Chapter One
"...don't blame me, empress. It's your fault for being in my way, why did you have to love that man?" She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared straight into that of Emperor Long Ye Chen, how did she miscalculate such a perfectly arranged trap.
"Emperor Long Ye Chen, you bastard. Come down here and face retribution for the death of our general, we'll never let you go until you pay for your crimes!" General Bai Mu Tao barked out loud from below them and Emperor Long Ye Chen laughed with pure amusement and a madness clear in his dark orbs.
"Oh but I didn't murder your precious General Bai Zhan," he began, his eyes turning to that of Mo Qing Yin and she narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what he was playing at.
She wished he could be shot down by General Bai Mu Tao but he seemed particularly interested in what this mad man had to say.
Earlier, around four to five hours back. She had intercepted an urgent report meant for the palace ministers that the emperor was suffering a dire and massive loss and if they could help with reinforcements.
She finally saw a chance to take him down and she took it without hesitation and look where that moment of foolishness brought her to.
Such a fool she had been not to anticipate this particular scenario.
"The bastard who murdered your general was none other than… Mo Qing Yin… his precious beloved." He completed with a grin and gasps filled her ears.
"Have you gone mad? Why would you li-"
Her eyes snapped wide open as a piercing feeling rattled her entire body, cutting off her words and she slowly glanced down to find a dagger being pushed painfully into her delicate skin.
She gasped painfully. "Y--you…"
"You think I don't know every single plan you've been making ever since I brought you into my palace?" He whispered into her ears and her eyes widened with shock….
How had he…
He laughed softly, his left palm lifting from her shoulders to caress her cheeks almost gently and despair came crashing down on her as tears clouded her eyes.
"You murderer… you'll pay for everything you've done.. If not in this life, then in the next life!!" he smirked at her venomous words without a single remorse in his eyes before he gave her a small push.
The wind rushed to meet her skin as she began to fall, her hair leaving its updo as she plunged downwards and amidst gasps of shock and outrage and the smirking face of a triumphant Emperor Long Ye Chen…. A striking pain encompassed her entire body and she forced out a gasp.
Blood spilling out her lips and trailing down her jaw as she felt her life force being drained out of her system…like the blood pooling all around her.
Emperor Long Ye Chen's laughter echoed like breeze into her ears as she was surrounded and before she completely lost consciousness, the grinning face of General Bai Mu Tao stared back at her and something in his eyes told her something was wrong.
Had she mi- A loud gasp echoed throughout the entire room as a figure darted off the bed, her eyes glancing around frantically.
She felt disoriented, unable to think clearly as she glanced around. "Young lady, are you okay?" A small voice asked tentatively from behind her and she swirled on her feet, eyes crazed as she caught sight of this individual.
"Xing…. Xing'er?" She asked slowly, almost afraid to believe the truth of the person standing before her very eyes and Xing'er glanced around with confusion before nodding.
"Yes, Milady. It's Xing'er, are you okay?" Xing'er asked with concern and before she could blink, her young Miss was across the room with her arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Thank the gods you're alive and well… it was all a dream… a nightm-" she stopped as she suddenly recalled something and quickly pulled back to goamce around.
Blue dress… Sunset… something felt wrong to her… a sense of foreboding washed over her as she slowly turned to Xing'er again.
"What day is it today?" She asked, her voice full of urgency and Xing'er gave her a funny look before responding.
"It's the early tuesday of the second month, Miss." She replied and Mo Qing Yin stumbled backwards, her mind racing as she struggled to understand why there were so many similarities.
Had she been reborn? So she had really died in her previous life, how…. was that possible?
No, no… she had to check it out.. possibly even save her beloved too if it turned out to be the truth. Turning around, she grabbed her cloak by the door and fled the mansion.
"Young Miss!" Xing'er cried out before following behind her, hurrying through alleyways as she finally made her way towards the residence that was assigned to the visiting General Bai Zhan Yue.
The sounds of swords clanging together reached her ears as soon as she came to a stop at the backdoor that the General, her beloved had had made for her when she told him of how they had to be discreet to avoid attention.
No one else knew about it except her and it was completely hidden. She covered her mouth to hold back the gasp of terror that escaped her as she pushed open the door slightly.
Only to come face to face with the face of a grinning emperor Long Ye Chen as he repeatedly stabbed a sharp dagger into the beaten and battered body of General Bai Zhan Yue.
He was hanging on by a thread, eyes constantly glancing around in search of something she couldn't name… suddenly, his eyes met hers and she went completely still.
She wanted to rush over to him at that moment but something in his eyes warned her to stay in a place as he breathed his last and before he completely gave up, he sent her a small smile.
Another life and still unable to save him.. why? Just why? She cried bitterly in her chest… the liquid spilling down her cheeks as she wondered where she had gone wrong to deserve this calamity again…. Why were the fates targeting her and her beloved at every single lifetime?!
