Pitiful Children

In her opinion, they were both pitiful yet filial children of the clan. A countryside girl like her was forced to grow up and be restrained after her mother married the king. She was forced to be a regent overseeing a nation because her brother was still a child, and then she was crowned queen because he died. 

The man marching here got hundreds of his clan's deaths on his shoulders. He was here to avenge the death of his loved ones caused by the royal family. The cheerful crybaby she once knew was now the trusted general of the man who proclaimed himself emperor in the east.

They were pitiful children; she must preserve the family she was part of in the name, and he must clear his clan's reputation and revitalize it.

They were opposite sides of the same coin.

Unfortunately, her side was losing this chess game.

"Her Majesty has arrived!"

Yi Jingyi had ordered the palace to be cleared out, and no personnel or staff should be in the meeting hall, but the chief eunuch's voice made her raise her head, and she found the gallery was full of courtiers.

"Greetings, Her Majesty! May you live long and prosper!"

"What are you all doing here? Don't you read my instructions?!"

Yi Jingyi was panicked; her plan would only succeed if her people were not around.

Prime Minister Wei was the oldest and had the highest position in the court, and the ministers straightened themselves when the old man stopped bowing.

"Her Majesty, this old bone has served three kings and one queen. How can I sit idly by in this historical moment."

"Prime Minister Wei, you don't know what you're talking about. Hurry up and leave this place! Everyone should join your family."

Prime Minister Wei brushed his long beard, smiling at her with kind eyes. "Her Majesty, we won't leave. We've made up our minds."

Yi Jingyi hardly lost her temper with her subordinate, but she banged the table, "Are you all crazy! There's no point in staying on a sinking ship. Hurry up and leave before Huan Zexian comes!"

"Then what is Your Majesty doing here? Your Majesty, grace to save our family and evacuate the citizens, we all understand. Please respect our decision, too, Your Majesty."

"Please respect our decision, Your Majesty."

Yi Jingyi was dumbfounded. It has been 15 years since she was involved in government affairs; they never called her Your Majesty, even after she was crowned queen. It was only one word different, but the meaning gap was enormous. It means they no longer detest her lack of lineage or resist the fact she was a female decision-maker. They genuinely see her as the leader she was.

This should be a good thing, but with their kingdom surrounded by invaders, her elation was nothing. These ministers choose to stay here.

The courtiers knew her plan. She stood up and raised her cup; "In the kingdom's name, I thank everyone here."

The ministers were primarily men, at an age full of children and grandchildren. They could afford this decision, but the girl in the highest seat was still young. She was forced to be ruthless to protect her brother, stepped into power to abide by the decree, and is now forced to do this to preserve the dignity of their kingdom. Thinking back on how they complained about her, it was ridiculous.

They drank the wine after her, and festivities began.

The meeting hall was turned into a reception hall, with tables full of food and drinks as if handing their royal seal was some happy event.

Yi Jingyi's thick, curly eyelashes cast a faint shadow under her eyelids, which made her look a bit lonely with the unpredictable changes in the world.

The chief eunuch looked at her with some sadness.

Yi Jingyi snapped out of her trance, took the big brocade box on the table, and opened it. Inside was the Royal Jade Seal of Beiling Kingdom and a royal proclamation she had written an hour ago.

It said the Beiling Kingdom voluntarily surrendered itself and would be the Ao Dynasty's subordinate nation. In exchange for the peaceful transition, they hoped Beiling's citizens would be treated with grace.

Snow was falling endlessly and piled up outside the palace. The moonlight illuminated the crowd entering the palace gate. No one stopped them, nor anyone seen for that matter. They followed the voice of joy and the smell of food.

Huan Zexian squinted his eyes, and the meeting hall was a familiar place for him. His father spent most of his time here, her brother's homecoming from the war, and this was also the same hall where he was kneeling and begging the king to save his family. How foolish. How could he appeal for his family's safety from the one who caused its ruin?

Huan Zexian gloved his sword.  

