“Sister, I heard that His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, likes powder blue.”
“Really?”
Inside the palace pavilions, a gentle-looking beauty sitting before a brass mirror turned her head. She was Ming Yuelan, the eldest young lady of the Duke’s Mansion. Her reputation preceded her; everyone in the capital praised her for her intelligence, elegance, and poise—a true paragon of noble womanhood.
Little did they know that behind closed doors, she was familiarly reaching out to viciously pinch the tender flesh on the arm of the young girl dressed in simple linen robes before her.
“You little wretch, where did you hear that?”
“Have you been approaching the Crown Prince behind my back?”
“Take a look at yourself! You’re nothing but a lowly creature of cheap skin and bone. Just what do you think you are worth?”
Ming Yueni fell to her knees with a thud. Enduring the pain, she pleaded for mercy with tearful eyes. “Please, Sister, calm your anger! I am of lowly status and would never dare approach the Crown Prince. I only heard it from the idle chatter of the maids in the Eastern Palace.”
Ming Yuelan looked at her with half-suspicion. “Is that true?”
“I wouldn’t dare deceive you, Sister!”
Ming Yuelan took a sadistic pleasure in watching her tears. She threatened her harshly, “Your lowly mother and that bastard brother of yours are still in the stables. I trust you wouldn’t dare lie to me, otherwise—humph!”
Ming Yueni kept her head buried deep, a murderous intent thick in her eyes, yet her voice remained timid and soft as she spoke. “Sister, I heard them say that the Crown Prince will be coming tonight.”
Upon hearing this, Ming Yuelan was overjoyed. She immediately cast Ming Yueni to the back of her mind and excitedly called for someone to fetch a powder-blue dress so she could be meticulously adorned. She was determined to make the Crown Prince choose her as his Crown Princess!
As the room became a flurry of activity, Ming Yueni quietly crawled to her feet, clutching her aching arm as she retreated. Walking to a secluded corner, she lowered her head and pulled back her sleeve…
On her thin, frail arm, large patches of fresh and old purple bruises overlapped. There was no telling how many times she had been pinched. All of it was hidden beneath her clothes, unknown to the world.
Ming Yueni’s lips twitched into a faint, cold smile. She looked back at the room, her eyes as cold as ice. Now, all she had to do was wait!
Night fell.
The handsome and noble Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom—Bei Chenjing—was alone, stumbling drunkenly through the darkness toward the pavilion.
Ming Yueni hid behind a decorative rockery. By the faint light of the palace lanterns in the grass, she watched Bei Chenjing barge into the courtyard and grab Ming Yuelan, who was wearing the powder-blue dress.
“Beauty… you look so good in powder blue…”
“Ah! Your Highness, you mustn’t!”
Bei Chenjing’s feverish kisses fell upon Ming Yuelan’s face and neck. “Beauty, you are mine!”
Ming Yuelan’s feigned struggle quickly turned into submission. “Nnh… Your Highness, please be gentle…”
The sound of tearing silk echoed.
Looking at the couple in the courtyard using the sky as their quilt and the earth as their bed, engaging in a frantic, debauched display of passion, Ming Yueni knew her scheme had succeeded. Her red lips curved into a brilliant, dazzling smile, even though her eyes were filled with tears.
This was the first day of Ming Yueni’s rebirth.
In her past life, she had served her elder sister during the selection for the Crown Princess, only to have the Crown Prince set his sights on her beauty. He had intentionally barged in while drunk, ignoring her cries and desperate resistance, and forcibly took her.
He was the noble heir to the throne; how could he be at fault?
Only Ming Yueni was spat upon by the world, cursed as a shameless, loose woman who seduced the Crown Prince. In the end, she was carried off in a single sedan chair to become the lowliest concubine in the Eastern Palace. She was also hated by Ming Yuelan and the Duchess!
With nowhere else to turn, Ming Yueni had swallowed her blood and hatred, faking affection to beg Bei Chenjing to save her mother and brother. But Bei Chenjing had lied to her.
Ming Yueni had waited, only to receive the news of Ming Yuelan being carried into the Eastern Palace as the official Crown Princess with the full glory of an eight-carrier sedan chair. On their wedding night, Ming Yueni was tied up and thrown into a well to drown.
Before she died, she learned the truth—her mother had been sold to a brothel and beaten to death by a customer on her very first day! Her brother’s hands and feet had been hacked off, and he had been torn apart and eaten alive by vicious dogs!
