Yifei's POV :
There is not much light in the prison room where I am, just one candle is burning which is enough for me. Now this room in the jail has become a familiar place for me because whenever I am punished, I am often kept in this room. But today I was surprised because for the first time someone else was being kept with me in this prison room.
Most of the time my father and my step mother keep me alone in the prison room, because they believe that if any prisoner comes to know that the prince of this Kingdom was in prison and if he somehow tells this to the people outside, then it will defame them.
I was curious to know what crime this man had committed and why he was imprisoned in the same room with me. But I was not going to go and ask him this. I was thinking about all these things when the prison guard scolded him and asked him to go inside.
I saw that he immediately came and sat on the stone bed and was probably trying to heal his wounds with his spiritual energy. Maybe he was a cultivator, which made me even more curious about him because common people usually don't know about cultivation.
Meanwhile, he looked at me once and I felt a little scared seeing his gaze, so I removed my gaze from him. There was less light in the room, so I don't think he would have noticed me staring at him. When I looked up to look at him again, I saw that he was no longer looking at me; he was busy treating his wounds. I couldn't stop myself from looking at him because when he was healing his wounds with his spiritual energy, red light was coming out of his hands and there was something like black smoke around it.
All of this was very interesting to me because I always wanted to learn cultivation and be able to protect myself and the weak. However, I began receiving training to learn cultivation since I was 4 years old, But everything changed when I was 6 years old and my mother died. My father remarried and brought a stepmother home and he also refused to let me learn cultivation.
( While thinking about all these things, he did not even realize when he got lost in his thoughts. He was no longer looking at Xifeng, but was looking at the stone wall with his back to Xifeng )
It has been 25 days since I am in this prison and after 5 days I will be released. Now, living in prison, hearing taunts from my own family and getting punished even when I am not at fault has become a habit for me.
When I was little everything was so good I had a mother who loved me and my father loved me too. We had a happy family in which everyone was happy. I don't know anything about my father's parents and my mother's parents from the beginning. When I was young, I didn't pay much attention to the fact that I didn't have grandparents and I never asked my mother or father about it. When I was 6 years old, my mother died and I was left alone because a few days after my mother's death, my father got married again and brought a stepmother home. My father did not talk to me like before, nor did he spend time with me, nor did he play with me like before. His attitude towards me had changed, which hurt me. When he remarried and brought a step mother home, he told me that she is my new mother and I should treat her like my mother, love and respect her and obey everything she says. At first I felt weird about giving her the place of my mother. I was confused. I used to miss my mother. But when I saw that my father also treated her exactly like my mother, then I also accepted her. I respected and loved her and obeyed everything she said but in return I also expected love from her like my mother. My father had already turned against me which hurt me but this mother was not like my mother at all, she neither fed me nor loved me nor sang lullabies to put me to sleep like my mother. Another thing that confused me the most in my childhood was that my new mother would get angry with me very quickly and she would scold me for every single thing, which scared me a lot. But I wanted to be a good boy for her so I listened to everything she said, even when they refused to let me learn cultivation, I still agreed with them. Although the new mother still did not love me, I did whatever she told me to do. After a few days of hard work, I learned a few things like washing my own clothes, tying my own hair, giving food and water to mother, sweeping the house, washing a few utensils and now mother used to get angry at me a little less.
One day father and step mother had gone out of the palace for some work but when they returned in the evening, they had with them two children younger than me. They were probably 4 years old and were twins because they looked quite alike. Father told me that both of them are my brothers and from now on they will live with us so I should love them and take care of them just like an elder brother. I immediately agreed to what he said and smiled looking at my two new brothers, But when it was time to sleep at night, my father and mother threw me out of my room saying that from now on this room belongs to his younger brothers because he is the elder one and he should learn to share things with his brothers. I insisted to my father that I will not leave the room or give this room to them because my mother had decorated this room for me with her own hands and there are many other rooms in this palace, so they should give any of those rooms to my brothers. But my father and step mother did not listen to me at all and gave my room to my brothers. After this I was given a small room in the palace which had a single bed, a cupboard and a chair-table. Apart from this there was nothing in the room and the room was small but for a small child like me there was enough space.
