Chapter 1:- A Desolate Past Life

Heavy rain poured down in sheets, washing the luxurious Wangyue Terrace until it gleamed spotlessly clean.

That was the most extravagant bedchamber in the Eastern Palace, built especially by the Crown Prince in those days to welcome his Crown Princess, Jiang Rao.

The scene of that wedding, when the heir to the throne married the daughter of a powerful minister and the procession stretched ten miles long, still seemed as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

But now, the world had already changed.

For seven full days, executions were carried out in the suburbs of the capital. The Jiang clan had been slaughtered to the last. The Jiang’s had been a noble family for three generations, bound to many factions of power. Yet Crown Prince Mu Ling, ruthless in his methods, refused to spare even the most distant branches of their kin.

With the extermination of the entire Jiang family, their military authority finally fell into the hands of the Eastern Palace. Every official was filled with fear; the whole capital was shrouded in a lingering stench of blood.

Wangyue Terrace.

The woman of the Jiang family, hailed at the age of fifteen as the most beautiful lady of Jin Dynasty, and later the Crown Princess radiant in glory was now lay collapsed upon her couch, her once peerless grace faded into haggard desolation.

Her hair was in disarray, her face deathly pale. Her eyes, dulled and unfocused from days of fasting, had lost all strength. Ever since the imperial decree was issued, Jiang Rao had wanted, every moment, to die alongside her slaughtered clan.

At this point, she no longer even wished to ask Mu Ling one last question….Why?

Why else but for the Jiang family’s military power, for the favor of the people, for the Jiang army’s prestige that overshadowed the throne and never because they had truly rebelled!

So much for Wangyue Terrace built for beauty, so much for betrothal gifts worth a fortune. Every tender vow over the years had been a poisoned arrow and every shaft struck deep into the hearts of her family and friends.

A dull roll of thunder sounded as the doors of the bedchamber swung open. Mu Ling entered, wearing the dark formal robes of the Crown Prince. His hands were clasped behind his back. In both his expression and bearing, there was not the slightest trace of remorse.

“You haven’t eaten again today,” he said…how laughable. Even now, his tone carried false concern.

The very sound of his voice made Jiang Rao’s body recoil in disgust. She had no strength left to confront him; instead, she simply closed her eyes and ignored him.

“Rao’er, your Jiang clan has committed grave sins. Now that they have been executed to the last, sparing your life is already the greatest favor I begged from Father Emperor.”

“From now on, you will still be the noble Crown Princess of Jin, and in the future, the Empress of the realm. The Jiang women have been taught since childhood how to be empresses so no one is more suited than you. No woman under heaven could be more honored or worthy of the throne than you.”

She heard nothing of the words that followed. In her mind, only two words echoed…Grace bestowed… So the lives of loyal soldiers and innocent officials, sacrificed in vain, had earned nothing more than a cold “favor” from an unfeeling imperial house.

What grace, how could she possibly accept it?

“Mu Ling,” she whispered, her voice faint and weak, “do you know what it feels like to face your enemy and be unable to kill him with your own hands?”

Her tone was so soft it was almost fragile; yet though she posed no threat, Mu Ling felt a chill run down his spine.

Her gaze sharp as a blade was wholly at odds with her frail body. There was such cutting clarity in her words that one could not help but be wary.

“Insolence.” Mu Ling disliked being challenged. The dignity of the royal house must never be diminished.

Jiang Rao forced her heavy body upright, staring at him with all her remaining strength, searching his eyes for even a flicker of guilt or unease but there was none.

“You think I would still believe you, as I once did?” she said with a cold laugh, her eyes locked on him. “Leaving the Jiang family’s daughter alive was nothing but a way to polish your reputation, wasn’t it, Your Highness?”

