Imperial Father's Dragon Robe - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Later, Consort Shu told me:

A general of Northern Di had taken a fancy to Consort Xian and brought her into his residence as a concubine.

For the people of Southern Tang who had been reduced to slaves, having a powerful patron to shelter under was the best ending they could hope for.

But I could not put my heart at ease.

General Xu’s youngest sister had never been some gentle woman who relied on her beauty to serve men.

She was skilled with blade and spear, and her nature was decisive and unyielding.

Back when she entered the palace, furious that our dynasty was paying tribute to Northern Di, she had once kicked my Imperial Father straight into Taiye Lake.

How could a woman like that willingly serve a Northern Di dog with her body?

The ominous feeling in my heart grew stronger and stronger.

Until half a year later, a deafening commotion broke out outside the slave sheds where the people of Southern Tang were imprisoned.

Forcing down my terror, I bolted outside.

That day, I finally saw Consort Xian, whom I had thought of day and night.

But the scene before me was carved into my flesh and blood like the stroke of an axe.

That woman who had once risked herself to steal medicine for me, that daughter of a military family who had once taught me sword dances-

In broad daylight, the Northern Di soldiers had stripped her naked and bound her limbs apart on the execution platform before the crowd. There, she suffered the violation of one Northern Di beast after another, until she died.

Standing in the crowd, I had my mouth clamped shut by Consort Shu. I could no longer make a sound.

I could only watch the woman on the platform move her lips soundlessly:

“Changle! Live! Do whatever it takes to live!”

My Imperial Father was the fifth person to rush up.

Wearing that dragon robe whose original color could no longer be made out, he first seized Consort Xian by the throat and cursed her viciously.

“How could I, Li Xiu, have married a filthy whore like you!

“Would it have killed you to serve the Northern Di general properly? But no, you had to kill him. You just had to kill him!”

As he cursed, he suddenly snatched a knife from a nearby soldier and plunged it savagely into Consort Xian’s body.

“Go die. All of you who offended the people of Northern Di can go die…

“Better dead, better dead… Once you’re dead, you won’t drag me down anymore!”

Stab after stab, like a mad dog, he refused to stop no matter what.

Only after the Northern Di soldiers beat him until his head was bleeding did he tremble and crawl to kneel at the feet of the King of Northern Di.

“Your Majesty, it was all that slut’s doing. It had nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with me!”

Consort Xian was dead.

She had pretended to steal military intelligence, personally beheaded a great general of Northern Di, and exchanged her life for two passes out of the city.

Xu Wanqing, daughter of a military family of Southern Tang.

To preserve the bloodline of the Southern Tang Imperial Family, she had sacrificed herself-only to have the fallen sovereign of Southern Tang stab bloody holes into her with a blade.

In the end, she was thrown onto a heap of corpses and left for wild wolves to tear apart.

But Consort Shu and I could do nothing.

All people of Southern Tang were placed under strict watch and forbidden from going out.

It was not until two months later, when the investigation found no accomplices, that the soldiers assigned to guard us began to relax.

Only then could Consort Shu and I disguise ourselves as household slaves of a Northern Di general and leave the city.

By then, a full two years had passed since we first came to Northern Di.

The Northern Di Royal City was hung with lanterns and colored banners, and everyone was bustling about in high spirits.

Several Northern Di slave girls passed by carrying fruit platters, discussing the banquet that was about to be held.

The instant I brushed past them, unease suddenly struck my heart.

Half a year ago, the King of Northern Di had just issued an order: until the Central Plains were unified, no banquets were to be held. So what was going on now?

In a flash, a terrifying thought surfaced in my mind.

Seeing me catch up to ask them, the Northern Di slave girls were first taken aback.

But what they said next plunged me into an icy abyss.

“Little girl, don’t tell me you don’t know-

“The Six Prefectures of Cangwu were slaughtered. Xu Zijing, the one defending the city, died long ago!”