1 Regret of the Past

In a dark room filled with the pungent smell of blood feces and other waste materials, a high-pitched bloodcurdling scream pierced the cold air.

"Where is your father's jade? Just tell me you Despicable bi*ch." Yuan Honghui roared in anger. his patience was getting thin. It had taken a lot of effort for him to not kill her then and there. All he wanted was to know about the jade's location so he could ascend the throne.

Liu Yifei looked at his angry expression and snickered. She was in her last hour of life, right in front of the doors of death. She was tired of the tortures and wanted to embrace the last step of the life cycle peacefully.

She sat there with a regal aura that she had and arrogantly gazed at Yuan Honghui. Her aura shocked him once again. it was as if this was not a dungeon but a throne room. He hated her. He hated her arrogance. Seeing her like this his mind will always wander to her step-sister Zheng Lihua who was pure and gentle and would make her heart flutter every time he sees her. She was unlike Liu Yifei who was filled with arrogance. He gazed at Zheng Lihua who was sitting there wearing a white gown, her hair decorated with jewels. Her face was serene and a delicate frown graced her face. She looked like it was her that was undergoing the tortures, but the lurking evilness in her eyes was clearly visible.

Liu Yifei let out another grunt as the rough whip lashed down on her already blooded and beaten body. Once again, her skin split under the force of the whip, and fresh blood oozed out from the crack. It has been ten months since she had not seen the sunlight. Everything changed on her wedding day when she decided to leave her groom at the altar and ran away with the love of her life, Yuan Honghui.

This was the idea of her, then, sweet older step-sister Zheng Lihua. The groom's family along with her own family received a backlash because of this. This marriage was actually a political marriage where the groom's family would offer military help to her country. So, when she ran away, the groom's family stripped their country with any help, causing the neighboring country to attack them. To defend their country each and every member of her family died. In this chaos, Yuan Honghui ascended the throne. But to get the real title of the king he has to get the jade pendant that belongs to the previous king, Liu Yifei's father.

Initially, she was screaming, thrashing, and crying for help, pleading for mercy. However, the pain of betrayal and heartbreak numbed all the pain coursing through her body.

Zheng Lihua was her step-sister, her closest person. She trusted her with her life. Her father married Zheng Lihua's mother when her mother died of grave illness. It was then Zhen Lihua entered her life and cared for her as an elder sister. Liu Yiefei had no sibling, so when she got a caring elder sister, she was elated. Zheng Lihua knew about her relationship with Yuan Honghui. It was her who has introduced him to her life. She even knew about her plan of running away from the marriage. But now she is sitting there as a legal wife of her lover, proudly glancing at her beaten self from above.

At the thought of their betrayal, Liu Yifei's eyes blurred with unshed tears. She clenched her hands in a fist. She wanted the answers. She didn't know what wrong she had done to them to get this kind of punishment.

She raised her face which was wounded in several places with strands of her hair sticking on her dried and fresh blood.

"Why? What wrong have I done to you all?" Liu Yifei croaked. Her voice was hoarse from all that screaming. "I loved you with all my heart. Why did you do this?" she directed her question at no one in particular.

"Hahaha." She heard evil laughter and raised her eyes to look at the source.

"You are asking a question? You are truly dumb." Zheng Lihua snickered. "Even as a princess, getting all highly-priced tuition didn't even make you bright. What a waste of money" she tutted.

"You are stupid as an insect Liu Yifei." Zheng Lihua continued, "From the very beginning you have stolen everything from me. I guess stealing runs in your vein. Your mother stole the title of the queen from my mother and you stole the title of the princess, the fame, attention, status everything from me. All I had to was steal it back from you." Zheng Lihua sneered in disdain; her posture proud.

Liu Yifei was at loss. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that how her mother stole the title. She clearly knew about the love story between her mother and her father. She grew up listening to their love story.

"My mother…" Liu Yifei's voice cracked. She was having trouble speaking.

"Yes, your vixen mother stole what would have belonged to my mother. My mother was engaged to your father since birth but then your mother came in between them. Carrying a vixen's face that you had inherited, she seduced your father snatching my mother's happiness and her status. But in the end, we snatched everything from your mother by killing her."

Liu Yifei froze. The atmosphere around her was oppressive and filled with despair.

They killed her mother. It was then everything started to fell in places. Now she can clearly see through their plots and schemes.

The utter defeat was what she felt as she kneeled in front of them. She couldn't stop herself from trembling and the unshed tears flowed in an instant.

Zheng Lihua, I hate you. I hate both of you." she declared, her body trembling. A mocking smile started to form on her rosy lips.

With all her might she stood up from the ground with her chin high in the air, "You will never get the jade. You all will be doomed for eternity." She roared. Hatred and anger filled her heart and the air around her started to become violent. Dark aura seeped out from the pores of her body and surrounded her. the air became more violent around her.

"What's happening?" Yuan Honghui. voice ranged in the room.

The room started to shake and the ground started to crack.

"We have to kill her." Yuan Honghui. said, "Kill her" he ordered Zhang Duyi,

who was also her torturer for ten months.

"But the jade…" Zheng Lihua protested.

"Our lives are more important than jade. We will find it soon." He consoled her then he roared at her torturer, "Kill her."

Zhang Duyi pierced his sword in her chest. Fresh blood spluttered from the cavity dying his face and the ground red. The room stopped shaking.

Liu Yifei looked at Zhang Duyi and said, "Even you Zhang Duyi".

She took a last glance at the three faces and murmured, "I, Princess Liu Yifei, swear to return from the hell and punish your souls till eternity".

With that, her eyes closed. All she could feel was cold and in the end, darkness engulfed her.