Chapter 10: 10

A sudden intrusion of cold air was felt from the bottom of her skirt.

A sudden intrusion of cold air was felt from the bottom of her skirt.

She was tense and a shiver ran through her spine.

For some unknown reason, Mu Fulan’s thoughts drifted back to a night she had long forgotten.

The autumn rain, the red candles at the west window. That night, her husband, who she had been waiting for finally returned home.

He seemed to be very fond of her beautiful body and gentle disposition. Afterwards, he did not immediately fall asleep, but instead embraced her in his arms and continued to show her affection.

She was both shy and happy to be loved by her husband.

She knew he did not recognise her. She hoped he would also remember their first encounter. She huddled in his arms and gathered the courage to tell him that in the spring of three years ago, next to the old cypress tree on Mount Junshan, he had passed by and helped her rescue a bird that had fallen off the cliff.

He had apparently completely forgotten about the incident and after a moment of confusion, he finally remembered.

He smiled and told her that he had gone to visit Yaoweng that day. But he did not realise that the little girl he met on the mountain was the daughter of Changsha wang.

It turned out that he had already met her then.

Her husbands’ response was not as enthusiastic as she had imagined. This made her feel a little disappointed, but when she buried herself in his arms and listened to his strong heartbeat, she was overwhelmed by a sense of satisfaction and happiness.

To meet by chance is my wish. To meet by chance and be together. What could be better than this?

She was convinced that from now on, she will grow old together with her husband.

But she very quickly learned that the husband she married was not the man she pined for in her dreams, whose smile made heaven and earth lose all colour.

In the years that followed, Xie Changgeng was rarely at home. He was always busy, either stationed in the west or fighting the rebellion. 

She is his wife so she had to serve her mother-in-law and manage the household, how could she be by his side and accompany him?

They spent more time apart than together and it was rare for them to meet more than several times a year.

The only consolation was that in the second year, she gave birth to Xi’er.

Xi’er was clever and lively, the flesh of her heart and accompanied her through the long nights.

She thought that life would continue like this, but she didn’t expect that when Xi’er was four years old, her fate suddenly changed dramatically due to her husband’s decision.

At that time, the rebellion between the vassal kings had gone on for nearly ten years. When the country was exhausted and the people tired, her husband finally made his move.

Someone secretly reported to the court that Xie Changgeng, the governor in Hexi, was raising his troops in the northwest and plotting a rebellion. For the past two years, the imperial court has been afraid of his power and wanted to seize his military power. He raised his army in the northwest, openly rebelled and headed towards Shangjing.

The court was shocked by this. The Zhao vassal kings, who had been plotting for the throne and had been fighting each other for more than a decade, seemed to sense a great calamity approaching. They stopped fighting, and under the persuasion of Qi wang, they reached a temporary compromise with Empress Liu, who was in control of the puppet Emperor. They joined forces to fight in order to preserve the Zhao dynasty, which had been passed down for hundreds of years.

Her sister-in-law had just passed away, a few years after her brother’s unfortunate death. Mu Fulan took Xi’er to Yuecheng for the funeral and had not yet returned. Xie Changgeng sent someone to pick her up, to bring them back to Kuizhou where it was safer. Unexpectedly, there was an accident on the way.

Their whereabouts were exposedand the imperial court sent troops to intercept them. Mu Fulan and Xi’er were captured and imprisoned in Pucheng.

On the condition of their lives, the imperial court demanded that Xie Changgeng hand over the city and immediately retreat.

At that time, Xie Changgeng had just taken Pucheng.

Taking Pucheng meant that he had opened the road to his rear base. With this city, he could attack and defend freely, going south to Shangjing and east to Luoyang.

Xie Changgeng did not agree to their conditions.

Instead he swiftly attacked Puyang, where Qi wang’s palace was located and captured Qi wang’s son, Zhao Xitai, who was recovering from illness, as a countermeasure.

Zhao Xitai was weak and sickly and was the only son of Qi wang. He cherished him very much, did not dare to act rashly and both sides were deadlocked.

Mu Fulan and Xi’er were then taken hostage and spent their days in Pucheng with difficulty. 

They were in captivity for nearly a year.

Eventually someone came to rescue her.

