The Female Alpha Consort Mistakenly Marks the Empress - TFACMME Chapter 1

In the season of fierce winds, the sky was filled with dark clouds, howling and swirling, before a river of rain poured down, like thousands of arrows shot at once, violently battering the palace gates.

The desolate rain carrying millennia of sorrows, beat against the red walls and courtyards, then flowed over the palace walls, rushing towards the vast wilderness.

“Walk faster. With such heavy rain, what if we catch a cold? You’re the one who’s going to die for your rebellion, but I’m not!” a sharp-tongued servant in black muttered.

Another voice chimed in, “Ah, this is the precious Lady Mu, a lady of high birth. Be careful. If Lady Mu gives orders, our lives might be at risk. Oh, I forgot because Lady Mu has been the imperial consort since ages! Hehe, now she’s considered the former princess’s discarded mate, isn’t she?”

Mu Lanshi tiredly lifted her eyelids, feeling the raindrops fall and the torrential downpour.

The coldness from the iron chains and shackles seeped into her wrists as the rain poured down. She clearly remembered being taken away at the princess’s banquet.

Before the rain began, amid the fragrance of fine clothes and the clinking of cups, a group of armored soldiers rushed into the backyard, shouting, “Rebel Mu Lanshi!” They placed iron shackles on her, and before everyone’s eyes, they dragged her out of the princess’s mansion.

Then, without a break, they marched for an unknown time.

She had no grievance; she was simply fighting for survival.

It was a princess’s banquet, with many distinguished guests, all there to see her disgrace—once the pride of the capital, the famous Lady Mu.

Among the crowd, some faces were familiar and absurdly so. They were the ones who had once flattered her.

The guards escorting her continue to mock her, but Mu Lanshi ignored them; she was used to it.

She only remembered that when they were escorting her out of the city, it had started to rain. Before this, she had been trapped in Princess Yaoguang’s mansion for over two months, desperately planning a military coup to save her own life and her own family’s honor.

But to others, it was treason.

“You’re a traitor! No matter the dynasty, you’d be executed by dismemberment! You’re lucky to die here!” The sharp-tongued servant, still had the energy to spout nonsense, suddenly turned around and kicked Mu Lanshi’s calf.

Mu Lanshi winced in pain, a metallic taste rising in her throat, but she merely furrowed her brows slightly.

“Boss said not to kick her,” a soft voice from one of the women spoke. A tall masked man stood behind her.

“Yes, yes, listen to Boss,” the servant quickly smiled and replied, urging Mu Lanshi to move forward.

They stopped when they reached an open area.

The wilderness was a mess, the rain having turned the earth into a mire, with mud and water scattered everywhere.

The servant, following orders, walked up to Mu Lanshi, and directly asked, “Where is the key?”

Mu Lanshi, taller than him, easily looked over his head.

She remained silent, simply ignoring him.

The servant, visibly frustrated, glanced at the masked man. After receiving a signal, he gritted his teeth and put on a more submissive expression. “Mu, this is a matter of life and death. If you won’t tell us where the treasure is, it would be a waste. We can’t let the precious gem be tarnished!”

He grinned, ingratiating himself.

Mu Lanshi was no ordinary person. In Great Qi, even amongst noble families that stood tall, her name was well known.

The Mu family was the foremost aristocratic family in Great Qi, with a long history of holding government positions. Their former students and officials were spread across the nation, and they were highly respected by society.

Mu Lanshi was the daughter of the head of the family, Mu Mei, carefully groomed her as the heir. Mu Lanshi was renowned for her graceful charm and literary virtue, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; perfecting herself day by day.

When she came of age, she matured into an alpha, and countless suitors, even the royal family, sought to marry her.

Once she entered government service, she broke the traditional power structures, rising through the ranks and becoming an influential figure.

Now, even with her sleeves soaked from the rain, she had once weathered many storms.

Countless people admired her, but Mu Lanshi was proud and indifferent, so it was only natural she ignored them.

The servant, suppressing his anger, exchanged a look with the masked man and continued, “Mu, once a person dies, they become dust. Keeping this secret won’t do you any good. Why not just tell us?” he suggested.

Mu Lanshi still didn’t look at him, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon.

The servant, unable to contain himself, raised his hand and was about to slap Mu Lanshi’s rain-soaked face. “Don’t make me do it!”

At these words, Mu Lanshi finally returned her gaze, coldly staring at him.

Her long eyebrows were sharp, her dark eyes deep and piercing, filled with an ice-cold intensity and a cruel edge.

This was the first time the servant saw her like this. He froze, his hand suspended in mid-air. Realizing his mistake, he was filled with embarrassment and anger, itching to slap her again.

But just as his hand moved, a strong, invisible wave of pressure hit him, sending a sudden burst of intoxicating scent straight to his nostrils.

…It was the pheromone from a top-tier alpha, exuding immense pressure and dominance over his kind.

