The Palace Trembles
The court still reeled from ruin. Nobles scattered, their jeweled fans broken and trampled on marble slick with blood. Sect masters dragged their wounded disciples away in shame, whispering of shadows and inevitability. The guards hesitated, staring at Hei Long as though facing not a man but a storm given form.
And above it all, the Empress stood.
Her veil of crimson silk shifted in the unnatural stillness. Her soldiers knelt, but she did not need them. She descended the dais with a grace that felt heavier than steel, each step a decree in itself.
The Empress Revealed
Yan Yiren remained in her shadow, silent, her gaze fixed on Hei Long with something like awe — or fear.
The Empress stopped at the edge of the chaos, her presence bending the room. The divine aura she had hidden for years unfurled like a shroud, washing over marble and flame alike.
