Bound by her bump

Snowflakes danced like feathers in the air, marking another deep winter.

In a dilapidated courtyard, a woman lay on the ground, gazing up with a smile.

The mottled scars twisted like snakes across her pale cheeks, and her disabled legs, hands chopped off, made it an arduous task for her to crawl out of the house.

This was the third year since her husband ascended to the throne!

She didnt know if she could survive this winter, so she decided to take one last look at the world.

People said she was the destined empress, a woman of unwavering fortune and boundless wealth.

She believed it too when she married into the royal family, helping her husband rise from a leisurely prince to the emperor, believing in his love for her despite all the ruthless means she employed.

Even knowing that she had poisoned loyalists, threatened her own brother to assist him, and persuaded her grandfather to support him, earning a reputation for disloyalty, she still believed in his love.

But she never expected that after the hounds were done with the hare, his love was but an illusion.

“Bang!”

The vermilion door, its paint long faded, was pushed open, and a woman dressed in luxurious attire and a phoenix crown entered, flanked by a retinue of palace maids. Upon seeing Belle Frost on the ground, a cold sneer curled her red lips.

“Oh, sister, do you find the room too warm? Attendants, strip the empress of her garments.”

The maids swiftly lifted Belle Frost, tied her to a stake, and stripped her of her clothes, casting them aside.

Her body, thin as a withered branch, was as frail as paper in the bleak winter wind, yet she remained silent, her demeanor transcendent.

Willow Frosts eyes flickered with a vicious hatred; she despised Belle Frosts aloof composure, as if no matter where she was, she could remain unruffled.

Today, she would shatter this womans hypocritical facade. Willow Frosts eyes brimmed with loathing and malicious glee.

“You know, sister, the Hartley family, who always supported you, has been exterminated. The emperor ordered your grandfathers torn body to be fed to the wild dogs near the execution ground. Your grandmother, even in death, is to be displayed at the city gate. As for the women of the Hartley family, they are all to be sold as courtesans, to serve men with their beauty for the rest of their lives. And your uncles and brothers... the fire was so fierce, not a single bone remained.”

The Hartley family was Belle Frosts maternal clan, her grandparents, uncles, and brothers, all her dear ones.

Belle Frosts gaze finally changed; she had anticipated this day but still ached for her loved ones who suffered humiliation because of her.

She laughed at the sky, and the palace maids thought the former empress had gone mad.

But as she laughed, tears fell, “I was blind and foolish, unable to distinguish man from beast. I have no regrets, but my maternal clan... they were beasts to be so humiliated by you. I cannot change the past, but I will not reveal a single word about the Medical Canon you forced me to give up. Do it, be quick, and I might yet catch up with my grandfather and uncles on the road to the underworld.”

Belle Frosts words were clear and forceful. After speaking, she closed her eyes.

Willow Frost snatched a razor from a maids hand and began to carve into the emaciated body before her.

“Thud!”

A piece of bright red flesh fell to the ground. For three years, Willow Frost had found ways to torture her daily, turning her into this ghostly figure.

Pain had become as tasteless as eating for her.

Willow Frost mocked, “Belle Frost, do you think you are still the favored daughter of heaven, the divine doctor? You are but a dog. Hand it over, and I will let you die quickly!”

“His Majesty arrives——”

Amidst the crowd, the current Emperor of Xi Liang, Kingdon Solo, arrived with pride.

“Your Majesty, sister still wont speak…”

Willow Frost nestled into his arms, her face flushed with coquetry.

“Hard work, Naner.” He only looked at the person in his arms, his eyes filled with tenderness.

Belle Frost opened her eyes, her gaze filled with anger that chilled Kingdon Solo to the bone!

“Kingdon Solo.”

Her voice was cracked and hoarse, cold and devoid of warmth.

Like a sharp sword, it pierced Kingdon Solos heart, causing a flicker of panic on his face.

“Guards, execute this wretched woman. As the emperor of a nation, I will always find what I seek. Do not waste time on her.”

Kingdon Solo seemed impatient with the guards and snatched the razor from Willow Frosts hand, thrusting it into the heart that had beaten vibrantly for him for ten years.

Three years.

For the first time, she felt such relief, no longer living in guilt and fear.

Belle Frost finally stopped believing. In her dying eyes, there was an irrevocable hatred.

“Kingdon Solo, Willow Frost, pray that there is no afterlife…”