“You are ruthless, slaughtering so many innocent officials and soldiers for the sake of power. Their blood has soaked half the capital! The people may fear you, but they do not respect you. So who is better than I, the Jiang family’s daughter to serve as your façade of benevolence? Without spilling another drop of blood, all it takes is a woman’s place in the harem to silence the whispers of the realm, to make them praise how merciful our noble Crown Prince is; so magnanimous; he even spares the daughter of traitors! Truly, Your Highness, you’ve made a fine move in your game of chess.”

Jiang Rao’s words cut through his hypocrisy without mercy, leaving him no ground to stand on.

“Jiang Rao.” He spoke her full name now, all pretense of tenderness gone; his eyes turning cold and distant. “You have always been clever. Do you realize how much easier it became for me, once the Jiang family’s daughter became my Crown Princess? I should thank you. The old marquis was a cunning man, but no matter how he schemed, he never guarded against his dear son-in-law.”

Every word struck like a blade, each syllable cruel and dripping with blood.

Jiang Rao’s teeth clenched until they nearly broke. Summoning her last strength, she rasped, “If what you wanted was our command of troops, you could have demanded it openly in court! The Jiang family’s soldiers have always guarded the borders in service of the throne!”

“Ridiculous!” Mu Ling snapped, face darkening. “That military power rightfully belongs to the imperial house! Yet the soldiers know only the name of the Jiangs, not of their emperor. Tell me, how long before the empire itself would belong to your clan?”

A cold emptiness filled her chest. “Treating loyal ministers this way; are you not afraid the hearts of all men will turn cold? Without the Jiangs, who will defend your borders?”

“The Jiangs rebelled. I merely executed traitors. What hearts could possibly grow cold?” Mu Ling toyed idly with the ring on his finger, his tone tinged with pride. “Your family may have long dominated the frontier, but now the Northern Prince, General Chen Lian, has earned great merit. With him guarding the borders, it will be the same.”

So that was it. Jiang Rao realized only then that Mu Ling had already won over Prince Beiqing, Chen Lian; the only general whose military might could rival the Jiang clan’s.

Chen Lian, the war god of Jin. Years ago, he had been nothing more than a deputy under King Chen’s command, a man of humble birth who had clawed his way up through rivers of blood. His name was forged entirely through battle.

With such a man at his side, Mu Ling’s path to the throne was now unimpeded.

Struggling to sit upright, Jiang Rao asked in an icy tone, “And you truly believe that Prince Beiqing will remain loyal to you forever?”

“Rao’er, only when the power of the army lies in my hands can I truly believe,” he replied.

That familiar endearment, once tender, now sounded unbearably loathsome.

Jiang Rao felt her heart turn to ash. Gazing at the man who had shared her bed for three years, she realized how utterly a stranger he had become. Perhaps she had forgotten that he was not just Mu Ling, but the Crown Prince of Jin, second only to the Emperor himself.

“Your Highness,” she called him for the last time, “may you hold fast to this empire and to the power won with the blood of my Jiang clan.”

“Your concubine….” her eyes burned with dying hatred, “begs only for death!”

The Crown Prince looked at her resolute face; her bloodless lips only made her beauty more hauntingly fragile, yet her gaze still held the gleam of a drawn blade.

Jiang Rao, Jiang Rao… As your name suggests, charming, alluring, unmatched in beauty. Truly worthy of being called the number-one beauty of Jin. But alas… ignorant of the times, and doomed to a short, tragic life.

“Bring the poison wine,” Mu Ling ordered, sweeping his sleeve as he turned and left without a backward glance.

The noble daughters of the Jiang clan; peerless in grace and status, born only to enter palaces and noble houses, how ironic that the words once used to praise them now sounded so cruelly absurd.

If there were a next life, Jiang Rao vowed, she would shatter these invisible chains. Even if it meant marrying into a humble farming village, she would never again set foot into the loveless, heartless house of emperors.

Cultural Notes:

• Wangyue Terrace:- literally “Moon-Gazing Terrace,” a luxurious palace chamber.
• Eastern Palace:- residence of the Crown Prince.
• Jin:- fictional dynasty name.
• Prince of Beiqing / Northern Prince:- a titled general of high status.