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It was deep winter, and no brazier had been set up in Mingxin Hall. Today was the day the new emperor ascended the throne, and the palace servants had all gone to the front hall to wait.

Ying Xuetao nestled in her mother's embrace, her frail body shivering: "Mother, Father... is he gone?"

Empress Wang's long hair hung loose, her face utterly gaunt. The ceremonial music from the front hall had ended, and she knew she would soon be going to see the late emperor. Only she could not rest easy, thinking of the youngest daughter in her arms, just sixteen years old.

The door to the bedchamber was pushed open, and a biting cold wind rushed in.

Yan Qingming wore a noble bright yellow dragon robe, and on his sharply defined handsome face, his blade-like gaze was enough to strike terror.

"Empress, long time no see," he said coldly.

Empress Wang trembled, and pulling Ying Xuetao along, knelt on the ground: "This guilty woman, Wang, knows her sins are grave, and begs Your Majesty to grant me death, but please spare my innocent daughter!"

"Innocent?" Yan Qingming savored these two words with interest, his long narrow phoenix eyes narrowing slightly. "Three years ago, when your Wang clan carefully schemed to have my Yan family executed to the last soul, did you ever think about what innocent meant?"

Empress Wang dug her ten fingers hard into her palms, able only to keep kowtowing on the ground and pleading.

Ying Xuetao saw blood on her mother's forehead and was frightened out of her wits, crying as she tried to stop her.

Yan Qingming glanced at Eunuch De, who immediately dragged Ying Xuetao off to the side hall. With a shrill summons, another young eunuch entered the hall, carrying a large bamboo cage.

Inside that cage were scorpions and black snakes.

"I would like to see whether the heart of a poisonous woman like you is more venomous than snakes and scorpions." Yan Qingming coldly instructed Eunuch De, "Keep her alive."

Eunuch De nodded in terror. His Majesty wanted her unable to live and unable to die!

On the other side, Ying Xuetao was locked in the side hall when she heard her mother's screams coming from the main hall. Her almond eyes were red, and she pounded desperately on the door with her hands: "Mother! Let me out, I want to see my mother!"

The door opened, and she rushed out without a care, colliding into Yan Qingming's arms.

"You traitor who usurped the throne, you will get your retribution!" Ying Xuetao cried out in agony.

"Hmph, being born into an imperial family is your retribution." Yan Qingming gripped her chin hard, meeting her stubborn gaze, and said icily, "I have just ascended the throne and do not wish to add to the killing. Since you are a princess of the former dynasty, I will treat you well."

Yan Qingming drew a dagger, its sharp blade pressed against Ying Xuetao's neck. The piercing cold made her whole body tremble, and she closed her eyes, thinking in that moment that he meant to kill her.

But the next second, that dagger sliced downward, cutting open her long robe and flicking open her thin collar.

The girl's fair body was exposed before his eyes, and Yan Qingming pressed himself upon her. Ying Xuetao struggled, but she was ultimately too frail and could not stop his wanton plundering.

That night, the vast Mingxin Hall was filled with the screams of two women.

Ying Xuetao cried until her tears ran dry, and could not remember how she had finally passed out.

When she woke the next day, she received an imperial edict: "Ying Xuetao, princess of the former dynasty, of enchanting charm, deeply pleasing to Our heart. From this day forth, she is appointed a bedchamber palace maid."

Every word of this edict was like a whip, lashing her harshly.

She had been a princess of the former dynasty, yet now she had fallen to the lowest and most menial bedchamber palace maid in the palace.

Her personal maid Lian'er wept bitterly beside her. Ying Xuetao showed no reaction, and Eunuch De said with a false smile: "Ying Xuetao, why aren't you accepting the edict? Even if you don't think of yourself, you should think of the one in the main hall."

"Mother..." Ying Xuetao trembled all over, and her mother's screams from the previous night echoed in her ears again. "What have you done to my mother?!"

With reddened eyes she tried to rush out the door, but Eunuch De ordered people to block her, saying rudely: "Hmph, since you won't take the easy way and insist on the hard way, I will go report to His Majesty right now."

Lian'er hurried forward to hold her back, speaking through tears: "Princess, if His Majesty gets angry, he will surely put the Empress to death!"

Lian'er was right. Yan Qingming was a devil; he had killed her father and many of her brothers. Now her mother was her only family left, and she had to protect her...

"Wait..." Ying Xuetao fell to her knees with a thud, pressing her forehead tightly to the ground. "I accept the edict."

That afternoon, a matron came to take Ying Xuetao away. She was now the lowest and most menial bedchamber palace maid, and apart from being summoned by the emperor, she had to work alongside the palace maids.

Ying Xuetao and Lian'er were assigned together to the laundry workshop, to wash the clothes of the consorts and concubines.

In her sixteen years she had never done such rough work. Ice water soaked her fingers, and in less than half a shichen, chilblains had formed.

Lian'er felt sorry for her mistress and helped her aside to rest first. Unexpectedly, the supervising matron saw this. The matron took a rattan cane and lashed it hard across Lian'er: "You wretch, you dare to be lazy!"

After one lash the matron wanted to continue, but Ying Xuetao blocked Lian'er and frowned: "How dare you! You are not allowed to hit her!"