Ming Yueni had died with her eyes wide open in resentment!
When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the moment before everything happened. She would never be the Crown Prince’s concubine! She would save her mother and brother! She would have her revenge!
Ming Yueni had seized the initiative and orchestrated the scene before her.
Bei Chenjing’s movements were frantic and crude, but Ming Yuelan was crying out in pleasure, her face flushed with joy, feeling as though she were floating on air. It was obvious what she was dreaming of—if the Crown Prince took her body, he would have to marry her as his Crown Princess!
Keep dreaming!
Ming Yueni suppressed the tears and hatred in her eyes, turned, and began to run, her hemline fluttering in the wind. She appeared to be running in a panic, but she intentionally headed toward Liu Yingwu—the beloved daughter of the Great General of the State and another formidable candidate for the position of Crown Princess.
Crack!
A whip lashed out fiercely!
Ming Yueni fell to the ground in terror, narrowly avoiding the whip, but she scraped both her palms. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and her delicate body trembled uncontrollably, making her look pitiable in the extreme.
“Where are you going? Where is that bitch Ming Yuelan?”
Liu Yingwu had striking looks and a fiery temper. She stood in a high and mighty posture, looking down at Ming Yueni with disdain and hostility. She thought to herself that Ming Yuelan was truly a pervert for using her half-sister as a maid. She also cursed Ming Yueni for being an idiot! To bring such a beautiful and delicate sister into the palace—if the Crown Prince took a liking to her, Ming Yuelan would be fuming!
Liu Yingwu was also determined to win the position of Crown Princess. Suddenly, she found Ming Yueni’s beautiful face an eyesore. As her mind raced, Liu Yingwu wondered if she should slash Ming Yueni’s face…
Ming Yueni looked up, her face full of timid fear. She stammered guiltily, “I… I don’t know. You can’t go looking for my sister!”
“Why not?”
Liu Yingwu keenly noticed the flaw in her words. Her eyes darted around, and she immediately raised her whip and charged out. “I want to see exactly what that bitch Ming Yuelan is up to!”
“Miss Liu, you can’t go looking for my sister!”
“Miss Liu!”
Ming Yueni scrambled up and chased after her for a few steps. Intentionally or otherwise, combined with the obstruction from Liu Yingwu’s maids, she successfully failed to catch up and stop her.
Liu Yingwu barged straight into the courtyard…
Screams and angry curses rang through the palace walls.
“Ming Yuelan! You slut, you harlot! How dare you commit such filth in the imperial palace! —Ah! Your Highness! Ming Yuelan, you seduced the Crown Prince! I’ll beat you to death!!!”
“Your Highness, save me, boo-hoo…”
The courtyard fell into chaos. Bei Chenjing’s animalistic urges had passed, and his intoxication had cleared. He looked closely, filled with shock and doubt. “How is it you!?”
However, the two women were tearing at each other fiercely. The maids and eunuchs were all swept into the fray to save their masters; in the chaos, no one heard Bei Chenjing’s words. In fact, caught off guard, Bei Chenjing even took two whip strikes to his bare backside.
“Haha—”
Hiding in the shadows, Ming Yueni covered her mouth, crying and laughing at the same time. They didn’t treat her like a human! So this time, it was Ming Yuelan’s turn to be the harlot and have her reputation ruined! She could forget about ever marrying into the Eastern Palace as the Crown Princess with honor!
But this wasn’t enough!
Ming Yueni quietly left the scene. The Crown Prince wouldn’t let the matter rest if he couldn’t have her. Once Ming Yuelan came to her senses, she would surely vent her anger and torture her. She had to find a backer for herself before they could react!
She needed to find someone whom even the Crown Prince feared!
Ming Yueni lowered her head, hiding the cold calculation deep within her watery eyes. When she looked up again, her beautiful, heart-wrenching face was framed by lashes wet with mist; crystal tears fell like broken strings of pearls.
She wept silently, appearing fragile and wretched. Her delicate body trembled like a willow in the wind.
Step by step, she walked into the darkness, straight into the path of a pair of cold, arrogant, and sharp eyes that looked down upon the world.
Seemingly oblivious, Ming Yueni remained immersed in her grief and despair. She walked to the base of a tree and, with trembling hands, reached up to untie her waistband…