Chapter 31 – True Identity (Part 3)

*Flashback*

"My Lie Yun is… the future Emperor of this country."

The Empress spoke with such fervour that Meng Yu could only gasp in pain as she struggled against her tears.

"No. This is crazy! It's impossible." Meng Yu shook her head, as she put both hands on her throbbing head. Her brother had just died, and now her mother empress was thinking of getting her to impersonate as her brother? To live a lie for the rest of her life? Impossible!

"We will be able to pull this off." The Empress assured her. "I have already made all the arrangement."

"Why don't you just kill me, Mother!" Meng Yu growled in pain. "I am hurting too because I lose Lie Yun! He is my brother, my twin… my life! But how can you, how can you ask me to do this? How can you be so cruel!?"

"How can I?" As if a fuse had been lit, the Empress lost her calmness and grabbed Meng Yu who was still half sitting on the floor by her shoulder. "How can I, huh?"

The Empress looked almost deranged as she started shaking Meng Yu violently by the shoulder.

"This is all your fault! The descendant of our clan must be the one who sit on the throne! This is what I have been working so hard for my whole life!"

"I gave up my entire life… locked up in this lonely place. Fighting. Scheming."

"Do you even know? The things that I have to give up for all of these? The things that I have lost?" With a hard push, she shoved Meng Yu away, sending her sprawling on the floor. "And the things that I have done…"

There was a flash of fear and uncertainty in the Empress face as she looked at her own trembling hands, seemingly lost in thought. Meng Yu pushed herself up, unable to retaliate. She was in too much shock and pain to speak. Warm tears continued to stream down her face.

"But it does not matter… does it?" The Empress suddenly looked up, the insanity in her eyes replaced by a chilly determination "After so many years, my Lie Yun is finally appointed as the crown price! We are almost there! I will not let anyone stop me! I will not!"

The Empress rose slowly and looked down apathetically at Meng Yu. There was a moment of silence as they look at each other.

"As for you - you will do as I say." The Empress finally said, and there was a note of finality in her voice.

Anger welled up in Meng Yu's chest, and she lashed out, "You are out of your mind! They have only just found Lie Yun's body and all you care about is the throne?"

"Does Lie Yun mean nothing to you?" She cried, but the Empress only looked at her detachedly. It was as if her grief meant nothing to her. As if Lie Yun's death was nothing to her. Meng Yu got to her feet unsteadily and staggered to the Empress. Each step sent a sharp stabbing pain straight into her heart. She stopped a foot away and clutched at her own throbbing chest.

"What about me? Do I mean nothing to you at all?!"

Her outburst was met with total silence. She scanned the face of the woman standing in front of her desperately. Hoping that she would at least show some emotion. Regret. Sadness. Or even love. Anything!

However, the other person only returned her question with a blank expression.

"Nothing at all?!"

The Empress looked away and her heart dropped into an endless abyss.

Something in her died that day.

She could no longer stay in denial. Meng Yu realized that the beautiful woman in front of her would always be the Empress of Mo Empire. She would never be the mother she had yearned for many years of her life. She would never be and never wanted to be.

Her heart was empty and cold.

As far as Meng Yu could remember, this woman that she called mother was always so distant. Since young, Meng Yu was always trying extremely hard to earn her favour and recognition. She craved for the love of a mother, but her mother would always put her brother first.

All the tireless scheming, and fight for the throne. It was exhausting, but she knew it was the only one thing her mother desired the most. The only thing that would make her mother pay more attention to her. As long as she could earn a smile or a look from her empress mother, then it was well worth it.

So, she devoted herself to it, but what has it gotten her to? She had not only lost the most important person in her life, but now even losing her own identity as well.

Meng Yu shut her eyes and inhaled sharply. "What if this plan will not only cost my life, but the entire clan's life too?"

The Empress smiled, before walking away "Then you should do your part properly. This is the least you could do for being a part of the Mo clan."

