Author's note:
I will not updating it every day, I repeat.... Not everyday updates, but when ever I can.
Despite his illness, Babiy gathered his strength and hurried toward the corridor to see what was happening, only to nearly collide with an official delegation from the Beiping Empire.
He immediately bowed his head in respect.
Huan and Mah rushed forward as well.
Overcome by fear and reverence, Babiy fell to his knees, and seeing him, Mah and the children did the same, lowering their heads. Their bodies trembled, for such a scene had never happened before....not in their lifetime, nor in the kingdom's known history.
The leader of the royal envoy fixed his eyes on Babiy.
"You there, commoner of the Beiping Empire," he declared, "we have come under royal command with an important message for you."
Babiy bowed even lower, his hands clasped together.
"I am honored by your presence and will obey whatever command you bring."
His words were humble and sincere, but their expressions remained cold, unmoved.
Babiy, trembling, hurried into Mah's room and returned with a brand-new ceremonial mat he had purchased for Juan's upcoming wedding. He attempted to lay it out for them, but the leader raised a hand to stop him.
"We have not come to sit. We have come to deliver the royal decree," he announced firmly. "There is a maiden in your household, and the empire has chosen her. Rejoice, for your family is to be joined to the royal lineage of history."
Shock froze the entire family. Babiy and Mah's heads jerked up in disbelief, while the children instinctively clutched each other. But none of them dared to speak.
The officer turned his eyes to the children and asked coldly,
"Which one of you is the eldest daughter?"
The chilling question sliced through them like a blade. Silence swallowed their voices; no one dared to move.
Then came the sharp crack of a whip, its sound vicious and commanding.
Babiy collapsed with a cry of pain as the whip lashed across his back. The enforcer raised it again, but before it could fall, Juan leapt up, tears streaming down her face, and shouted, "I am the eldest!"
At his command, Feng and Zhan were also ordered to stand. They obeyed, trembling, tears of pity for their father spilling freely down their cheeks.
The officer stared at them for several long seconds, then turned back to the envoy leader.
"She speaks the truth, sir," he said with a respectful bow.
The leader nodded and said,
"Her father and brother will act as her guardians."
Without another word or explanation, the delegation left, taking Huan and Babiy with them.
None of the remaining girls...Feng, Juan, Zhan, nor Mah....understood what had just happened.
The sound of Mah's wailing broke their silence. They rushed to her side, and she gathered the three of them into her trembling arms, sobbing as if her heart were being torn apart.
- - - - -
After nearly three hours, Babiy and Huan returned home with a horse and three camels loaded with gifts. Their faces were pale, haunted by fear.
The gifts didn't matter to Mah; all she wanted was answers.
At first, Babiy said nothing, but after hours of silence, he finally spoke, his voice heavy:
"I have given her hand in marriage to King Yibo. We were not allowed to leave until the marriage ceremony was completed. These animals and gifts are her dowry."
The words struck like thunder. Mah stumbled back, nearly fainting, but Babiy caught her, shaking his head, silently begging her to say nothing. He gestured to the children for silence as well and led Mah into their room.
The children obeyed....they always did...but their silence could not stop the flood of tears. The three huddled together in their room, crying uncontrollably, their grief too great to measure, their tears too many to count.
Minutes passed, then hours, and the day finally ended in heavy silence.
After seven o'clock, a convoy of cars arrived with royal attendants and four elegantly dressed women....come to take Juan, now officially a royal bride.
Her family wept as if their hearts would break, but despite their pleas, Juan was dressed in the finest ceremonial attire and taken away to the Beiping Empire.
That night, grief weighed heavy on their hearts. Sleep came only as a thief, stealing away their rest for a brief moment.
By morning, they awoke expecting news of Juan's death, as had happened to so many brides before her...but no such news came, not even as the days turned into weeks leading up to the Empire's annual festival.
The grand celebration was held as always, attended by travelers from far corners of the world.
The King appeared with his customary splendor, his carriage and horses gleaming like a vision from legend. Yet even then, no one could claim to have truly seen King Yibo's face.
Three long months passed, but the silence brought no peace to Juan's family. Their once lively home was now weighed down by grief. Meals were left untouched, their conversations reduced to whispers, and their hearts lived in a state of quiet mourning, as if waiting for the inevitable.
