Yet, he didn't intend to offer his own backside to another man—as he might have done while in my mother's body—but rather planned to use his own male form to ravish the Emperor's beautiful, gentle concubines.
Having returned to his true male self, my father burned with the desire to plunge his thick, heavy cock into the slutty pussies of these beauties.
Meanwhile, my mother was being subjected to relentless humiliation and "training" in the Cold Palace, while my wife and I were held captive, forced to endure the Emperor's sexual whims.
Though the palace maids were certainly attractive, they held no interest for my father.
Thus, he set his sights on Emperor Shengzong's concubines.
Among the Emperor's harem were many stunning women.
Each one hailed from a prestigious, high-born family—the very embodiment of the phrase "possessing both talent and virtue." Yet, for all their exceptional qualities, these women lived unhappy lives—largely because their husband, Emperor Shengzong, showed them no favor.
Since entering the imperial palace, they could count the number of times they saw the Emperor each year on their own fingers.
"Neglected women pining away in the inner chambers" is the most fitting description for them.
Had they been living outside the palace walls, they might well have taken up with household servants or other men.
But this was the imperial palace; surrounded only by eunuchs, the prospect of an illicit affair was fraught with extreme difficulty.
Very few men were permitted to move freely in and out of the palace, and even fewer had the opportunity to engage in secret trysts with these women.
Among Emperor Shengzong's consorts, only the Empress and Consort Pang had frequent opportunities to have sex with men from outside the palace.
For the others, a mere one or two such encounters a year would be considered a stroke of good fortune.
In the absence of men, they were left to satisfy their sexual desires using their own fingers, or the tongues of the eunuchs and palace maids.
Given their state of long-term sexual deprivation, even a crude, ugly man—let alone someone like "Father"—would have the chance to enjoy their beautiful, yearning bodies.
The Empress, clad in a sheer, gossamer-thin gown, made her way toward the living quarters of Consort Shu.
Consort Shu was the younger sister of a high-ranking official. Only in her thirties, she had aged remarkably well—aided by the specialized internal energy techniques practiced by the Emperor's consorts to preserve their youth—making her appear no older than her twenties.
Before becoming an imperial consort, she had been a renowned intellectual in the capital, with a long line of suitors vying for her hand.
Yet, possessing high standards, she had shown no interest in the submissive men who sought to win her favor.
Believing that she would eventually find the perfect husband, she instead found herself taken into Emperor Shengzong's harem. Though she herself wished otherwise, it was not for her to decide.
Having been in the palace for nearly a decade, she had seen ten years of her youth slip away in vain.
When the Consort knocked at her chamber door, she was playing the zither, accompanied by a maid; the mournful, plaintive melody spoke of the profound loneliness and solitude dwelling within her heart.
Hearing the knock, she instructed her maid to open the door and invite the visitor in.
Upon seeing who it was, she knitted her brows ever so slightly—she could not fathom why this Consort Long, currently so favored by the Emperor, would come to seek her out.
"Sister Long, what brings you to my quarters? Are you not required to attend to His Majesty today?"
Consort Shu asked, her voice tinged with bewilderment.
Consort Long did not answer immediately; instead, she waved her hand, signaling for the maid to leave the room.
She then took Consort Shu's hand, led her to the seat where she had just been playing the zither, and asked in a soft, hushed tone, "You must be terribly lonely, sister, are you not?"
"No! I..."
Consort Shu's instinct was to deny it, for she knew all too well the consequences of saying the wrong thing within the imperial harem.
But before the denial could pass her lips, the other woman—whom she addressed as "Sister"—interrupted her.
"My dear sister, consider who I am; there's no need for such wariness. I would never dream of harming you!"
The woman spoke to Consort Shu with gentle, soothing tones.
At that moment, Consort Shu recalled the woman's true identity—a status far more renowned than her title of "Consort Long": she was Long Cangtian, a peerless martial artist who had reached the pinnacle of the *Xiantian* (innate) realm.
Fully grasping the implications of this, Consort Shu gradually let her guard down. She knew that in the presence of such a person, any attempt at caution would be entirely futile.
If this woman truly wished to harm her, she would have no chance to resist.
"Why did you come to see me, Sister?"
"I was merely passing by, but upon hearing the sound of your zither, I couldn't help but come in. Tell me—are you feeling terribly lonely?"
"...Yes! Oh, Sister... *sob*..."
The woman possessed an aura that naturally drew others toward her; with her defenses lowered, Consort Shu opened her heart completely.
The genuine concern in the woman's words brought a long-forgotten warmth to Consort Shu. Overcome by the sorrow she had suppressed for so many years, she buried her face against the woman's chest and began to sob softly.
"There, there, my dear sister! Go ahead and cry—I am here with you."
The woman spoke with tender reassurance.
As she listened to that gentle voice, Consort Shu's tears fell steadily, dampening the woman's thin robes—and in doing so, they washed away the heavy, stifling gloom that had weighed upon her heart for so many years. After a thorough, cathartic cry, Consort Shu's emotions finally steadied.
Once her sobbing ceased, she looked up, her face flushed, and said to my mother, "Please forgive me for making such a fool of myself in front of you, Sister!"
Seeing Consort Shu's shy, bashful expression, my mother felt a surge of resentment toward Emperor Shengzong.
"How could you bear to let such a beautiful woman waste away her best years in the imperial harem? How many decades can a woman like her truly have in a single lifetime? Oh, Emperor! You are truly the most selfish man under the heavens. These beauties have dedicated their entire lives to you—but what have you ever given them in return?"