《The Rise of Empress Song》 Chapter 1 - The Crimson Stain Against Pure White Snow (1) At Taiyang Palace''s Palace of Eternal Spring, three small figures were seen kneeling on the snowy ground. These were the daughters of the reigning emperor of Great Wu, Kang Ziyuan, who ascended the throne three years ago. The youngest of the three, three-year-old A-Li had already stopped moving a while ago. Her head was pressed against her rigid chest, her eyes closed, her face white as snow, and her lips blue from the cold. The five-year-old A-Yu was weak from birth. Her entire life, her mother had shielded her from severe weather. Unlike her siblings, she had never experienced the joy of dancing in the rain, or playing with snowballs. She had always been inside her mother''s bed chamber, looking out of the window with deep-seated longing in her heart. Tragically, the day she spent the most time outside was the day she passed away. The snow beneath her knees was cold, but the wind blowing past her small, fragile form, was even colder. She did not even have the strength to remain kneeling. She had to be forced to do so, even as her life force was slowly seeping away. The seven-year-old A-Xue had been kneeling for two hours now. She was the oldest, and the most robust one among her siblings. When the mean guards first brought her to this spot and forced her on her knees, she tried resisting them, only to be beaten up and thrown onto the snow. Their faces, cold and indifferent masks, remained unmoved by the little girl''s heartrending cries. At first, she hugged herself in a futile attempt to keep herself warm. Her tiny hands kept rubbing her upper and lower arms. Alas, the warm hands too turned cold, and she had no other source of warmth. Cold made her teeth chatter, and she turned to her sisters to speak. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "A-Yu, A-Li, don''t worry," she said, her voice shaking and her body shivering uncontrollably. "Mommy is going to find us soon. Don''t worry." When her younger sisters stopped making any sound, she tried to rouse them back to consciousness but it was for naught. She was too young to understand the concept of death, but she could sense that something horrible had claimed them. Soon, it would come to claim her as well. When a familiar woman in tattered robe was finally brought in front of her, her arms tied to her sides, the seven-year-old was at first elated. Mommy is here, she happily thought to herself. Mommy always knows what to do. Mommy is going to make everything right. But not this time. Her facial expression morphed from relief to terror when she saw her mother being stripped down to her inner robe and slammed onto the snow. "M-mommy," the seven-year-old timidly mumbled. "A-Xue," the woman called out with a trembling voice. She was none other than the Second-Rank Consort Xi, the woman who once enjoyed the privileges of becoming the emperor''s primary consort, only to be demoted to a mere second-rank consort upon his ascension to throne. Pressing against the thick bed of snow beneath her body, Consort Xi craned her neck to take a better look at her daughters. Her heart dropped when she saw A-Yu and A-Li''s motionless bodies. The thick wooden plank made a swishing sound as it arced through the air and slammed onto Consort Xi''s back, causing her to scream in agony. "Ahhhhhhhh¡­!!!" "M-mommy¡­!" The seven-year-old, A-Xue, wanted to rise to her feet to help her mother, but she could no longer feel her feet. They seemed to have turned into two blocks of ice. Consort Xi''s tears fell like a waterfall. A-Xue, too, cried and cried. The biting cold froze her tears to her cheeks. Her voice faltered, then fell silent, along with her breath. "A-Xue¡­" The woman was no longer able to scream. She could only call out for her eldest daughter with a weak, broken voice. "A-Xue¡­" The thick layer of snow beneath her stomach slowly hardened into a block of ice, sending tendrils of icy coldness into Consort Xi''s body. Meanwhile, thick wooden planks continued to rain down on her slender body one by one, tearing at her delicate back and reducing it into a bloody mess of flesh and bones. The pain was excruciating, but it was nothing in comparison to the pain of seeing her daughters die slowly in front of her eyes. "Please, please," she begged amidst the torture. "Please spare my daughters. At least spare A-Xue! Please let A-Xue live!" But the guards remained unmoved. They continued delivering the punishment as intended, unfazed by Consort Xi''s agonized cries. Eventually, A-Xue stopped crying. Her last breath came out in the form of a puff of air. Just like that, her little life was snuffed out, and she was gone. Chapter 2 - The Crimson Stain Against Pure White Snow (2) Once her tormentors saw that