: Whispers of Power

The night air was thick with the scent of rain /*leaving remarks on her neck clinging to the ancient walls of Zhuoyang Palace.

“Do you know why the Light element is feared?” Empress lianhua’s voice sliced through the silence. She stood tall, her dark robes blending with the shadows.

The young maid trembling, avoiding the empress’s piercing gaze. “B-Because it can rival even the Dark, Your Majesty.”

A cold smile curved on Lianhua’s lips. “Exactly. Light may blind, but shadows know every hidden corner.”

*Far from the palace, in a quiet village, a young man stared at the night sky, unaware that his very existence threatened an empire. His son, yet to be born, would carry a power even darkness couldn’t smother.*

New maid:what power out lady have to be rare?..

maid:the ancient kingdom of Zhuoyang, Empress Lianhua reigns with an iron grip, her rare Dark element striking fear into all who dare oppose her. Determined to shatter the power of men, she enforces brutal laws to ensure women dominate every corner of the empire. But one man escaped her reach—a survivor with the Light element, the only force strong enough to rival her darkness.

*Years later, his daughter, a fierce wielder of Water, rises as the next successor, unknowingly carrying the hope of rebellion within her. When she gives birth to a son who inherits the unmatched power of Light, the empress’s worst fears come alive.

Lianhua’s*

*Lianhua’s chamber was silent, save for the soft crackling of a lantern. Sakura stood near the door, her face calm but her heart racing.

“I’ve given you everything,” Lianhua’s voice sliced through the quiet, sharp and cold “Power. Freedom. A legacy.”

Sakura’s eyes lowered. “I never asked for any of it, Mother.”

Lianhua rose gracefully, her dark robes flowing like shadows. “Then I’ll ask for one thing in return.” She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. “Choose”

“Choose?” Sakura Whispered

“Me... or him.”

Sakura’s breath caught. “My son?”

“Yes.” Lianhua’s tone was emotionless. “If you choose him, know this—he will kill me one day. If you choose me... he will never see another sunrise.”

Silence filled the room, thick and suffocating.

“I won’t choose,” Sakura said softly.

“You will,” Lianhua’s eyes burned with cruelty. “Because love... makes you weak. And weakness has no place in my empire.”

Sakura clenched her fists, her quiet voice steady. “If loving my son makes me weak, then so be it.”

Lianhua’s lips curled into a bitter smile. “Then the day will come when you’ll watch him end me—and you’ll bear that guilt forever.”

Sakura’s heart ached, but her voice remained calm.

“Or maybe, Mother... that day will come sooner than you think.”

Sakura’s voice echoed through the marble hall as she screamed,

“I wish I was a normal person!”

Lianhua’s eyes narrowed, her tone icy.

“Normal? You have no idea what I endured to become what I am. You stand on the side of those wretched men while I built this empire from their treachery.”

Sakura’s hands trembled, but she pressed on.

“Mother, please—there has to be another way. Let my son grow, let him have his ceremony at eighteen. He deserves a chance to be more than a weapon.”

Lianhua’s laugh was hollow.

“A chance? I killed your father because of my hatred for the very nature of man—their weakness, their betrayal. I sacrificed everything so that women would never be ruled by such feeble hearts again. And now you propose to let that weakness live on?”

Sakura’s eyes filled with tears, her voice barely a whisper,

“He is our son, Mother. He could be the one to break this endless cycle of cruelty.”

Lianhua stepped forward, her gaze hard as forged steel.

“You underestimate the power coursing in him. His Light element is a force destined to shatter everything—and me. If I let him mature, he will one day come for me. I can’t risk that future, Sakura.”

“But killing him now—castrating him—doesn't solve anything,” Sakura argued desperately

. “It only condemns him to a life devoid of choice. There must be another solution!”

Lianhua’s voice dropped, laced with bitter finality. “No, my child

. The threat is too great. I won’t wait until he becomes a man capable of ending my reign. I must act while he is still weak—a child whose destiny can be controlled. Until you make your choice, I cannot allow him to live free.”

Silence fell as Sakura’s defiant eyes met her mother’s cold glare. The weight of their legacy, their past and future, hung heavily between them—a choice that could shatter their world forever.

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