What the hell happened to Zheng Lian?

"Who ordered you to kill the minister's wife?" the general demanded. "Speak!"

Mingmei was on her knees, her arms held by two guards to prevent her escape and stop her from stabbing herself with a poisoned needle as she was being judged. She continued looking down blankly, emotionless face and relaxed body not betraying anything.

She knew there was no talking her way out of this. She'd been caught before she could escape the minister's estate unscathed and go back to her Empress' side.

She knew she would die here, in this cold room, with no allies and without the only person she had ever loved. Perhaps it is a fitting end for someone such as her, who came from nothing and had nothing. Not even her name had truly been hers.

"Stubborn, are you? Give this wretch 10 lashes!" he ordered.

Mingmei was pushed the ground, and her top was ripped in half at the back. She only grits her teeth and didn't make a sound as she was whipped.

This was nothing. She can endure anything for her master.

She had fulfilled the task the queen had given her and slew another one of her enemies. If she were to be executed, she would have no regrets. The only thing left to do was to remain silent and not give anything away that may be traced back to the Empress.

She only regretted not being quick enough and strong enough to hold off the five guards who had caught her in the act of leaving. She had promised to serve her Empress until her death, but she had thought she would have at least a few decades. Five years was not enough to repay the Empress for everything she had been gifted and given.

"Speak, you wretched girl! I demand you tell us who ordered this or it will be your head next!"

So lost in her thoughts, she did not even notice when she was brought up and forced to kneel once more, her back bleeding from the open wounds. Nor did she pay attention to the incensed general and the pale, shaking minister who had joined them in the room.

'Forgive me, Empress Cixi,' she begged inside her mind. She wished to say the words out loud, but she would rather take these words to her grave than betray her queen. "For the care you have shown this worthless person, it seems I will not be able to repay you with 50 years of my life. You are the only mother I have ever known and saved me when no one would extend a hand to a nameless orphan, and I had dreamed of protecting you until your final days. I had hoped to slay all your enemies and protect all your children with my life. Please forgive this servant of yours, empress. Forgive me."

When the minister finally lost control of his anger and took his sword, she only closed her eyes and welcomed the swing aiming at her neck.

+

Let's get one thing straight: Wang Li Jun does not like Zheng Lian.

Maybe he did once when they met as kids in preschool, but nowadays, she was just like every other spoiled, haughty rich heiress in their school. She was exceedingly arrogant and believed everyone else was beneath her. Perhaps she did have the skills to back this attitude up, but it was still a major turn off.

She was also competitive to the point that Li Jun had taken to avoiding school events just to get away from her. She tried to compete with him at everything, whether it's for the school president position or first place in the 100-meter sprint, and never failed to taunt him if he lost to her. Of course, she'd also throw a tantrum if she was the one who lost.

The blame didn't entirely lie on her though. He knew that just like his own father, President Zheng had been instilling a hatred of the Wang family in his daughter as soon as she learned how to walk. He and Lian hadn't been aware of it as kids, but as they grew older and got more responsibilities for their respective family's companies, they also got swept into the whole Zheng vs Wang feud.

It was honestly a ridiculous feud that should have been resolved hundreds of years ago when their respective families had been two of the seven noble families. But the Zheng family never forgot how a Wang heir broke off his engagement with a Zheng daughter in the 1800s, and the Wang family never forgave the Zhengs for breaking off all business ties with them in retaliation despite their long friendship.

So yes, he truly did not completely blame Zheng Lian for something that has been so ingrained into their families.

But still, he didn't like her and never will again. Sure, she was kind of, maybe, a bit pretty and she had the nicest body in the whole school and she was maybe not dumb like the other airhead heiresses...anyway, he just didn't like her. She was too arrogant and proud and never said a kind word to him since they were 9 years old.

But even if he didn't like, his heart still skipped a beat in panic when he saw someone push Lian from the top of the fourth-floor stairs. He only managed to glance at the attacker, who was undoubtedly a male student of their school despite having his face and hair covered, before he was moving to catch her.

Lian only managed to scream in fright before the sickening thud of her head hitting the stair railing due to the force of her attacker's push rang out, sending shivers down Li Jun's spine.

"Shit, what the hell?!" Li Jun's best friend, Huo Cheng, yelled from behind him, startled from texting on his phone by the sound of Lian's scream.

Li Jun did manage to somehow catch Lian before she could hit her head for the second time on the ground and sustain more injuries. Huo Cheng was still cursing behind him, sounding frantic, likely from all the blood covering Lian's head.

"Cheng! Stop yelling and go get the doctor!" he yelled in frustration as he attempted to lay Lian's body gently on the ground.

"Shit! Shit! OK, OK, I'm going!" Huo Cheng replied shakily, before running towards the school infirmary.

Li Jun's heart was attempting to beat out of his chest, and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down first. 'She's not dead, she's not dead,' he kept telling himself, not listening to the voice in his head that kept adding 'yet' at the end.