That night I cried a lot and missed my mother a lot and complained to her that father has changed and now he loves those kid's more than me. And that day I slept on a hard bed for the first time and it was very cold but there was no blanket to cover myself and because of this I could not sleep well that night. When I woke up late the next morning, my father and stepmother refused to let me have breakfast together. I stood there till they finished eating and kept watching my two brothers, father and mother eating. Both the little brothers were unaware of everything and were happily eating their food. Mother was feeding them with her hands in between and was caressing them. Father was also sometimes putting some morsel of food in their mouths.
That day I realized for the first time that nothing is the same as before, everything has changed and I felt as if I am not a part of that family. After everyone had finished eating, they all left from there and after that I had my breakfast alone, I was little and innocent. As soon as I had my fill, I forgot all the bad things and smilingly went to my younger brothers so that we could play together. Yesterday when both of them came, their clothes were different but since this morning I am seeing that both of them are wearing clothes exactly like mine and now I have been given different clothes which are very simple, I ignored this even after seeing it and after that I spent a lot of time with my brothers, played with them and showed them my toys.
That was the first and last day when I played with them because later when mother saw us playing together, she separated me from both of them and forbade me from ever playing with them again. Now all my toys belonged to both of them, my clothes were theirs, my room was theirs, my father was also theirs. Very soon I changed from being the prince of that kingdom to a servant of that family. I started doing all their work. Now even my two brothers Jiang Dong and Jiang Raun did not behave well with me. My mother would taunt me, beat me and make me do household chores. My brothers were the same but Jiang Raun, who was a few minutes younger than Jiang Dong, would sometimes talk to me properly, but not in front of everyone, but secretly.
My father used to see all this but still ignored it. If he ever tried to speak against my mother out of pity for me, the whole thing would end in a fight. And the fights were resolved in such a way that all the blame was put on me and in the end my mother would manipulate my father as if it was all my fault and I deserved everything. After this, my father also never supported me and he never went against my mother due to fear of fight.
Within 1 year of dad marrying stepmom, another member was added to their family as my stepmom Xin gave birth to a daughter. Her name was Jiang Jiao. She was 7 years younger than me and 5 years younger than Jiang Dong and Jiang Raun. I also wanted to take her in my arms and play with her but Xin mother did not allow me to do so.
One day, both my brothers were playing with each other and by mistake the ball hit their sister who was sleeping in the cradle. As soon as the ball hit my younger sister she started crying loudly and hearing her voice my mother Xin also came there, then both the brothers blamed me for everything, That day my mother beat me a lot and I had marks all over my body. What i felt the worst was that my stepmother had now even refused to let me call her mother; i could have called her Empress or Madam Xin.
That day I sat near a waterfall in the forest behind the palace and cried a lot.
Firstly, my mother had died and I did not get motherly love from my stepmother but now I had no one whom I could call mother.
I could call her mom in front of outsiders but at home in front of family I would call her Empress.
My brothers were allowed to learn cultivation and I expressed my wish to my father that I also wanted to learn cultivation but my father refused to let me learn it. I always practiced all the cultivation I learned while my mother was alive in secret so that I wouldn't forget and keep the Golden Core within me.
Time passed like this and 8 years had passed.I was no longer a 7 year old child. I was 15 years old.
By then my condition had gone from bad to worse, nothing had improved, in fact the situation had worsened even more. My relationship with my father was not good at all, because of my step mother I had become bad in the eyes of my father.
By then I had started to understand Mother Xin's taunts. I also knew why she got angry with me so quickly. I also knew why she used to beat me without any reason and why she used to blame me for everything.But because of all these things, I was no longer sad because I knew the reason behind everything. She was a step mother, so her behaviour was tolerable and I did not feel sad about everything like a child. But what hurt me the most was when my father also behaved with me in the same way. He was my father, so why did he behave like a step father?