the seven-year-old was no longer among the living, they ceased their beating. At that point, Consort Xi had already ran out of energy and tears. Even after she was released from her bindings, she continued lying on the bed of snow, drenched in a pool of crimson against the pure, white surroundings. The woman lay there, unmoving. Her eyes locked onto the three lifeless bodies ahead of her. A-Xue, her smart and cheerful A-Xue. Snow fell on the day of her birth, just as it did today. She remembered it clearly, as if it were yesterday. Holding the newborn girl in her arms, she gazed out of the open window in her inner chamber, watching the gentle descent of snowflakes from within. A-Yu was her second-born. She was born on a windy, rainy night with a delicate constitution. She almost didn''t make it. Once she did, the palace physician prophesied that she wouldn''t live past the age of five. Ironically, just as she passed the five-year mark, her own father had to murder her, trampling over her tiny life like mud. A-Li, her youngest. She was born when the plum tree at the palace burst into full bloom, showering the grounds with its delicate petals. The poor baby had only lived for three full years. She was willful and had a bad temper, but at the same time, she was also sweet and endlessly adorable. Just three days ago she asked for another serving of plum candies and Consort Xi said no. The little girl ended up throwing tantrums and her mother made her stand in the corner for half a shichen as a punishment. Her anguished cries rang inside Consort Xi''s ears. She could hear her clearly. Oh, how she regretted it all. "A-Xue¡­ A-Yu¡­ A-Li¡­" Consort Xi did not know how many times the names poured out of her lips, like an endless chant, the only offering she had for the dead. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. She only stopped calling out for them when she heard familiar footsteps approaching from a distance, accompanied by the clinking sounds of chainmail boots. Even without looking up at the person, she knew who it was. The Emperor, Kang Ziyuan. Her husband, the one who ordered the punishment. The Emperor gave the corpses of her daughters a long glance before he looked down at his broken consort. "How does it feel to lose your children, Zhenxi?" He coldly asked. Consort Xi said nothing in reply. Her silence aggravated Kang Ziyuan even more. "This is what happens if you scheme to murder other people''s children," he said through gritted teeth. "Thanks to you, Zhenruan lost her child. She almost lost her life from excessive bleeding! Zhenxi, how ruthless can you be? Have you forgotten that she is your younger sister?" Right. Consort Xi blinked once, a flicker of awareness returning to her. Everything that happened to her, happened because of Song Zhenruan. This morning, she was still having breakfast with her little ones, unaware of the sinister plot unfolding in the neighboring palace. All of a sudden, the pregnant Imperial Consort Ruan complained of a terrible stomachache. All of a sudden, soldiers came pouring into Consort Xi''s palace, searching every nook and cranny for any suspicious item. And then, they found the abortifacient in one of Consort Xi''s drawers. The same abortifacient was found inside Imperial Consort Ruan''s meal. It did not take long for the physician to declare that Imperial Consort Ruan had sadly been unable to keep the baby in her belly. The child was gone. In his rage and sorrow over Imperial Consort Ruan''s miscarriage, Kang Ziyuan let his impulse take over and ordered for Consort Xi to be punished. Because she allegedly plotted and successfully killed Imperial Consort Ruan''s child, she was sentenced to the worst punishment that Great Wu had ever given to a noble consort to date ¨C being flogged with wooden planks while watching her three little daughters freeze to death. It all happened within four hours. Beautiful memories of Consort Xi''s life by Emperor Kang Ziyuan''s side passed before her eyes in a flurry. Her wedding to Kang Ziyuan, long before he ascended the throne. The birth of their daughters, each one a blessing from heaven. The time they spent together as a family as they wrote one family chapter one after another. The scenes burst apart in Consort Xi''s mind, reduced to almost nothing, their fragments carried away by the wind. On the brink of losing her consciousness, Consort Xi began to hum something. Kang Ziyuan scoffed. "Zhenxi, have you lost your mind?" But Consort Xi did not reply to him. She continued humming the song. Frowning, Kang Ziyuan leaned closer to hear what the song was about. It was the lullaby she used to sing to her girls every night before bed. "Beautiful pale moon, shining above your head. Warm summer wind, blowing at your hair. Your eyes are