously, never daring to make a mistake. Perhaps losing the throne is a blessing in disguise; I won’t have to live in constant trepidation anymore. By giving up the position now, I will at least keep a high consort rank. I’ve lost face, but the Emperor will feel indebted to me. Relying on that guilt, life shouldn’t be too difficult. If I showed resentment or a desire to fight, he would only loathe me. Without the Emperor’s favor, what use is being Empress? Let it go, A-Meng. You cannot win a fight like this.”

“Miss, how can you be the one comforting me?” Ye Meng wept for her mistress. Such a noble woman, yet forced to endure such grievances because of the Emperor.

Ye Guichen merely smiled and shook her head. She didn’t care deeply about the title; she cared that after years of marriage, she still had not earned a shred of Yang Zhao’s affection. She was curious about the woman he pined for—she wondered what she lacked in comparison, or perhaps she simply felt a lingering sense of injustice. At least now she could give up on him entirely. Love in a royal house was a luxury; perhaps she only craved it because she had seen the deep devotion between her aunt and uncle.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Ye Guichen said, wanting to clear her mind.

“It’s freezing outside, you’ll catch a cold,” Ye Meng cautioned, looking at the falling snow.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Guichen threw on a cloak and walked out. The charcoal fires inside made her feel stifled. Sometimes, she enjoyed walking aimlessly; it was the only time she felt a flicker of freedom.

…

The Arrival of the “Little Guanyin”

“Miss Liu, we are at the palace gates. I will send word to the Emperor immediately. You arrived a day early; he will be overjoyed,” Liu He said to the woman inside the carriage.

“Don’t report it yet. Let’s enter first, then tell him. He might be even happier that way,” Liu Hening said in a soft, gentle voice as she lifted the curtain.

Junshen was the courtesy name of the Emperor, Yang Zhao. He loved it when Liu Hening called him by that name, and so she did.

Looking at the vast white snow and the towering palace walls, a draft of cold air rushed into the carriage. Liu Hening took a breath; the capital was so cold. She wasn’t used to this. If she had a choice, she would have stayed in Jiangdu forever. As for having a husband like Junshen in name—she didn’t mind. However, she knew Junshen already had an Empress, yet he was bringing her in to take that place. What would happen to the current Empress? Liu Hening felt a spark of worry for her. She knew the Empress’s name was Ye Guichen, childhood name Huachao. The name alone made her sound like a lovely woman.

Backstory of Ye Guichen Ye Guichen was born in the palace during a flower-viewing banquet held by Emperor Wen. Her mother, the twin sister of Empress Wenxian, had been invited despite being ten months pregnant. When she went into labor, the Empress—who was childless—held her newborn niece just as hundreds of epiphyllum flowers (tanyuan) bloomed at once. Because the baby looked remarkably like the Empress, the Emperor named her Guichen, with the nickname Huachao (Flower Festival). She was raised in the palace from age six and was so beloved that instead of making her a Princess, the Empress decided to keep her in the family by marrying her to the next Emperor.

The Conflict of the Marriage The Emperor chose Yang Zhao as his heir, but Yang Zhao was already betrothed to Liu Hening, the granddaughter of the retired Grand Tutor Liu. The Emperor forced Yang Zhao to break the engagement to marry Ye Guichen.

Yang Zhao, unwilling to give up either the throne or Liu Hening, secretly promised the Liu family that once he was Emperor and his power was secure, he would come for Hening and make her his Empress. The Liu family had no choice but to agree. Liu Hening, being free-spirited, didn’t mind—it just meant a few more years of freedom.

The Character of Liu Hening Liu Hening was considered a “divine” child. Born while her grandmother was praying in a hall bathed in sunset light that looked like Buddha’s glow, she was born with a red mole between her brows. She was incredibly bright and loved the quiet of temples even as a toddler. By the time she was older, she could discuss Buddhist philosophy with high monks and was a master of painting Guanyin. People called her the “Little Guanyin.”

When she was sixteen, Yang Zhao saw her painting a mural at a temple and fell in love instantly. Though the Liu family initially refused his proposal because Hening was “too free-spirited and unsuited for household management,” Yang Zhao’s persistence won them over. The wedding was set for her eighteenth birthday, but then the imperial edict came for Yang Zhao to move to the capital as the heir.

Yang Zhao had been Emperor for four years now, and he had never forgotten her. As soon as his position was stable, he sent his guards to fetch her. Hening had delayed the journey for over a year by claiming she needed to care for her ailing grandmother, but after her grandmother passed, she could delay no longer.

“Very well, the Emperor will be exceptionally pleased,” Liu He thought, speeding up. The delay in Jiangdu had been long, and he hoped the Emperor’s joy at seeing his beloved would shield him from punishment for the lateness.