The third "why" came with a scream, her voice breaking through the silence that had settled over the room. Empress Qingtian stood there, trembling, as she poured out the words she had kept hidden for so long. Her chest rose and fell as if each breath took more effort than the last, and her eyes, filled with unshed tears, never wavered from her father.
"I sacrificed my happiness... yes, I've always loved the emperor, from the moment I first set my eyes on him," she whispered, her voice raw with pain. "But he... he loves someone else. He loved my friend, Xueyin's mother. And I, I had to bury my feelings. Just to keep the secret, to protect the world and keep the enemies away... I sacrificed myself."
Her words hung in the air, heavy with sorrow. The memories of her youth, of the love she had lost, came rushing back to her, choking her. She closed her eyes briefly, willing the memories to stay locked away. But they didn't. They came flooding back with the force of a storm.
"Do you remember what Ye'er told me, Father?" Her voice cracked as she uttered the name of her long-departed friend and daughter. "Do you remember how she said... 'Make sure you protect Linger'? That was all she asked of me... just to protect her. And in doing so, I had to leave the Crescent World entirely. I couldn't stay with my step sister... her daughter... father. I couldn't even take care of you as a filial daughter. I didn't have the right, the luxury of caring for them. Did you know what humiliation I faced, every single day?"
She paused, her chest heaving with the weight of it all. It was as if the very air around her had become suffocating. The woman who had once been powerful and poised now stood broken, as though her soul had been torn apart piece by piece. "Now, the emperor... the emperor suspects me of having something to do with Empress Juan's death. Even Xueyin, Juan's son... he despises me. He can't stand me. Who can I confide in, Father? Who?"
Her voice trembled, and her eyes, full of unshed tears, locked onto her father's. "If Jiehong—if Yue Ling's father—knew what I had done, what I had to sacrifice... would he even be happy? Would he understand? No... I had to become a scheming stepmother. I had to see Xueyin demoted, all so that my son... my son, who was never meant to bear the responsibility of the crown, could take it on. All of it, Father, all of it was for the universe. I had to sacrifice everything... and the pain, the guilt... it nev...
Empress Qingtian took a shaky breath, her voice falling into a whisper. "I even had to become a scheming wife, using my body to manipulate the Emperor... just so I could conceive and fulfill my duty. And now... now I'm here, Father. I'm here... broken. Crying."
She collapsed onto the floor in a heap, her body wracked with sobs. "This is too much for me, Father. Too much. Is it a crime to want to help my sister? To help Yue Ling?" Her words were strained, as though they had been stuck in her throat for years. "Father... when she called me 'mother'... it tore me apart. I can't do that, I can't take that role. Because of the prophecy... the secret. Father, why?"
She buried her face in her hands, her cries echoing in the silent room. Each sob felt like a piece of her heart breaking, the weight of everything she had carried for so long finally crashing down on her.
Grandfather Yue stood frozen, his eyes wide in disbelief. He had never heard his daughter speak like this. To hear her voice filled with such raw emotion, such deep regret—it shook him to his core. He had always known the sacrifices she had made, but hearing her say it out loud, in such a broken state, made him realize just how much she had suffered for the sake of Yue Ling. He moved closer to her, his steps slow but purposeful.
As he reached her, he placed a hand on her trembling shoulder, his expression filled with both sorrow and compassion. "You have carried a heavy burden, Qingtian," he said softly, his voice filled with the weight of a father's love. "But you must remember that you are not alone. None of us are. We are all facing this together, for Yue Ling. You have done everything in your power, and it is not for nothing. We will make sure she can change the fate that was written for her."
Empress Qingtian lifted her head, her tear-streaked face meeting her father's gaze. The tenderness in his eyes, the warmth that had always been there but now felt even more comforting, made her feel the tiniest flicker of hope in her heart.
Grandfather Yue continued, his voice full of determination. "We will do everything we can, Qingtian. But we must be patient. Yue Ling must face her destiny on her own terms. And in time, she will change the fate that has been handed down to her. I will not let her suffer the same fate as her mother. We have to protect her, at all costs."
Empress Qingtian nodded slowly, her tears still flowing freely. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders, just a little. The burden wasn't gone, but for the first time in years, she felt like there was someone who understood the depth of her pain. Someone who had always been there, even when she had felt so alone.
Grandfather Yue pulled her into a tight embrace, his arms wrapped around her as if to shield her from the world's harshness. "We will make sure Yue Ling never has to bear this burden alone," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I promise you, Qingtian. We will change the course of history."
Empress Qingtian, her body trembling in her father's embrace, finally allowed herself to cry freely. She had carried this weight for so long, thinking she had to bear it alone. But in this moment, she realized that perhaps she wasn't alone after all.
The two of them remained there in silence, the air heavy with unsaid words and unhealed wounds. The father and daughter, both so different in their ways but bound by a shared love for Yue Ling, understood the gravity of what they had to face. They knew that the future would not be easy, but they were ready to fight for Yue Ling's future.
Grandfather Yue slowly pulled back, his eyes still full of concern. "Are you ready to hear my reasons, Qingtian? To understand why I made the decisions I did?"