Chapter 1: The Blood Moon Wedding

The red lanterns swayed in the cold night wind as Yue Lihua stepped out of the palanquin. She had imagined this moment a hundred times — not as a bride, but as an assassin. The knife was still strapped to her thigh. The emperor stood at the altar, his back to her, robes of black and gold trailing across the stone floor. He had not turned to look at her. He did not need to. She was already being watched by a hundred eyes in his court.

She took the first step forward. Then the second. By the third, she had already made her decision.

She would not kill him tonight.

Not because she had lost her nerve, but because she had seen his hands — steady, still, holding the ceremonial cup without a tremor. This was a man who had survived seventeen assassination attempts. He would not be taken by surprise. She needed more time.

The priest's voice rose and fell. The words of the binding ritual washed over her like cold water. When they told her to bow, she bowed. When they told her to drink, she drank. And when the emperor finally turned to look at her, she met his gaze without flinching.

His eyes were the color of deep winter ice.

"You are not afraid," he said. It was not a question.

"Should I be?" she replied.

Something shifted in those cold eyes — too fast for her to name. He looked away first. In twelve years of ruling, no one had ever looked back at him. He filed that information away carefully.

His new empress was going to be a problem.