[Chasing His Wife to the Crematorium] [Scheming Beauty]
Xiao Zhenlan ascended the throne as emperor. The various factions sent him more than a dozen beauties. He asked them, "After I die, I wish to share a tomb with you. What do you think?"
Be buried alive with him! Everyone was horrified! Only Fu Erniang, daughter of the Military Commissioner of the Xuanwu Army, lowered her face and replied with boundless sincerity and affection:
"This concubine is but a frail willow. How could I possibly deserve to be made empress and buried with Your Majesty?"
"This concubine would be honored to serve as the lamp bearer in the passageway to Your Majesty's tomb."
A lamp bearer was a doll cast from specially made wax. It held a lamp in its hands to guide an emperor on the road to the afterlife. To ensure it never rotted or decayed, it had to be made from a living person.
This Fu woman, Xiao Zhenlan thought, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of his lips. She certainly had a silver tongue and a quick wit. Then she raised her face, and Xiao Zhenlan's smile froze.
Years ago, he had a beloved confidante who had treated him very well. Later, she even gave her life to save him. In the ten years that followed, as he raised the banner of rebellion and fought from one battlefield to another, he could see no one else.
"Jingyan..." This woman had the exact same face as Fu Jingyan!
The woman below the steps bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, Jingyan was my late sister's maiden name. This lowly concubine is called Fu Tanxi."
Xiao Zhenlan stared at her for a long time.
Then he issued an order: "From today onward, your name is Fu Jingyan."
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At some point, Xiao Zhenlan began to look at her with genuine attention. He loved her gentle beauty, her peach-blossom eyes, and, most of all, the affection in her gaze. When she looked at him, it was with a depth and focus unmatched by anyone in the world.
She truly loved him dearly.
Sometimes Xiao Zhenlan thought that since a beauty like her was hard to find and the past impossible to reclaim, he might as well restore her original name when he eventually made her empress.
But Xiao Zhenlan never lived to see that day.
Three years. Three years of whispered intimacies ended with a dagger at his throat during a palace banquet. The rebels stormed the palace. Xiao Zhenlan fought back with all his might, but in the end, he was overpowered. Forced to his knees, he looked up at the woman seated high above him.
"Why did you betray me?!"
Without realizing it, his accusation turned into a plea. Xiao Zhenlan murmured to himself, "I was truly sincere with you..."
He called out, "Jingyan..."
The woman smiled brightly down at him. "Your Majesty's devotion is indeed profound, but unfortunately..."
"Unfortunately, my name is Fu Tanxi."
A note before the story:
1. The heroine's sister and the male lead have no romantic development. The sister was simply a good person. The male lead, lovestruck and deluded, misread her intentions. From the heroine's perspective, the male lead is nothing but a menace who got her sister killed.
Later, the heroine's family establishes an empire, and she lives as a princess with male consorts. The romance is one-on-one for part of the story. The male lead grovels and worships her from beginning to end, and stays faithful. I suppose he eventually manages to win her over. Happy ending.
2. The setting is inspired by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, but is otherwise entirely fictional.
Theme: If only I had known love would bring such sorrow, I would have wished to be born without a heart
