The Empress

Chapter 1: You are not my emperor

When she discovered what had happened to her maiden clan, the knowledge of it had caused her to experience early labour. Overwhelmed in her sadness, the pain of labour meant absolutely nothing for her. She has been fighting for her life to give birth to her child. For hours she screamed in silence, with tears profusely coming out from her pair of 'phoenix' eyes. She has been carrying this child for nearly 8 months, she has been taking care of herself for the sake of her unborn child. The child that carries her wish, hope and love. She might not have the love of her husband but, at least, she will have a child that she will raise with love. How naive of her to even be thinking in such a way?

When she received the news that her father, General Xue1 Hu2, has been accused of high treason, she laughed hysterically due to the absurdity of it. She immediately went to meet her husband, Emperor Leng3 Re4 Long5, only to be snubbed by him. When she saw how the Right Prime Minister You Xiongxin6 smiled proudly as he stands next to her husband, she immediately felt that her legs suddenly weakened which caused her to kneel on the cold floor with the sudden realization of what had really happened.

She looked accusingly at the Emperor, "You have planned this. You and that despicable Right Prime Minister of yours! How could you?!?!?! My family has been nothing but loyal to this Kingdom for 3 generations. Why?!?!?!"

The Emperor sneered and answered, "All these years, the Xue family has always been a thorn in my flesh. When it has been decided that you are to be my Crown Princess and then the Empress, I have decided then that the Xue family must go. You should be thankful that you have been exempted from capital punishment yourself."

"You should have just sentenced me to death. What is the use of me to continue living when the rest of my family aren't? If you hated my family from the very beginning, you should have just refused to marry me in the first place. You should also demote my father from his post if you are indeed felt threatened by my family. You are the Emperor after all." She said with tears in her eyes.

The Emperor calmly went to the place where she is kneeling, he bent down before her then used one of his hand to forcefully held onto her chin, they look into each others' eyes with unspoken hatred between them, "If I could, I would... But your family are loved by the people of this Kingdom. It has been discovered that your beloved father planned to usurp the throne if your child is a dragon child."

With her chin forcefully held by him, "That is a lie. My father would have never done that. When I am to be married to you, he told me to be a good Crown Princess and a virtuous Empress. He also told me to serve you loyally. Not even once... Not even once, he had ever used his position as a General nor I as the Empress for his own benefit. You dare to say that he planned to usurp the throne. Your fear and hatred have blinded you, Re Long."

He let go of her chin forcefully and that force itself made her upper body to hit on the floor, hard. He was shocked when he saw that as he did not mean to be that aggressive towards her, but he just watched her. Suddenly, a eunuch frantically ran into the hall and said, "Your Majesty, Noble Consort Wan7 is in labour. The imperial doctor is already on his way."

The Emperor immediately leave the main hall to go to his beloved concubine. Right Prime Minister You Xiongxin left the main hall too with a smirk on his face.

Empress Xue Lianhua8 is left there, still kneeling on the cold floor but she no longer shed a tear. She just stared at the throne. The eunuch saw her and immediately went beside her to assist her, "Your Majesty, please stand up."

She stands up with his assistance, the eunuch saw that there is blood on the floor, "Your Majesty!"

"Silence. Send me back to my palace now. Call for Imperial Doctor Caoben9. I need to discuss something with your mistress as well."

The eunuch accompanied her to her palace before instructing one of the maids to call for Imperial Doctor Caoben. He then immediately went to meet his mistress as well, giving her a letter written by the Empress. Noble Consort Wan has indeed started to experience the pain of labour but she still reads the letter given by the Empress, the expression on her face suddenly changed.

"Tell the Empress that this concubine agrees to her suggestion."

With that, the eunuch ran to the Empress's palace. Upon arriving there, the Empress has already started to experience the pain of labour herself. Imperial Doctor Caoben is waiting in front of the room to monitor the process. Only one midwife is inside the room with the Empress and 2 of her maidservants. It is not time yet for the Empress to deliver her baby yet but, due to the sudden pressure she has faced, it has caused her to experience early labour. She has been also secretly taking herbal medicine to induce her early labour too. For days, she has been feeling that something is not right. Her instinct is right after all.

