Ming Yue had not even been able to let go of her love for Li Feitian when she was suddenly forced to step forward and receive an imperial edict in the middle of the banquet, before the throne. It had all happened so abruptly that she had no time to prepare herself.
At her side stood the man who had been granted an imperial marriage to her— the young, hard-hearted, icy general, Yang Jian...
In truth, Yang Jian's reputation for arrogance, looking down on others with a murderous sidelong glance, and his frigid manner and utterly rigid bearing, combined with his expressionless face and unapproachable nature, did not trouble Ming Yue nearly as much as the fact that he was the man her friend secretly admired and longed for.
Yao Furong was Ming Yue's only friend.
Miss Yao often drank tea and played chess with Ming Yue to ease her loneliness, while sharing her greatest ambition in life:
“I'll ask Mother to sound out the elders of the Yang household about an engagement. He's so noble. Even becoming his concubine would be wonderful. I only hope General Yang won't find me displeasing.”
Those fanciful words had barely left her mouth when the imperial marriage was announced first.
No one could disobey the Son of Heaven's edict. Otherwise, their entire clan would be put to death, down to the ninth generation.
There was nothing to do but accept it. Ming Yue could do nothing except bow her head, weep, and resign herself to her fate, never realizing that her beloved friend, Yao Furong, had not agreed to it in the slightest.
At the same time, Bai Liting still felt that she had not received even the slightest bit of justice.
It was not enough that she had to suffer because Li Feitian still loved Ming Yue so deeply. Her utterly worthless elder sister had also been granted an imperial marriage to a handsome and renowned general, elevating her to the position of principal wife in the Yang household.
Just look at them. Lately, their parents had been paying even more attention to their elder sister, holding their heads high with such pride. Bai Liting would not accept this...
And yes...
Ming Yue died because of her viciously jealous younger sister, Bai Liting, and her maliciously possessive friend, Yao Furong.
The two secretly joined forces to assassinate poor little Ming Yue.
All because they were angry over a man who did not belong to either of them!
This shameful, nauseating reason had existed from the very beginning, yet how could Ming Yue possibly have avoided it or fought back?
At first, she simply ate and drank tea as usual, completely unaware that Bai Liting had secretly ordered someone to mix something into her food. Naturally, she had been somewhat wary of danger.
But the other maid who served in the residence had already been secretly bought off by someone with greater power. The evil deed was carried out so discreetly that no one could discover it or even sense that something was wrong.
Thus, the eldest daughter of the Bai household ate rice, drank soup, and sipped tea that harmed her body, gradually weakening her and making her fall ill more often than before.
Bai Liting made Ming Yue sick until she had no choice but to remain shut away in her residence, solely to keep her elder sister from seeing Li Feitian—even though the imperial marriage had already proven that the two of them were not destined for each other.
In her dark, stifling room, fragile Ming Yue could do nothing but lie there and watch the moon through the window at night, then watch the sun through its light by day. Each day passed without meaning, and at any moment she might have quietly sickened and died in this residence.
Then Yao Furong brought her some fine fragrant tea, along with a confident declaration that she would let go of General Yang and wished her beloved friend Ming Yue a happy marriage. She would remain here and support her friend forever.
Ming Yue drank the tea, deeply moved, never realizing that it contained a flower whose mild poison would leave her sick and unable to recover for the rest of her life.
Yao Furong had intended to ruin the wedding completely. Yet she could never have known that the mildly poisonous flower would turn into a deadly toxin.
By coincidence, it reacted with the decoction that someone in the residence had secretly been mixing into Ming Yue's soup every day.
The two evils combined perfectly without anyone planning it, producing consequences far beyond anything anyone could have imagined. Ming Yue had already been driven to the brink by the troubles she faced. Once the medicines combined within her, they became the final catalyst, causing her grief-stricken heart to wither away until she died.
Ming Yue's heart stopped without warning as she slept deeply in the middle of the night...
In a towering pavilion adorned with golden lettering and red lanterns, the night stretched on. A man seeking solace found it difficult to close his eyes.
Yang Jian continued thinking of someone who had died beneath his Sunblade sword.
The brilliance and fierce resolve in her eyes made him feel as though he had sensed her gratitude—and her release. No matter how much he pondered it, he could not understand.