![]() ![]() I can never take her place-in any aspect. ![]() No matter how much affection he has for me, he could never love me as he did her. He loved Empress Caihong, of that I am sure. He runs his thumb over the back of my hand, and I have the feeling that he is on the verge of tears. The emperor presses his lips and gives a small nod. ![]() ![]() There is no superstition that says that if any woman who is not the empress dares to sit on the phoenix throne, she will be crushed. I am thankful that the pearl rests over the emperor’s throne and not that of the empress. I raise my eyes to the gold dragon hovering above us, the giant pearl in his mouth. Is there something wrong, my lady? the emperor, my husband, Emperor Guozhi, says, laying his large hand upon my small on one the arm of my throne. I am a fraud, yet all of the most powerful men in the world-the emperor included-believe that I am their empress. I laugh at the absurdity of it, even though I know it is inappropriate. Me! How did this happen? Only a few months ago I was living on the streets of Peking, a girl so poor I did not have a pair of shoes. M ay the empress live ten thousand years! the sea of people before me says a second, and then a third time. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |