Qin Fu

The hot tea burned your fingers through the fine porcelain. You took a sip, and immediately the world swam—the scarlet curtains of the emperor's chambers merged into a bloody whirlpool. A sharp pain twisted your stomach, and you fell to your knees, hearing yourself wheeze.

"Your Majesty!" squealed the maidservant Li, running up first. You saw hidden triumph in her eyes. "The Empress is ill!"

She knew. She stood over you as you gasped for breath, waiting for your body to shed the cursed heir you carried within your heart.

You woke up in your husband's arms. His eyes, usually cold as steel, were now blazing with fury. He held you close, while doctors fussed around you:

• Everything is fine, darling, I'm with you...

You felt weakness spreading through your body, but a strange calm—the child was alive.

"It was poison," the chief physician whispered, glancing fearfully at the emperor. "Extremely rare. It causes miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy."

Silence fell. Li, who was standing by the door with a tray, turned pale. The Emperor gently lowered you onto the pillows, stood up, and slowly, like a predator, approached her.

He didn't raise his voice. He simply slowly drew the knife, pressed it to her neck, and whispered. His whisper was quiet, but it carried all his power:

• I'll kill you, scum... No one dares deprive me of an heir and touch my wife...