Stunned, Meng Yu stared blankly back. She would never forget the look on her mother's face, and every word that she said on that day. Each word was a cruel stab onto her wounded heart, tearing the last and remaining of hers into pieces alive.

"What if I refuse?" she asked in a low voice.

Heaving a soft sigh, the Empress stopped and replied, "I know you will not follow obediently, but I also know how to make you listen to me." Signalling her attendant, two guards dragged a half dead person into the chamber. The lad seemed as though he was tortured to the brink of death with wounds all over his body. His lips were chapped, dehydrated and he barely could open his swollen eyes as he groaned softly in pain. Meng Yu trembled indignantly when she saw Guo Jian lying half dead in front of her.

"He failed to protect his master. He deserves to die, but I did not kill him... yet. Whether he will live or die tonight depends on you." The Empress said.

Guo Jian had been with her since she was five years old. She saved him from slavery, and he had then dedicated his life to her since then. He was extremely loyal, and an especially important person to her. Growing up together, they had a special bond that was more than a master and servant. The Empress knew exactly of this and was using his life as a threat.

"And another person you will want to consider as well… I was grief stricken, so I have Lady Yang Yi to stay in my palace to accompany me during this difficult period."

At the mention of Yang Yi's name, Meng Yu immediately whipped her head around to glare at the Empress. The Empress smirked knowingly as she continued, "You didn't know right? This time if it were not for her, you would not be here now. She brought her personal guards and rush into the chaos to save you that night, risking her own life."

"You are insane, Mother! She is the eldest daughter of the Yang Clan, and the fiancée of prime minister, Jing Yun Sheng." Meng Yu growled threateningly. It was no secret to the Empress of her fondness toward Yang Yi, and the deep bond they shared. "You will not touch her."

"Oh no, you know I dare, and I will! If we must lose the throne to other princes, then I would rather take everything down with me. You know I am capable of this, don't you?" The Empress lost her composure and threatened indignantly. Her eyes were blazing with fury. She was determined. Nothing can stop her from her greatest desire.

"Even if Prime Minister Jing want to save his fiancée, he is too far from the capital to do anything now. When he finally made it back, it will be too late."

It was the final straw for Meng Yu. Throwing her head back, she burst out in hysterical laughter. Sharp inhumane laughter. She could feel something awoken inside of her. Something she never knew she had inside of her.

The empress did not flinch but continued to watch her like a hawk. Meng Yu's eyes became very cold and distant as she lifted her gaze toward the woman she had called Mother for so many years. Now she finally knew, the word "mother" probably did not even mean anything to the empress.

"And you will use the lives of the two persons who saved me to threaten me?" Meng Yu hissed.

"In times, you will come to realize this is all for your own good, Xing Yu. With power, you can protect the people you love. Without power, you will watch them die, and perish together. You should have known this very well. You grew up in the palace after all."

Meng Yu chuckled coldly. The Empress indeed had everything planned meticulously while she was on the brink of death, leaving no escape route for her. If she refused, she would again lose the people she cared deeply, but if she agreed now, there will be no going back. It will forever be a battle of survival in her life moving forward.

"So, this is how it will be then. I pray that you will never regret your decision today."

Leaning forward, so that she could feel the Empress breath on her cheek, Meng Yu whispered in a low voice, "You had better hold up to the end of your bargain… or I promise I will unleash hell onto the entire Mo Empire. I swear!"

The Empress smiled satisfyingly, knowing that she had won the battle. "You should rest and get well soon, my dear… 'Crown Prince'."

That day marked the day she had lost everything that matter to her. Her brother who was her everything, the mother whom she thought she have had all along, and her life that had never really belong to her.

That day, it was also the beginning of everything. It all started with the sudden death of Mo Empire's third princess, Mo Xing Yu who passed away at the age of thirteen years old. Grief stricken by the passing of his twin sister; the Crown Prince was bed ridden for half a year. After his complete recovery, he became a totally different person. A cruel and emotionless man who overturned the entire Mo Empire as he rose to the throne at the age of fifteen.