The difference in the treatment between the daughter and the illegitimate son of General Lei was as clear as day, it was like the gap between heaven and earth. General Lei was willing to move mountains and journey through the deserts for Lei Yue. As for Jiang, the General didn’t even acknowledge him as a member of the family until he needed him to take the place of his runaway daughter.
What couldn't be erased from Jiang’s mind, no matter how hard he tried, was the reality of Lei Yue not wanting to be with the Emperor. After much agonising over the matter, Jiang decided not to dwell on things that were beyond his comprehension. With that decision made he was finally able to let it go.
Jiang's hair was eventually dyed black despite how difficult it was to change one's hair colour. Somehow, General Lei managed it but Jiang wasn't privileged enough to know the details. He was also forced to start responding to his sister's name days before his departure so as to get used to being called that way.
As time went on, Jiang noticed that the servants and guards who knew about him replacing his sister all disappeared. One day they were there and the next they were gone, just like that. When he thought about it, he realised that they were most probably killed to keep his identity a secret. Although Jiang tended to behave foolishly and was perceived by other people as dumb, he was smart enough in his own way. Even the first female servant he encountered when he came to the Manor and who led him to his resident courtyard, was nowhere to be seen. As to whether she was really dead or not, Jiang couldn't make himself feel any concern regarding her fate.
After staying in the Manor for some time, Jiang managed to put on a little weight. He was like a calf that's been fattened before being sent to the slaughterhouse, or more like a prisoner on death row who was given all his favorite food to eat before been put to death. The process of fattening him up wasn’t actually really necessary as the General had no intention of letting him enter the Palace. However, General Lei had to do it for two reasons. He believed that the few days of Jiang living a supposedly luxurious life was payment enough for the sacrifice he was about to make. But more importantly, when Jiang had to die his face would be burnt, and his body dismembered and destroyed to make it impossible to identify the corpse as a male and not the real Lei Yue. But the size of his body had to bear at least some semblance to that of Lei Yue’s. The tragic tales they were to tell the Emperor must not unravelled just because the supposed dead body of the General's beloved daughter looked like someone who had not eaten well in centuries. Of course, Jiang was not aware of all these vile plans back then, not even when he was killed. All he understood at the time of his death was that he was not supposed to live and make it to the palace, and that his life was taken by his own family.
Anyway, back to the time before his tragic demise. Jiang wasn't all skin and bones anymore, but his disfigured features were still there especially his facial features. The long voluminous female robe he always wore now was able to hide the black marks on his skin. But as his face was truly disfigured in every sense of the word it had to be kept hidden under a veil. His mouth drooped sideways, his nose was extremely large while his eyes were very tiny… so tiny that he could barely see. To Jiang, he was more like a beast in human skin, so he wasn’t surprised that his father hated him. His father was an extremely handsome man and his mother was as beautiful as an angel. Jiang had to admit that he was indeed an abomination. No matter how much he wanted to change such a fact, it was his reality.
***
The day for Jiang to leave the Lei Manor had finally arrived. No one from the Manor came to see him off, except for the guards and servants assigned to accompany him on this treacherous trip and even them were hired hands.
Jiang wore a thick veil made especially for him. The veil was called the Ice Jewel, and it could become thin or thick depending on his preference. But of course, he was only allowed to wear the thick version. The General had spent a lot to get this veil made because he didn't want anyone to notice Jiang’s hideous face.
Jiang had to drip his blood on it and personalised it before he could become its sole user. The Ice Jewel was, in fact, a magical artifact. In the Tang Qin Shang Empire, there were so many treasures, jewels, and weapons that needed to be personalised before use. Such artifacts were really valuable and tended to cost a lot.
The Ice Jewel would not come off unless Jiang permitted it. Although a very powerful Elemental could force it off, Jiang would just have to make sure nobody had the opportunity to do so. Besides it was inconceivable that a very powerful Elemental would stoop so low as to force a supposed lady's veil off. Jiang was also quite confident that there was simply no way he would even have a chance to meet such a powerful person. The idea of such a person behaving so crudely was simply ridiculous.
Later on, Jiang found out the only reason his father spent so much on the Ice Jewel was that he didn't want those guarding him to see his real face. The guards believed that they would be escorting the Young Mistress Lei Yue of the Lei Manor to the Imperial Palace. Besides, some of those guards would be left alive to serve as potential witnesses. So, when the death of Jiang was investigated and they were called as witnesses, they would be able to testify that their Young Mistress was indeed killed by bandits without them realising that the one who died wasn't even the real Young Mistress they were expected to protect. Even if a Seer Elemental was to search through their memories, they wouldn't find any loopholes in their story.
The hired assassins let a few servants run away, although some were killed in other to make the assassination appear more like an unplanned murder by bandits. Anyway, those servants would eventually be put to death by the Emperor for abandoning their Young Mistress to save their necks.
Jiang remembered how on the fateful silent night he lost his precious life, the carriage had crashed into a rock that suddenly rose up from the ground and blocked the way. The driver then lost control of the carriage and it overturned. Jiang was already a bloody mess with broken bones all over when he was dragged out of the carriage amidst the screams of the servants and guards, as they were mercilessly slaughtered.
Jiang recalled how the Earth Elemental chanted a spell that locked his feet to the ground with the earth becoming his prison hold. Jiang wouldn't have been able to move even without the restraints of the Earth Elemental as too many of his bones had been broken. The Earth Elemental was wearing a mask, but Jiang could feel he discerned disdain being directed his way. Even though the assassins were all wearing masks, they somewhat felt familiar.
Jiang was punched in the face by a Metal Elemental, whose bare hands looked very fragile and soft but were hard as iron. Jiang’s cheeks shook, his jaws dislocated and teeth shattered due to the force of the punch. He was just a mortal who couldn’t cultivate so, such an attack by an Elemental was truly not something he could withstand. Since he was already grievously injured because of the crash, Jiang could sense his life force flickering out before his eyes.
He tasted his blood in his mouth and even swollen some pieces of his broken teeth accidentally. His throat felt like shards of glasses were passing through them. Jiang was starting to lose his consciousness when he heard the Metal Elemental speak, " This way the actions of Lei Manor will never be found out, since the Empress elect was killed before she arrived at the Imperial Palace. She was murdered on her way to Yang Province by some mountain bandits and everything precious she had on her journey was taken away.”
Another of his killers stated confidently “And even if it was perceived to be an assassination then, it could have been committed by anyone of the Emperor's enemies. It was just her horrible luck, or shall we say his bad luck.” He laughed loudly.
The Metal Elemental continued, "We are helping him in a way. I mean, with his current strength, there is no way he would be able to hold on to the title of Empress elect for long. Moreover, if we were to let him go, he wouldn’t be able to keep the General’s secret. And if caught, the consequences can’t be imagined!"
The Earth Elemental agreed and added, "He would be killed the moment he faced his first challenger anyway, so we just sniffed him out much earlier.”
“He was privileged to have been chosen to save the Lei Manor from a sticky situation." The Metal Elemental laughed wickedly.
Jiang didn’t understand what they were talking about and could barely make out some words from their conversation. However, he was certain they were gloating over his death. Also, he wondered why the Metal Elemental sounded so much like his brother, the Young Master whose affinity was metal as well. While Jiang hadn’t seen much of his brother during his stay at the Manor, he had heard his voice before. Jiang had sneaked out of his courtyard once because he was bored staying in like a prisoner and had inadvertently overheard a conversation between his brother and father in the study.
Jiang wasn't able to continue with his speculations much as he wanted to, because the Fire Elemental suddenly raised his right hand towards him. Jiang couldn't avoid the fire that blazed over his face. The excruciating pain was etched to his very soul, it was truly unbearable and beyond imagination. The Fire Elemental made sure to control his fire so that only Jiang’s face was burned.
If, at that moment, Jiang had been still alive and looking at his own body, he would see that his head was burnt crisp and was cleanly cut off from the rest of his body. He would also be able to hear the Fire Elemental exclaimed, “What a fine piece of art!” The Metal Elemental, who Jiang thought sounded like his brother, would applaud him and agreed, “Truly a piece of art!” before turning his right hand into a sharp blade and started dismembering his body. Then the Fire Elemental would burn it again beyond recognition but at least not to ashes.
Anyway, what Jiang understood in his second life was that he didn't want to die like that a second time. Not only that, but he also wanted to live a long life.
Jiang’s father didn't care about his son's body being burnt. He actually wanted it that way because when the body was recovered, then the Emperor's people wouldn’t notice his hideous face or male parts that had been convineintly cut off, also they wouldn’t be able to determine that he was not his sister. The General had planned everything meticulously so that no mistake would be detected that might endanger the Lei family. He also ensured that Jiang’s body could still be identified as his sister even when badly burnt.
Before Jiang left the Manor, the General had pierced Jiang's finger with an object which rendered him unconscious for a while. When he woke up he was given Lei Yue’s bloodline seal. With that seal all they needed was to test Jiang’s blood with the family's ancient seal, once it reacted to Lei Yue’s seal that the General had placed on Jiang before he left, it would serve as proof that Jiang's body was indeed that of Lei Yue's. Case closed. With the closure of the case, the General knew a token punishment would be imposed on him; a penalty in the form of a reduction in his salary for five months to maybe a year which was really nothing when compared to the punishment for treason.
The assassins knew who he was; that he wasn't the Young Mistress Lei Yue. Right from the very beginning, it wasn't part of the General's plan to let him enter the Palace at all… he was just a pawn in a game designed to conceal the family's actions. When the Young Mistress, in total disregard of the Imperial edict eloped with her lover, it could be interpreted as a treacherous act. To protect his family, General Lei began planning a masquerade to hide the matter. Jiang was compelled to take his sister’s place; and the taking of his life was to prevent discovery of the charade because Jiang was just a scapegoat after all, meant to be discarded after his purpose had been served.
***
Jiang gradually woke up from his half sleeping state, his eyes were red and distressed, and he even shed a few tears. He didn't want to recall the last day of his previous life because it would surely keep him half awake at night along with the memories of his mother's death. He felt even more exhausted than before. He regretted his decision to rest because he ended up having a nightmare about the events leading to his death.
Jiang sighed deeply, rubbed his eyes to clear it up a bit then he started running again. He noticed that the sky wasn’t dark anymore. Jiang hoped that, just as the sky turned from dark to light, his life shrouded in darkness might someday become bright and shining.
As Jiang ran through the forest with his Air Elemental Magic, the wind caressed his face, giving him a sense of freedom and youthful exuberance. For the first time in a very long while, a faint yet beautiful smile appeared on his face. He felt that the night he was dragged to the Lei Manor to take his sister’s place really marked his end... the end of his miserable past life and his past self. It was an end as well as a new beginning for him. If he hadn't died due to the evil machinations of his father, then how could he be blessed with a second life? He wouldn't have obtained such powers if he hadn't experienced that tragedy. Thus, he wanted to focus only on the positive aspects of his previous life rather than dwelling on all the negative events.
Jiang was sad that he was killed by his family, but he was also glad that his misfortune had brought him to this present life...
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