Yuan Handing had arrived.

After the death of her brother, the country of Changsha was removed, but Yuecheng still stands. For the past few years, Yuan Handing has been guarding the last of the Mu family.

He bribed Qi wang’s and sneaked into the city. When he managed to meet Mu Fulan, he told her that the imprisoned son of Qi wang was seriously ill and had died, but the news had not yet spread. Xie Changgeng decided to capture Pucheng as soon as possible to bring out her and Xi’er before the soldier came to the city.

Yuan Handing took them out of the prison in the middle of the night. When the city gates open at dawn they would leave immediately.

Unfortunately, the rescue was discovered before they left the city. The city gates were tightly closed and while they were being pursued aggressively, Mu Fulan asked Yuan Handing to escape with Xi’er and hide him, to ensure Xi’er’s safety.

She was ruthless and pushed away her son who was in tears, his small hands were holding on to her clothes. She could not even say goodbye with a final kiss, at this point mother and son were separated forever.

She was caught back.

Xie Changgeng’s troops soon approached the city.

Qi wang had also learned the news of his son’s death at this time and he was furious. He turned all his anger onto Mu Fulan.

During those days and nights in captivity, Mu Fulan had long understood that her husband would not stop moving forward on her behalf.

If she is alive, not only will she be his burden but what awaits her is endless insults and humiliation.

Her sole joy is that Xi’er was safe.

She believed that Yuan Handing would protect Xi’er and bring him safely back to his father’s side.

When the final moment came, she had no choice but to commit suicide.

Her corpse was hung upside down on top of the city, swaying in the wind and sun.

Three days later, Xie Changgeng captured Pucheng, massacred the city and buried Mu Fulan.

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The next year, he conquered Shangjing and killed Empress Liu and the royal family. On that day, the blood that flowed out from the city gate almost stained half of the water of the moat red.

The new imperial dynasty, stepping on the bones and blood of the old dynasty, established its foundation.

The founding emperor of Great Zhou was wise and decisive. After he ascended the throne, he abolished the vassal states, reform ed previous mistakes with great skill and strategy. He was supported by the people.

Ten years have passed by with a snap of the finger.

That winter in the capital, every household door was wrapped in white silk to mourn for the Empress Dowager who had just passed away a few days ago.

The emperor is a filial son. He lost his father at an early age. It is said that when he was young, the Empress Dowager had to suffer fear and worry, nowadays she sits on top. Many years ago, the Empress Dowager suffered a stroke and was bedridden all year round. As long as the emperor was in the palace, no matter how busy he was, he will personally go over to visit every morning and evening. His respect and filial piety earned him praise and now that the Empress Dowager died, the funeral is naturally very grand.

In the main hall of the temple, Qi shi who was dressed in heavy mourning, led the concubines in the harem and knelt in front of the Empress Dowager. They wept until late at night to the point of exhaustion before being assisted back to their rooms for rest.

She had just entered the bedchamber and before she had time to sit down, Eunuch Cao, a trusted aide of the emperor, walked in with a few strong eunuchs.

With a smile on his face, Eunuch Cao said that he had come to deliver His Majesty’s oral instructions.

Qi Lingfeng hurried to greet him.

Eunuch Cao said in a high-pitched voice, “Your Majesty has decreed that Empress Qi is virtuous and she has served the Empress Dowager for many years and is deeply by the Empress Dowager. Now that the Empress Dowager has passed away, the Empress will be buried with her and serve her well for me to fulfil your filial piety.

Qi Lingfeng’s face was pale and her knees were unsteady. She fell to the ground but when she saw the eunuch take out a rope, she got up from the ground and clamoured to see the Emperor to ask the matter clearly.

Eunuch Cao, who was usually reverent and respectful to her, turned sinister at this moment and ordered the palace eunuch to grab her and said, “Your Majesty has gone to see His Royal Highness the eldest son, and will not see you. Empress, the following words of this servant are all His Majesty’s words, so listen carefully, lest you become a ghost who thinks she has been unjustly killed.”