She slowly stepped backwards, her heart bleeding profusely but her brain was working. Something else was going to go down this same day, what exactly was it?.
Oh no!. "Back to the Manor!" She ordered Xing'er who nodded without question and they quickly took off back to the Manor.
Her body felt weighted and bloated as they ran, like she was dragging a large burden behind her as she moved quickly and with a desperate urgency to get back before anything happened like the last time.
"Y-young Miss…" the sound of a shocked Xing'er pulled her out of her thoughts as they came to a stop in front of the open Manor doors.
Inside was a brutal scene… one she had witnessed before in all its glory and gore.. her parents were dead… throats slit, multiple stab wounds.
Even the guards and servants were not left out, all of them were dead. The lifeless eyes of her younger brother, stared straight towards the skies… filled with terror, how scary must his end had been for that to be etched deeply into his eyes.
"No… Mother… Father!" She cried out, tears rolling down her cheeks, her knees colliding hard with the cold ground beneath her and her maid did the same from beside her.
"Madam…" she cried out, the madam had always been kind to the servants regardless of their status and she had always been loved by everyone in the mansion so Mo Qing Yin could feel the pain her maid was feeling at that moment.
But her heart was strung tightly in pain and slowly, as she stared at the horrific scene in front of her, hatred unlike any she had ever felt began to form within her.
Oh he will pay for all this, they will all pay for causing such unimaginable pain to her. Suddenly, her eyes snapped to the side just in time for some men to walk into the yard from the backyard, their blades glinting red menacingly and she quickly slammed her palms on Xing'er's lips to shut her up.
Slowly she dragged them to a corner to hide and watched as the men all checked the dead bodies one by one before they began to speak amongst themselves.
"Aiish, We missed two people. Where's the young brat and the other maid?" One of them asked, his voice gruff and another cursed.
"Damn it, we'll just have to improvise for now. We can't return to her and tell her we didn't finish her off," the second one said in explanation and the others nodded.
Her mind raced with thoughts as they continued, so it was a 'her'. They should be referring to the new Empress. She was the one who did this in her previous life, she couldn't have mistaken the culprit.
She balled her fists, anger coating her whole body as she vowed silently to make sure she inflicted unimaginable pain on that woman, she had to feel exactly what her family felt in their dying moments.
"We'll tell her she's dead already, what can two frail women do?" The third one finally asked and the others shook their heads.
"We'll simply put out a search on her, but we'll inform the lady that the job is done and completed. Let's go." Their leader glanced with narrowed eyes before they all turned around and fled using their lightness skills.
She didn't see all this in her previous life and had assumed them to be normal assassins but this… these were trained assassins, each having their own special skills.
How had she missed this in her previous life? She always wondered how her attacks were quickly countered by the empress and the emperor, as it turned out, they were in league with the Immortal sects.
She had been so foolish once but never again.
Her maid sobbed beside her, her eyes never leaving the horrific scene ahead of them and she glanced away, making a decision she never thought she would make in her entire life.
"Let's go." She mumbled, raising her cloak to cover her head and face as she turned around and walked away.
"Young lady, what about the ma-"
"Leave them be, I'll pay the funeral home to help me make the trip. But if we go there, we'll be killed just the same as them." She explained and in tears, her maid nodded in understanding.
She pulled out two of her hair pins as soon as they came closer to the funeral shops by the street and walked into them, quickly stopping in her tracks when she caught a glimpse of two familiar men standing inside it and chatting with the shop keeper.
It was two out of the ten men that had just left her home, they had already put out a search for her… somehow, they had predicted that she would do this exact thing.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly backed away, finding a man standing in front of the door and quickly whispering some words into his ears before she forced the hairpins into his hands and fled with her maid.
Getting far away from that cursed place was imminent and she couldn't waste any more time waiting around to be caught and silenced by those bastards.
Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, she realized that she had somehow run far out into the woods and slowly came to a stop with her breathless and panting maid beside her.
"Young Miss, we're so far from the capital. Where are we headed to?" Xing'er asked, her voice coming out in short puffs and she sighed, her eyes watering once again but she furiously wiped the tears away.
No, she couldn't be weak at a time like this, she wouldn't allow i-.
"Where else would you be heading to?" Her eyes widened at the sound and she quickly stood to her full height and turned around, watching five men step into the light from the trees.
Oh no, they had spotted them. It was five of the leaders from the team back at her home, how had they followed them this far out? She didn't think they would see them so easily.
But she had miscalculated their skills apparently.
"Don't look so shocked, your little fiasco could have been seen by the worst of us." He explained with a small laugh as if to call her an idiot and she balled her fists, annoyance and hatred blooming deep inside her.
But she wasn't stupid, she knew staying here in hopes of defeating them with her meager skills would save her, no she had to run and fast.
