Heilong-kou (Black Dragon-Mouth/Pass)
Heilong-cheng (Black Dragon-City)
Censorate (Supervisory Court)
Yuling City (Jade City)
Jingui Town (Golden Turtle Town)
Xuanwu City (Black tortoise City)
…
Far away in the Yin Dynasty, her natal family finally received a mysterious package—delivered by Black Dragon Express.
According to the voice prompt on the box, the Empress learned that this was something sent by her daughter, who had married into the Demon Clan.
Ever since her daughter left to marry into the Demon Clan, the Empress had prepared herself for the worst—that she might never see her again in this lifetime.
She had even kept her daughter's intimate clothing, intending to build a memorial tomb for her with them in the distant future when she passed away.
Who would have thought that less than a year after her marriage, the Demon Clan would allow her daughter to send something home?
It seemed that her daughter was doing well.
Back then, when her daughter had insisted on marrying into the Demon Clan, she had said many outrageous things that challenged imperial authority, angering His Majesty. In the end, the general's son—who had been betrothed to her daughter since childhood—was reassigned to marry the daughter of Consort Xian.
Consort Xian's daughter, thinking she had won imperial favor with such a good match, strutted around the palace with arrogance. But it didn't last long—the engagement was annulled.
The general's son openly refused the marriage, vowing never to take a wife nor have descendants, and chose instead to dedicate himself to serving on the frontier of the Yin Dynasty.
Consort Xian was humiliated, and her daughter eventually married the son of a second-rank official—a clear step down in status.
Of course, the Empress had always understood His Majesty's true intent. Marrying her eldest daughter to the general's son was never about romance. It was a strategic alliance, meant to support her daughter's younger brother, the Crown Prince.
They had never even met—how could such a match be called "perfect"?
Still, His Majesty had made up his mind, and the Empress, as a mother and wife, could not refuse. If anyone in the capital was worthy of her daughter, it would indeed be the general's son: young, already decorated with military honors.
Since her daughter had to be married off to support her brother's future claim to the throne, why not choose someone powerful?
But who would have expected her daughter to suddenly go against the grain at the age of marriageable maturity? What she did nearly got her banished from the palace.
Had it not been for the arrival of a Demon envoy—and their agreement to accept her as a diplomatic bride—her daughter might have been forced into a life of seclusion and prayer, never leaving the inner chambers again.
Yet after marrying into the Demon Clan, her daughter's status only rose.
The common folk might not know much about the Demon Clan, but as the Empress—the highest authority in the inner palace—she and His Majesty knew better than most.
For instance, while the Demon Clan was relatively poor and struggling, its Demon King was neither a man-eater nor a tyrant. There was a strong chance her daughter could survive there.
More importantly, the Demon Clan possessed formidable military strength. Rumor had it that even the other major Demon Kings were no match for the one her daughter had married. It was as though the Yin Dynasty had secured a powerful ally behind the scenes.
And so, not long after her daughter's marriage, her son Yin Ao was promoted from Crown Prince to Prince Regent.
Of course, the Emperor wasn't truly gravely ill—he merely feigned weakness to give the Crown Prince a chance to build his political reputation.
The Crown Prince's position was finally becoming secure.
But just then, the Third Prince stirred up trouble, claiming a True Dragon had appeared somewhere—an obvious insinuation that the Crown Prince was not the true heir.
Now that something had arrived from her daughter, no matter how much the Third Prince tried to stir things up, it would be in vain.
The Empress immediately sent someone to summon the Crown Prince.
Upon seeing the table full of items, Yin Ao felt a complex mix of emotions.
His mother told him that everything had been sent by his Imperial Sister.
Looking at his mother's gently smiling face, his heart tightened with unspeakable sadness.
His tutor had taught him from a young age: As Crown Prince, unless you have real power, never show fondness for anything.
Because once you reveal what you care about, those things become your weakness. They can destroy you—and the people you love.
So though he had long yearned to grow close to his Imperial Sister, he never dared to show his affection.
From a young age, his mother had been strict, and his father only valued his intelligence.
Only his sister had ever shown him warmth—secretly feeding him pastries when he cried in punishment for failing to recite his lessons. Their food was strictly rationed by their mother, and those pastries had been saved up from her own share.
He had once gone to her in secret, knowing she longed for freedom and refused to be trapped by the palace or reduced to a pawn in political marriages.
He once believed that if he became Emperor, his sister could decide her fate. He would make her the most exalted Eldest Princess in the Yin Dynasty. If she didn't want to marry, then she wouldn't. If she wanted a husband, she could choose one—or several—just like men had concubines.
He thought, Once I become Emperor, I can finally treat her well—openly.
But before that day came, his father had already arranged for her to marry into the Demon Clan.
He had his first argument with the Emperor over it—and was punished to kneel for three hours and copy the Standards for Being a Good Student and Child.
He had resented his mother deeply. She had birthed his sister—how could she be so heartless?
With a smile, the Empress handed him the letter.
"Xue'er wrote us a letter. You read it first."
He disliked this side of his mother—the way she treated him with such formal respect. Why could the Third Prince act spoiled around his mother, while he and his sister had to endure such sternness?
Yin Ao snatched the letter in a bitter mood.
But as he read it, his expression grew more and more astonished.
He read it several times—every word brimmed with how much his sister liked living in the Demon Clan.
And everything on the table had been made with her help, together with the Demons. How was that even possible?
Wasn't she forced to marry into the Demon Clan by His Majesty and the Empress?
Yin Ao didn't know where things had gone wrong. He handed the letter back to his mother.
Seeing his reaction, the Empress had a sinking feeling. Could it be that her daughter had run into trouble in the Demon Clan?
She scanned the letter in moments—and found nothing amiss.
"Why the frown, Your Highness?"
Yin Ao no longer cared about her formal tone, and instead voiced the question gnawing at him:
"Why did Sister marry into the Demon Clan?"
The Empress froze, surprised that he was still hung up on that.
She and the Emperor had deliberately kept it from him—for his sake.
But now that a letter had come from the Demon Clan, she sighed.
"…It seems it's time we told you the truth."
As she began her story, Yin Ao finally understood why his father had punished him with kneeling and copy work that day.
He was overwhelmed with shame. Was he truly fit to be emperor?
"We let you misunderstand because we feared you might act recklessly," said the Empress. "We've always known how deeply you depend on your sister. But when it comes to the Demon Clan, we humans are like eggs thrown against rocks. If your sister was doing well, we could be at ease. If she wasn't… we had kept her belongings, ready to build her a memorial tomb as Eldest Princess."
Though the saying goes "There is no sentiment in imperial families," the Empress's children were still flesh of her flesh. Her daughter would never pose a threat to the throne, and it was better for the Emperor to have someone close by who could persuade him in moments of folly.
She and His Majesty had always understood this. Only Yin Ao had been kept in the dark.
With the misunderstanding cleared, Yin Ao truly grew up in that moment.
The Third Prince could act spoiled with his mother because his mother was just a concubine.
But his mother—the Empress—was the mistress of the harem, the paragon of dignity and restraint, the one who carried the weight of the realm's propriety.
So, in the Crown Prince's eyes, his sister had been forced into marriage.