Chapter 2 Thousands of Arrows Piercing Through the Heart

“Why are you asking me such a foolish question, my Empress?” Shen Zhongbai looked at her in surprise. “With your wisdom, don’t you understand why my Crown Prince can’t be from the Gu Family?”

Gu family.

Both the Empress and Gu Qiang realized the reasoning behind this at the same time.

The Gu Family had the power of a prime minister which was sufficient to oppose the imperial palace. On top of that, she was a member from the Gu Family who became the Empress!

“That is your child!” After coming back to her senses, Gu Qiang shrieked in fury. Out of anger, she grabbed a book from the table and was about to throw it. She stopped upon hearing the Empress’s heart-wrenching cries.

“But he is your child… Your own child! Shen Zhongbai!”

“I know.”

Shen Zhongbai slightly nodded while drawing the arrow slowly. This time, the full-drawn arrow was aiming at the Empress. “I, too, am very sorry for Lan. That’s why today, you have to go too. You and your son can be each other’s company in the netherworld.”

While he was speaking, a thought crossed his mind. He smiled faintly and added, “Oh, and you don’t have to worry about Gu Family. Gu Family exchanged your life for the entire Gu Family’s safety. Even your brother who died early is specially permitted to be buried in the ancestral tomb. On top of that, another biological daughter of the Gu Family will be sent into the palace very soon. But rest assured, I won’t let her have your position as the Empress.”

“One Empress from the Gu Family is enough.”

Another biological daughter?

There is no other biological daughter in the Gu Family!

Gu Qiang furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement.

Oh right, Gu Zhihua!

In a split second, Gu Qiang figured everything out.

The only possibility for this to happen was that the Empress might be a pawn of the Gu Family. If the Third Prince failed, she would be sacrificed along with him; if he succeeded, she would serve as the fodder for the Gu Family as well!

She was the only one who thought it was a happy marriage. It was pitiful.

“The Empress?”

The Empress repeated these two words mockingly. Her lips curled as she looked at the sky and laughed insanely. “Shen Zhongbai! What did I do wrong? And how is Gu Zhihua qualified to atone my sins?”

A tear trickled from the corner of her eye and vanished in a second. It then turned into intense hatred. “I have been your wife for ten years. I assisted you in ascending the throne with painstaking effort. Is this how you repay me and your own son? Aren’t you afraid of karma?!”

In contrast to the Empress’s hysterical shrieks, Shen Zhongbai smiled gently, as if it was during their grand marriage ten years ago. Confident yet indifferently, he delivered the final blow.

“A pawn needs no mercy.”

He let go of the bowstring in the next second.

Following Shen Zhongbai’s lead, all the Imperial Guards behind him released their arrows in the same direction.

Thousands of arrows were shot at the same time, aiming for the heart.

The Empress’s figure stopped abruptly, and then slowly collapsed to the floor.

She had been extraordinary for all these years, and now she would finally wither into fine dust.

After a long moment, Shen Zhongbai put down the bow in his hands. He then took a last glance at the dead woman on the floor whose face was now beyond identification, and announced indifferently, “The Empress, Gu Qiang, who conspired to murder the Prince and poisoned the Consort, is sentenced to death.”

“No, don’t!”

Gu Qiang screamed and opened her eyes immediately. The next second, she heard a young woman exclaim in exhilaration, “You’re awake! You have been unconscious for three days, Young Lady. You’re finally awake!”

This voice was rather familiar. It was the maid who took care of her since she was young—Ting Feng.

But… wasn’t she in Weiyang Palace?

Everything that she saw just now, was it just a dream?

That woman who died unwillingly in thousands of arrows looked exactly like her, and this woman—whose name was Gu Qiang—was from the Gu family too. Was it her?

Was it her future self?

Or was it, a hint from heaven?

An intense shiver travelled down Gu Qiang’s spine. Suddenly, she felt something in her hand. To her disbelief, it was the book in her dream which she picked up in Weiyang Palace but failed to throw it out.

It was not a dream!

It was actually not a dream!

If that was the case, would her future be that miserable?

What did she do wrong?

Looking at Gu Qiang’s face, Ting Feng and Chui Xue almost burst into tears. “Young Lady, w-what happened?”

“I’m fine,” Gu Qiang replied slowly, but her chilly eyes were directed toward the door.

The one who was standing by the door was none other than the so-called new Empress from Gu Family in her dream, her sister—Gu Zhihua.

“Sister!” she exclaimed excitedly after seeing Gu Qiang regain her consciousness.

After a moment of silence, Gu Zhihua’s smile faded as there was no reply from Gu Qiang.

She even felt an indescribable fear when she looked at Gu Qiang.

“S-Sister, what’s the matter?”

“I’m fine.”

Gu Qiang replied coolly after a moment’s pause. Her lips curved tauntingly. “I’m just curious—what do you need, Zhihua?”