The assassin known as Fourth betrayed the blood oath he had sworn to uphold, turning against his master, leaving him besieged on all sides, and eloping with the master's young son. Three years later, the master's eldest son caught up with them and flayed his father alive before his eyes. With his dying breath, the father cursed him to be shunned and betrayed by everyone for all eternity.
Nian'er's final strike pierced my chest, cold and clean. In my next life, everyone would turn against me, and already I could see them beckoning from afar. Little did I know that Heaven was the cruelest of all. I had wanted to love someone passionately once more, to betray and be betrayed, to give myself over to a love beyond reason. Even if everyone abandoned me, it would be better than this!
What a cruel joke.
Killing his brother, murdering his father, and dishonoring his sister: each crime was enough to condemn Xuan Jingyu to death several times over. But I didn't care. The moment that person died before my eyes, the world lost its color and every sound fell silent. Uncle, why did you have to be my maternal uncle? And why did you have to make me fall in love with your tenderness? You once said that, in the royal family, the most extravagant luxury was a moment of tenderness. Cold-blooded and hard-hearted to all, you alone were gentle as flowing water, a spring breeze stretching for miles.
Nian Si, an orphan. He was probably abandoned because his face was so repulsive. Disfigurement was nothing unusual, but having half your face burned away so completely was truly horrifying. Inhuman torture had branded a lifelong scar on this child's face, enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.
A tyrant rules without virtue, and Heaven will surely punish him. Yet this ruler is diligent in governing, the four corners of the realm are at peace, and neighboring nations all pay tribute. And yet, above the palace, what could those blood-red clouds, layered thick as the heavens, possibly foretell?
If you are reborn with memories of your past life, can a brand-new name bring you a brand-new life?
Why, no matter what we do, can we never escape our fate?
