Chương 1: I cannot die this way
The world was not kind to those who kept blind faith in the people around them, thinking they would love them, and support them as equally as they do.
The Crown Princess of the Tang Empire, Tang Jia Li, realized this when her father, the Emperor of the Tang Empire got killed on the night of his 59th birthday in the Year of Tiger.
That night, Jia Li was stripped of her royal title, claiming it was Jia Li, who killed her own father to get the throne.
When Jia Li refused the false claims, she was ordered to be imprisoned by the Grand Empress Dowager and beheaded the next morning.
Jia Li's mother, the Empress of the Empire, helped her daughter escape with the help of the royal bodyguard and ensured her daughter safely reached outside the capital's border.
"Mother, I don't want to leave. I can prove my innocence. If I run away today, I will be called a coward, and I will be proven the culprit in everyone's eyes!" Jia Li requested her mother with tears in her eyes.
"No one will listen to you," the Empress said, "it is a big conspiracy." She turned her head as she heard the footsteps and asked her daughter to run away with the bodyguard.
Jia Li shook her head, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please, Mother," she urged when the bodyguard dragged Jia Li out with him.
The Empress wiped the tears from her cheeks when the Court Lady informed him the Chief General was coming there to imprison her.
The Empress gazed at the dagger placed on the round table. She unsheathed it and cut her neck with it. She fell to the floor with a loud thud while the court lady got on her knees.
"Your Majesty!" the court lady exclaimed and placed her hand on the Empress's neck, but it was too late to save her.
"Jia Li should live," the Empress took her last breath and closed her eyes.
The Chief General entered the chamber and saw the court lady and the other maidservants mourning the death of the Empress.
He asked the court lady about Jia Li, who lied to him to make sure the Princess would get enough time to escape with the royal bodyguard. The Chief General left, ordering the soldiers to throw out the maidservants from the chamber.
Jia Li continued crying as she ran with the bodyguard. "Will you bring Mother too?" Jia Li asked him.
The bodyguard did not answer her and helped her get on the wall. He also jumped above the wall and landed on the other side with Jia Li. She kept asking him about her mother when the bodyguard finally said, "It's a conspiracy, Crown Princess. The Empress must have sacrificed her life to save the Crown Princess."
Jia Li suddenly halted, making the bodyguard stop as well. "Save my mother. I beg you," Jia Li asserted.
"I cannot. The Crown Princess must live," the bodyguard said.
"What's the use of living when both of my parents are dead?" Jia Li questioned him. "I better die than run away," she pronounced.
The bodyguard placed his hands on her shoulders. "Crown Princess, the Late Emperor wanted you to rule the great lands of the Empire. Please follow me. We have a limited time to escape. Soon, the soldiers will come here," he requested Tang Jia Li. "Please don't let the sacrifice of your mother get wasted. We should leave," he stated when they heard some strange voices.
The bodyguard somehow succeeded in dragging Jia Li with him and went to the other side of the wall, where a horse was already present. He helped Jia Li sit on it. Then, he mounted the horse. Pulling its reins, he rode the horse at a fast speed.
"They are running in that direction!"
A loud voice roared, and it scared Jia Li for a moment.
Her eyes turned cloudy because of the tears in them. Jia Li turned her head to check and found a group of soldiers behind them on horses.
"They are behind us," Jia Li muttered.
The bodyguard rode the horse as fast as he could. It was probably the last mission of his life. He wanted to succeed in his final mission.
The bodyguard got hit by an arrow, and the speed of the horse suddenly slowed. He didn't let it show to Jia Li and continued riding the horse before changing the route to the forest one.
He hopped down the horse and helped Jia Li get down.
"You are injured," Jia Li said as she saw the arrow from his arm and furrowed her brows together.
"We don't have the time, Princess. Run," the bodyguard said, and they both started running. Jia Li was at the front while the bodyguard was behind her to make sure he would stop any attack, which would be directed at the Crown Princess.
Jia Li crossed a rope bridge from where the border to the capital ended as the other hill started from there. Jia Li turned to check if the bodyguard was behind her, and he was not. To her surprise, he was cutting the ropes on the bridge.
"No!" Jia Li shouted from the other side.
"Stay there, Crown Princess!" the bodyguard shouted at her. She saw a group of soldiers had arrived there with torchbearers in their hands.
Jia Li didn't listen to the bodyguard. She ran as fast as she could on the rope bridge to reach his side. She could not watch him die in front of her.
The bodyguard got confused to see her running in her direction through the rope bridge. He kept telling her to return where she was, but Jia Li did not listen.
A speeding arrow hit Jia Li's chest, and blood came out of her mouth. The bodyguard shouted in dismay when another arrow hit Jia Li, and she fell. The wooden slabs on the rope bridge broke because of her heavy weight, and she fell into the deep gorge.
Jia Li closed her eyes.
"No, I cannot die this way," Jia Li murmured, and a tear escaped her eye before she fell into the river. The water gushed inside her mouth and filled her lungs entirely.
Jia Li was dying, and at that moment, she wished for one chance to change everything, to change her destiny, and to annihilate her enemies. She wanted to avenge the terrible death of his father and mother only if heaven provided her one chance.
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