brighter than the brightest stars across the sky. In your hand, you hold the most beautiful pearl of the ocean. Sleep well, my baby. Have sweet dreams, my baby. I will always be here, guarding your sleep, my baby¡­" As the final strains of the lullaby lingered in the air, Consort Xi''s consciousness ebbed away. Her heavy eyelids slowly fell shut. Kang Ziyuan clenched his jaw and barked at the nearby guards. "Guards! Take Consort Xi back to her palace! Call the physician to attend to her!" Heavy footsteps were heard, rushing toward her. Consort Xi, on the brink of death, curled her lips into a sad smile. Foolish man, she thought to herself. What was the point of calling a physician now? Or rather, foolish Song Zhenxi. Chapter 3 - The Winter Of Seven Years Past (1) Death was supposedly the end of everything. Although her departure from the mortal realm was far from pleasant, Song Zhenxi neither wanted nor needed justice. All she wanted was to hold her three precious daughters in her arms again and tell them how deeply sorry she was. And what a failure of a mother she had been. A-Xue was going to say that it was alright. Her eldest daughter had always been sensible with both speech and actions, never wanting to hurt anyone with her own views and thoughts. A-Yu was going to nod in agreement. At five years old, A-Yu''s world was defined by A-Xue; she agreed with everything her sister said. But A-Li... Oh, A-Li was probably going to throw tantrums again. But it was alright. Song Zhenxi was willing to coax her as many times as needed. Together, they would embark on the long journey to the Underworld. Song Zhenxi''s life flickered out with that final thought. Yet, in the very next second, she found herself inhaling deeply, a sudden, shocking return to breath. This revival, however, was immediately met with a violent counterpoint ¨C a sharp, excruciating pain that threatened to split her in two. "Arrrghhhhhhhh¡­!!!" A piercing scream tore from her lips as she thrashed around to break free from her tormentors. Several people began to talk to her at once, filling her ears with pleas. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Consort Xi, please be brave." "Consort Xi, just one more push. Just one more!" Song Zhenxi ripped her eyes open in fright. She was sprawled on the bed with her legs spread wide and her arms pinned down by maids. Her bulging belly obstructed her view. Between her legs, the midwife and her helpers were doing their best to assist her. She was not being tormented by anyone. She was in labor at this very moment! Song Zhenxi was utterly confused, but she had neither the time nor the chance to think about her current circumstances. She just had to give birth! "Push, Consort Xi, push!" The midwife practically yelled at her. Another painful scream ripped from Song Zhenxi''s throat as she followed the midwife''s order and pushed with all her might. Although she had given birth three times in her short life, the ordeal never eased, the pain never relented. After what felt like an eternity, Song Zhenxi successfully gave birth to the baby. "A beautiful princess!" the midwife declared with a bright smile soon after. The baby, swaddled in peach, was held up before her, the blood staining the cloth. Song Zhenxi''s ears rang with the infant''s piercing shrieks, the only sound keeping her tethered to consciousness. "My baby¡­" Song Zhenxi extended a trembling hand after the child, but the midwife kept the baby out of her reach. "We need to clean the little princess first. Please be patient, Consort Xi." "Oh." Right. Congratulatory remarks rained upon Song Zhenxi, but she knew that they were tinged with pity. A daughter, and not a son. Daughters were worthless. Only sons mattered. Song Zhenxi lay weak on the bed, her eyes drawn to the window. Outside, a gentle snow fell, its delicate flakes softening the garden into a hazy dream. Snow. "A-Xue," Song Zhenxi softly whispered, thinking of her first-born. She had yet to recover from the shock of giving birth when someone called out to her. "Miss, have you already decided on a name for the princess?" Song Zhenxi slowly turned her head to look at the person who had just spoken up. She was a young woman in her twenties, with round eyes and a button nose, her full cheeks standing in contrast with her lean frame. Tens of years might pass in the blink of an eye, but Song Zhenxi would recognize her on the spot. It was Lingxin, her most trusted maid. She was cradling Song Zhenxi''s newborn daughter in her arms. "Ling¡­xin?" Something was terribly wrong here. Lingxin passed away more than a year ago from tuberculosis. So how could she be here, alive and well? Song Zhenxi''s chest constricted, a cold fear gripping her heart like a vice. But what about her? She was supposed to be dead!