Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lady Meng of Golden Roc Castle had a little-known maiden name — Shengxiao 1 . There seemed to be an omen about her unwillingness to be outdone from birth. She had let out a cry so loud that her father, who was waiting outside, had thought he had received a son. In that moment, that name had flashed across his mind, and he hadn’t changed it even after finding out that the baby was a girl.
Her prescient father had died young and her mother, who was weak and easy to bully, had lost her protection and lived in fear for less than two years before passing away. From then on, the nine year old Meng Shengxiao had lived under another’s roof.
Sometimes, she thought that her personality and attitude towards life was more likely to have been formed through her eight-year struggle for survival than from that manly name.
She called her experience of living under the roof of the Meng family as a ‘struggle’ because it wasn’t a good memory at all. She and the Meng family were not close relatives. The reason why she could even live in foster care in the Meng family was because of the generous legacy that her father had left her. And she had never forgotten about it. So, after entering the door of the Meng family, she had regarded herself as a real lady and had fought back bravely against all those who dared to challenge it, thus winning the title of “Miss Wild.”
Some still remembered the anecdotes of this Miss Wild to this day. She had smashed an aunt’s dowry simply because the other side snorted softly as she passed by; she had forced her cousins, aunts, and uncles to obey her orders and those who were disobedient had all been isolated; all the servants in the inner chamber had cleverly accepted her as the real master after the first month of her entering the mansion.
At that time, Meng Yuzun had just taken over the family business and become the head of the family. No one knew whether it was because he wanted to establish a reputation of benevolence or it was because he believed that his distant niece had a promising future, but he had always quietly supported her deeds and hadn’t punished her even when the old lady was angry about her mischief.
This support was perceived as indulgence in others’ eyes, but Meng Shengxiao could not feel it. From top to bottom, all she felt was hostility, either overt or covert. What she often said was, “I came to the Meng family with my fortune, and I am not a beggar begging for food and shelter. Why should I swallow my pride and endure in silence?”
The Meng family had been making arrangements for Miss Wild’s marriage since she was twelve, but anyone who inquired a little bit about her dared not to marry such a girl no matter how many dowries the Meng family was willing to offer. Even Meng Yuzun became a bit anxious when she was sixteen years old and swore that if her marriage couldn’t be decided in another year, then she would casually marry a rich man in southern Jade City, where people dared to kill each other for money and where even the most hard-hearted woman had to lower her head.
Just then, the Unique King’s wife died and he decided to marry someone else. As was customary, his new wife had to be a woman surnamed Meng.
Meng Yuzun had several cousins of the right age who were as beautiful as flowers. The Unique King could choose at will. However, he would not listen to the matchmakers’ extravagantly colorful description, and neither would he inquire about any rumors through the maids. He wanted to see his new wife in person.
It was an unusual request. Even the kings of the kingdoms in the Western Regions dared not to be so rude to the Meng family at that time. But for some reason, Meng Yuzun agreed to it and regarded it as an honor.
There were eight candidates in total, who were all gorgeously dressed, awaiting the Assassin King’s selection. But before the Unique King came, they had already turned pale because rumors said that the former Lady Meng of Golden Roc Castle had died not of illness but had actually been killed. As for the means, there were at least five different versions, all of which were went like the horrible stories of man-devouring demons.
But Meng Shengxiao wasn’t afraid. She even made herself the first woman the Unique King saw when he walked into the garden.
As Meng Yuzun’s niece, Meng Shengxiao was actually not one of the candidates. But she decided for herself that instead of being married into southern Jade City, which was full of sabers and swords, it was better to choose Golden Roc Castle which was full of killers.
On that day, she had dressed up carefully, looking neither too shabby nor showy. With a light green dress, she appeared much taller and slimmer. All the people in the garden had followed her order to hide in the room. Only she, along with two maids, had gone to the garden, pretending to pick flowers and ‘accidentally’ running into the Unique King who had come to choose a wife.
Meng Shengxiao then gracefully greeted Meng Yuzun, who was accompanying the Unique King before continuing to head for the garden under the gape of her uncle. During the whole process, she hadn’t glanced at the Unique King even once, as if she didn’t know him at all.
The Unique King knew that the composure of the woman dressed in green was all an act. Everyone in the city knew that he was coming to the Meng family to choose his wife. A young lady of the Meng family could not avoid learning of it.
The selection hastily ended. The eight cousins of Meng Yuzun were too frightened. Upon seeing the Unique King walking into the garden, they were like a flock of sheep watching the butcher stepping into the sheepfold, all of them trembling with tears.
Among a flock of timid lambs, Meng Shengxiao was as conspicuous as a fearless sheepdog. She was chosen even before the Unique King left the Meng family mansion.
Meng Yuzun was worn out by his cousins’ performance and was very delighted that the Unique King chose someone, especially when this person was one of the girls that he was anxious to marry out. The only thing that he worried about was that Meng Shengxiao was his niece, which meant that the Unique King would technically become his nephew according to the family hierarchy. He dared not take advantage of it and assume that he was superior to the Unique King.
The Unique King easily solved the problem. “She’s also surnamed Meng. She’s a replacement for my former wife so her seniority will naturally be that of my former wife.”