"You dare to shout at me? You still think you're a princess? You're nothing but a low-born creature, clinging to life by crawling into the dragon bed. His Majesty let you serve him in bed, and you really think you're a mistress!" The matron was furious, and raising the rattan cane, she lashed it across Ying Xuetao's back.

She gritted her teeth and endured the pain, feeling the clothes on her back split open. The matron was not satisfied, and the rattan cane fell on her again and again.

Seeing this, Lian'er pushed Ying Xuetao aside and rushed forward to grapple with the matron.

Before long, the palace maids who heard the cries for help came over and tied up Lian'er and Ying Xuetao.

"Strip this low servant girl and throw her into the water vat! Let her soak all night and come to her senses!" Ying Xuetao had after all served the emperor in bed, so the matron did not dare go too far with her, and vented all her anger on Lian'er.

Lian'er was quickly stripped naked and thrown into a vat of freezing winter water.

Ying Xuetao was driven out of the laundry workshop by the palace maids. She was in the most wretched state imaginable, and there was only one thought in her heart: she had dragged Lian'er down with her, she had to save Lian'er, she could not let her die...

She ran stumbling through the imperial palace, and the palace servants naturally would not help her seek justice. Without realizing it, Ying Xuetao ran to the front of the imperial study. When Eunuch De saw her in such a state and learned she wanted to see Yan Qingming, he wanted to send her away.

Who would have thought that Ying Xuetao, with tears in her eyes, would fall to her knees before the hall and shout loudly: "I want to see His Majesty!"

"Someone come! Drag her away at once!" Eunuch De was startled and quickly ordered the guards. But several seconds passed, and no one responded beside him.

Eunuch De was about to continue scolding when out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of that bright yellow dragon robe, and immediately knelt down, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, this servant deserves death for disturbing Your Majesty as you reviewed memorials..."

Yan Qingming's face was calm, his eyes cold as ice and frost.

This woman's body flowed with blood he loathed. He had already shown mercy by not killing her, and he had not expected she would dare appear before him.

His long legs carried him step by step toward her, and Ying Xuetao raised her head and begged him: "Your Majesty, I beg you to let Lian'er leave the palace. She is only a palace maid of the former dynasty, she has done nothing wrong..."

She had come to see him just to plead for an insignificant palace maid? How interesting. The Wang clan really were all skilled at putting on pretenses.

"I?" Yan Qingming narrowed his eyes and asked Eunuch De with a cold smile, "Did you not convey Our decree?"

"This servant already went to Mingxin Hall during the day today..." Eunuch De looked at Ying Xuetao uneasily.

Ying Xuetao understood what Yan Qingming meant, clenched her fingers, bit her lip, and changed her words: "This concubine begs Your Majesty..."

Before she could finish, Yan Qingming gripped her chin. He looked down at her from above and said with a faint smile: "Only Our consorts and concubines may call themselves 'this concubine.'"

She did not count as his woman. Even though she had spent a night with him, she was still nothing but a servant girl oppressed by others in the palace. Even the matron of the laundry workshop could whip and dismiss her at will.

A flash of despair passed through Ying Xuetao's eyes. Since the day her father was killed, she had lost her identity and dignity as a princess: "This low servant... begs Your Majesty to spare Lian'er."

The smile in Yan Qingming's eyes deepened a little. His sharp gaze swept quickly over Ying Xuetao's back. The thin clothing was already torn, and the delicate skin reddened by the rattan cane was faintly visible.

The corners of his lips curved into a demonic arc, reflected in Ying Xuetao's dark eyes like a man-eating devil.

Yan Qingming's large hand seized her arm and easily yanked her up: "I am tired. If you want to save your maid, then serve me well while I bathe."

He took her to the Cloud Water Pool, where the hot spring water steamed.

Ying Xuetao undressed Yan Qingming, and as he entered the pool, he took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist and pulled her into the hot spring water with him.

"What are you trying to do?!" Ying Xuetao gasped sharply.

Yan Qingming quickly seized her by the throat and, like a crazed beast, tore open her tattered clothes. Though his expression seemed to smile, the fury in his eyes was burning: "Ying Xuetao, didn't you come to beg me?"

His hand scooped up the hot water and stroked her scarred back with rough movements. When the salt-laden hot spring water touched her skin, the unbearable stinging pain made her whole body tremble.

Yes, now only he could save Lian'er. She had already lost enough. As long as she could protect those around her, she could sacrifice anything.

"If tormenting me can relieve your hatred, then I am willing to bear the punishment on behalf of my father and mother."

Ying Xuetao's figure was thin, but her eyes were exceedingly stubborn. She bit down on her cherry-like thin lips, and though blood seeped from her lips, she still did not cry out.

To Yan Qingming, this expression was undoubtedly a great provocation. Recalling the scene of the Yan family's massacre in the past, he was furious beyond control.

Yan Qingming suddenly pressed down on her shoulder and pushed her down into the pool.

Ying Xuetao's body was completely submerged in the water, and the hot water poured into her mouth and nose, giving her the illusion of suffocating for a moment. A few seconds later, her hair was yanked up.

Her naked body was pierced through in an instant, and someone was ramming recklessly inside her.

Ying Xuetao opened her eyes in despair and heard Yan Qingming sneer: "Ying Xuetao, the hatred in Our heart can never be dissolved in this lifetime. I want that foolish emperor to watch from beneath the earth as you mother and daughter can neither live nor die."

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