Iron Widow Quotes

“Shimin gulps. "The last thing I needed was another reason for the world to hate me. Though, now..."
"Now?" Yizhi's voice goes as airy as the steam wreathing around them.
"Now, I see-" Shimin grabs Yizhi's chin. "It's all fucking bullshit."
He slams the window shut with his other arm, then leans down and takes Yizhi's lips with his own.
My heart stutters, drawing my chest tight. But I'm at peace with this. Instead of a betrayal of any form, it feels like a completion. My killer boy, my sweet boy. The final line in this triangular formation we've been dancing in, making us stronger than ever.
This is unconventional, yet another implicit rule we're breaking, but you know what? It works for us. And I think the three of us are done with letting the world tell us what's okay and what isn't.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow

“Wu Zetian," a medley of voices whispers in my head. Not just Shimin's but Big Sister's as well. And Yizhi's. And my mother's. And my grandmother's. And so, so many nameless girls who have suffered under the lies I must expose. "Be their nightmare.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow