Warring Kingdoms: The Tale of the Jade Phoenix and the Dragon Blade

Chapter 68: Tide dyed in Crimson (水皇后墜入愛河)

That night after BeiYin returned from her visit with Cao XiuCai, she went straight into her room and locked herself inside. Anger boiled into her anatomy as she recalled the great war that destroyed the Shanhai Pass and also overthrown the Great Emperor of the Water Country, Tai KuangHou, LiuFang BeiYin's husband.

'I recalled, Little Cao was just little back then when all of us were forced out from our city by the edict of the White Snake's Emperor, Cao YunXi, Cao XiuCai's father...

The kingdom was our stronghold, a fortress of safety and a safehaven for people who are wounded and lost. Yet, XiuCai... He... He's a pet master of his father raised from his own backyard. If I'm not mistaken, he even smiled as he slaughtered numbers of our men that protected Shui Guo. I'll never forget that face. His brutality, his evilness, his atrocity.'

BeiYin's concentration shattered i to thousand pieces when she heard a knock on her door.

"Mother... It is I, Cao Cao. May I enter?"

"Yes. Please do."

Cao Cao used an unsealing spell and opened the doors wide and freely threw herself on her highness' bed crossing both of her feet feeling carefree.

"As I've remembered, there's no other bed that I liked than mother's own bed."

"Cao Cao. You must behave yourself. You're already married to XiuCai so you must act like a proper lady, not like a child!"

"Relax mum... We're all alone are we? Can't I just relax for a while or better yet just tell me a story to pass the time."

BeiYin facepalmed herself. She loved Cao Cao so much and pampers her yet she could not neglect her duty as the sole Empress/Emperor of her country after her husband died of war but even so, Cao Cao was still important to her.

"Alright. Sit properly and I'll tell you a story."

"Finally!"

Cao Cao straightened her poise and sat properly as BeiYin cleared her throat and started the story...

"Hundreds of years ago, Shui Guo wasn't the same as it is now. It was a country not indebted and oppressed by the order of the White Snake...

Your father, KuangHou was a great warrior and at the same time, a great Emperor-to-be at that time. He was a man with virtue, training to be an Emperor required him to join in the ranks of the other soldiers and undergo extreme training to the point their arms and feet could not work anymore."

"Wow. Father was mighty like that? How come I'd never met him?"

"Shh. Let me continue the story if you want to listen more."

"Alright, alright. Okay. So, what happened?"

"I was an apprentice for a consort at that time. Madame Jia took care of me since I was just a kid after my father passed away. My mother, I do not know much about her but Madame Jia assured me that I do look like her even though she hasn't met her.

I was cunning, reserved, calm and composed at that time. Learning martial arts aren't my specialty until that fateful night..."

"Fateful night wha?"

"It was about a year after Madame Jia passed away and I was left to fend for myself and was assigned as chief consort ranked two star official of the kingdom and one night, the chief consort one star official commanded me to bring in the new robes from the tailor. As I was passing the inn, five men mugged me and forced me on the side of an alley and started tearing off my robe like hungry pack of wolves. That was then, KuangHou came to the rescue. He beaten up the men black and blue and some of them could not even stand up after. He soon found out that the one star consort was the one who planned to put me in harm's way because I was climbing too much on the vine and sees me as an insect inside the palace."

"Well.. What happened to the consort then?"

"She was banished at a faraway land and never to return here at Shui Guo. After the consort has been exiled, your father appointed me as a first rank official of the palace. The eunuchs told me that the Emperor wanted me to train him myself about the duties of a ruler. I couldn't refuse a direct order and immediately responded to your father. As the days went on, your father and I got into a secret relationship and wanted to marry me since I have you inside me that time and when you were born the wedding was held But... It..."

"It— It what Mum?"

"The sister of Cao YunXi, Cao Sishao, her bethrotal was rejected by his highness and she committed suicide because her love wasn't returned. It sparked a war between the two countries that caused a great war. The White Snake country's actions were deemed unworthy of war and other kingdoms supported Shui Guo against the white snake's oppression. Yet, your father... He died during the war."

Cao Cao clenched her fist and slammed it on the bed. Tears were now forming on the corner of her eyes.

"Then the real reason why my marriage was arranged for XiuCai was..."

"Yes... To make up for the sins that your father and I made in the past. The real reason why the tides had been dyed with crimson. I am sorry child."

"No mother. You do not need to say sorry. I am grateful to have come to be into this world because of you and father."

Cao Cao kowtowed in front of her mother sincerely. Guilt overflowed inside BeiYin's heart. Her suffering was caused by her falling in love with KuangHou and to repay the damage done, she was to be sacrificed into the snake's mouth.
BeiYin knelt in front of her and with tearful eyes told her to stand up.

"My child, please stand up... You aren't the one who should do that. Get angry, throw something, rebel and get furious. Your mother is a sinner."

"No mother. You are the only one I have now. I haven't met father even once and you're the only one I have left."

"I promise Cao Cao... I promise, once we get free from the White Snake's grasp, I will break you free of Cao XiuCai's wedding."

Behind the silhouettes of the door, a shadow of a tall woman listened in to the whole conversation and walked away smiling.

'Not so great now are you, Cao Cao? You dare to plan and break your wedding with XiuCai? Heh. Let's see what you can do when I do something wonderful to the ones you love.'

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Meanwhile, while sailing on the stormy sea, LanRong and MoXiao were already asleep to let the storm pass while Wei Yue stood up late with an oil lamp on his side reading a book originating from Shui Guo. The annals of Shui Guo interested him more however, the book that he was holding had a page missing as if it was purposely ripped off from the book itself.

He wondered how the great war against the White Snake started and why it came to be yet the ripped page was nowhere to be found. He was thinking deeply when LanRong knocked on the door.

"Your highness are you awake?"

"Yes. Please sit."

LanRong sat at a nearby chair and wanted to ask Wei Yue some questions but the storm knocked out the quietness of the atmosphere making her lose confidence in asking him.
Wei Yue noticed her hesitation and proceeded on asking her first to break the ice.

"LanRong... Why have you come here?"

"I—I was going to ask his highness."

"About what?"

"Your highness, I am a divine being from the ninth heaven so I have a gift as a celestial being... Well... Last night I had a dream about a crying woman. She said her name was Cao Sishao. She was crying for help and she said something about Shui Guo."

"Shui Guo? That is my grandmother's country. Why? What does she want?"

"She said that she did not kill her own self instead, she was framed and murdered."

"That's..."

"I do not know what her purpose is, she just appeared out of my dream and I wanted to inform his highness."

"All will be clear when we arrive at Shui Guo."

"Yes your highness."