The stark contrast of his men gloom with the Beiling officials' blooming face almost deceived him. Anyone with little knowledge might think his side was the losing side instead of Beiling.

"Welcome, General. We have food and drink prepared. The Queen said, "I hope you don't mind the menu.""

"How can I refuse the Queen's grace?" Huan Zexian walked in, followed by the imperial army and his guards. They sat on empty seats while Huan Zexian took a cup and sat beside Yi Jingyi; "You haven't sealed the decree yet, My Queen. I thought I'd made myself clear."

Yi Jingyi smirked, "What the rush, My Lord? The seal is here."

Their eyes were on the same level; the gaze was neither frivolous nor threatening. 

A loud bang was heard outside, and the reception hall's door slammed shut.

"What did you do, Jingyi?"

"I just do what I have to do. Just like you, Zexian."

Despite Zexian's guard and soldiers' attempts to open the door, the wooden bar didn't budge.

Behind the pillars, several eunuchs broke the wine jar and pushed the candle poles. They were trapped in an encirclement of blue flames.

Huan Zexian found his men soon caught on fire, shouting and wiggling wildly to put down the fire, but instead, it burned them faster. He was perplexed and stared at the face in front of him.

"You-"

"I perfected it, Zexian. Aren't you proud of me?"

He didn't realize it before, but she looked tired. She was smiling, but her eyes dimmed.

Huan Zexian looked around, and aside from his men moving to put down the fire, Beiling ministers and eunuchs were all burnt motionlessly.

A soft weight fell to his shoulder.

The girl looked at him with longing and regret; "If only I could go back in time and stop my royal father from being instigated. Your clan will still be alive, and maybe… maybe, we can be family. I'm sorry, Zexian. In this life, my family owned you too much."

.

.

.

The blue flames lasted for three nights and left nothing but ruins.

The event was recorded in the Ao Dynasty's history as: 

'Ao Dynasty's Founding General - Huan Zexian, died in Beiling Kingdom palace's fire on his way to retrieve the kingdom's Royal Jade Seal from the last leader of Beiling - Queen Lin Jingyi.'

***

"Snake! There are snakes!"

"Run! There are snakes!"

"Help!" 

Her headache intensified by explosive screams.

Ladies with colorful attire squeezed together into a mess.

Yi Jingyi wanted to hold onto something, but she was squeezed away by someone and lost her footing. The next thing she felt was a cold and suffocation.

The water swept Yi Jingyi; soaked her clothes and it became heavier; sinking her down to the bottom. In the mist, Yi Jingyi saw a figure swimming towards her.

Yi Jingyi knew the river to the afterlife wasn't easy to cross, but she never thought it was this intense!

She cursed the Spiritual Teacher who never told her this when her consciousness faded.

.

.

.

Even though Royal Daughter Xuan was only the child of Concubine Xian's previous marriage, her title was conferred directly by the current king, meaning she was recognized as the royal's adopted daughter. Something wrong had already happened, but if she lost her life here, their Dukedom couldn't escape the blame even if they wanted to.

"Hurry up and send more people to rescue the Royal Daughter Xuan!"

The mansion's healer treated the young ladies while the wives tried to soothe Duchess Liyan. The snake's appearance was too sudden; everyone panicked, and they couldn't be vigilant. It was just their lousy luck for someone to fall into the water, but the worst part was it was a distinguished guest! Although they think that Royal Daughter Xuan wasn't an actual royal, she was still the foster daughter of the king!

She was a girl and unmarried at that!

If someone other than a female servant found her first, everyone here was responsible for the Royal Daughter's loss of reputation!

This was a dead end! This was disrespecting the monarch and disregarding the royal's dignity.

For once in a while, the ladies prayed for the same thing - Lin Jingyi's safety.

Unfortunately, they weren't specific enough in their prayers.

"Young Master, this isn't appropriate. You shouldn't have brought her here."

"You think I don't know that? It's already happened, go and call my sister-in-law."

Lu Bing could feel the throbbing pain in his head. Why did his master rescue a girl from the water?! No matter how they explain it, nothing good will happen.