When Xiao Yue opened her eyes again, all the red color had already disappeared. She happily wrapped the cream-colored quilt tighter around her body, thinking that it was all only a nightmare.
She was in her own bed-chamber, and none of the tragedy happened yet. In a while, her mother would come into her tent, and yell at her to wake up. And if she did not wake up by then, her mother would pinch her awake and give her a lot of chores to do as punishment.
Her brother would try to push off his own responsibilities onto Xiao Yue, and Xiao Yue would complain loudly and… Tears rolled down Xiao Yue's cheek. She could pretend all she wanted, but she knew that the massacre truly happened.
Her mother would never again come to wake her up. Her brother would never again bully her.
Her father would never again laugh at her while watching the children bicker over a piece of roasted meat.
Xiao Yue sighed.
Unwillingly, she pulled the quilt away from her body and got out of the bed. After the initial shock had passed, Xiao Yue started to assess her own situation. She sat at the dressing table and picked up a bronze mirror.
A beautiful young woman looked back at her from inside the mirror. Her face was a tender oval, with big round eyes and cherry red lips. The bangs on her forehead gave her a childish appearance. So this was how Third Madam looked like, she thought.
Xiao Yue estimated her age to be around twenty, which was her age when she perished.
Xiao Yue rubbed at her neck while moving her head from side to side to check the bruises. The ugly red-purple streaks almost faded.
After resting for a few days, her throat did not hurt that much anymore. Xiao Yue still did not know what led the Third Madam to attempt suicide on her wedding night, but she could imagine. Heh, most princes were satisfied with two wives but noo, this arrogant General had to get himself a third. He must be an old lecherous man, preying on young innocent women while he slaughtered one place after another.
The type that Xiao Yue despised the most. His death would serve a lot of purposes. To avenge her tribe, and also to put an end to this disgusting practice.
Yes, Xiao Yue decided that she would kill this General Long Zhao Xue.
After the General was dealt with, if Xiao Yue still had some breath left in her body, she would go for the King of Hong next. While it was really the King of Hong who ordered the invasion, without Long Zhao Xue the attack would not be half as successful.
General Long Zhao Xue was known to be the blade that the King of Hong wielded to destroy his enemies. This was why it was crucial to first break the blade before going for the King. The Hong Kingdom was generally ruthless.
All the tribes under the control of the kingdom were just waiting for a good opportunity to rebel. After the general perished, anytime would be a good opportunity. Xiao Yue had died already, so she had no qualm to die again. She only saw one purpose in this second life : to carry out heavenly punishment over the Hong Kingdom.
No one was there to wait on Xiao Yue, so she marched to the doors and opened them. Outside of the bed-chamber, the first snow was falling over the courtyard, coating everything with a thin layer of white fluff.
From some distance away, Xiao Yue could hear someone playing the flute.
The sad melody plucked at her heartstring, inviting her to come closer. Before she knew it, she already walked across the garden in plain silk shoes for indoor use only, wetting the material completely. Casually, Xiao Yue took off the wet shoes and continued along the stony path completely bare-footed.
The music came from a pavilion in the middle of an artificial lake. In the middle of a pavilion, a tall, slender man stood and played the flute. He was wearing a white-grey fur coat, and a silver crown perched on top of his head. With the falling snow as background, he looked mesmerizing, like a painting coming alive. Initially his back was facing Xiao Yue so the latter could not see how he looked like. When he noticed someone approaching, he quickly turned around with a frown.
Xiao Yue stared at the young man. Judging from his facial features, he could not be more than twenty. If not for the frown and sharp gaze, Xiao Yue could almost say that he was a pretty boy. Unfortunately, his demeanor did not complement his beauty.
"Why are you here?" he barked, completely unfriendly and mannerless. There was a gleam of dislike in the pair of almond eyes that stared back at her.
Xiao Yue put her hands at her hips while she pondered the best way to talk back. This brat was clearly younger than she was, how dare he talked to her like that?
Did people not all say that people from the Hong Kingdom were all oh-so-refined compared to them, the barbaric tribe with their barbaric way of life and speech?
Not receiving an answer to his query, the young man looked Xiao Yue up and down. He pursed his lips, arrogantly lifted his chin, and mockingly peered at her. Xiao Yue could not take it anymore.
"Hey, are you not being too disrespectful to your elder? Where is your mother, did she not teach you some manners??"
She called herself his 'elder', although their age difference could not be much, maybe only months. Xiao Yue did not care. She thickened her face, intending to bully this junior a bit for looking down at her. Unexpectedly, the young man averted his gaze and said, "My mother died when I was young."
"…"
Well, that was unexpected. Xiao Yue felt a little guilty.
She cleared her throat.
"Anyway, it still is not an excuse to run your mouth like that. Little Brother, you seem to be the son of an official. If you do not behave, you will disgrace your parents and ancestors."
This was basically what her parents used to throw at her whenever she did something mischievous. Now that she was lecturing another with the same speech, Xiao Yue felt a lot older.
The mocking sneer returned to the young man's face at the end of Xiao Yue's little lecture.
"Little Brother?" he repeated, chuckling a little.
Xiao Yue glared at him.
"Whatever, why do I bother with you," she said, stalking off in anger.
"Wait," the young man said in a pleasant tone.