The Princess Wei Yang

1

The Deposed Empress

Da Li.

Under the roof of the Cold Palace, Li Wei Yang counted six fleas in her long hair. It's been years since she last bathed, causing her to feel as if there was a thick armor on her body. Catching fleas has become the only method to kill time.

12 years. She has been imprisoned inside the Cold Palace for 12 years. Wei Yang lifted her head up into the sky. Every time it rains, her legs would ache, becoming so painful that it made her want to go crazy.

She was Prime Minister Li Xiao Ran's biological daughter. Unfortunately, she was not born from the first wife but a mistress. Her mother was merely a maid of lowly class. Not to mention, she was born in February, coinciding with the saying that any female born in the month of February was a misfortune to the family. As a result, her father sent her to a distant relative to be raised in foster care. However, even the distant relative didn't want to raise a mere stepchild born from a lowly maid. They sent her off to a rural area for her to survive on her own. Her father was the Prime Minister and her family background was one of the most powerful and influential in Da Li yet she had to depend on herself to do house chores and even farm work.

She was abandoned and forgotten. If it wasn't for the fact her older stepsister, Li Zhang Le, refusing to marry that person then her father and Da Furen (first wife) would probably never spare her a second look . . .

Zhang Le, Wei Yang, their mere names set them worlds apart.

When she first returned to the Li's estate, she was filled with joy and happiness. She had naively believed her father had finally remembered her, only to have overheard her father say to her beautiful and elegant stepsister, Li Zhang Le: "Xian Hui, you can be at ease now. Wei Yang will take your place and marry Tuo Ba Zhen instead."

Older sister Li Zhang Le was also given the name Xian Hui. Her name was truly beautiful, at least that was what Wei Yang thought at the time. Soon, this particular name would become her worst nightmare.

Eventually, she listened to her father's decision and married the Third Prince, Tuo Ba Zhen, instead of Zhang Le. She willingly and wholeheartedly helped Tuo Ba Zhen realize his ambitions, slowly watching as he went from Third Prince to become the Emperor. She had even given birth to his son, Yu Li. Once Tuo Ba Zhen became Emperor, he also made her Empress. All of this happened within 8 years.

Tuo Ba Zhen once said she had soft skin and was a first class beauty. But a first class beauty still could not be compared to a fairy with ethereal beauty. Just a glance and anyone could see the difference between them was wide and embarrassing.

What happened after? After. . .

Every time Li Wei Yang remembers that particular day, she would burst out laughing. Laughing at her young and naive self, laughing at the present her and the past her, at how different the two have become.

She could still remember that night clearly. The palace maids and everyone in Kun Ning Palace was punished immediately on scene, as if they were impatient to bring it all to a conclusion or to keep everything a hidden secret. The maids weren't even brought to the torture chamber but were punished right outside of her bedchamber.

The entrance to Kun Ning Palace was locked. All the ones to be punished had their mouths stuffed and muted. In a blink of an eye, Kun Ning Palace had turned into a bloody mess. Li Wei Yang was dragged in front of Emperor Tuo Ba Zhen.

In Tuo Ba Zhen's usual astute gaze, there was now a sharp, cold and ruthless look. "You bitch! She is your blood-related sister and yet you so cruelly tried to harm her."