Chapter 1 — The Demon Queen’s Ten-Lifetime Pact

I was tormented by the Ghost Emperor, Qi Yuan, for nine lifetimes. In the first, I caused the tears of Yu Nian—the moonlit lily of his heart—to fall. He gouged out my eyes and refined them into glazed marbles for her to play with. In the second, a sharp word between myself and Yu Nian led to a scratch on her finger; Qi Yuan severed my hands and buried them in her courtyard to soothe her fury. In the third, when Yu Nian suffered a miscarriage, she framed me for the deed. Qi Yuan sliced open my womb, tore out my unborn twins, and forged them into ghost-infants to amuse her. In the ninth, after Yu Nian carelessly invited ghost generals into the Underworld, leaving the land strewn with corpses, I scolded her for her stupidity. For that, Qi Yuan decapitated me and turned my skull into a wine vessel, forcing Yu Nian to hold it and toast him day and night.

After my ninth death, I stood again at the crossroads of the Rebirth Path, faced with two gates: one leading to standard reincarnation, the other to a tenth rebirth. My friend, the Lady of Oblivion, looked at me with pity. "A-Ning," she urged, "do not choose rebirth again. Just go to reincarnation. Even if you live once more, the Emperor will not treat you any better. Why must you continue to entangle yourself in this cycle of love and hatred?"

I did not hesitate, choosing the path of rebirth. Before leaving, I cast a rare, final glance back at her and offered a faint smile. "Who says I endured nine lives of suffering for the sake of love or hate?"

In this tenth life, I was reborn on the very day Yu Nian was married into the Ghost Emperor’s palace. When she hesitated to kneel and offer me the tea of deference, Qi Yuan waved his hand with doting indulgence. "Forget the kneeling. Stand up. You and A-Ning are of similar age; you should treat each other as sisters. Whether you offer the tea or not is of no consequence."

"Is that truly so? The Emperor is indeed the one who treats me best," Yu Nian murmured, glancing at me with a look of provocative triumph.

Just as she rose, I flicked my finger. An invisible force slammed down upon her, crushing her back onto the cold stone floor with a sickening thud.

"How could the tea be omitted? Though we are of the same age, I am the Ghost Empress, and you are merely a concubine. Hierarchy and etiquette—can they truly be ignored so easily?"

Yu Nian looked wounded, her eyes rimmed with red, tears threatening to spill. Qi Yuan immediately sprang up, pulling her into his embrace, his gaze burning with fury as he glared at me. "Xuan Ning, you have gone too far! If not for the fact that Yu Nian has already undergone a cycle of reincarnation, would that throne of yours even be yours to occupy?"

Qi Yuan and I were born in the dark abyss of the Underworld, raised together as childhood sweethearts, bound by a deep and unwavering history. In the years of our greatest struggle, I was his only companion. The entire Underworld knew that I would marry no one but him, and he had once sworn to wed no one but me. That was until Yu Nian met her end in the mortal realm and was reincarnated into the Underworld. From that moment, Qi Yuan’s eyes held only her. He cherished her like a rare gem, while his warmth toward me withered.

In truth, I had understood long ago—his heart had drifted elsewhere. It was only because Yu Nian longed for the vanity of the mortal world that she chose to be reborn. Qi Yuan had locked himself away for three months, eventually deciding to let go. On our wedding day, he confessed his past with Yu Nian and promised me it was over, that he would never be stirred by her again. Alas, a promise could never triumph over the sudden awakening of a heart.

Yu Nian, having suffered in the mortal realm, returned to the Underworld the very day I discovered I was pregnant. Yet, there was no joy in Qi Yuan’s heart at the prospect of fatherhood; there was only a desperate, aching concern for his old flame. He brought Yu Nian—who refused to transition to her next life—into the palace. By day they were inseparable; by night they shared a bed, drowning in intimacy. To say I felt no pain would be a lie. Even though I had married him in my first life with my own hidden agenda, we had spent so many years together that I could not remain entirely unaffected.

But now, such feelings no longer mattered. This was my final life. I intended to live as I pleased, to do as I willed. For the first time, I refused to grant Qi Yuan a shred of dignity, countering him directly. "Anything you say at this moment is futile, Emperor. I am the Ghost Empress, and as a concubine, she must obey me."

Qi Yuan was stunned into silence. Perhaps because I had always been so gentle, always following his every command, he had never imagined a day would come when I would defy him. When he finally found his voice, he furrowed his brows and lowered his tone into a dangerous growl. "Xuan Ning, this is your tenth life—have you still not learned fear? I know the Lady of Oblivion tried to convince you to move on, yet you refused. In the end, is it not because you cannot bear to part with me? If that is the case, be content with your place. It is not as if I would refuse to grant you a decent end."

I looked at his face, now so unrecognizable, and shook my head with a bitter laugh. "Let me tell you the truth: I am actually hoping you will torment me to death. But, because I have always been sentimental, and we have been husband and wife for so many lives, I cannot help but offer you one piece of advice: if you do not want to regret this, you had better worship me while you can, rather than trying to kill me."

Qi Yuan, incensed, let out a hollow laugh. "There is no need for you to play the mystic to frighten me. If that is what you crave, I shall grant your wish. Let us see how this ends."

Let us see how it ends? Very well.