Chapter 1 Prologue (Phoenix Reborn)

In the Princess' Mansion in the Imperial City of the State of Ning, a woman knelt on the ground in front of the highest turret. She didn't feel the cold the night brought nor the harsh drizzle that fell mercilessly.

She was beautiful, with her pale complexion and silken black hair. But her eyes seemed hollow. She clutched a baby in her arms. She seemed worried about his bruised face and his shallow breathing. Every breath seemed to be his last.

"Please go back, Princess Yun Shang. The Emperor's Son-in-law will not see you." Lian Xin was guarding the turret's entrance. She had been Princess Yun Shang's most trustworthy court maid since her childhood.

The sky tore open as Yun Shang's heart broke; drenching her and everything around her. Clenching her teeth, she pulled at the cloak. She wanted to protect the baby from getting wet. When did it start? Yun Shang thought in a trance. When did everyone she trust start to betray her one after another?

Her face remained unmarred from falling tears. Maybe all her tears had already dried up? She had cried so bitterly in the past that now, even at the severest pain she could feel in her heart, she couldn't shed a tear.

Yun Shang kowtowed before Lian Xin three times, "You have been my maid for over a decade, Lian Xin. I always treated you nicely. Now, please. I just want to see the Emperor's Son-in-law and ask him to send for a physician to cure my baby. It's my baby, and also his..." Yun Shang's voice was hoarse.

"Your Highness, there is no use in pleading with me. The Emperor's Son-in-law has already ordered that no one should interrupt him..." Lian Xin stood under the eave and looked at the kneeling woman. A sneer emerged at the corner of her mouth. That's all you deserve Your Highness.

Yun Shang held the baby's cold little hand in hers as she thought. All her mounting bitterness and anger culminated into impulsivity. She rose to her feet and dashed toward Lian Xin. This was beyond Lian Xin's expectation. She braced herself, but the Princess was strong. She fell over with an "aha." Yun Shang took the opportunity to open the turret door and dash upstairs.

"Oh, no, no, no. You are not allowed to go up..." Lian Xin frowned and touched the aching parts of her body, "Hum! What do you think you can achieve by going up there?" she shouted after the Princess. "Do you really think that the Emperor's Son-in-law and Princess Hua Jing will send for a physician for your child?"

Yun Shang ran up the stairs. As soon as she set her foot on the last flight, she heard Hua Jing, "Emm..." "Aha..." "Don't touch that. Ahh..." "Jingran..."

Yun Shang felt dizzy. Her hands felt so weak she thought she'd drop her baby. She had to lean on the wooden banister to support herself.

Eventually, she found the strength to climb the last flight of stairs. She elbowed the door open, and clenched her teeth to suppress her pain.

"Who dares enter..." A man's panting voice ricocheted off the stone walls. Yun Shang shrank back at the sight of the two naked figures.

"Get out!" Mo Jingran roared in fury after seeing Yun Shang standing at the doorway.

Yun Shang opened her mouth, only to find that she couldn't speak. After taking a few labored breaths, she managed to whisper, "Huan'er is sick. Please find a physician for him, my Lord."

"Hum." Mo Jingran took a second to consider her request. Before Mo Jingran could scold her again, the woman beneath him rubbed his chest playfully. He caught her somewhat malignant smile and returned the gesture. She said, "Jingran if my little princess sister wants to see us, then let her. Why not bind her to a chair so she can watch our lovemaking?"

Mo Jingran's mouth curled into a cold grin. He left the bed and found a rope. "Put Huan'er on the table. After you watch, I will send for a physician to treat Huan'er's illness."

Yun Shang hesitated for a little while. Knowing that there was no other way out, she numbly nodded. Nobody in the Princess's Mansion would support her now. Yun Shang put the baby on the table, and sat on the chair by the bedside. Mo Jingran strolled up to her and tied her hands with the rope.

When Mo Jingran returned to the bed, the naked woman reached out with her legs and hooked them around his waist. Her toes fondled his back gently. A fire ignited in his eyes. He gave a mighty thrust, and the woman beneath groaned as he entered her.

The woman looked at Yun Shang. She flashed her most charming smile, "Look, my little princess sister. Let your elder sister teach you how to wait on a man hand and foot."

Mo Jingran burst into a roar of laughter, before continuing with his quick rhythmic thrusts.

In an instant, the gasps and moans of lovemaking permeated throughout the room.

Yun Shang felt as if her heart was being sliced, one cut after another. In her trance, she could even hear the sound of the wounds being lashed upon her.

So, this is the Emperor's Son-in-law I picked for myself, and with him, lies my elder princess sister whom I have always worshiped and respected.

A long while had passed; long enough for a bar of incense to burn itself into ashes. Yun Shang looked at the baby on the table. His face seemed paler and his eyes were lusterless. She was getting worried. Tears finally fell from her eyes, "Please, Emperor's Son-in-law and Princess Sister. Please save my baby. He is dying, please..."

"You're so annoying. Why do you have to be so noisy?" Mo Jingran abruptly turned his head and shouted at Yun Shang. Getting off the bed once again, he walked towards Yun Shang but stopped to look at the baby on the desk, "Dying, right? " "If he's dying, then why did you bring him here? "

Having said those words, Mo Jingran took the baby, opened the window, and threw him out.

"No... !" Yun Shang was so shocked that she stood up. She had forgotten that she had been bound. The ropes pulled her back and she fell to the ground.

