Lu Yun knelt on the cushion, her voice trembling. "This humble girl speaks no falsehood. I beg Your Majesty to discern the truth!"
Lu Yun was at her wit's end.
Ever since she was expelled from the imperial harem by the Empress Dowager, she had returned alone to the Duke of Lu's Mansion in Yunzhou. Nightmares plagued her—visions of the Lu family being executed en masse, of her elder sister Lu Xuan meeting a tragic end in the palace.
Lu Yun was but a frail woman, powerless in the face of war or politics, with no means to avert disaster. Watching her family inch closer to the abyss she had foreseen in her dreams, she was on the verge of collapse.
In desperation, she confided in the Duke of Lu about her prophetic dreams. Yet he dismissed them as delusions, confining her to her chambers all winter to "recuperate."