He laid Lian's head as gently as he could on the floor, before taking off his uniform blazer. He folded it up and put it under her neck, hoping he was doing the right thing. Then he took his handkerchief and pressed it gently on the would on her head. Despite not knowing any first aid, he at least knew he shouldn't move her too much and that he should do something to stem the bleeding.

'God, I hope I'm not making it worse. Please don't let me kill her,' he begged silently.

If she could see him now, Lian would probably say, "Oh the great and handsome young master Wang on his knees and begging for me? I thought the stick up your ass would make that impossible. Miracles do happen!"

"I'll even forgive you for the banana prank, Zheng Lian," Li Jun whispered as he continued to press his already blood-soaked handkerchief on her head. "Don't you dare die, Zheng Lian, do you hear me?"

Li Jun barely noticed the students who had noticed the commotion and wandered over to see what was happening, nor the cameras taking photos and videos of him saving Lian and taking care of her. He'd probably regret that come tomorrow when he sees posts on Weibo and the school forum about the handsome and stoic Wang family heir losing his composure for the first time and over Zheng Lian at that, but he honestly could not give a damn right now.

He felt someone drop to the floor next to him and a pair of shaking hands came into view.

"Oh god, oh god, no, no, fuck, Lian, what..." Lian's best friend and heiress of the Sheng Medical Group, Sheng Mei Lin, whimpered, her eyes glued to the state of her almost-sister. Her hands were hovering over Lian's body, as if she wanted to touch her but didn't know if it was safe to do so. Pale and shaky, she turned to Li Jun. "What the hell happened, Wang Li Jun?! She was just fine five minutes ago!"

Great, another hysterical person. As if he wasn't panicking enough.

"I saw someone push her down the stairs. She hit her head on the railing midfall," he explained.

"Pushed her?" she said, voice dropping to subzero temperatures as her eyes glinted in murderous intent. "Who? Tell me who the hell would have the fucking audacity to push my sister down the stairs."

Honestly, her tone was scaring the hell out of Li Jun, and he couldn't help but swallow in fear. Jeez, girls were terrifying.

"Didn't see his face, no recognizable features, but definitely a male student. My height. Wore a black bucket hat," he said.

Mei Lin nodded without taking her eyes off Lian. She brought out her phone and made a call.

"I need an ambulance here at school yesterday and someone get the best neurosurgeon available ready at our hospital immediately. Lian hit her head on the stairs and is bleeding profusely," she said to the other person, her tone still icy and tinged with hysteria. "Notify President and Madam Zheng as well."

Seconds later, Cheng returned, a female in white running behind him. "Jun! Jun! I got the nurse!"

If possible, Mei Lin's expression became even more murderous. "You couldn't get the doctor?"

Cheng turned to her, indignant. "The doctor wasn't in the infirmary, I checked!"

"Moronic, incompetent son of a bitch, I am going to blacklist him in every--" she began threatening the said doctor under her breath. Oh god, he does not want to hear what she's going to do with his balls. From how rapidly Cheng's face is paling, he didn't either.

The nurse was already kneeling beside Lian, taking her pulse and checking her vitals. "Has an ambulance been called?" she asked them. "I'm not really qualified or equipped to--"

"Yes!" Mei Lin cut her off impatiently. "How is she?"

The nurse turned to her, looking terrified. If Li Jun wasn't also as impatient for news about Lian's health as Mei Lin, he would have sympathized.

"W-well, ma'am, I can't tell if she has a head fracture, but she doesn't seem to be, uh, in danger of dying," she said fearfully.

"What do you mean not in danger?!" Mei Lin screamed hysterically. "Do you not see the head wound I am seeing, woman?! Why didn't you bring bandages at least? Don't you dare treat my best friend's injury lightly!"

"Uh-uhm, head wounds seem very serious because of the bleeding, but in some cases, it's not really that--"

"If you dare say it's not really that bad, I'm going to make sure you never work in this--"

Maybe it was because she was in a state of panic but Sheng Mei Lin's IQ and famous bubbly personality seem to be non-existent right now. She continued threatening the nurse, who looked like she was beginning to get annoyed instead of scared, then Cheng was joining in by coming to the nurse's defense. Li Jun honestly cannot fucking take this right now.

"OK, that is enough!" he said, glaring at Mei Lin, who sneered in response. "Is the ambulance here? Get someone to--"

Li Jun stopped and looked at Lian's prone body after realizing something: she'd stopped breathing. Not even thinking about it, he put his face near hers and placed a hand on her chest. No breaths, no response. Shit.

"What the hell are you doing--"

Li Jun ignored Mei Lin and turned to the nurse. "Check her pulse! Quickly!"

The nurse complied and pressed her fingers on Lian's wrist. A few seconds later, she looks up, shocked and confused. "What? Th-there's no pulse!"

Mei Lin's face paled rapidly and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "No, no, no! Not Lian!"