For hours, she struggled to give birth to her baby. The day has turned into night. Only then the Empress managed to successfully give birth. The midwife silently takes the baby to clean it, she is sad when she sees the beautiful baby. The Empress has already ordered her to do what needed to be done. She is one of those people who has been helped by the Xue family in the past so she will do whatever it takes to make sure what the Empress has planned earlier will go on smoothly.

For the last time, the Empress holds her child with tears on her eyes, "Forgive me, my child. I must do this to ensure that you will grow up well without having a treacherous maternal family to tarnish your future. You will grow up as royalty and gain what is rightfully yours."

She kissed the baby on the forehead and both of his cheeks. She then passed her baby to the midwife, and together with the eunuch, they both silently walked to their destination undetected by the patrolling guards.

Meanwhile, earlier that day, Imperial Doctor Caoben had taken a dead baby from a pair of commoners and paid them handsomely. The Empress had told him that she will take herbal medicine to induce her labour. And, he must find a dead baby in the meantime. The baby has been passed to the Empress, she held the dead baby gently and put him down next to her on the bed. She strokes the head of the poor baby. Too young to die she thought sadly. Now, all she must do is wait.

The imperial doctor at Noble Consort Wan's palace had informed the Emperor that the delivery had gone on smoothly. The midwife went out of the room and congratulate the Emperor as Consort Wan has successfully delivered dragon phoenix babies. Though the prince is slightly smaller than the princess, the babies are both healthy. The Emperor is happy when he heard this.

His personal eunuch suddenly came to his side, "Your Majesty, the Empress has given birth as well..."

He stopped smiling, "The baby?"

"It is a boy but..."

The Emperor stared at his eunuch, "But..."

"Imperial Doctor Caoben said that as the baby is a premature baby, it stands no chance of survival. The Empress has also suffered great stress which has caused her to give birth early."

The Emperor bowed his head before he walks out. He walks calmly to the Empress's palace. When he arrived, the servants and Imperial Doctor Caoben bowed respectfully to him.

"How's the Empress and the child?"

Before Imperial Doctor Caoben managed to answer. The midwife run outside and frantically said, "The prince! The prince had passed away!"

The Emperor went inside the room, the room itself reeks of the smell of blood. He saw that the Empress calmly sits on the corner on her bed, her face is pale, she is holding tightly onto a bundle of cloth.

"Bury this child as a Xue. He is not a Leng. He is the son of a traitor's daughter." She said calmly before passing the baby to her maid.

The Emperor looked at her with hatred. She smiles and says, "Do not be angry. It is better for my child to not live as if he lived, he will forever be known as having an unfortunate connection with the Xue family."

She then continues to say with her finger pointed at him, "You are no longer my Emperor. From this day onwards, I am no longer your Empress. That child will be buried according to my will. From this day onwards, there will no longer be any Xue in the Kingdom of Leng."

The Emperor stared at her, "What did you plan to do?"

She smiles and stands up, one of her maids is holding onto her hand to support her, "Xue Lianhua is dead for you and the Kingdom of Leng."

Soon after that, she vanished. He was shocked, he looked at the entire room, but she is no longer there. Even the maid carrying his dead child is gone. All her personal servants that she had brought together with her are gone without a trace. Imperial Doctor Caoben is gone too. The midwife who is standing outside the room is gone too. His personal eunuch who is standing outside the room is shocked, just like himself.

The very next day, all the people in the Kingdom of Leng has been shocked by the news of the execution of the entire Xue family. The Empress is said to have vanished without a trace. Her son is dead as well. Soon after she has been confirmed to vanish without a trace, the General's manor has been burned to ashes mysteriously. In just a single day, the Xue family's existence has been eradicated from the Kingdom of Leng. No one knows where the Empress and the remaining loyal servants of the Xue family have gone too.

Emperor Leng sits on his throne with a scroll on his hand. One of his ministers has reported that the Xue family was indeed loyal. The General plans to let go of his post and decided to move into a secluded location with his entire family. It was all written in a letter hand-written by the General himself.

He laughed. He had executed the entire family who is, in fact, loyal towards the Kingdom of Leng. He had chosen to take side with a jealous minister. This is his karma. He laughed again. He got no one else to blame except for himself.

The minister stared at him in silence. The Emperor has greatly sinned he thought to himself.

1. *****

2. *********. * Cold

4. * Hot

5. * Dragon

6. *** Ambitious

7. * Play

8. ** Lotus

9. **********