Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

*Warning: The next few chapters are not recommended to read for those with high blood pressure and easily emotional (>.<)*

Now, he could vividly remember it once more.

Madam Nan has always been a determined person. Since she had agreed to marry him, she chose to support him without hesitation using her own way. She smiled at him shyly on the first day they met in that room.

After that, she would slowly get close to him and helped to massage him when he was tired. There were many happy memories he had with his first wife. Laughing and talking happily, imagining the beautiful future they would have as Nan Shu Cheng's rank increased.

Madam Nan would help him in his study.

She prepared everything that she could prepare so that he could have the necessary knowledge to pass the examination and also solve the problem that had plagued the Fei Yang Kingdom.

The days were filled with happiness.

But it was impossible for the two of them to get along without having proper communication, and slowly but surely, he began to dislike her involvement.

The fact that she was pushed on him by his father was one of the factors that made him unable to truly appreciate her presence. He took her for granted, and when she left, he felt the emptiness.

The warm and beautiful days were over.

What replaced it was the cold days when she no longer even wanted to look at him. Nan Shu Cheng could never forget the gaze Madam Nan gave to him back then. From resentment to indifference.

It didn't happen in a matter of days.

It occurred over a long period of time as Nan Shu Cheng kept on hurting her over and over again.

And now, Nan Shu Cheng only felt that he was truly incompetent.

Not only he fell for the temptation to do these deeds, but he also fell into the temptation to treat her worse and worse because of his arrogance. He never cared about her feelings and only felt that she would always treat him the same.

But how could it be?

Human emotion had limits too. It was not an inexhaustible thing.

As Nan Shu Cheng's body trembled, Qu Fei Jiao also looked in Nan Hua's direction and her eyes burned in hatred. She hated this young girl very much.

Why?

Why did she could get away even though she was part of Nan Family? Just what was different between the two of them that caused them to be treated so differently like this?

Qu Fei Jiao couldn't accept this.

She couldn't accept this end.

But as she was about to struggle, the guard who watched over her tightened his grip. He looked at the woman with a cold gaze and increased his strength, not caring whether he hurt the other party or not.

Nan Hua swept her gaze across the hall. Aside from Nan Shu Cheng and Qu Fei Jiao, there were only Concubine Mei, Nan Hou Xiang, and Nan Xin. Concubine Xin was already executed, while the other concubines were not present.

It seemed that they had decided to release those concubines back to their maternal family.

Only those who were truly deeply involved were here.

Emperor Yang Zhou looked at the two people who had just arrived and nodded his head. "You can wait by the side, Long Qian Xing, Nan Hua."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hearing those obviously biased words, Nan Hou Xiang couldn't stand it. He was about to struggle and get up, but the guard raised the sword and knocked him back down. The guard frowned and felt that this young master was clearly looking for trouble.

At this moment, Nan Hou Xiang was thinking about the differential treatment between him and Nan Hua. He couldn't believe that Nan Hua was pardoned so easily while he was treated like some kind of criminal here.

He hadn't done anything!

If only he was not gagged or anything, he would have screamed out loudly. He wanted to tell them that he was not guilty of anything!

As the young master of the Nan Family, when did Nan Hou Xiang ever suffer from such treatment?

He wanted to yell, scream, and kick if only it was possible.

However, the guards behind him prevented him from doing anything unnecessary. There was no way that he would let him off so easily.

Thus, Nan Hou Xiang could do nothing but watch.

Watch as everything he knew and was proud of was destroyed in front of his eyes. The list of crimes his father committed was read carefully in front of him, denouncing him for everything he did.

The officials were looking at them with disgust.

There was no longer any respect and fawning expression on their faces as they looked in their direction. Only undisguised contempt and glee were left on their faces. It was clear that from the very beginning, not many officials liked Nan Shu Cheng.

For them, this was nothing more than retribution.

Nan Hou Xiang was desperate.

Not far from them, Concubine Mei's expression was also a bit unsightly, but she refrained from saying anything. She knew very well that she was merely implicated because she had borne a child for Nan Shu Cheng.

They might still let her off with a more lenient sentence.

So, she could only hold it back.

She didn't really have good backing from the very moment she entered Nan Shu Cheng's Residence. It was thanks to her mother wanting her to reach a high position and enjoy the benefit that could be taken from her entering Nan Shu Cheng's Residence.

Concubine Mei knew very well that she couldn't rely on her natal family.

Those people had long sold her to Nan Shu Cheng's Residence. What they wanted was the glory and power that could be obtained by having this slight relationship. After all, she was a concubine and not the main wife.

The difference between the concubine and the main wife was not the difference of one word. It was the difference in status that made their lives completely different.

No matter what, a concubine was not a person who could be shown off.

She could only stay inside her husband's residence until her very end without enough status to be able to get out and greet other people. No one would look in her direction because of her low status.

A concubine was not much better than a servant.

Aside from their lives that could be better because they had a residence on their own, they had to face a fierce battle in order to obtain the slightest bit of affection from their husband. Because they knew that only with the affection from their husband would they be able to live well.

If they couldn't get this affection, they wouldn't even be able to live well.

And if they were to make a mistake, their husband could easily dismiss them with a few words. As long as they had no natal family backing, it was very easy to dismiss them with few words and then pay some compensation.

If the natal family was a poor family, their daughters were completely sold out for a few taels of silver.

If the natal family was somewhat mediocre, they could enjoy the status a bit, but it was not that much.

If the natal family was strong, they could raise their head a bit more because they knew that they had their family members backing them on the back.

Concubine Mei's condition was the second one. Her natal family was only leeching on her, trying to take advantage of her marriage with Nan Shu Cheng. Even though she was just a concubine, Nan Shu Cheng would usually give them some face.

But now that Nan Shu Cheng was dragged down, Concubine Mei could never expect her family members to come and help her.

Instead, she felt that they would just throw her in the ditch and would not even look in her direction at all. After all, she had become a useless piece of chess in their eyes and had no value to speak of.

Concubine Mei knew that she had to rely on herself if she wanted to escape this situation.

But what could she actually expect?

Some of the officials' families who were not supporting the current Emperor were either killed or exiled if they had done too much. And those who didn't do much but didn't support him were deducted in rank.

This always happened during the change of ruler.

And Concubine Mei knew that she couldn't escape.

What she hoped was that she would not be killed on the spot. Because as long as she was not killed directly, it meant that there was still a chance of survival for her. Even if life would not be good afterwards, she still wanted to live.

She still has her daughter.

She's not alone.

Concubine Mei lowered her eyes, praying within her heart that she would be given a chance to survive.

It hasn't been easy for many people.

Many things had happened that even if they lived far away, they would inevitably be affected one way or another.