The servant suddenly felt nauseous, and before he could react, he vomited blood onto the ground.

At that moment, the masked man—who had remained silent all this time—finally moved. He gestured for the servant to step aside.

Mu Lanshi watched as the man walked toward her. She had always felt that this man seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Since he had been masked and silent, Mu Lanshi had been paying attention to him.

Kill one to send a message, take one hostage to stay safe.

Clearly, this man was the most important person in the group.

But something unexpected happened.

“Do you want to know why your perfectly planned military coup failed?” The low, familiar voice rang out, and Mu Lanshi’s gaze suddenly faltered.

The man under the umbrella leisurely removed his face mask, revealing a face that Mu Lanshi knew all too well.

It was her elder brother, Mu Yan.

In the rebellion plot, the person responsible for the contacts was her own flesh and blood, her eldest brother, Mu Yan.

And yet, for the sake of preserving her family, Mu Lanshi had exhausted all her efforts, doing everything she could. By all accounts, there should not have been any change.

Unless… betrayal. The betrayal of someone close.

Mu Lanshi suddenly understood.

“After all, you are the head of the family with no mistakes in your plans. Though you failed, you’ll still rise again, right?” Mu Yan sneered.

“Older Brother.” She tilted her head, her brows and eyes indifferent.

Mu Yan, however, scoffed, “Don’t call me brother anymore. Also, I am no longer your brother. The Mu family has committed treason, and the whole clan will suffer. I don’t carry the surname Mu anymore. I carry the surname Yan now.” He burst into laughter.

Mu Lanshi’s throat tightened. She hadn’t been wrong. Mu Yan, being the eldest son in the family, had a father of humble status and wasn’t favored by their mother. As such, he was never groomed as the heir.

Their mother, to others, was seen as strict, cold, and heartless.

People aren’t born perfect, and Mu Lanshi, too, had been shaped by her mother’s discipline and the family rules, which had worn away all her individuality.

To be a good heir, to become the head of the Mu family, she had to be proficient in everything and perfect in every regard.

The most rebellious thing Mu Lanshi had ever done in her life was to defy her mother and insist on being with Princess Yaoguang, Meng Yan.

Back then, she was young and passionate, feeling that her mother had controlled her life too much, managing her every move, not even allowing her to seek her own true love.

Even Mu Lanshi herself had once thought her mother was too strict.

Mu Lanshi didn’t respond to Mu Yan’s words.

Mu Yan lowered his head, a shadow flickering in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he spoke with a cold, sinister tone, “Did you know? All one hundred and thirty members of your clan are dead. Your sisters, your brothers,” Mu Yan’s smile widened, “especially your mother…”

He even refused to call her “our mother”.

Mu Lanshi listened indifferently.

“She kneeled in front of me to beg for your life, right before she died. On that rainy day, in the same ancestral hall where she used to punish both you and me, only this time, it was outside,” Mu Yan said flippantly, his tone full of mockery. “She begged me to spare you, saying she was willing to die in exchange for your life.”

Mu Lanshi froze.

Her mother had rheumatism and a condition where her joints were constantly in pain, especially on rainy days.

Mu Lanshi suddenly said, “She was kind to you.”

“Kind? How was she kind to me? Everything that should have been mine—the position of head of the family, the position of prime minister—they were all mine!” Mu Yan’s face twisted into a grotesque snarl, completely losing his once noble air. “That woman never gave my father the position he deserved, nor the head of the family role. So now, all of this is hers by no means deserved!” Mu Yan laughed madly. “So many in the clan have never liked her! At my command, they all came to me! Strict, cold, heartless! I thought she’d be too ashamed of your rebellion to live, but no, she knelt for three days and nights to beg for you. On the fourth day, she died…”

Mu Lanshi’s heart was shaken.

She lowered her head, unable to respond.

In the end, her mother, who had struggled with her marriage all her life, had still been willing to kneel before her enemy in the pouring autumn rain, begging him to spare her rebellious daughter. But she had not saved her daughter nor herself.

“Does it break your heart? Does it disappoint you? Princess Yaoguang doesn’t even care about you. Back then, you said you’d marry her no matter what, even going against your entire family. How does that taste now?”

Mu Yan’s smile deepened. “Pitiful! This is the result of going against your mother and trying to cling to royalty!”

It wasn’t about clinging to royalty, Mu Lanshi thought, closing her eyes slowly, feeling a dull pain in her heart.

Even now, it felt like her mother’s sharp knife was pressed against her back, forcing her not to look back nor bow her head.

“I’ll tell you, since we’re siblings. I came today because it was Princess Yaoguang’s order!” Mu Yan shouted. “If you tell me where the key is, I’ll spare you and your mother’s bodies. How about it, Young Master?”

Mu Lanshi remained silent, letting the torrential rain wash over her hair and her body.

