Tie Ci convulsed violently but managed to support herself with her hands just before collapsing.
Her fingertips dug into the cracks between golden bricks, and with a hiss, the golden bricks shattered into pieces.
“Tie Ci, have you forgotten the nobility of the heaven-gifted divine clan?!”
“No!”
“Crack!”
Mad thunder accompanied by fierce lightning, rolling with overwhelming dark clouds, gathered the mighty force of the universe into one bundle, howling as it crashed down on the young woman’s slender back.
With a dull thud, Tie Ci’s other elbow also hit the ground. She ultimately didn’t fall completely, but couldn’t control a mouthful of dark blood that sprayed three feet.
“Tie Ci, have you forgotten the past humiliation of the Iron Clan royal family?!”
“No!”
The wind ceased, thunder stopped and lightning died. In the Buddhist hall filled with pure sandalwood incense, deathly silence returned once again.
The disciplinary whip could only strike three times – this was the rule.
Empress Dowager Xiao said she would not break ancestral rules.
Tie Ci supported herself with both arms on the ground, coughing softly while thinking of laughing.
The most rule-abiding was the most rule-breaking. Heaven knows.
Three questions with the disciplinary whip – it was really hard on the old lady to find such ancient precedents from the already rotten internal power struggles of the royal family.
This was a rule established by the founding emperor of the Iron Clan royal family before the nation’s founding. Because he had experienced hardship and difficulty in his youth, he feared that his descendants would indulge in luxury and pleasure after inheriting the beautiful kingdom, losing their ancestors’ spirit of enterprising determination. So he specially established this rule.
Glory need not be elaborated. Humiliation referred to the early days of nation-building when Great Qian was weak and repeatedly attacked by the combined forces of surrounding nations like Great Dian, Lanna, and Dayan. Emperor Qian Gaozong was even captured once and only ransomed back with the entire nation’s resources – a humiliation in Great Qian’s history that no one dared forget.
The heaven-gifted divine clan referred to how this continent once had many with heaven-bestowed abilities, but later for various reasons, such people became fewer and more precious. The Iron Clan family was fortunately one of the few that could inherit part of these heaven-bestowed abilities. When they first rose up, they used this as their rallying cry, claiming these heaven-gifted abilities were divinely bestowed, that Heaven had entrusted great responsibility to the Iron Clan. Thus they rose from chaos, seized the imperial throne, and established foundations for hundreds of generations.
As bloodlines continued to dilute and mix, fewer Iron Clan royals inherited heaven-gifted abilities with each generation. Later only direct royal descendants had the possibility, so three generations later, the Iron Clan royal family established a rule: only those possessing heaven-gifted abilities could inherit the throne.
The awakening of heaven-gifted abilities varied in timing – some were born with them, some triggered them later, but at latest, signs would definitely appear by age twelve.
And Tie Ci was now sixteen, without heaven-gifted abilities.
The unfortunate Emperor Qian Gaozong who was captured was also the only emperor in Iron Clan royal history without heaven-bestowed abilities.
This became the most powerful evidence for those who opposed allowing anyone without heaven-gifted abilities to inherit the throne.
Several generations later, the same situation befell this dynasty.
Starting from age twelve, Tie Ci’s status in everyone’s minds remained unchanged on the surface but plummeted dramatically in private.
Ministers who had once been captivated by her brilliance began advising the emperor to expand his harem. After years of the emperor having no other offspring, they began advising him to adopt sons from collateral branches.
Noble families that had once been relatively stable began stirring restlessly.
The three feudal princes who had once sworn loyalty to Great Qian, led by Liaodong, gradually became less obedient.
If not for the emperor’s persistent support of Tie Ci’s position as Crown Princess, insisting that collateral branches also lacked heaven-gifted abilities so were no better than Tie Ci, perhaps now Tie Ci would either be counting lice in the imperial tomb or feeding worms there.
Only the Empress Dowager remained steadfast – from beginning to now, she had consistently treated her poorly.
Sometimes, the most vicious toward women are often other women.
Since Tie Ci had not awakened heaven-bestowed abilities, the Empress Dowager brought out ancestral rules.
The three questions with disciplinary whip had only persisted for a few years in Great Qian royal history before discontinuing. Reflecting on bitter past and thinking of sweet present was fundamentally seeking abuse when there was no need. Since the realm was already at peace with the kingdom in hand, why endure hardship and taste gall? That was what fallen monarchs did.
But the Empress Dowager said Tie Ci was undisciplined and lacked heaven-gifted abilities, making her a royal disgrace. This disciplinary whip that carried ancestors’ teachings and expectations should be properly received by her.
The old rule was once yearly during ancestral and heavenly sacrifices. But the Empress Dowager conveniently forgot this rule – when in good mood, once; when in bad mood, once; when menstruating, once; when not menstruating, once. If Tie Ci did anything displeasing to her, no need for questioning or investigation – just crack, crack, crack.
Tie Ci was not someone who accepted everything passively and had tried to resist, but at thirteen, the young woman received her first harsh lesson about absolute force.
To this day, when she heard the Empress Dowager’s summons, she still chatted and laughed casually, never bringing anyone, only skillfully changing into black clothes.
She never let the emperor know about these things.
If father knew, it would definitely be a fight to the death. But now, the net was a sky-covering net while the fish was an injured fry – not yet time for a desperate struggle.
The palace was full of the Empress Dowager’s people. If they tore off the facade, some deep night a big blanket could smother her father.
The heavy footsteps disappeared behind curtains, the swishing sound of the whip dragging on the ground faded away, leaving a deep red trail on the floor with some scattered bits of flesh and blood faintly visible.
Slow footsteps sounded, stopping every third step – the Empress Dowager’s unique gait. Every time Tie Ci heard it, the image of a big-bellied spotted toad would float in her mind.
The spotted toad squatted before her, autumn-fragrant colored gold-sprinkled robe dragging across Tie Ci’s face. Tie Ci raised her head from her half-prostrate position and grabbed the robe corner to wipe her face.
The Empress Dowager’s emotionless eyes fixed on her face as she asked in a thin, delicate voice: “Ci’er, do you have any regrets?”