Himmlischer König

Kapitel 55

One was her own brother, Murong Yin, the child of the manor lord's first wife. The manor lord, Murong, wished for many children and blessings, so her only brother was also known as the Thirteenth Prince.

The other one is... Murong Yin's cousin, Hua Chen.

That year, Hua Chen was five years old and she was eight. He liked to follow her around to play. She didn't want to pay attention to him and would just leave him somewhere. He would squat there and wait foolishly for his little sister Ci to come back and find him after she had finished playing.

In her memory, Hua Chen was always very well-behaved. That slightly chubby little boy would always tug at her clothes and follow behind her, blinking his bright eyes and pitifully calling her "Sister Xiao Ci".

She, however, enjoyed teasing him.

For example, you could draw a big turtle on his face while he's sleeping, cut the characters he just wrote into pieces with scissors, or grab a frog and throw it into his collar, scaring him so much that he cries loudly.

Hua Chen still followed her, calling her Sister Xiao Ci repeatedly.

She always does things that others dislike.

Because she couldn't stand being ignored, because no one respected her, her childhood was filled with contempt, ridicule, and indifferent glances.

When she was nine years old, she stood behind the pillars and heard those self-proclaimed noble women coldly utter a word she would never forget for the rest of her life.

—That wretched girl, like mother, like daughter!

She turned and left.

That night, a fire suddenly broke out in the villa's cloth basket, and the most beloved brocades of the women who loved to adorn themselves with gold and silver were burned to ashes overnight.

She was punished for setting the fire by kneeling before the ashes for a day and a night.

Her mother, tears streaming down her face, stayed by her side, bringing her her favorite snacks, but she coldly said to the pitiful woman with a sorrowful expression:

—Stay away from me, or others will see us together.

When she was ten years old, it was the old lady of Murong Manor's birthday. She was not allowed to enter the hall to offer her birthday wishes. Her thirteenth brother and Hua Chen secretly brought out birthday cakes for her to eat, but she threw them away and said something harsh.

—I won't eat that old hag's food!

Her words were overheard by her father, the owner of Murong Manor. With a single slap, he sent her tumbling down the ninety-odd steps, leaving her bleeding from a head wound.

Her father didn't even glance at her, and walked into the hall with an angry expression.

With her face covered in blood, she heard the cold, mocking laughter of those around her.

She still remembers that when she collapsed in a pool of blood, only her thirteenth brother and Hua Chen came to help her. Her thirteenth brother held her tightly, while Hua Chen kept crying.

Blood flowed into her eyes, blurring her vision. She lay in her thirteenth brother's arms, listening to Hua Chen's sobs, silently watching the blood-red sky above her.

She didn't shed a single tear.

When she was carried back to the secluded backyard where only she and her mother lived, her frail mother rushed to her side in a panic, covering the wound on her head, and also broke down in tears, heartbroken...

—A despicable woman who only knows how to cry!

That's all she thought.

The ten-year-old girl's face was covered in blood, but her eyes remained cold and stubborn. She didn't even glance at the crying woman. She staggered to the water's edge and gritted her teeth to clean her wounds.

When she was twelve, she was teased by some outside children at Murong Manor and locked in an abandoned dark room in the manor. After that, those children left Murong Manor and no one ever came looking for her again.

She was left in a dark room for three days and three nights.

It was her mother who opened that door, the woman she considered the lowest of the low.

Later, she learned how her mother had searched every corner of Murong Manor alone day and night for those three days and three nights, and how her mother had knelt pitifully outside Old Madam Murong's door, desperately begging the old lady to send someone to find her daughter...

She glared angrily at her mother, "I'd rather die! Who told you to beg them?! Why did you do such a despicable thing?!"

Her mother finally burst into tears, "Xiao Ci, I can't let you die."

She finally cried.

She angrily smashed the medicine bowl, knocked over the lamp, and tore down the bamboo curtain, even going so far as to draw blood from her own hands. She cried out loud, tears of grievance streaming down her face...

Why must she live such a miserable life?! She's also a child of the Murong family, why can't she compare to her thirteenth brother?! Why must she be insulted and looked down upon?! Even those outsiders bully her!!

Everything about Murong Manor is a desperate nightmare.

She grew up alone in the dark backyard, and her heart was always pale and cold, like an endless snowfield.

Murong Ci, oh Murong Ci!

She could never be seen in the light of day; she was a child forsaken by the gods, and no one would care about her. She would die, slowly, in this backyard, just like her mother…

When she was fifteen, Hua Chen, dressed in red, stood in front of her holding a flower spear, his eyes filled with a bright, clear smile like a lake.

"Sister Xiaoci, I'll teach you this marksmanship technique."

He practiced a set of marksmanship in front of her, and his incredibly fast marksmanship slightly amazed her. She could no longer underestimate this twelve-year-old cousin.

He taught her marksmanship, and watching her hold the gun, he smiled proudly. "Sister Xiao Ci, once I've mastered martial arts, I won't let anyone bully you anymore."

Hua Chen, who was only twelve years old at the time, spoke with unwavering conviction.

She looked at him calmly, her face still stubborn and her eyes full of doubt. "Do you think I'd believe that?! Your marksmanship is so simple now, I learned it faster than you."

"I...I also know many other marksmanship techniques."

The twelve-year-old boy in scarlet robes stammered with eagerness, "I... I'll marry Sister Xiao Ci when I've mastered martial arts, I... I promised Thirteenth Brother..."

"Then come and marry me when you become the Great General!"