"Baby... My baby... Baby!" Regardless of the pain she felt, Yun Shang screamed. Her scream was so heartbreaking that anyone that heard it could feel her sorrow.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Yun Shang lifted her head. It's her Princess Sister. She was holding a sword in her hand. Yun Shang took a deep breath when her sister pointed the sword at her face. "Oh, my! I have no idea what's wrong with me today. Your face is as beautiful and delicate as a flower. I really want to know what would become of it if I made a few cuts."

Yun Shang was upset. In spite of the scoff and sneer in Hua Jing's eyes, Yun Shang pleaded, "You can do whatever you want to my face, sister. Just let me live." Her voice was as hoarse as a raven's.

Hua Jing blinked and raised the sword. Its point swept across Yun Shang's face. Yun Shang felt a burning pain. With it grew an overwhelming hatred in her heart. But she thought of her baby. She clenched her teeth to check the "hiss" that threatened to escape.

Hua Jing quickly tired of her game, "Not even a whimper? How boring!" She cut the rope binding Yun Shang's hands, and returned to the bed.

As quickly as her sore feet would allow, Yun Shang dashed toward the door. But she slipped and rolled down the stairs. At the base of the turret, she rose and ran out the gate, paying no attention to her injuries.

Her baby was lying on the ground. He was quiet. There was blood flowing from his head. The rain washed the blood away in tiny trickles as quickly as it pooled around his little head. Yun Shang gently scooped up her baby. "It's all right. It's all right. My little Huan'er is fine. Mommy will take you to see the Imperial Physician. Just you see. Mommy will take you there right now. My little Huan'er you will be fine..." Holding the baby in her arms, she rushed out of the courtyard.

"Is she really going to see the Imperial Physician?" Mo Jingran who had been standing by the window watching Yun Shang's fading figure seemed worried.

A soft, warm body leaned against his. "Don't be afraid, Jingran. You already have the Princess' Mansion under your control, don't you?" She cannot leave. Even if she manages to enter the Imperial Palace, she can only seek help from the Empress as His Majesty is not in court. However, as the Empress is my mother, not hers... "

Mo Jingran turned round, and, lifted the woman in his arms. He carried her to the bed.

"Aha..." Hua Jing shouted, "Jingran, you are so bad..."

"Your Majesty, Princess Yun Shang is here. She is covered in blood..." A court maid scurried into the inner chamber, and reported to a graceful noble woman who was sitting in front a bronze mirror selecting hair pins.

The Empress frowned, "Didn't Jing'er* say that Yun Shang is under house arrest at the Princess' Mansion?"

(*TN: In Chinese, the suffix 'er is added to show affection towards another person) How can she be here at my palace?"

The Empress barely finished speaking when Yun Shang's sobs and please could be heard. " Mother, mother, please save Huan'er. Please save Huan'er."

The Empress turned back to catch a glimpse of the thoroughly-wet woman rushing into her chamber. There was a terrifying scar on her face. It was so deep that she could see the bone. The young woman opened her cloak to reveal a baby who had long since drawn his last breath. His blood dripped everywhere.

The Empress shot Yun Shang a disapproving look. "Save what? He is definitely beyond help."

"No, mother. Huan'er is fine. Please save him. Mother, please send for an Imperial Physician to save Huan'er." Yun Shang knelt and kowtowed several times before the Empress.

The Empress winked at the court maid waiting at the chamber door. "Xiu Xin, go and fetch the Imperial Physician. On your way there ask someone to send a cup of wine for Princess Yun Shang. She needs to be warmed."

The court maid left in a hurry. She returned quickly with a cup of wine in hand. The Empress spoke with the young Princess in a gentle tone, "Take a seat, Yun Shang. I have sent someone for the Imperial Physician. You should drink some wine to get warm. It would be quite awful if you fall ill before Huan'er recovers. You must take care of him."

Yun Shang nodded and sat down. She muttered to herself, "That's right. I cannot fall ill. There wouldn't be anybody to take care of Huan'er if I am sick. Nobody…" With those words, she reached her blood-stained hand for the cup. She raised her head high and drank the liquid without hesitation.

The Empress revealed her most heinous grin "Good girl. What I hate the most is people who stain my Qiwu Palace. How dare you bring a dead kid here. What damned luck…"

Yun Shang was astonished. She was confused at the abrupt change in the Empress's tone. Before she could understand what changed, a sudden pain coursed through her belly. It was so acute that she could not even stand straight.

"Your Majesty. It seems the medicine is taking effect." The soft voice beside her seemed familiar. Yun Shang turned to look. Lian Xin! Was she also in the service of the Empress?

"Mother..." Yun Shang frowned, "Mother..."

"I am not your mother. Your mother has been dead for a long time now." The Empress spoke in a tone so cold, it scared Yun Shang. "It was not my intention to kill you, as to live is more painful. But it's a pity that your have smudged my Qiwu Palace."

Yun Shang could not help burst into laughter after hearing the Empress. Even though waves of pain coursed through her belly, she spoke. "I'm indeed the most stupid woman in the world. I trusted you, trusted Hua Jing, and trusted Mo Jingran. It never occurred to me that the people I trusted would treat me like this. How evil you are..." She let out a bitter laugh before continuing. "I, Yun Shang, would rather die than forgive you... Never forgive."

She spat a mouthful of blood before falling to the ground, "If there is an afterlife, I will certainly find all of you. I shall have my revenge, revenge..." It was only after she breathed her last, that the baby fell from Yun Shang's hands.

A court maid stooped to check Yun Shang's breath. When she felt no air escaping, she said, "She's dead, Your Majesty."

The Empress laughed, and turned around. She picked up a phoenix hair pin. She placed it in her hair and swiveled to see its reflection in her mirror. "Dead? Then drag the body to the thick grove on the western outskirt. Feed it to the dogs..."