"Xing'er. Run." She ordered and her maid didn't waste any single minute and bolted along with her.
The men cursed and quickly gave chase, but with how light they were on their feet, Mo Qing Yin knew they would catch up easily soon.
She felt her heart fly into her throat as they burst out of the thick trees and found themselves standing at a high cliff.
Below the cliff were thick mists, so thick they could hardly see anything below them.
She shook her head in fear and turned around to find another escape route but stopped in her tracks as the men slowly walked out from the trees, each of them spotting triumphant grins.
"Let me see where you can run to now," the leader said with a smirk forming on his lips and she groaned lowly as she eyed them and the cliff.
It was looking more and more like the obvious choice to make, and the better one at that.
So she steeled herself, a small smile curling at the corner of her lips as she turned to her maid. One look at her and Xing'er knew exactly what her lady was thinking, her eyes flashed with obvious fear but there was also a huge amount of trust and resilience hidden in their depths.
She nodded and stretched out her hand towards her young lady and watched teasing cloud her eyes as she took Xing'er's hands.
"We'll survive, I'm sure of it." She said, trying to convince herself much more than she was trying to convince her maid but her maid smiled instead and they turned towards the cliff.
"Have you both gone crazy? You'll die if you d-" the man's words fell on deaf ears as they rushed towards the cliff and quickly jumped off but coincidentally, before they could completely jump down, an arrow came hurtling towards them and landed squarely at the back of Xing'er.
A sharp scream left her lips as they plunged down fast, the wind rushing through their hair and into their ears and memories of her previous death filled Mo Qing Yin's mind.
She steeled herself, squinting her eyes as she tried to make out what laid beneath them as worry and concern for her maid made her almost weep sorrowfully.
Before she could make out what they were heading towards, a cold feeling encompassed her as they plunged deep into a lake.
Her eyes snapped open quickly as she sank down and quickly swung herself to the side, narrowly avoiding a sharp rock that was sticking out inside the blue depths.
Quickly locating Xing'er, she swarm over to her and pulled her out of the water with her, coughing as she made her way to shore.
Her chest burned as she coughed, she shook her head as she hit it over and over again with hopes of alleviating it but nothing worked.
Turning back to her maid, she found she was not breathing and panic and fear grabbed a hold of her heart.
"Xing'er" she valled out, rushing to her as she fell to her knees and grabbed a hold of her then pulled her into her arms.
She quickly recalled that she needed to find a way to help her push out the water from her lungs and she glanced around, her mind working a mile per hour as she tried to think of a way to help her maid out.
She groaned loudly when she couldn't, she began to hit her chest instead of, pushing and prodding at her tummy and thankfully, it helped and soon Xing'er began to cough as water rushed out of her mouth and nose.
"Y-young l-lady" she stuttered out, her voice cracking and fresh tears spilled down her lady's face.
"I can't lose you too, I can't." She cried out and Xing'er forced on a smile onto her lips.
"It's g-going tt-to be okay, you'll be f-ffine" she stammered, coughing out water and blood as she tried to comfort her young and kind lady.
"Don't speak, I have to find you a physician. I have to make sure you're okay, I have t-"
"Y-young lady," Xing'er grasped her arms and glanced up at her, stopping her in her tracks and she stared down at her with wide eyes.
"Y--you h-have to ll-live on, for all of us." She smiled as she said it and her breathing began to get laboured.
"No, no, no, I can't." She tried to speak but couldn't get out any coherent words as she watched the life leave her maid's eyes.
And through all that painful moment, she forced herself to remain still as her eyes turned towards the skies and everyone of her body movements stilled.
A beat, two beats and a sharp scream left Mo Qing Yin's lips. What had she done to deserve all this? Had she ever offended anyone in her past life? Or maybe she did something she couldn't recall and someone had cursed her.
No, this couldn't be happening.
Her brain tried to make her recall something but she couldn't source it out as a gut-wrenching grief grabbed a hold of her heart and squeezed until she could no longer breath properly.
Hatred burned hot in her chest as she eyed the arrow still sticking out from behind the back of Xing'er. She swore in that moment, that they would all pay.
Every last one of them!.
She stood up and painfully, she buried Xing'er beside the lake with hopes that the serenity of the area would calm her spirits.
She turned around with great difficulty and began to walk away, wiping her face with the back of her hands as tears kept spilling down like an uncontrollable fountain.
"That's quite some strength for someone who just lost a loved one," a voice said from somewhere and she swirled around on her feet with surprise and apprehension.
Had that found her? Did they follow her down the cliff? But that was impossible;
"Here." The voice said again and she glanced around to watch someone descend down from the bamboo trees around the lake.
Her eyes widened with shock as she took him in. He was…. He was…. Her knees buckled with sheer shock and fear.
If this was the person they sent to kill her then she was in a lot of trouble.