Black Heart: Her Diabolical Ways - Chapter 4

Plutarch, Year 198 of the Dragon,

Deep into a dark and beautiful night, the graceful figure of a young girl could be seen leaping smoothly across the outside palace walls of an enormous estate ground. All the lights in the palace were put off and only the dim light of the occasional lamp could be seen in the inky black night.

When the moon peeked its head out from the clouds, its light fell on the young girl and illuminated her startling appearance. She had lavender tinted eyes, full cheeks, and was intensely pretty. Her silver hair released a radiant brilliance once touched by the moonlight, painting a beautiful image on this dark night.

As she continued her ninja-like behavior, the girl’s heart-shaped face lowered into a frown when she noticed a guard in front of the palace. Her gaze darkened as she planned on what to do next. After a moment of pondering, she picked up a stone from the ground. Seconds later, the stone landed a few feet away from the guard.

Startled by the noise, the guard immediately rushes towards the place where the stone had been thrown. Meanwhile, the young girl’s soft pink lips curled up into a satisfied smile. She quickly entered the palace with a jump.

“Must have heard wrong…” The guard frowned when he saw that no one was there, but figured that it was either his own misconception or a small animal passing by. Thinking like this, he returned back to his post.

Inside the palace, the young girl quietly ventured through the west wing. She practiced the utmost stealth and caution on her way down the maze-like hallways.

Her footsteps stopped when she reached a small, rundown room. With a slight push, the door in front of her opened with a creak. The room was so small that even the meagre number of furniture made it look cramped. She swiftly entered, then closed the door, soundless, behind her.

There was a single lamp kept on a small table, burning steadily, which allowed the girl to see. With a sigh, the girl sat on her hard wooden bed, which resulted in an obnoxiously loud creak. The room smelled musty and foul as it was in a forgotten corner of the palace. Opening the window beside her small bed, the young girl took a deep breath of this cool and fresh air, as it swept into the room and it rid the foul smell.

Her face muscles relaxed and her tensed shoulders sloped down. The girl slowly removed the coat like layer of clothing from her *hanfu. The coat was slightly wet from sweat, so it was laid to dry on a small table. She lazily stretched, revealing a lot of pale white skin of her stomach, her limbs tired of practising.

A strong wind suddenly blew inside, and the flame of the lamp flickered out. The girl gave the lamp a strange look and went closer to it. Her fragile hands formed a seal and her mind concentrated on the wick of the lamp. The girl had anticipated the flame to rise again but to her disappointment, there was no trace of a flame rising at all. The energy in her stomach was unable to be of any use to her.

“Have faith, Yi Meng. You can do it. Even if the world stopped believing, never lose faith in yourself,” The young girl, Yi Meng, comforted herself in an enchanting voice. Her voice was like springtime, refreshing and beautiful. Any male hearing her speak would likely have desires for her immediately, there was no need to see her face.

No man could imagine such a voice belonging to anything other than a beauty.

Yi Meng took a matchstick and lit a flame, the orange glow making her tender face look even more beautiful. She collapsed backwards onto her bed, looking at the moon with a wistful face. As the moonlight becomes dim, the beautiful Yi Meng’s eyes slowly closed, as she finally fell asleep. Shadows dance across her face as a peaceful look, one rarely seen on her, overtook her face. A childlike innocence was seen as the beauty slept.

BAM BAM BAM

Yi Meng was awoken by the sound of her bedroom’s door being banged on. Her body straightened up immediately, a reflex she grew to adapt. Her eyes remain a little unfocused as she hurried to open the door.

A girl, at Yi Meng’s age, was standing there with a furious look on her face. She couldn’t be called the most beautiful woman, but she possessed a certain kind of allure. The allure of a weak and delicate woman who needed protection. Many men were enchanted by her and often pursued her, only to be turned down with an innocent smile.

Yet now, this delicate woman had an ugly expression on her face, displaying that she was clearly pissed. She was Yi Ruo, Yi Meng’s cousin.

