BBTTD Chapter 1.1

Heavy rain poured down in torrents. Su Jiao knelt in the outer hall.

Su Jiao felt like she was going to die.

A quarter of an hour ago, she had enraged the young emperor — who had been hanging on by a thread — into unconsciousness.

The vast palace hall was packed with people, dark and oppressive. The imperial physicians trembled as they administered acupuncture to the young emperor. A long, sharp needle plunged downward, and the young emperor violently vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. The metallic stench of it drifted through the screen partition into the outer hall —

Swoosh —

Dozens of gazes from the assembled court officials swept over her, the kind that could flay a person alive.

Su Jiao: ……

Su Jiao felt like she was truly going to die.

“Demon Empress, your usual troublemaking and stirring up chaos was one thing — but today, you took advantage of His Majesty’s unconscious state to execute the imperial prince and poison the Noble Consort. Worse still, you enraged His Majesty into unconsciousness while attending to his sickbed. Your crimes are punishable by death!”

Prime Minister Yun, who stood at the head of the officials, had eyes full of hatred — for the Noble Consort Yun Miao, who had been executed that very day, was his adopted daughter.

Su Jiao, who had already explained herself countless times, stared with a numb expression at the young emperor Xie Yan lying unconscious on the bed.

She hadn’t expected things to turn out so perfectly ill-timed today either.

Seven days prior, the young emperor — who had been working day and night at his desk in the imperial court — had suddenly collapsed from illness. Wave after wave of imperial physicians had come and gone, and as the illness grew fierce and urgent, after this emperor who had not rested a single day since his coronation missed four consecutive morning courts, everyone inside and outside the capital had sensed that something was wrong.

First came the young emperor’s coma. Then the feudal princes who had long been lying dormant seized the opportunity and raised their banners in rebellion. Several senior court officials convened an emergency night council and dispatched men to defend the city against the advancing forces.

Yet the general they had sent to defend the city — upon leaving the capital — not only failed to fight the enemy, but turned traitor along with the thirty thousand soldiers under his command, defecting to the rebel prince. The rebels swept forward with unstoppable momentum, and everyone in the capital lived in terror. But none were in greater danger than Su Jiao herself —

Because that traitorous general happened to be her father.

In an instant, the name “Demon Empress” was on everyone’s lips. Officials submitted memorials demanding she be put to death. Knowing her life was forfeit, Su Jiao hastily packed her valuables that very night and made a breathtakingly audacious decision.

She was going to run.

On a night dark with wind, Su Jiao crept along stealthily. She hadn’t even made it out of Heming Hall before a eunuch appeared, blocking her path.

“His Majesty requests your attendance at his sickbed.”

Su Jiao cursed Xie Yan up and down in her heart. She had planned to make it quick and get out early enough to flee the palace — yet she hadn’t expected that the moment she pushed open the doors of Qianqing Palace, a bloodied corpse would collapse right at her feet.

It was Noble Consort Yun Miao — who had been lording her status over Su Jiao just that very morning.

The tyrant had been on the throne for three years, fighting wars north and south, ruling with brutal methods, killing without mercy — but even so, Su Jiao hadn’t imagined his victims would include his own favored consort.

Before she could even let out a scream, Su Jiao spotted, not far away, the corpse of the seven-year-old First Imperial Prince — collapsed beside the bed.

The man on the bed unhurriedly wiped the sword in his hand and lifted his gaze.

“Screaming?”

Su Jiao’s face stiffened. She dug her nails into her palm, forcing the scream back down her throat.

Terrified of stumbling upon the tyrant in a foul mood, she contorted her face into a placating smile.

“Your Majesty has finally awakened. Your servant has been so worried she couldn’t sleep at night, and has been praying for Your Majesty’s recovery in her chambers.”

The tyrant Xie Yan reclined against the bed, not yet recovered from his grave illness. His handsome face still carried traces of frailty, yet those eyes of his were ice-cold and razor-sharp.

He beckoned her closer. Before Su Jiao could even begin to pour out her basket of concerned words, Xie Yan suddenly raised his hand and yanked free the sash at her waist.

Her outer robe fell to the ground, revealing the night-traveling clothes beneath her imperial gown.

The tyrant smiled with something that wasn’t quite a smile, and clapped his hands slowly.

“How delightful. Is the Empress worried for Zhen — or does she know Zhen’s time is nearly up, and intends to flee early?”

Did he even need to ask?

Ordinary couples still scattered to the winds when calamity struck — let alone her and Xie Yan, who were nothing but a pair of mandarin ducks keeping up appearances, hearts utterly estranged.

Su Jiao racked her brains for excuses while the tyrant idly added fuel to the fire beside her.

“The Noble Consort came to attend Zhen’s sickbed and poisoned Zhen’s food in the night. We suspect she is a confederate of those rebel traitors.

As for the First Imperial Prince — that ungrateful wretch. Zhen hadn’t even died yet, and already he was scheming about how to flee the palace. Naturally, Zhen could not tolerate it.

