Chapter 1

The storyteller always loved to say, "Long periods of division are followed by long periods of union."This was certainly true.

After many years of warring states fighting over control of the realm, the Dafu dynasty was newly established and the realm was finally at peace.

Only the northern borderlands still had battles raging on, with the sixteen prefectures of Yan and Yun not yet fully recovered. The prosperity of the capital and the affluence of Jiangnan were all bought with the flesh and blood of soldiers on the borderlands who wrapped themselves in horsehide when they died.

That year, Dafu lost another of its general stars.

The final four prefectures of Yan and Yun were recovered, the northern expedition army returned triumphantly, but they brought back the remains of the Commander-in-Chief of the northern expedition - General Duan Jin.

In fact, news of General Duan's death had arrived long ago, but the Empress simply refused to believe it.

She ate and drank as she always did, telling those around her, "I'm waiting for his triumphant return."

"He can always come back safely."

"Every time."

The palace servants all kept their heads lowered, no one daring to respond.

General Duan Jin was not only the Empress's trusted confidante, but could even be said to have been raised by the Empress with her own hands.

He was originally a roadside beggar, nearly frozen and starved to death before being saved by the Empress in her maiden years. She took him in as a servant.

His supernatural spear skills and mastery of military strategy were all imparted by the Empress.

The Empress's maiden name was Ye Suijin.

Omitting the few intervening dynasties, ever since academies and the imperial examination system were established by the dynasty before the last, the distinction between scholar and commoner had gradually disappeared. The old aristocratic families of a thousand years were now battered and fragmented, no longer as they were in the past. By the time the previous dynasty declined, warlords rose everywhere. Many new regional powers, big and small, emerged.

Ye Suijin, eldest daughter of the Ye family castle, was one such figure.

Everyone knew that without the Ye family army, there would be no Dafu dynasty.

Because the founding emperor of Dafu was none other than the son-in-law of the eldest Ye daughter. The Ye family army was the capital for the emperor's rise to power.

Although Ye Suijin herself was a woman, she was a fierce general who could fight well, and made great contributions to establishing the Dafu dynasty.

But by the time Miss Ye ascended the throne as Empress, there was no longer a Ye family army in the world.

It was rumored that the Empress once stroked her ru robe and sighed to General Duan, "This robe was exchanged for the Ye family castle. I wonder if it was worth it."

General Duan said, "As long as it is worn on your body, to me, there is no question of worth."

Although the Ye family army was gone from the world, there was still the Dafu general, Duan Jin.

Once a servant, a servant for life. His loyalty never changed.

With his ironclad loyalty, the Empress could comfortably sit in the palace, unafraid of whatever huge storms raged in her deepest quarters.

But now, even this loyalty that made the Emperor jealous was gone along with Duan's death.

When General Duan's remains were transported back to the capital, the Empress insisted on opening his coffin to see him once - she couldn't believe that this time he really wasn't coming back until she saw it with her own eyes.

When she gazed for a long time, she laughed as tears flowed, "You've won again. I knew you could win."

Her raised child always made her proud.

Having said this, the Empress spurted a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the coffin.

Luckily the Emperor reacted quickly, stepping forward to catch the Empress by the waist before she fell completely onto the coffin.

Otherwise, for the empress of a nation to collapse onto the body of a subject would surely become a joke recorded in the history books.

...

Darkness heavily curtained the night.

The high palace walls cast thick shadows on the ground. The moonlight sprinkling the palace paths carried a coolness.

The Emperor was a horseback emperor, and even until today did not relax. In the palace he did not sit in a sedan chair. In the long corridors, one could hear the clattering of his footsteps alongside the guards.

Passing through a doorway was the Empress's bedchamber.

When the Emperor arrived, he first went to the side hall. The imperial doctor did not dare leave, waiting here the whole time for the Emperor. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"How is Zitong?" the Emperor asked.

It had already been two months since the Empress coughed up blood that day. Her condition deteriorated daily, not only had many old injuries recurred, but she also showed signs of a candle flickering out, even lapsing into unconsciousness these last two days, which was critical.

The imperial doctor kowtowed deeply, not daring to raise his head. "Your Majesty, please prepare yourself."

The Emperor's shadow was still for a long time in the candlelight. "Is there really no way?" he asked.

The imperial doctor buried his head even lower, not daring to respond.

A person lives on a single breath. Once the Empress's breath in her heart scattered, she did not want to live on. Even if the divine doctor Bian Que were reborn, he could not save her.

One could not say these words aloud, nor even reveal a hint of such guessing, for fear of the emperor's wrath and rivers of blood.

The Emperor, after all, was just a man.

The Empress, after all, was his original wedded wife.

The Emperor did not ask again, letting the imperial doctor withdraw. He entered the Empress's bedchambers.

Layer upon layer of curtains were opened up by the palace maids.

His Empress never took the initiative to greet him. Each time he saw her felt like he was the one paying a visit.

But the Emperor never complained. He was used to it.

He walked to the innermost area and saw his Empress.

Ye Suijin was lying on her side facing outwards.

Her complexion was more haggard and sallow than he had ever seen, as if the years had suddenly drained away.

The once proud and beautiful brightness burning like an endless fire, how had the eldest Ye daughter become like this?

The Emperor sat at the bedside, staring blankly at her. He couldn't help reaching out, gently caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.

The Empress opened her eyes, saw it was him, then closed them again, slowly turning over to lie facing inward.

The Emperor's heart went cold.

In the end he was but human. As long as one was human, resentment would inevitably accumulate over time.

He gave a cold laugh. "Duan Jin is dead. You won't even be my wife anymore. Do you want to go below to find him?"

The Empress's voice was cold and muffled. "You're the Emperor, can you comport yourself a little?"