“What are you doing, sleeping until so late? Why haven’t I received my tea yet?!” Yi Ruo’s loud voice almost made Yi Meng cringe, but she just took a step back with her head down.

“I’m sorry, I woke up late. I didn’t mean to. In the future, this will certainly not happen again. Please forgive me this time,” Yi Meng’s soft voice said in an apologetic tone, yet her heart was heavily pained from having to show humility to the person in front of her. She felt disgusted with herself.

Yi Ruo’s hand banged on the door in anger, as she sneered, “You think that this apology will be enough!? Kowtow in front of me ten times and say that ‘Yi Ruo is the most beautiful woman in the palace’!”

A flash of wrath was seen in Yi Meng’s eyes, but she only gritted her teeth secretly. With a soul full of reluctance, she begrudgingly fell to her knees and proceeded to kowtow while saying those words ten times. Yi Meng’s heart burned in humiliation! At this moment, she swore to have her revenge.

A satisfied look passed through Yi Ruo’s face and she gloated in her mind. “Good that you know your position. Trash like you will remain as trash. Hmph! I wonder why you still hang on to the position of being the crown prince’s wife.”

Yi Meng clenches her fist in indignation.

Of course, she knew her position. When she was thirteen years old, she was labelled as trash without any Qi in her body. She had been raised as an orphan after her parents were killed in an accident. Since then, everyone treated her like dirt. Even a thirteen year old girl had more power than the seventeen year old Yi Meng. Yi Meng knew better than anyone the pain she had suffered. The only thing that helped her stay alive was her status as the crown prince’s betrothed.

However, that same status had made her the common target, suffering from the bullying of all the women who fancied the crown prince.

One of those women was none other than the Yi Ruo standing in front of her. Yi Ruo was said to be a genius in the girls of their generation, who had managed to reach new levels with a rapid pace. With her excellent acting skills and powerful qi, she was able to suppress her trash cousin, Yi Meng. She felt that she was the most deserving of the position of being the crown prince’s wife.

Yi Meng had no objection. She didn’t have any feelings for that playboy prince anyway. She was only thankful that he didn’t increase her problems and sometimes, if he felt like it, he would even help her. Merely, he had no idea how bad Yi Meng’s condition truly was.

For the past four to five years, Yi Meng was whipped bareback when she messed up some work. If that wasn’t enough, salt water was poured on those fresh wounds of hers. The inner part of her arms, that were usually covered by the long sleeves of her dress, had burn marks all over. In short, her cousin Yi Ruo and the members of the branch family of her clan had made sure to put Yi Meng in such a state that even if the crown prince married her, he would be disgusted to even touch her once he saw the marks on her body.

They thought that the prince was a playboy and would throw Yi Meng away after seeing her. Yi Meng couldn’t retaliate. She didn’t have the power to do so. For the past four to five years, even though she trained like hell to improve, there were no changes at all. Her qi remained the same as before and couldn’t be channeled through her body. Due to this, Yi Meng could only train her mind.

Yi Meng had decided. Now, she wasn’t in a position to seek revenge. However, once she got married, she would definitely use her brain to destroy Yi Ruo and the others who hurt her. Suddenly, Yi Meng was startled when pain assaulted the back of her head. She just realised that Yi Ruo kicked her on the head! Anger appeared on her face for a moment, before it quickly disappeared.

But seeing this brief coldness from the bottom level of hell, Yi Ruo felt chills run down her spine. Yi Ruo finally decided in this moment, she had to finish Yi Meng off as soon as possible. No matter what, that girl managed to remain calm in spite of how she was treated! She was assaulted and didn’t even grimace or complain! This was a terrifying thing that Yi Ruo knew she couldn’t do herself.

On top of that, this wench was just so sickening! It felt as if each passing day, Yi Meng grew even more beautiful, irritating Yi Ruo to no end. To an arrogant girl like Yi Ruo, this was a huge blow to her pride. Not to mention, she was a jealous girl in love.

