Yan Kingdom, Year 25 of the First Reign.
In the Heavenly Prison, the air was thick with moisture, and a scent of decay and rotting corpses permeated the dim void.
At this moment, a woman in white was chained by a lyre-shaped torture device, her collarbone pierced, as countless venomous insects gnawed at her. Her eyes were vacant, and the flesh bitten by the insects was bloody and blurred, the bloodstains already turned black. She had grown accustomed to the pain of being bitten and gnawed by thousands of insects.
Moments later, after the venomous insects had their fill, they retreated back into her body at a visible speed.
These venomous insects were both gu and worms, all parasitic within her body.
The prison door creaked open.
A woman in a grand phoenix robe, supported by a wet nurse, walked in.
"Sister, your sister has come to see you."
The woman's gentle voice reached Gu Qianying's ears. Gu Qianying remained unresponsive.
"Sister, your sister has brought a gift today, and I believe you will like it very much."
As she spoke, Gu Mingyue glanced at the wet nurse beside her. The wet nurse understood and immediately said, "Guards, bring it up!"
A young eunuch, carrying a black wooden box, approached with a bowed back.
"Bang!"
The wooden box fell to the ground, and a bloody human head rolled to Gu Qianying's feet.
The originally exquisite features were somewhat distorted due to the removal of her eyes.
Such a familiar face – who else could it be but her mother, who toiled for her day and night?
Gu Qianying suddenly looked at Gu Mingyue, her eyes reddening. She struggled with all her might, trying to break free from the shackles. However, the lyre-shaped torture device felt as if it had grown into her flesh. No matter how she struggled, it was in vain.
"Gu Mingyue! May you die a terrible death!"
Gu Qianying could never have imagined that her half-sister, with whom she grew up, could be so vicious.
Her mother had treated Gu Mingyue and her mother like family in the Gu household, yet Gu Mingyue had dealt such a fatal blow to her mother!
Gu Mingyue released the wet nurse and walked up to Gu Qianying, stomping on the head at her feet and twisting it back and forth. "Sister, you are mistaken. The one who will die a terrible death is not me, but you, whose mother was tortured to death by more than a dozen eunuchs, haha."
"Gu Mingyue, I will kill you, kill you!"
Gu Qianying's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and she struggled even more fiercely.
Even if she were to die of pain at this moment, she wanted to kill Gu Mingyue immediately!
"Sister, you want to kill me? Hahaha." Gu Mingyue acted as if she had heard the greatest joke. She kicked the head at her feet to the wet nurse behind her and turned to look at Gu Qianying. "Sister, look at yourself now. What ability do you have to kill me?"
Her delicate hand lifted Gu Qianying's chin and gripped her cheek fiercely, her smile like a poppy. "Gu Qianying, you are now the prisoner, and I, Gu Mingyue, am the most noble Empress of Yan. From now on, the Gu family will be under my control!"
Gu Mingyue's long, sharp fingernails scratched Gu Qianying's face twice. Her tone shifted. "Oh, sister, I forgot to tell you. Your eldest brother was found by the people sent by our Emperor... his corpse. It is said that when he was carried back, his limbs were gone. Our Emperor, to commemorate our grandfather, General Gu, for his meritorious service, specially put your elder brother Gu Yefeng's corpse into a wine vat and made him into a 'shi zhi' (a corpse preserved in wine). Sister, tell me, is the Emperor doing this right to our grandfather, General Gu..."
Before Gu Mingyue could finish her words, a powerful spiritual energy sent her flying several meters away with a palm strike.
"Gu Qianying, you..."
Gu Mingyue lay on the ground, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with shock as she looked at the unusually behaving Gu Qianying.
Soon, the shock in her eyes turned to fear.
Gu Qianying had forcefully ripped the lyre-shaped torture hook from her collarbone. Her collarbone was broken, and blood stained her white clothes.
At this moment, Gu Qianying, dragging a long tail, her purple eyes filled with murderous intent, her three thousand strands of black hair turned red, looked like a Shura from hell!
"Ah, monster, ah!"
Gu Mingyue screamed in terror at the sight before her.
Gu Qianying walked towards the wet nurse, who was already stunned and about to faint, but still remembered to knead the human flesh in her hand. She looked at her as if she were already dead. "You deserve to die!"
She extended her slender fingers and strangled the wet nurse's neck. After taking the human flesh from the wet nurse's hand, she exerted force with her fingers. The wet nurse slumped to the ground, immediately losing her breath.
Gu Qianying carefully held her mother's human flesh, her heart filled with grief. As she turned to walk towards Gu Mingyue, more than a dozen highly skilled guards rushed in and surrounded Gu Qianying.
A figure in a bright yellow robe appeared before Gu Qianying.
"Your Majesty, save me, sob, sob, sister has turned into a monster, Your Majesty, I am so scared." Gu Mingyue pounced into Nan Rongqi's arms as soon as he appeared, her body trembling, her cries soft.
Nan Rongqi looked at the scene before him, paused for a moment, then his thin lips curved. "Guards, strike down this monster, Gu Qianying, for me!"
The dozen guards acted swiftly, wielding long swords, and simultaneously lunged at Gu Qianying.
Sword light and shadows filled the prison. In a moment, the ground was littered with corpses.
Nan Rongqi watched as his guards fell one by one. He became furious and immediately turned to issue an order to the grand eunuch behind him.
Before long, the grand eunuch led people to carry in a large wine vat.
"Gu Qianying, I advise you to surrender. Otherwise, I will completely destroy this!" Nan Rongqi looked at Gu Qianying, his tone cold, his gaze icy.
A distorted human head emerged from the wine vat.
Gu Qianying's body stiffened. She released the guard's neck and looked at the person in the wine vat with immense grief, her voice mournful. "Brother... Brother!"
Suddenly! Two hidden guards, swords in hand, attacked Gu Qianying fiercely.
Gu Qianying was captured by the hidden guards.
The tip of the sword pierced Gu Qianying's heart, and blood overflowed.
Gu Qianying looked at the man holding the sword that pierced her heart – Nan Rongqi – in disbelief!
This was the man she had loved for half her life?
As Gu Qianying fell to the ground, she watched Nan Rongqi use the sword that had pierced her heart to lift her mother's head!
She also saw Gu Mingyue sprinkle some black powder into the wine vat, and then her brother's corpse vanished at a visible speed.
"Ah..., Nan Rongqi, Gu Mingyue, even if I, Gu Qianying, die, I will become a vengeful spirit to seek revenge on you. I will make you suffer a terrible death in every lifetime!" With her last breath, she uttered the most venomous curse!
Her mournful cry echoed in the Heavenly Prison for a long time.
As her fox tail disappeared, her body turned into an ethereal form!
...
Yan Kingdom, Gu Residence.
A faint scent of sandalwood entered her nostrils. Gu Qianying's eyes suddenly opened, and her gaze fell upon a bed draped with crimson begonia curtains. The room also contained her favorite tea set.
"Miss, stop sleeping. It's time to take your medicine."
An impatient voice came from beside her.
Gu Qianying suddenly looked at the person speaking to her.
She was slightly startled!