Life had certainly not gone the way you expected.
Your plans were these: you'd serve in the army in your brother's stead, get honorably discharged and return home to your sleepy little village, continuing a peaceful, yet mundane existence despite your life long thirst for adventure.
What you certainly had not expected, was for it all to go to hell, for your identity to be revealed despite your best efforts, for you to become a plaything and the eventual wife of your future emperor, and subsequently give birth to the future imperial line.
Your family — and your whole village, and everyone who knew you, for that matter — certainly got the shock of their lifetimes, but quickly embraced the apparent blessing with open arms and tears of happiness. It was an immense honor to have been known by you, their future Empress, so why would anyone care that you were essentially forced into the role?
"Imperial father and mother, greetings," a boy bowed his head of black hair subserviently before your seated form.
Your husband was beside you, having ordered for your presence to join his late afternoon tea break.
You glanced at your son, noticing his soft gaze upon a particular sweet pastry, one of many colorful ones spread out over the ornately carved cedar table.
Sighing, you stretched out your arms towards the eight-year-old boy, your expressive approval for him to run into your arms and seat himself on your lap, and he did so promptly, but not before sending a glance of hesitation at his silent father.
You brushed his soft, silky hair affectionately, before gently muttering, "I know you want to eat that, sweetie."
The teased boy shyly shook his head, hiding his face from you, instead burying it in your bosom. You slowly reached out for the desired pastry before holding it before him.
"If you don't eat it, I will— "
Before your words even ended, your son snatched the snack from your hand before running away, quick as a rabbit.
Your lips curled up, amused at his antics.
"You sure do coddle our son too much," your husband remarked from beside you as he sipped his herbal tea.
You frowned slightly at his words.
As you had quickly learned, there were clear differences between raising royal children and common ones. Your own children couldn't simply call you "mother", but state your title every time they wished to speak to you, starting from such a young age.
It caused your heart to ache; despite being the Empress, certain protocols simply couldn't be overturned. You therefore resolved to be as affectionate to your children as possible, before they grew up and became distant.
Of course, your dear husband, who had been raised in an even stricter environment, couldn't understand you, and even if he did, he'd simply treat your grievances as thin air.
Noticing your lack of response, Yan Xi continued, "If one gets coddled too much, they grow up to be weak, and become slaves to their desires. I was looked after by the best teachers and advisors, having learned to govern my heart — or at least I thought I did — until, of course, you went on and seduced me, sweetheart. Imagine what could happen to our son!"
You almost sneered at his words.
Seduced?
You?
This was the man who beheaded a soldier for simply brushing shoulders with you. If Yan Xi's words were indeed right, you were one hell of a seducer.
"...You're right, dear," you softly agreed despite your utter hatred for his deceitful words, knowing the consequences of ignoring him for too long.
You had scars to remind you of that every day.
"Hm... why don't we try for another child, my darling? It might be a daughter this time, and you can spoil her as much as you want," Yan Xi proposed with a smile after a thoughtful look.
You observed his deceptively beautiful visage for a moment, before resolving to your fate.
You had no choice in the matter, even if it seemed like it.
One thing you learned about Yan Xi over the years was that he created the illusion of choice — framing his words as questions — when in reality, he only nudged you towards the only viable option — the outcome he desired. It had been the case from your very first encounter.
"If that is what you wish, my beloved," you answered, submitting once again to Yan Xi.
Your husband, your emperor, your master.
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A/N:
Thank you for reading, my dear reader! I'm not really sure if Yan Xi came off as yandere enough... but I hope you liked it! (Also, the name Yan Xi is the same one from my entry in the @AmateurCreators project. I'm not creative enough...). I've always wanted to write a classic Mulan-like yandere story, so I'm glad I've finally done it.
One thing I'd like to point out: some of my stories are (and will be, hopefully) set in the past. As such, I use somewhat archaic words (which might have offensive connotations) to fit the story better.
An example being the word "whore" which I used in the previous shot. In this case, "whore" literally just meant prostitute, but I felt like some commenters might have misunderstood it.
Idk if it's my writing that's completely failing to convey the old-world feel well enough, so I just wanted to clear that up.