She tasted the poison she had prepared between her teeth. She had three escape routes prepared: one was the rebellion, the second was to kill or capture someone, and the third was suicide by poison.

Behind a curtain of rain, the servants under the umbrella whispered among themselves.

“Quickly finish her off. Yaoguang said the old empress has been causing trouble recently and plans to visit. Deal with Mu Lanshi now and eliminate any future problems!”

The fragmented voices reached Mu Lanshi’s ears.

The empress. Yes, the empress.

In her final moments, she found herself thinking about this lifelong political rival.

She had spent a lifetime fighting the empress, Qi Yingzhu, to support Meng Yan’s ascension to the throne.

Though the title of empress was Qi Yingzhu’s, she was only about the same age as Mu Lanshi. She had entered the palace early, and when the old emperor, who had suffered a stroke, died, she became the empress.

She had been widowed young.

A “clink” sound rang out. The sword in the hands of the man beside Mu Yan had been unsheathed, and he hesitated. “Should we act, my lord? She hasn’t said where the key is.”

“Young Lady,” Mu Yan said coldly, “I’m giving you one last chance.

Mu Lanshi looked at him with cold eyes and replied indifferently, “The people are dead. Why does it matter to me?” She didn’t care about their bones, nor did she care about the reputation left behind. “I threw the key away. If you’re so inclined, you can jump into Yanting River and search for it for fifty years. Maybe then you’ll find it.”

Her mother was dead. What else was there for her to care about?

The poison reached her throat, and with a slight swallow, it slid down.

“Mu Lanshi! You bitch! Even when you’re in front of death, you still talk back!” The man in front of her suddenly changed his tone. “Give me that sword!”

Pheromones couldn’t stop weapons.

The moment Mu Lanshi collapsed, the rain poured down in torrents, as if it were a broken string of pearls.

She couldn’t grasp the rain, nor could she grasp greatness.

What a pitiful, sorrowful life. She had once thought she would die at Qi Yingzhu’s hands.

Her consciousness slowly grew hazy, and even the rain seemed to become a gentle patter.

In the blurred moments, Mu Lanshi heard someone walking through the water.

***

She had died yet hadn’t been reborn. Her soul still floated above Great Qi.

Mu Lanshi coldly watched the political turmoil:

She watched as her brother, after changing his surname, still didn’t preserve his wealth and status. The blood on his hands would eventually be paid back double.

She watched as Meng Yan, after her death, took in other alpha men, lived a life of decadence, and then struggled with her siblings, ultimately failing.

Without her, Meng Yan was ultimately defeated by Qi Yingzhu.

Mu Lanshi found it boring. Her family was dead, and what was left for her in the mortal world?

She drifted away from Danqi, traveling to the western wilderness; then to the eastern islands, seeing the world’s grandeur before returning bored, to Danqi.

When she came back, she saw a grand funeral:

The procession was orderly, flags covered the sky. The golden armor shone under the sun. The nine-tiered royal carriage was adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes. This was the highest funeral standard in Great Qi.

Mu Lanshi curiously drifted among the crowd, only to hear people speaking of her and Qi Yingzhu together.

“The one at the front of the procession is Lady Mu’s remains! It seems the empress kept her bones all these years!”

Mu Lanshi suddenly recalled the sound of someone walking through water and the words spoken by the servants about how “the old empress has been causing trouble” before she died.

It was only natural for Qi Yingzhu to take power.

But what she hadn’t expected was that this political rival, the Empress Qi Yingzhu, not only cleared her name but also gave her a grand burial with royal honors.

She didn’t care about her own bones, nor did she care about her reputation.

But someone cared. Someone saw her as priceless and etched her story in stone.

…

That night, the same heavy rain fell as when she died.

Mu Lanshi still drifted through the palace, finally finding Qi Yingzhu in the temple.

She wanted to see this rival she had fought all her life.

Through a window, she saw candlelight flickering across Qi Yingzhu’s tear-streaked face—she was holding Mu Lanshi’s memorial tablet, and behind her, a great fire raged.

The fire consumed the lonely, desolate temple.

“Mu Lanshi, I’ve come to see you.”

The rain continued without end, the fire swelled. In that moment, Mu Lanshi seemed to understand why her soul had been wandering all this time.

The long years of drifting and disillusionment were all laid bare by the raindrops tapping on the window.

***

TL/N:

大祁/Great Qi. Possibly a fictional dynasty based on the Great Qing (大清)/Qing Dynasty. It could also be the Qin Dynasty (秦) or an alternate history of state of Qi or the Qi Kingdom (齊/齐)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City#Cining_Palace_and_Shoukang_Palace

雁亭江/yàn tíng jiāng=Yanting River. Yàn=wild goose. Tíng=pavilion; booth; kiosk; erect. Possibly a mockery or a fictional river based on 长江(Cháng jiāng)/Yangtze River

皇太后=Empress dowager is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch.