That was ... almost anticlimactic with how silly everything around it is. (Just how deep is that river? How long was Yu submerged? Apparently long enough for Ruantao to make eventually abandoned rescue attempts, all while the Emperor waits for diner? Can anybody even swim in those clothes to begin with? And how much blood do you need to lose in a running, disturbed stream?)

Plus, there is still a chance the Emperor finds some weird excuse that Yu'll eat up, as she did the last times.

Ch.39: Is "his" majesty in her period? You know the "stomachache" thing, so the scenario will be now that she will jump into the water to rescue her wife and get wet so the blood will be obvious or something like that and the empress will notice etc etc

Ch. 40: I WAS RIGHT!! LET'S GOOOO!!

Also, dang yeah, you totally called it. Completely missed it myself, she's just having a bad day all around: assassination attempt, secrets being revealed, cramps... really can't get worse (I hope)

Tried my best hehehe. It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright... (I hope too)

oh wow, very keen of you.. damn you called it

I've used 200% of my brain but it was worth it

Finally the reveal!

Finally the reveal!

And it only took 40 chapters. Practically a record for a GL story

Finally the reveal!

And it only took 40 chapters. Practically a record for a GL story

I feel like handsome girl and sheltered girl happened pretty fast . That's one of my favorites too !

The emperor's gaydar helped find her, I guess

Translator must've enjoyed casually dropping words like 'period' and 'flow' this chapter.

Fuuuuck yeah that’s the stuff. I’m so glad they didn’t have the empress take it in stride like she knows she’s in a yuri, and I really hope they don’t resolve this too quickly, this shot of pain and complication is exactly what this story needs. I wanna see them work through things and fall back in love despite it all.

I love that the empress is like “i will fulfill my responsibilities but no longer will i let you in my personal life.” I love when that sort of devotion remains even when the feelings are shattered and the relationship is gone.

I love that the emperor still loves her so much that she respects her feelings and will bear the pain of losing her but still wants what’s best for her and wants to take care of her, even as she respects her wishes and allows distance between them.

God i love romantic betrayal like this so muchhhhh.

last edited at Feb 23, 2025 12:13AM

my heart can’t take this D:

K now my heart's all broken as well...

Angst, my beloved

Fuuuuck yeah that’s the stuff. I’m so glad they didn’t have the empress take it in stride like she knows she’s in a yuri, and I really hope they don’t resolve this too quickly, this shot of pain and complication is exactly what this story needs. I wanna see them work through things and fall back in love despite it all.

I love that the empress is like “i will fulfill my responsibilities but no longer will i let you in my personal life.” I love when that sort of devotion remains even when the feelings are shattered and the relationship is gone.

I love that the emperor still loves her so much that she respects her feelings and will bear the pain of losing her but still wants what’s best for her and wants to take care of her, even as she respects her wishes and allows distance between them.

God i love romantic betrayal like this so muchhhhh.

Agree with this, and I particularly appreciate how clear the problem was stated. Yu Dingdang isn't upset her husband is a woman, but she's sure as shit upset her wife kept that secret from her this whole time, even going as far as having sex while still hiding herself. And then on top of that we have the reasonable misunderstanding that the Empress opposed Yu Dingdang to keep the secret and the Emperor tolerated that behavior because she also wanted the results of keeping the secret. I'm sure that half won't be too hard to deal with, after all, if her suspicions were true Qi Nian never would have married her in the first place, she would have gone straight to her obedient cousin. But the first half is a very real betrayal that's going to take a lot of time and work for them to overcome. Qi Nian should have come out to her wife long before this moment. It should not have been a secret only revealed by accident months into their marriage.

last edited at Feb 24, 2025 7:08AM

Yu Dingdang take your wayward husband back! He needs you, he loves you, isn't that what you've always wanted?!!

So sad when she said she gave her "true heart." Our sins will always catch us in the end.

Things got a bit more serious than expected there, but I'm sure they'll be able to overcome this eventually.

So sad when she said she gave her "true heart." Our sins will always catch us in the end.

That part cut so deep! Agh, and it makes you think how many years she spent working hard to build the skills to marry this person, and to learn she was being lied to must be so painful.

I like that they're not glossing over it quickly, or passing it off as a misunderstanding. It is a pretty fundamental betrayal of trust, and re-reading the story you can absolutely feel how she felt like she was being made a fool of. I hope they have to build their trust back up from this point with no easy fixes so they develop something much deeper and stronger, but I imagine something about the empress learning why the emperor passed herself off as a man will smooth part of the situation over. But it does seem like they're committed to some level of rebuilding the pieces of a relationship, so I'm quite pleased with the whole thing. It's so important to let devastating moments like that carry the weight they deserve in the shape of the narrative.

Interesting that the one servant claimed "Her Majesty hasn't sent anyone to check on you all day," and yet Yu Dingdang was in fact fully aware of Qi Nian's condition. Sus!

Ah, that hurts. But it definitely feels like we're about to start moving forward again.

So even the Little Empress is not totally immune to Tantai Lan's charms. :-)

Also, the Emperor hasn't technically apologized for the deception yet, has she?

hope they reconcile soon. thanks for the update.

So even the Little Empress is not totally immune to Tantai Lan's charms. :-)

Nor am I haha

So even the Little Empress is not totally immune to Tantai Lan's charms. :-)

The lesbian force of nature is unstoppable.

Is this historical stuff, chinese royalti look very ambiguous after all, it will be simple she accept the majesty as her actual

Finally we're talking. ^_^

Ming Wei used facts and logic

It's super effective!