A lot of sad things were happening in life but still everything was bearable. There was no one to complain to, so who could I complain to? But the day was not far when my studies were discontinued and I was forbidden to study because at the age of 16, everyone came to know that I am an Omega and not a Beta or Alpha. My father said that there was no use in studying being an Omega and he did not listen to me at all. My books were taken away from me and I was forbidden from going to school.
The worst thing was when my step mother asked my father to throw me out of that small room in the palace in which I had been living for so long. The reason was that she said that I am an Omega and I can try to get close to his Alpha son Jiang Dong,, and the interesting thing was that the father also agreed with her.
And at the age of 16, I was given a hut-like room behind the palace where I started living.
I was not allowed to study and was thrown out of the palace, But still I had to go to the palace from time to time to do palace work and the rest of the time I used to stay in my room.
During my first heat I did not know anything about heat but I am thankful to that lady who helped me a lot during that time and explained and told me everything about heat. That woman was a maid working in the palace and she knew my mother very well. That woman always cared for me and loved me when my father and anyone else in the family did not support me.
I call her aunty Shu and she must be very worried about me even now because I was suddenly given a punishment of 1 month and I could not even tell her about it.
Currently I am 22 years old and my 23rd birthday is coming soon. About 1 month ago my father came to talk to me about this, whether I want to celebrate my birthday by organizing a function?
Before this, my father had never celebrated my birthday. My brothers and sister had a celebration on every birthday and their birthdays were celebrated with much fanfare. That is why I happily told him that I also want to celebrate my birthday, after which he looked at me, smiled and went away from there. I didn't know that Empress Xin had come with father and she heard our entire conversation. If I had known earlier that she was also there, I would never have agreed to the birthday celebration.
I used to cook for the Royal Family and after my father left, I started working in the kitchen. I had no idea that Empress Xin was there. And as I went close to the burning stove to start cooking, Empress Xin suddenly came from behind and placed my hand on the hot pan. A scream came out of my mouth and I tried to move my hand away, but Empress Xin held me with her spiritual energy, so I was unable to do anything at all. Whenever she used to beat me, she used her cultivation power, due to which I was unable to stop her even if I wanted to, Because my physical strength was nothing compared to his cultivation power. She did not leave my hand until it was completely burnt. I was in tears and crying badly. I could not even speak because she had covered my mouth.
When finally she let go of my hand from the pan and my mouth too, I was about to leave but she held my hand and stopped me.
She said in an angry voice that I should not have said yes to my birthday celebration. I made a mistake by saying yes, that is why I got this punishment, saying this she went away from there. I already knew this, even if she had not told me, it would not have made any difference because in all these years I had come to know when and why she punishes me.
Later, when father saw my burnt hand, he himself guessed that Empress Xin must have done it and without listening to me, he took me to the palace so that he could talk to Xin. He left me standing outside the room and went inside to talk to Xin, but then both of them started fighting.
When father asked Xin why he burnt my hand, Xin denied that she did not do anything like that, she said that I am accusing her falsely. Father did not even say that I did not say anything like this, rather he had just thought that Xin must have done this to me, I was surprised that my father let me be blamed for everything but I did not go to him with any complaint, then why did he act like I wanted to make Empress Xin look bad in his eyes?
Empress Xin told my father that he doesn't love her or her children at all, he only cares about me and the whole family is falling apart because of me, The Kingdom's big festival is coming in just 1 month and he haven't arranged any new jewelry or clothes for her and her kids yet. He only care about me. He doesn't care about her and her children at all, saying this Xin started crying loudly. By now, my father had completely accepted Empress Xin's words. He said that I was a nuisance and because of me, he was not able to pay attention to his family. He comforted Empress Xin by hugging her and comforting her from crying.
I was standing outside the door and watching and listening to everything. I felt very sad. I wanted to leave from there immediately, but I was just worried for my father. But the moment father left the room and what he said to me broke my heart even more. It wouldn't have hurt so much when Empress Xin had said it, but it broke my heart when I heard it from my own father.
( Yifei's eyes were filled with tears as she thought about the past. )
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