The Emperor said, "I've never wronged you. I made you Empress."

The Empress gave a mocking laugh. "And I made you Emperor."

The Emperor was struck dumb. After a long while, he said, "Duan Jin really died in battle."

The Empress struggled to prop herself up.

Nearing the last flickering of her candle, this prop took the last bit of strength she had left, tremblingly. The Emperor quickly moved to support her up.

In the candlelight, the Empress's eyes were as deep as an abyss, staring at the Emperor.

The Emperor reflexively loosened his hands.

The Empress breathed heavily for a few moments, then evened out her breaths and asked, "The black armor I personally bestowed upon A'Jin, tell me, what kind of heavy bow could penetrate that treasure armor?"

Heavy armor was nearly invincible on the battlefield. Even with hundreds of feathered arrows stuck in the back, looking like a porcupine, the armored person would not actually be injured.

For an arrow to penetrate Duan Jin's heart, he clearly must have been unarmored at the time.

How could one be unarmored on the battlefield? It could only have happened while in the Dafu military encampment.

The Emperor said, "They said it was a Hu assassin."

The Empress gave a cold laugh.

The Emperor said, "I...I did not order it."

The Empress gave another cold laugh.

The Emperor finally could not stand it. "I am the Emperor, the Son of Heaven! Duan Jin was my subject, loyal to me. How could I destroy my own Great Wall?"

The Empress calmly said, "You need not have ordered it. There were naturally those who could read your thoughts."

She said, "Just as they fathomed your thoughts...and had the Crown Prince commit suicide."

The Emperor's expression drastically changed.

"I didn't!" His lips trembled. "I didn't! Rui took his own life, it was the Pei villain who deluded my son to estrange him from me!"

"Pei...villain?" The Empress seemed to have heard something extremely laughable. "If only Pei Lian were alive to hear this with her own ears - she traded her father's life, her younger brothers' lives, the entire Pei family army for you, only to get the words 'Pei villain' in return?"

She laughed until she was gasping for breath, "If there is one woman in the world more stupid than me, it would be none other than Pei Lian."

"She was even dumber than me."

"She...she truly loved you."

She laughed so hard she spat out two mouthfuls of blood.

Her pale lips were stained with blood, suddenly vivid once more. As if she were still that proud and spirited eldest daughter of Ye Castle.

The Emperor was dumbstruck for a long time, before asking, "Then what about you?"

The Empress found it laughable. "What do you think?"

The Emperor could endure no longer. "Ye Suijin! I am your husband!"

The Empress found it even more laughable.

"After being Emperor for a few years, your mind's gone forgetful?" The Empress laughed through gritted teeth. "Mongrel Zhao! You low and shameless son-in-law!"

"I! I am your wife!"

The Emperor's face was ashen.

Who would dare mention that name Zhao the Mongrel nowadays?

Now in all the world he was only known as Dafu's founding emperor, Zhao Jingwen.

His base and wretched past had long been buried deep, with all the world looking up to him.

Except her.

She forever and ever looked down on him.

"I don't believe it." He said. "If you didn't love me, why did you choose me as your husband back then?"

His propagandists extolled the deep affections between the imperial couple, praising the emperor as a dragon hidden among commoners, and the empress for her discerning eye.

Becoming the husband of the eldest Ye daughter was truly the turning point in Zhao Jingwen's life.

"Back then?" Ye Suijin sank into recollection, taking some time before recalling, "Oh, back then."

"All that discerning eye nonsense was just gilding my face, making me seem not so bad.

"The reason I chose you back then was just plucking a general from the riffraff. I just thought you were good-looking."

"Zhao the Mongrel, did you think I didn't know? From the first day of martial arts contests you were watching below the platform. You stood in the crowd thinking I couldn't see or remember you? But I did see you."

"Disheveled and filthy." As she spat blood, she ruthlessly tore away the emperor's facade. "A beggar."

The Emperor took a step back, momentarily swept up in memories of the past.

The beggar Zhao the Mongrel gazing blankly up at the martial stage at the eldest Ye daughter, clad in mourning white yet fighting fiercely as fire.

If Miss Ye was properly meeting suitors in an orthodox manner, he wouldn't have dared dream.

But she was meeting suitors through martial arts contests! She was meeting suitors through martial arts contests!

Zhao the Mongrel watched for two days, realizing how powerful Miss Ye's martial arts were. But he still couldn't control his dreams.

What if?

Zhao the Mongrel snuck into someone else's yard in the middle of the night, and stole a set of tidy clothes. He jumped into the icy river to scrub himself clean of mud and filth. The next day, a handsome and neat young man took the stage.

Little Dog Zhao, who only knew a smattering of martial arts, was of course easily beaten down by Miss Ye Suijin in just a couple of moves. After all, at that time he had not yet received personal instruction in the Ye Family Spear Technique from Miss Zhao.

Just as he was sprawled on the stage feeling like he had woken from a dream, Miss Ye hauled him to his feet. "Alright, you'll do," she said.

There was an uproar among the spectators below the stage.

The men who had previously lost at the martial arts contest naturally objected.

Miss Ye justified herself confidently: "This is a martial arts contest for me to find a husband. I never said the man had to be able to beat me!"

"I'm looking for a husband, not a martial arts master!"

"He's handsome!"

Indeed, there was no keen judgement involved.

Miss Ye had chosen him simply because he was good-looking.

As the daughter inheriting Ye Family Manor, she needed to hold a contest to find a husband.

She wanted a man without background or ability to covet and encroach on Ye Family Manor.

She also wanted a man she found pleasant to look at, since he would be her bedmate.

Everything was because he fulfilled all her requirements.

At that time, Miss Ye also did not anticipate that from that day forth, this man would use Ye Family Manor to achieve greatness in his life.