The Cold General's Fierce Wife

Extra# Yao Mingli

Yao Mingli had never fathomed that his life would take such a drastic turn. Being pulled down from the top of the social hierarchy to the very bottom crushed his ego. For the longest time, he blamed everyone, he blamed his father, his mother, his brother, Su Ying, Yusheng, the Emperor and everyone who doted on him, including his own fate. He blamed everyone, except for himself.

When he was taken away from the capital, when his head was forcefully shaved off, when he had to take off his exquisite clothing and wear something almost resembling a foot rag he would use, Yao Mingli was filled with hatred for the world. He was angry at his parents for giving up on him to save themselves, he was angry at Yusheng for not caring about him and also angry at Su Ying for asking to give him such humiliating punishment.

He was clearly a young master, born with a silver spoon and obviously deserving of all the good things in the world. That was what his father had taught him. Then why was it that he had to go through all of this?

At the beginning, Yao Mingli refused to do anything they asked him to do. He didn't want to sleep on the cold floor and demanded they give him bedding. However, he was ignored. The person watching over 'criminals' like him said,

"You're no longer the pampered Young Master of the Yao family. Either be satisfied with what you have or just perish. Nobody really cares. Remember, you're a criminal. You're already lucky to be in a place where you can at least preserve your dignity."

'Criminal'? Yao Mingli was enraged. He only did what he needed to do to rightfully take the position that was supposed to be his. His mother also did that with a few of his father's concubines. No one dared question her. So why was it that when he did it, he was called a 'criminal'?

But in the end, being ignored by others, all he could do was endure. He hoped that one day, his father and elder brother would come to take him back. Then he'll take revenge on everyone who had wronged him.

Alas, time went by and nobody even came to meet him. He had to take care of all those tasks given by those people that only the lowest servants in his estate ever did. He was forced to do them. Otherwise, he would be flogged till he was left half-dead.

The very first time Yao Mingli was flogged, he cried all night, hoping for his parents and elder brother to show up to uphold justice for him. Yet, no one came.

After staying in that place for a while, it didn't take Yao Mingli long to realize that he had been abandoned. His heart broke into pieces. But there was nothing he could do.

He endured, endured and endured. He lamented about his poor fate and hated his family. The more he learned about the ways of the world, the more he felt that it was his parents' fault that he grew up like that. They were the ones who let him grow up to be an entitled person, they were the ones who let him do wrong things. So why was he the only one getting punished for a crime that didn't even succeed?

For being diligent in work, Yao Mingli was sent away from that place to a poverty stricken village where disabled soldiers, war orphans and people who had lost their all in the war lived. He was sent there to work as a caretaker for those people. It was also that place where he actually realized how much of a horrible being he was.

Compared to those people who had lost their beloved ones, their hard earned properties, their limbs, their everything, and even their lives, wasn't he truly a lucky one? Compared to all those people who lived their lives at the bottom and worked hard to be happy only to lose everything in the war, wasn't he someone who had lived a worry free life for at least 17 years?

He realized that he was the arrogant one believing that everything would work the way he wanted it to be. If something didn't go his way, it must be the fault of others. But he was wrong, horribly wrong.