Chapter 1
“By decree of the Empress Dowager: Empress Sheng Yanhuan has violated the royal commands, failed in her duties as a woman, and shown arrogance and discourtesy. These are crimes of discord and grave disrespect. She is sentenced to one length of white silk and one cup of poisoned wine; her corpse is to be torn apart by five horses...”
Sheng Yanhuan knelt on the ground, her face as cold as ice and a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips.
Violated the royal commands? Failed in her duties as a woman? Arrogant and discourteous?
“The Sheng clan is to be implicated down to the ninth degree and executed after autumn. In consideration of Grand Tutor Sheng’s service to the country, the women of the Sheng clan are to be exiled to Yanmen Pass. So decreed.”
“Why?”
Sheng Yanhuan’s eyes were bloodshot. She suddenly scrambled to her feet.
The Sheng clan had served the country and its people. They had done nothing wrong—why should they be implicated down to the ninth degree?
Wang Fu’s eyes narrowed as his gaze lingered over Sheng Yanhuan’s face and figure.
As expected of the capital’s foremost beauty. Even with a displeased expression and not a single hairpin in her hair, she was beautiful enough to make his blood race.
“Your Maj—no, Miss Sheng, you know perfectly well why. I can’t make this decision either. Drink the wine and be on your way.”
“I want to see the Empress Dowager!”
She had been forced into the palace. So what if she was the Empress?
She was unwilling. That was that.
Besides, she hadn’t even had the chance to do anything before that damned emperor died on his own.
Her own death wouldn’t matter, but why did the Empress Dowager have to drag the entire Sheng clan into it?
“The Empress Dowager won’t see you. If you don’t want to set off just yet, we can wait another two to four hours...” Wang Fu gave a sinister smile and waved a hand behind him.
The palace maids exchanged glances, then wisely filed out.
Eunuch Wang was a favorite of the Empress Dowager, and everyone knew about his peculiar tastes. No one dared to say a word.
“What are you going to do?”
Sheng Yanhuan’s face was deathly pale, and her weak body swayed, but she stubbornly tried to stand straight.
She was the fifth daughter of the Sheng family, the daughter of the Grand Tutor. She would never show weakness in front of a eunuch.
“Your Highness, what do you think?” Wang Fu licked his lower lip and untied a long whip from his waist.
“You’re the highest-ranking person I’ve ever whipped. Take it like a good girl.”
He lashed out at her with lightning speed.
“Whoosh—crack!”
The whip struck her chest. A red welt stretched from her shoulder to her waist, and blood seeped from the wound, staining her underclothes red.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Sheng Yanhuan’s forehead, but she clenched her teeth and didn’t make a sound.
“I want to see the Empress Dowager!”
“Ah, this feels so good.” Wang Fu’s lips twisted into a sick smile, his features contorted as he completely ignored Sheng Yanhuan’s words.
So what if she was high and mighty?
In the end, wouldn’t she still submit beneath his whip?
“Whish, crack! Whish, crack!” One lash after another, again and again, for a full two hours.
The floor was covered in blood. The snow-white woman had turned scarlet, her tiny face deathly pale yet breathtakingly beautiful.
Sheng Yanhuan curled up on the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably from the pain.
“I... want to see... the Empress Dowager...”
Blood spilled uncontrollably from the corners of her mouth.
“Hah—” Wang Fu flicked his blood-soaked whip, and several drops of blood splashed onto Sheng Yanhuan’s face.
The utmost whiteness.
The utmost redness.
The utmost beauty.
“I... want to see the Empress Dowager...” Sheng Yanhuan managed to open her eyes, but everything before her was a blur.
“Come in.”
The palace maids hurried in. Their expressions barely changed at the sight of the bloodied woman.
Wang Fu’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the bloodied whip in his hand.
Suddenly, he stuck out his tongue and licked the whip. The blood tasted sweet and metallic, but it was a pity that she was the Empress—he couldn’t keep her for himself.
“Pour the wine.”
They swiftly forced the wine down Sheng Yanhuan’s throat, then hauled her upright. A length of white silk was tightened around her neck, one person pulling each end.
Sheng Yanhuan had no strength left to fight back. Her eyes were so bloodshot they seemed ready to bleed, but she silently etched every person present into her memory.
“If I am granted another life, I will personally slay everyone who harmed my clan. If I break this oath, may Heaven strike me down!”
At that moment, everyone broke out in a cold sweat, seized by a sudden, instinctive panic.
Wang Fu scoffed. “There’s no such thing as another life. Hurry up and strangle her to death! Drag her to the execution ground and have her torn apart by five horses!”
“Pull harder—”
“Ugh.”
Sheng Yanhuan lay sprawled, her feet kicking reflexively a few times as she was strangled before she quickly went limp on the ground.
Her eyes were blood-red, staring unblinkingly straight ahead.
As if telling everyone...
She would return.