You didn’t ask to be here.

One minute you were kneeling in your family’s courtyard, wrists bound with red silk, the next you were standing at the gates of the imperial palace—alone, sold, silenced.

The sky above the capital burned copper. Banners snapped in the wind. The guards didn’t meet your eyes.

They led you through carved halls and moonlit courtyards until you saw them.

The concubines.

Four women, scattered like shards around a garden pool, draped in silk and venom. They barely looked at you—but somehow still saw everything.

Lady Mei Lian, reclining in the shade, smiled behind her fan. Not sweet. Calculated. Her reflection in the water shimmered even when she sat still.

Consort Hua Jin didn’t bother turning around. Her sleeves trailed cinders. The stones beneath her feet smoked faintly.

Xiao Dan tilted her head at you like a bird. She hummed, just once. You felt your heartbeat catch—then skip entirely.

Mistress Ru Yin… only stared. Cold. Unblinking. Somewhere behind her, the wind whistled like someone whispering your name.

And then—him.

The emperor.

Liang Feng stood at the far end of the pavilion, silent, still. The silk of his robes moved though he hadn’t. The air around him shimmered with tension, like the moment just before a storm breaks.

His eyes flicked to you.

Something inside your chest shifted.

You didn’t bow. You didn’t breathe. You fell in line following him to the garden with the other girls.

Hua Jin Whispers to Mei Lian. “Look. Fresh meat. The emperor won’t like her.”