Regretting Sorrow

2

Zhu Shengyin descended from the sedan. His body was tall and muscular, built from years of war. Behind him, only Lu Xinyu followed.

Longshui Palace was not a place where many maids and eunuchs roamed. Everyone knew not to come too close to the palace so as to not enter the Emperor's eyes.

Only Lu Xinyu dutifully served and stayed by Zhu Shengyin's side.

Zhu Shengyin's eyes were cold as he entered his chambers. His room was not elaborate and surely not decorated with priceless treasures. He had only the bare minimum and that was because Lu Xinyu forcefully brought these things in.

Zhu Shengyin grew up with the barbarians. He only returned at the age of fifteen. For ten years, he stayed by the cruel barbarians as a hostage. It was not hard to tell that he was tortured there. The barbarians were men who cared not of younglings. Even at the age of 5, Zhu Shengyin was transformed into a cold and merciless person.

Zhu Shengyin was offered as a hostage. Back then, the deal had been to give up a prince to the barbarians in return for ten years of peace.

Originally, Zhu Shengyin was not supposed to be sent. Mei Zhenhua's second son was supposed to be sent away instead. At that time, Zhu Shengyin was the oldest prince. Without caring about this, Mei Zhenhua pushed her eldest son away, giving him up.

Countless years stoned Zhu Shengyin's character. At the age of 6, Zhu Shengyin nearly died from the attack of wolves. At the age of 7, the barbarians threw him to a bear, making him fight for his survival. At the age of 8, Zhu Shengyin was sent to battle. Before the age of 10, Zhu Shengyin had already saw the deaths of thousands, severed the lives of countless men. He had saw women die, children be killed. He witnessed the assaults of women, the rape and killing of them as the barbarians had their fun.

It wasn't until the age of 15 that Zhu Shengyin fought his way out of the chains that tied him. As the barbarians tortured him to the extreme, Zhu Shengyin also grew stronger with their actions. Killing the leader of the barbarians, Zhu Shengyin returned back to Zhu. He was no longer a praised prince, merely the prince who was abandoned and returned as a demon.

Zhu Shengyin bided his time. When he returned, he was no longer naive. He was cruel and calculative, a man with no mercy. He spent time gathering his army, venturing as a general and leading his cavalry to defeat nations, severing the lives of countless emperors.

Finally, at the age of 17, Zhu Shengyin rebelled. He killed all his siblings, the palace dyed in red as he fought and killed hundreds. In the end, Zhu Shengyin successfully killed the previous emperor.

Zhu Shengyin had no reason for letting Mei Zhenhua become the Empress Dowager, he merely wanted her to shut her mouth and not preach about the fact that she birthed him. Her son, Zhu Houying, was someone who Zhu Shengyin found utterly mirthful. The man was too naive for his own worth, thinking that the world was simple and easy. Mei Zhenhua protected him to the point where Zhu Shengyin found it funny, especially when she had been so happy to give him away as a hostage.

For three years, Zhu Shengyin ruled as the tyrannical emperor. He did not care about how people saw him, he didn't care of the rumors they spread. He fixed the nation that was in ruins, killed the ministers who attempted to rebel against him. He would admit, half was for his own entertainment. He would not justify himself, Zhu Shengyin knew how cruel he was.

As Zhu Shengyin dressed himself in the robe that Lu Xinyu handed him, he fixed the belt at his waist, tightening it and fixing his cuff. He did not like loose clothing. It got in the way, especially when he wielded a sword. All of his clothes were customized to be tight-fitting and was always in black. The only thing he couldn't escape from was his Royal clothes and even those were made to be less loose.