Ambition's Shadow

Megan Fields refused the title my father offered her.
She said she didn't want to be trapped in the back courtyard like my mother.
Besides, as a maid by my father's side, she could always be with him.
I was shocked.
My mother was pregnant again and had been promoted in rank.
Megan mocked my mother: 'You're nothing but a baby-making machine!'
Later, when my father became emperor, my mother was crowned empress.
My brother was also named crown prince.
Megan still taunted my mother: 'He's just placating you because he's wary of your brother's military power!'
She was demoted to the imperial harem, yet still told people: 'He loves me. He's just protecting me now, not wanting me to become a thorn in his side!'
But I heard Father Emperor say: 'She's gone mad. Send her on her final journey.'
I asked Father Emperor: 'Did you kill her because you love her and don't want her to suffer anymore?'
Father Emperor smiled faintly: 'If I loved her, why would your mother be the empress?'