The Darker the Night, The Brighter the Stars

"Foolish woman, naive woman." He told in a cold tone. There was a layer of frost in his dark phoenix eyes that hinted at the fact that he did not care whether she viewed him as someone cruel or not.

In his eyes, she wasn't worthy, or atleast that was what he was trying to convince himself with. Though she wouldn't be able to answer for obvious reasons.

Lying next to him was the naked figure of his foolish savior, a young woman of marriageable age who was a well-bred young lady, no doubt from a wealthy noble family.

The bundles of cloth that laid on the ground and the jade hairpin he confiscated were testaments to that. Adding the identity token he managed to fish out from the ruins of her dress, made her background more complicated than expected.

She was from Tang Country which was miles away from Zhao Country.

Zhao Yan was written on the small corner of the identity token with the character Li engraved largely on the middle.

He did not expect that the missing fourth miss of Prince Li's mansion would be living in Zhao Country, and in such a small town that was only four times the size of a regular village.

He also did not expect that this seemingly foolish and naive woman would be able to save his life when he was on death's door.

He could still remember the numbing pain that was brought by the poison. He almost died if it weren't for her, or if he hadn't stopped her from leaving, he would have been a cold corpse long ago.

He outstretched his hand, stroking her tender face. Her cheeks were flushed red due to exhaustion, her eyes were closed gently and soft but steady breaths were there to indicate her deep slumber.

Her dark, thick lashes glistened; the contrast against her tender white skin made her appear more delicate and soft.

Her inky black hair was sprawled lazily across her shoulders and back. Her sleeping posture wasn't good at the moment. Her sudden loss of consciousness didn't give her enough time to correct herself.

He moved her fragile body with his hands, pulling the quilt upwards to cover her nakedness. His cold fingers trailed down her shoulder as if reliving all its past ministrations.

She shivered and let out a soft noise almost like that of a kitten wanting to remain asleep. Her soft pinkish lips no longer look swollen. Her delicate skin, however, was littered with strawberries and reddish bite marks.

There was even a bruise in the shape of his hands around her wrists.

His lips curled slightly as he bent down to place a kiss on her forehead, pulling her closer to his chest.

"Just a little longer." He said quietly to himself. The small body in his arms remained unmoving and undisturbed.

He closed his eyes and laid beside her.

He had never touched a woman nor did he ever consider bedding one. It was because his position didn't allow him to be distracted and the power struggles of the court made it so that any woman who would approach him was only after his wealth and status or were assassins trying to end him. That, and most of them were dumb and stupid.

The female population was creatures mostly driven by their emotions while the male population would often think using their lower half.

It was disgusting.

Both species were idiots and rarely does he find someone capable of real thinking. This was why at the age of 25, he was still a bachelor.

All the marriage proposals that were sent to him had been burned or thrown in the canal. Either way, marriage was a burden.

Having a wife or children complicated things. They would become weaknesses or loose strings that would be used against him.

Females were too emotional and had been one of the many sources of trouble in his life.

When he was five, a bowl of soup with raw gingko nuts was sent to him by his father's favorite imperial concubine. Gingko nuts were nutritional but they were dangerous when eaten raw, especially for young children.

The supposed nutritional soup left him poisoned and with a high fever overnight.

Not once did his father visit him while his mother begged his father to come to see him atleast once.

Fu Yanqing wasn't a stranger to the power struggle in the harem. His biological father had been a lecherous fool who could only think with his lower half.

He was an incompetent king who was easily swayed by superficial beauty and young female bodies. His only karma in this life was his low fertility and inability to have many children.

Fu Yanqing was his father's eldest son. He has one younger sister and one younger brother, all from different mothers.

The three of them were his father's only children. Despite being the eldest, his father was prejudiced against Fu Yanqing and would always favor Fu Yangqing's younger brother.

Even the throne fell so easily on his younger brother's lap because his incompetent father was easily tricked by his most favored concubine, Concubine Xiang.

His father was too foolish, being easily controlled by women for so many years. Eventually, their country was on the verge of collapsing due to poor government because that father of his was not only an incompetent man but also an incompetent king.

He failed as a parent and he failed as a ruler.

Fu Yanqing had to step up and usurp the throne, stepping on the dead bodies of many and slitting his father's own throat. He did not feel anything, not even sadness or pain.

Instead, he was relieved.

But who would have thought that his father's most favored concubine would still be a menace?

A trap was set up and he was poisoned horribly by his own younger brother. The younger brother that he had cherished and cared for for so many years turned out to be a traitorous snake who would stab him in the back and discard their lifelong relationship as siblings.

All this for power...

But his brother was still a greenhorn and just as incompetent as their father. If it weren't for Concubine Xiang's maliciousness, his younger brother would have never dared to do anything against Fu Yanqing.

With a hole in his belly and his body poisoned, Fu Yangqing was one step away from meeting King Yama.

All the effort and hardships he had endured to secure the throne and stabilize the country... The many wounds and dangers he had encountered to make sure that Zhao Country didn't fall into ruins. The wars he had led so their borders would never be invaded...

All of them would have been for naught because of one despicable woman's ambitions, simply a sparrow wanting to be a phoenix.

Fu Yanqing's eyes darkened.

Man cannot be judged by looks; seas cannot be measured by cup. You really cannot judge a person's appearance, especially women.

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