If Zhen is to die, Zhen intends to have those two accompany Zhen to the grave. What does the Empress think?”

The tyrant’s words carried an unmistakable insinuation. Su Jiao felt like weeping.

Even the prince had to go to the grave — she, his nominal empress, wouldn’t escape either.

She watched the minutes tick by. The appointed time she had arranged with her covert guards outside had long since passed, yet the tyrant showed not the slightest intention of letting her leave.

Either way I die. Su Jiao steeled herself.

“Everyone outside is saying the First Imperial Prince isn’t even Your Majesty’s true son. If he really was fathered by the Noble Consort with some other man, Your Majesty can hardly expect your adopted son and a fake favorite consort to keep vigil and be buried with you, can you?

That kind of high honor can’t be worth more than one’s life. Who knows whether Your Majesty will live for many more years yet — long enough to properly look after and protect those two? If the Noble Consort is clever, that is a bargain worth making. Were it your servant in her position, she’d do the same.”

Su Jiao squeezed her eyes shut and flung the sedative powder at Xie Yan.

“Su Jiao!”

Pfft —

The sedative hadn’t even left her hand before Xie Yan violently vomited a mouthful of blood — and passed out cold, enraged into unconsciousness on his own.

Thud —

To kill his son and favorite consort, the tyrant had dismissed every last attendant from outside Qianqing Palace.

Su Jiao had just leapt onto the window ledge, intending to escape through the side path, when the doors of Qianqing Palace were shoved open.

“Terrible news! The Empress has gone mad — she has killed the Noble Consort and the Imperial Prince, and has enraged His Majesty to death!”

****

“Five years in the palace — no heirs, consumed by jealousy, murdering the favored consort, harming the imperial prince, insolence and disrespect — such a vicious empress must be put to death by imperial decree to restore order to the court!”

The imperial historian condemned her crime by crime. Prime Minister Yun looked as though he wished he could bring up a cup of poisoned wine and force it down her throat himself.

“For five years His Majesty showed mercy and allowed her to keep her position as Empress. Yet we did not know she harbored such a venomous heart — and even now she refuses to confess to killing the Noble Consort and the Imperial Prince!”

“Is Prime Minister Yun hard of hearing, or is his eyesight going? I have already explained, for what is now the thirteenth time, that your daughter’s death has nothing to do with me.”

Su Jiao pressed her aching temples and began her thirteenth round of explanations, glancing casually out the window as she did so.

“Even now you make excuses. Is the sword inside the hall a fake?”

The Minister of Justice glared furiously as he spoke.

“Cui Daren decides guilt based on nothing but his mouth? A sword belongs to whoever owns it — how could I possibly have touched His Majesty’s personal sword?”

Su Jiao withdrew her gaze from the window.

The imperial historian’s white beard trembled.

“Such a venomous tongue — no wonder even your own father abandoned you when he turned traitor. With a daughter this ill-omened, if it were me, I would have strangled you along with your early-dead mother five years ago.”

A flicker of grief crossed Su Jiao’s eyes. Just as quickly, she straightened her back and composed herself.

“If He Daren’s writing brush were as formidable as his cruelty, he would not still be a deputy censor today. When did the sacred texts of the sages ever teach such a man to speak with the face of a human and the heart of a beast?”

The court officials erupted in fury. Su Jiao gave no ground whatsoever. Just as the argument was escalating into outright chaos, Prime Minister Yun finally let out a furious roar.

“Enough!”

He fixed a vicious glare on Su Jiao.

“A treasonous minister for a father, and a vicious empress for herself — the Empress Dowager has already issued a decree stripping her of the imperial seal. A cup of poisoned wine has been decreed. There is no need for you ministers to waste another breath on her.”

With the young emperor gravely ill and unlikely to recover, Prime Minister Yun held the court in the palm of his hand. The Empress Dowager was a relative by marriage to the Yun clan, and the assembled officials all followed his lead. One word from him, and the entire court fell silent.

The guards behind Su Jiao shoved her violently to the ground. Prime Minister Yun strode over, the cup of poisoned wine in hand. Su Jiao struggled fiercely, tilting her head to look out the window one more time. Prime Minister Yun sneered and leaned close to her.

“What are you waiting for? You argued with these officials all this time only to buy yourself time — do you truly believe that precious elder brother of yours outside will come to save you?”

Su Jiao’s body went rigid.

Her brother had indeed promised her that someone would come to take her away tonight. She had delayed without leaving — even the covert guards outside would risk their lives to come in and rescue her.

So why… why hadn’t they come?

Could something have gone wrong?

It was in that very moment of stunned confusion that Prime Minister Yun, gripping the poisoned wine, seized her jaw without a moment’s hesitation and forced it down her throat. Su Jiao came back to her senses and struggled with all her might, but the poisoned wine had already burned down past her throat. Prime Minister Yun flung her savagely to the ground.

Violent, churning agony erupted in her stomach almost immediately. Su Jiao clenched her teeth and writhed across the floor.