The Empress

Chapter 5: The Xue(s)

When she received the information from her spy, she smiles with a cold glint in her eyes. She looks at her daughter and says, "That man will be attending the wedding too. He seems to be highly interested in meeting Madame Red."

Her daughter is laughing merrily before she says, "I am quite interested in meeting him as well, mother."

Both mother and daughter look at one another before laughing their hearts out. That man better not be dropped dead once he meets them both.

Lady Red wonders what he will think once he'll see her mother, Madame Red, the ruler of the Kingdom of Xi and who his former empress. He will be shocked for sure.

If he sees her and her younger brother, what will he think then? His former empress has children with dubious backgrounds. No one knows who their real father is. Only a few knew, of course, some of her mother's followers are those originally from the Kingdom of Leng so they do know what's what. Still, someone will for sure cough blood in anger. She cannot wait to see that man, whom she supposed to call 'father'.

She is indeed her mother's daughter with that man. When she gave birth to her son, no one realized that she was in fact with another child in her belly. When her mother decided to leave after burning her family estate to ashes, she suddenly felt a sudden pain in her stomach.

Imperial Doctor Caoben checked on her and he shockingly discovered that she was in fact with another child then. But, as her mother was still too weak due to the early labour, he made her took herbal medication to ease her pain. He also used acupuncture technique to postpone her labour. Her mother only gave birth to her a month later which is, according to her mother, her saving grace. Her birth made her a stronger woman. Even if her brother is not by her mother's side, she is with her.

She is born as a Xue, not a Leng, her mother refused to name her as a Leng. Her mother named her as Xue Xi Ai1 so she will be the one who will continue the Xue family line. Since her birth, she has been taught everything including martial art and military skills. When she was 5-year old, she was already following her mother in battles to unify the Kingdom of Xi. When she was 5-year old, she has killed her first kill. She is a natural born bloodthirsty killer.

Her mother had once said, "You are borne when my heart is deep in hatred, pain and anger. That might be the reason why you are this way, Xi Ai... I am sorry."

She never blames her mother for that. She loves for being who she is. Being strong is good for her and with that, she can protect her mother too.

Both the mother-daughter pair have been called Madame Red and Lady Red due to the blood trails left by them during the unification battles. Madame Red is known as a fierce and wise leader. Lady Red is known as a heartless and demonic Asura2, she is young, but she played a big part in the unification, killing those who disagreed with her mother's plan.

Many are in awe at them both, but most are scared at Lady Red. Too young yet so deadly. Only when the unification was a success, the deadly young girl seems to act more sensible and carefree. Seems like it is all just a bad rumour now. But it is a fact.

The youngest son, Xue Lipin, is not Madame Red's biological son after all. He is, in fact, an ancient spiritual beast who was defeated by her 10 years ago, a majestic dragon, a red-coloured dragon. When he was defeated, he claimed her as his mistress, but Madame Red hated to have a dragon by her side for all the eyes can see so she instructed him to transform into a baby. From there, she raised him as her son. To others, she has another child with a dubious background yet again.

These 3 are well-loved in the Kingdom of Xi. But people of Kingdom of Xi know that though they are lovable, they are not that lovable when they are scorned. So, they are handled with the utmost care for the sake of the kingdom. After all, where can they get another ruling family looking as divine as the Xue? They are all simply too beautiful despite being full of thorns. With the new addition of Lady Red's future husband, they are more than happy to have another good looking individual in the ruling family. If only they knew that he is much worse than Lady Red herself.

***

1. ** To love

2. A demon

3. ** Gift