CRASH!

Yu Ming slapped Cao Yuemei. He had forgotten to hold back his strength so she flew towards the platform and crashed into it. He was breathing hard but when he didn't hear a sound after, he turned back.

Blood.

Lots of it. Cao Yuemei's head had split open upon impact. Yu Ming froze. No way. He didn't mean to. Cao Yuemei used to practice martial arts all those years ago so he thought her body was at least tempered and could stand it. What had he done?

Shang Wu pushed the door open. He had come here to see what was going on and gloat over Yu Ming's misfortune. They might be sharing Cao Yuemei but they were all still possessive so it was good news when one of them had to suffer through forced celibacy.

He couldn't stop the smile that slipped on his lips, however, that smile fell when he fully entered the great hall and found Yu Ming hunched over Cao Yuemei's figure with blood everywhere. His eyes turned red.

"YU MING! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!" The former general wasted no time in rushing over and entangling with the current emperor.

Yu Ming was forced to the ground with Shang Wu dealing heavy blows on him. He might know martial arts but he had stopped practicing in recent years, he was no match for Shang Wu, who was a former general and never stopped practicing every morning.

He managed to knock Shang Wu away but when the former general still advanced towards him, he took out a dagger, that he habitually kept in his boot, and threw it at Shang Wu.

Shang Wu easily dodged the dagger and it flew past him and lodged itself in the throat of Jiang He who was just entering the great hall.

The genius doctor grasped at his throat with widened eyes and fell to the ground, dying in his own pool of blood.

The other two men's eyes widened but that did not stop Shang Wu from advancing towards Yu Ming.

"GUARDS!" Yu Ming shouted as he ran towards the door but no one answered, they were all far away. His orders. He regretted laying down such an absurd order.

He had just held the handle of the door when he was toppled to the ground and Shang Wu resumed his position on top of him. Strangling him.

With the restriction of his airflow, Yu Ming clutched at Shang Wu's arms but the general was too strong. He used his hand to feel around and his hand landed on the pouch at Jiang He's waist.

Jiang He always carried poison with him, for whatever reasons unknown, maybe this would help. He tilted his head as far back as he could, giving Shang Wu more leverage to strangle him as he poured the contents of the pouch at Shang Wu's roaring mouth.

Shang Wu choked but he did not release his grip on Yu Ming. Yu Ming's heart fell, he had given Shang Wu more leverage because he thought the poison would take him down. He had miscalculated.

The light soon died in Yu Ming's eyes and Shang Wu shriveled and collapsed on top of the dead emperor not much later.

Hours later, the guards were still waiting to receive the emperor's signal to return. This was not the first time the emperor took this long with the empress so the guards thought nothing of it.

Some ministers soon arrived and requested audience with the emperor. They did this every morning and evening, hoping their sincerity would persuade the emperor to stop whatever madness was going on with the empress.

One of the guards had no choice but to go back. When he got close to the great hall, he saw blood flowing outside the door. His eyes widened and he opened the door.

Immediately, the guard ran back to the other imperial guards with a horrified scream.

The minsters, imperial guards and secret guards were all alarmed at the screaming guard so they went in the direction he was pointing at.

Four corpses were found in the great hall that day. One with its skull split open, one with a knife in its throat, one with signs of strangulation and one that resembled the end result of a lethal poison attack.

When the news of the emperor's death got out, everyone shook their heads at a loss. They didn't even know who to punish. Cao Feng was the only one left in the Cao family and he was a fool.

The Shang family had cut all ties with Shang Wu so they also couldn't be punished on behalf of Shang Wu. Jiang Wu was an ex wandering doctor whose origins no one knew.historical

In the end, the second prince was called over from his vassal state to take the throne. Originally, it would've belonged to Yu Ming's descendant, even if the child was just nine months old, but they weren't clear on who exactly fathered the child out of the empress's three men.

The final verdict was to leave the child under the care of servants in the cold palace but the child suddenly disappeared after the emperor's funeral. No one bothered to search for the child. In fact, they all felt this situation was much better.

Fifteen year old Cao Xiwang stared at the baby bundled up in his arms. After managing to escape the Cao mansion years ago, he spent his time wandering around different kingdoms.

His knowledge of medicine had made sure that he was accepted wherever he went and he had Wu Bai, Wu Hong, his manservant and three of the Cao family guards to protect him.

When he had heard the news of his sister's death, he had locked himself up for days, balling his eyes out and wondering where it all went wrong. He used to deceive himself when he was still in the Cao mansion that his sister had been possessed.

He even had Wu Bai sneak out to meet up with a taoist priest to get ghost repelling talismans and paste it secretly in his sister's courtyard. When nothing happened, he knew that she was still his sister so what happened to her?

On the table before him was an address. An address to the farm settlement that Cao Luomei had retreated to with their father. He had overheard when Cao Long was blabbing to himself about his sister being responsible for what happened to Cao Luomei.

He didn't believe it then but now, he just wanted answers. He wanted to know if his sister's change was connected to Cao Luomei somehow.

In the garden of an old courtyard, a beautiful young woman was hunched over a bunch of flowers trimming the surrounding weeds with a gentle smile on her face.

Cao Luomei carefully tended to the colourful flowers. It never failed to make her feel at ease. This was a habit she had started when her father finally died two years ago. She liked to pretend the world was just as welcoming as the flowers were to her.

Her task was suddenly cut short when a pair of black boots appeared before her. She raised her head and her smile slipped from her face. She lowered her head sadly. "You've finally come for me."

Cao Xiwang furrowed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Cao Luomei raised her head again with her own look of confusion. "You-" She was at a loss for words. Was he not aware? Did Cao Yuemei not tell him?

Cao Xiwang squatted before her and cocked his head to the side. "Did my sister's sudden change have anything to do with you?"

Cao Luomei squared her shoulders. "I think so." And then she looked around and sighed. "Let's go inside."

Cao Luomei went on to explain the details of her past life and then her dream and what exactly happened between she and Cao Yuemei in this lifetime. When she finished, she heaved a sigh. It felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

Cao Xiwang arched a brow and said, "Oh."

Cao Luomei was confused. She didn't know what she was expecting but she wasn't expecting just that one word. She gulped nervously. "T-That's all you have to say?"

Cao Xiwang shrugged. Honestly, he didn't know how to react. He had no recollection of the events she mentioned so it felt more like she was telling him a story. Maybe if he regained his memories of that lifetime just like his sister, he might have reacted differently.

Now that he knew his sister had acted out of hurt, he wanted to say he understood but honestly, he couldn't. Even if Cao Luomei had hurt his sister, her sudden change towards him cannot be explained away like that.

Unfortunately, his sister was dead and his questions would never have answers. He stood up and turned to leave.

"I'm sorry," Cao Luomei said quickly with red eyes. "I'm very sorry~" Cao Xiwang said nothing and kept on walking. "C-Cao Xiwang." The young man paused again.

Cao Luomei smiled softly. "The Cao Yuemei that we grew up with, the one who would always scold me for inappropriate behaviour and take you around to buy sweets all the time. She... She did a good job raising you."

Cao Xiwang turned back with his lips arched in a small smile. "She did, didn't she?" He turned back again and walked out of the house with a single tear slipping down his cheek.

He missed that version of Cao Yuemei everyday.