Even though she had great skills, her brain was still a bit childish compared to Yi Meng’s. She handled such matters without much planning or forethought. Yi Ruo felt that by killing off Yi Meng, she would be able to gain Yi Meng’s position as the crown prince’s wife.

With a snort, Yi Ruo walked away. However, only after telling Yi Meng to prepare her tea quickly. A cold, calculating look spread across Yi Meng’s face as she contemplated how she would take her revenge. After turning around and returning to her room, Yi Meng took a bath and changed into fresh clothes. After doing this, only then did she prepared the tea for Yi Ruo.

She then took the tea to Yi Ruo, who was sitting in a leisurely in a decorated room. As she served the tea quietly, both the girls were startled to hear lewd sounds all of a sudden.

“Oh, yes~ My Prince, it feels so good. More~ more. Yes there… Ah!” a woman’s seductive purring sounded out from the room next to theirs. Moans and a few manly grunts rang through the room. Yi Meng couldn’t believe it. She knew the crown prince was a playboy, but was it already this bad?

It was already morning, and yet they seemed to have been going at it since last night. Yi Meng could only shake her head, half in laughter and half in disgust. On the other hand, Yi Ruo who had taken a sip of tea, grew green with envy and the tea handle cracked in her hand. Yi Meng looked at Yi Ruo warily, wondering what tantrum she was going to throw next.

“Is this what you call tea?! How dare you serve this to me!?” Yi Ruo said angrily, and with a wave of her hand, she threw the scalding tea on Yi Meng’s face. Yi Meng remained quiet and retreated with a small bow, promising to make more tea. Yi Ruo only stared at the empty space in front of her, seething in anger.

When Yi Meng had reached the hallway, she stopped moving. Her hands trembled as they touched her face which was still burning hot. Fortunately, she had closed her eyes or now, she could have possibly been blind. Her hands were trying to cool her burnt face when she heard a door creaking open.

To her shock and surprise, a handsome figure appeared in front of her. With slightly messy black hair and emerald green eyes, a man with a body that was built with strong muscles stood in front of her. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing Yi Meng’s wet clothes and red face.

With a hand on the back of his neck, his deep voice sexily spoke, “What a surprise seeing you in such a state this early in the morning. It looks like you’re doing well.”

Yi Meng could very easily identify the sarcastic taunt in his words. However, she only performed a bow to the royalty, before she nodded in acknowledgement and continued her way. After all, she couldn’t bear to talk to the man because he was the cause of her being reduced to this sorry state. The prince had a faint but alluring smile on his face as he saw the beautiful girl walk away.

“My prince, this lady is waiting for you to come back. Haven’t you promised to satisfy my needs?” a soft purr sounded out behind the prince, as a pair of jade arms wrapped around his manly waist.

A cold look flashed through his eyes, before he slapped away the arms holding him, “Who said you have the right to touch me?! You had better know your place. You don’t have any right to give me orders. As a punishment, I’ll use you until I’m satisfied.”

The woman shivered in fright but also in anticipation. A few moments later, loud moans were once again heard throughout the hallway. The moans didn’t stop until it was deep into the afternoon. Merely, even after the woman passed out from ecstasy, the prince continued to sprint out of the room.

Finally, the prince stopped, only to mutter lazily, “Che, what a disappointment. Can’t even satisfy me.”

With an indifferent look on his face, the prince summoned a guard as he ordered, “Sell her to that brothel we acquired. Tell them they can do whatever they please with her. This kind of cheap woman is definitely fit to stay there. Maybe she’ll learn a thing or two…”

The guard stiffened a bit, but immediately carried out the order. Much later, the woman woke up and found herself as a prostitute in a brothel lineup. Not many days later, news arrived of her going crazy and committing suicide after being assaulted by a group of men.

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*hanfu is a chinese dress.