Tens and thousands of people had fallen victim to my sword. I should end up in hell. Surprisingly, hell seemed to feel so comfortable, almost too odd to be true... It was then that I sniffed the familiar scent of sandalwood and the soothing fresh aroma of my favorite incense.

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My eyes snapped open as they steeled, staring at the familiar ceiling of a bed. My breath hitched as I froze, my heart thumping wildly. My whole being turned to stone too scared to even look around. As a general who had fought in many battlefields and even stood hand in hand with the emperor, there was nothing I feared, but right now it felt so hard to repress the shiver running down my spine. A few moments later, with full force on my hand I...

My cheek was throbbing in pain. Rubbing it gently to ease the pain, my hand snaked down clutching onto my neck to reassure I wasn't dreaming. With the sudden realization, I abruptly got up from the bed, moving the bed curtain to aside, my feet landed on the cold wooden floor. The room was filled with exquisite furniture combined with the simplest decorations. There's no mistake, this was my...

My palace.

I just died. I definitely did. But here I was brought back to my past. How is that even possible? It was too real. Everything I experienced was too real. Then what is this? Is this reality? What about the people in the palace? Were they also experiencing the same thing I did?

I shook my head trying my best to calm down. Before acting too rashly I better observe my surroundings first. More importantly, wh-

"Your Highness, the bath has been prepared." Lily my personal maid interrupted my thoughts as she announced from outside the closed doors. (Lily in Chinese is Baihe but since the book is written in English I'll use Lily)

I frowned. Bath? But it's still late in the afternoon. I normally took baths in the morning and night unless...

"Please come in, Lily." I ordered.

With a creaking sound, the doors opened revealing a cute and petite girl whose smile was as bright as the sun. She bowed, "Your Highness?"

"Is there a special occasion tonight?"

The confused Lily tilted her head wondering why I was asking this but answered humbly not daring to meet my eyes, "...Yes, Your Highness. Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager prepared a banquet to welcome the new consorts of the Emperor. Consort Jin, Consort Wu, Consort Han, and Consort Sui. Perhaps Your Highness may have forgotten?"

My eyes widened in shock at her words.

This was the banquet held exactly two months before my death! Does this mean the incident will repeat itself again? This is insane. But now that I'm aware of everything, I might be able to stop the assassination.

I won't let her escape this time!

The immense joy that poured out of my heart was unimaginable. One reason was that I could save Mother Empress and more importantly I could be with him. But once again remembering the banquet my heart turned sour. I had to see him taking new consorts. Again. I felt bitter at the thought. I should be happy that the Emperor didn't sleep with any of them but still, he took them in. He's not to be blamed since this was the tradition. He had only ever slept with the plain-looking Empress just so she could produce an heir. They had two boys barely reaching age six and the other at seven.

I don't want to go to the banquet. Just to see all those ladies flocking around the Emperor. Anyway, what right do I have to feel like this? I sighed in frustration. I could never stop these selfish thoughts.

"No, I haven't. Though for a moment I forgot... You may leave, Lily." I replied smoothly.

"Are you feeling sick Your Highness?" She asked worryingly having a glance at my pale face.

"Hmm not exactly. Lack of sleep I guess." I smiled.

"Then this servant will take her leave." She bowed and exited the room.

**********

A long sigh of content escaped my lips as the warm water touched my porcelain skin. Red flower petals spread across the warm bath, combined with the open view of nature creating a dazzling art. The sweet scent of red peonies wafts through the entire pool engulfing me in a blissful sensation.

"Hmm... So good." I mumbled, my head resting at the rim of the pool. I closed my eyes feeling drowsy as I thought about the banquet which was supposed to be held this evening.

The banquet was a gathering meant for the royal family in order to introduce the new consorts and to be more familiar with them now that they are a part of this suicidal family. Normally these types of banquets weren't necessary but our Mother Empress insists that everyone should get to know each other and strengthen our bonds. The Mother Empress was a woman who had always wished for the family to remain in unity. It's just that no matter how much she tried, the palace would continue to be a place full of deceit, schemes and power struggle. And this was the exact reason for her death.

The more consorts she brings in; the current Empress's life could also be in danger. Since she was the only woman to bear the Emperor's children, the harem ladies wouldn't just sit and watch. No woman could endure sitting still when she doesn't have her husband's attention. Moreover, those new Consorts were enchanting but arrogant. They especially wouldn't want to lose to a plain-looking woman.

No matter how much I hate to attend the banquet, as the First Prince of the Xu Lin Empire, I should definitely be present. No, it's not what you think. I'm not a legal heir to the throne. I'm just an outsider who was given the title of a Prince. Since I was eleven months older to the current Emperor, I was given the title of the First Imperial Prince while he was named the Second Imperial Prince and the heir to the throne.

However, royal blood runs in my body. The current Emperor's grandfather had one sister. She was married off to a prince from another country. During a visit to Xu Lin Empire her son who was my father fell in love with my peasant mother, who had an alluring beauty unfitted for her low-class birth. No one approved of my father's feelings for her, so he cut off all connections with his family and started living in Xu Lin with my mother.

Three years after my birth he passed away due to a deathly illness. But the question is, was is it really due to a deathly illness? I don't remember what kind of a man he was but I knew he must have been a charming man with a great personality.

I'm not sure when it started, but Imperial Father had always been in the deepest parts of my memories of childhood since he had visited mother on a regular basis. He was no different than my real father. I truly respected him. The love he had for my mother and I was unimaginable to the point he made her into his Imperial Noble Consort and gave me the title of the First Imperial Prince of his Empire, despite the opposition of all the court officials saying that I would be a threat to the Crown Prince.

**********

Walking out of the bath, I wrapped a cloth around my lower half of the body letting my male servants wipe my body. A few minutes later I arrived at my room where the same yellow robes that had been prepared for the banquet in my last life laid on bed. This truly was a miracle, I thought before starting to get dressed.

"You look stunning Your Highness." Lily praised as she carefully fixed my golden crown. My silk jet black hair almost reaching my thighs as strands of hair rested at the side of my face. I was indeed stunning.

Looking at the mirror was a man whose magnificence couldn't be put to words. To simply put his sinful beauty can topple nations. It wasn't a feminine beauty. But even men could fall in love with him despite his height of 6 ft. A man who had the aura of an Emperor was how people used to praise me.

However, it's useless. His Majesty would never waver in front of me. He ignores my presence except when I'm doing my duty as the General. He trusted me. In fact, it was just a front he had to put up with because Imperial Father had ordered him to. At least I'm trying to protect the trust that had never been there in the first place so that I won't lose the opportunity to be by his side.

After I was done with dressing, I decided to leave for the banquet as my six servants followed behind me in two rows. More than 20 ft away from the banquet hall I was stopped by a very familiar soothing voice,

"Ying."

I turned around to see a gorgeous woman in her 40s dressed in red and golden robes with red lip color and ornaments perfectly matching her milky skin. She looked like a goddess who had just descended from heaven.

She was the only person to address me by my name.

My mother.

My enemy.