Born mute, I was the legitimate daughter of a chancellor, yet became my father's pawn to counterbalance imperial power—forced into marriage with a puppet emperor who despised me.
When the red veil was lifted, the mockery in his eyes cut like ice, leaving me utterly exposed and wounded.
For seven years in the deep palace, I was his secret queen, a tool for the Xie family to consolidate power—yet never truly myself. My mother’s poison silenced me for life; my father’s schemes left me powerless. And the husband who once learned sign language for me, massaged my legs, now used our son’s “death” to set a deadly trap, turning our child into a pawn in his bid for power.