The last Lady Meng had been Meng Yuzun’s younger sister. And with that, the marriage was settled and everyone was happy. Many people even gloated over it and wanted to see how many days Miss Wild could survive at Golden Roc Castle.
At the age of seventeen, Meng Shengxiao became the new Lady Meng.
Miss Wild survived. Lady Meng had inherited her father’s business-oriented mind. From the first moment she had walked in front of the Unique King in her green dress, she had never dreamed that their marriage would be a model of a devoted couple.
She had heard enough about the Assassin King on the mountain peak. After discarding the obvious nonsense, the rest was enough for her to outline her future husband and develop strategies to deal with him: Be haughty and gorgeous in the Hall and curry favor with him on the bed.
The Unique King was in his prime at that time, and was like an inexperienced teenager in the bed. He was silent and savage and showed no tenderness toward his new wife.
Lady Meng endured it, and she actually enjoyed it with such pleasure that, after a very brief period of agony, she had begun to enjoy her husband’s rough manners in the bed with all her heart. Eventually, she even started loving her husband who was much older than her.
That love soon disappeared. After finding out that she alone couldn’t satisfy her husband’s lust, she became frustrated and jealous. Then, she made a bold decision to ask Meng Yuzun, who was at the mountain foot, for help.
Meng Yuzun was always worried that this disobedient niece of his would bring big trouble to the Meng family. He couldn’t help but become overjoyed when receiving her message for help and he immediately started purchasing beautiful women everywhere.
Lady Meng found out her husband’s preference and made many rules for Meng Yuzun, the most important of which was not to send any prostitute. The Unique King scorned prostitutes. Even Xiao Fengchai at her peak couldn’t arouse his interest. He liked women who had a clean personal record – the nobler, the better.
There weren’t that many displaced noblewomen in the Western Regions, but it wasn’t difficult to find them either. Each woman sent to the Unique King’s room with the instruction of Lady Meng would have a detailed record, including her real name, date of birth, place of origin, parents, and siblings, etc. Even the person with the worst family background was the daughter of a businessman or landowner.
It was not until much later that Lady Meng realized that the eccentricity of the Unique King came from his insatiable desire to conquer.
Lady Meng gradually took over a considerable part of the power of Golden Roc Castle. After giving birth to the twins, her position only became more and more stable. She defeated several young masters one after another and paved the way for her son until an illegitimate son of the Unique King suddenly ruined everything.
Lady Meng loathed Shangguan Hong and his mother, not because he might become a rival to her son but rather because he was born after she married into the castle. Thus, he was living proof that her control of the Unique King was flawed. Her hatred towards him grew into teasing, and that teasing finally evolved into incest.
It was the biggest mistake that Lady Meng had ever made, and she couldn’t understand how she could have lost her mind to the point that she actually accepted the touch of Shangguan Hong. It was quite enjoyable though. The role was reversed. She became the one who gave orders in the bed, and the one currying favor with her was the illegitimate son of the Unique King.
Revenge gave her body double the pleasure. If the old Khan had heard this story, he would understand this woman very well. Perhaps the only thing that would puzzle him was how this feeling could appear in a woman.
Lady Meng’s business acumen deviated. She was surprised to find that she had always held both a deep love and hatred towards her husband, both of which fed off each other and were all vented on Shangguan Hong.
The affair was finally exposed. It turned out that the teacher Zhang Ji and the third young master who was still in prison were behind Shangguan Hong. Lady Meng lost everything besides for her life.
She suddenly felt a strong sense of predestination and even began to believe in karma. It was exactly under her very own design that Chen Yingwu, the daughter of a businessman in the southern Jade City had been offered to the Unique King. As a result, the third young master, Shangguan Yun, who was in limelight had broken with his father and had been locked up in the dungeons. He had been defeated by his stepmother before the competition had even begun.
Then, the power that Lady Meng had worked so hard to build was destroyed by the hands of Shangguan Yun’s teacher.
But luck did not completely abandon her. The twins, especially her son Shangguan Fei, had surprisingly survived in the hands of an unexpected enemy. Although he had suffered a lot, he was even closer to her heart than ever before.
Most importantly, the Unique King surprisingly didn’t kill her.
Lady Meng hadn’t seen her husband for a long time so she didn’t know his current thoughts. She had thought she would die for sure and didn’t expect to actually survive. She even thought of many reasons for the Unique King’s actions, but none of them made sense.
But Lady Meng firmly believed that she owed her husband nothing after all she had done. And for similar reasons, she didn’t think that she owed the Dragon King anything. She had entertained the idea of getting rid of Servant Huan many times, but had given up for various reasons. In her view, that was a gift and price that was enough to exchange for the Dragon King’s mercy on the twins.
Lady Meng couldn’t stand being outdone. As the cloud of death over her head gradually dissipated, fate and retribution had lost their influence on her too. She would not concede defeat even if her husband was ruthless, even if her son was cowardly, even if her daughter was not the daughter she remembered anymore. Even if she was alone.
“The Dragon King will come for me for sure,” she said, firmly implementing the first important plan to rise from the ashes. “This is the only opportunity. I hope that you can seize it.”
The Governor Wei Song nodded, admiring this Lady Meng very much. “Rest assured. He has never missed any chance and his sword has never missed a target either.”
The man who was praised by Wei Song was standing silently nearby, having an air of haughty aloofness.