He cleared his throat, imitating the emperor’s tone, said coldly: “Qi shi, do you think I was unaware of what you and your brother did to Empress Yuan? I’ve known it for a long time! It was just for the Empress Dowager’s sake that I let you live for the time being. I’ve let you remain here and will keep your corpse intact, as payment to the Qi family’s grace to the Empress Dowager. Now that the Empress Dowager is gone, why are you still alive? You can accompany her to the end!”

Qi Lingfeng, like being struck by lightning, at first shouted her grievances, beating at the eunuch looking crazy. But when she heard that her brother had been dismissed from his post and was to be beheaded and all of Qi family’s members were implicated, she burst into tears and fell to the ground. She bowed repeatedly, said that it was all her own fault and begged eunuch Cao to allow her to see the Emperor for mercy.

Eunuch Cao looked indifferent and ordered the palace eunuch to continue their task.

The two eunuchs pressed Empress Qi to the ground, while the other two took the white silk and wrapped it around her neck.

Empress Qi struggled desperately, kicking her feet until her shoes flew off.

The world is prosperous and rich and she leads the harem. She is the most honoured and praised queen in the world. She lived a righteous life and never dreamed that the Emperor who had just paid respects to the Empress Dowager with her in front of his ministers would suddenly turn his face and be so ruthless.

She never felt she was a bad person. Over the years, she has been sincerely filial to her Xie mu and she was infatuated with Xie Changgeng, who was originally to be her brother-in-law. After entering the Xie family as a concubine, she was also courteous and thoughtful to Mu shi and did not disrespect her due to Xie mu’s favour.

Due to a moments weakness, she secretly leaked the news of the mother and son’s journey to Qi wang’s people.

She has long been remorseful. Not only did she repent before the gods, but in order to make up for her mistakes, she has done many good deeds over the years. When the world mentions Empress Qi, who is not full of respect and praise?

Now she has forgotten that incident, but she did not expect that she would be buried with the Empress Dowager just after her death.

She did not know when the emperor knew about it. When she thought of all the years he had been calm, waiting for the day the Empress Dowager left, she trembled with fear.

Everyone has made mistakes. Hasn’t he ever killed to surpass others?

She did not deserve to be treated so horribly.

How could she just die like this?

But how could she resist these wolf-like eunuchs and the life-threatening rope wrapped around her neck?

Her face slowly turned blood red to purple, her eyes turned white, bulged and her tongue stuck out of her mouth.

After a while, she stopped her painful and futile struggle. She was strangled to death in the palace that belonged to her.

Outside the palace, the night sky was dark, the north wind howled and the snowflakes danced wildly as if there were spirits weeping and trembling.

It was so cold that night.

That kind of bone-chilling chill seemed to be invading Mu Fulan, inch by inch, seeping into her skin.

She shivered. She opened her eyes suddenly and met the man’s two eyes on the side of the beauty’s couch.

One of his hands reached between her legs.

Not yet touching her, but the sensitive and tender skin on her inner thigh can clearly feel the pressure from his hand.

She stared into his dark eyes and slowly opened the legs that had been tightly closed to protect herself.

The pomegranate skirt was also lifted by her.

A pair of long snow-white legs that were usually hidden by heavy skirts, were without any flaws, were in plain sight.

Not only that, but under the pomegranate skirt, there is not even an inch of thread!

The candle flames jumped, her skin is like jade and it was a sight to behold.

Xie Changgeng’s hand stopped abruptly when she moved to open her legs and lift her skirt.

His eyes were stagnant and he slowly raised his eyes to look at her face.

She was leaning on the beauty couch, holding the hem of her pomegranate skirt in both hands, raising her beautiful pointed chin, and staring at him who was reaching for her.

They looked at each other for a moment.

He slowly withdrew his hands, stood up straight, stared at her, gritted his teeth, and said in a low voice, “Wanton slut!”

Mu Fulan folded her legs and unhurriedly lowered the hem of her skirt and covered her feet tightly, said, “Xie Lang, even if you knew I was like this at the beginning, would you have changed your mind and stopped asking for marriage?”

Xie Changgeng’s face was slightly twisted, he turned around and strode away without giving her a second look.

TL: This chapter was so hard to translate. I feel really bad for our MC. I read a review left on NU about her true love being someone else but it’s the same guy!

Does this story remind anyone else of Mulberry Song?

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