Then, one dark night...exactly three months and three days after Juan's wedding...fear returned to their home in the form of a terrifying scream.
Zhan had awoken from a nightmare so intense that everyone rushed from their beds to his side, clinging to him and calling his name. His body was drenched in sweat, trembling despite the cold night air.
Mah held him tightly, tears streaming down her face.
He clung to her in return, crying openly. This wasn't the first time Zhan had such dreams, but recently they had grown far worse, leaving the entire family shaken.
Babiy gently ran his hand through Zhan's thick hair, speaking softly.
Zhan lifted his tear-streaked face, looking at his father, his brother Huan, and his sister Feng, then took a deep breath and wiped his cheeks.
"Babiy, I'm scared… more scared than ever before. My dream was so clear. They're going to kill Juan like the others. We're going to lose her too… I saw it."
Huan, struggling to be brave, quickly shook his head.
"Dreams aren't real, Zhan. Don't let it scare you. Juan is safe and happy with the king, just like we are here at home."
"But Huan ge," Zhan whispered, voice breaking, "my dreams… they always come true. The night Juan left this house, I saw the same thing, and now it's happening again. Nothing is different this time....I swear it."
His words cut deep, for they all knew Zhan's dreams often revealed more than chance should allow.
Trying to comfort him, Babiy smiled faintly and patted his head.
"Sometimes dreams are just tricks of the mind, son. Juan is safe in her marriage."
Zhan fell silent, though fear still lingered in his eyes.
Instead of returning to bed, the family sat together in the courtyard under the pale moonlight, waiting for dawn with heavy hearts. None of them spoke. None of them slept. They simply waited… for whatever fate had in store.
By sunrise, no one in the house had moved or spoken. Then, as though fate itself had come knocking, the sound of fists pounding against their door shattered the silence.
They all jumped up, startled and trembling, expecting the worst.
Babiy gathered what courage he had and slowly approached the entrance, dragging his feet as though he were walking to his doom. When he opened the door and saw the royal attendants of the Beiping Empire, his heart clenched violently.
"You've killed her too, haven't you?!"
The words left Zhan's mouth unexpectedly, ringing in the ears of the attendants. There was no trace of fear or submissiveness in his voice....a rare defiance in a land where people never dared question the crown.
The attendants stiffened in shock. One of them barked sharply,
"Watch your tongue, commoner! The edge of the well is no place for a child to play."
"If the child isn't a coward, it is!" Zhan snapped back in anger.
The attendant raised his whip, ready to strike, but Babiy dropped to his knees, shaking as he cried out, "Forgive him! He's only a child who doesn't know better!"
The whip lashed across Babiy's back with a crack that echoed painfully, but he endured it, clenching his teeth and trembling in silence.
Zhan collapsed in front of him, weeping, about to speak....but Babiy's trembling hand covered his mouth, silencing him. His body shook, not with fear this time, but with a sorrow so deep it burned.
Without acknowledging them further, the attendants delivered their message:
"Because you have shown loyalty to the crown, you are granted permission to attend your daughter's burial along with your household. May you find peace."
The words struck like a hammer to the chest. Mah and Feng screamed in grief so loudly it drew the attention of neighbors outside, who stood silently by their gate, powerless witnesses to their despair.
And so, tragedy etched itself into the fabric of their lives.
IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING
The family of Xiao Zinnu would never forget those words. They had lost Juan like a tragic character in a story or an actress in a play...taken away suddenly, given no chance for goodbyes, not even to her own parents.
Her death swept through their lives like a flood tearing down everything in its path, leaving them broken and hollow. They were left to mourn in silence, their cries confined to the walls of their home, never loud enough to challenge the empire beyond their doorstep.
That day, it was Babiy and Huan who attended the burial. The rest of the family stayed behind, receiving condolence visits from their poor neighbors....equally powerless, equally terrified.
Days blurred into weeks as though nothing had happened, until news spread that another bride of the king had died only months later.
After Juan's death, the King did not remarry publicly. But whispers spread...each time a bride entered the royal palace, a corpse soon emerged. Many believed he practiced dark arts that doomed his wives.
~**~
Four months and a week later, tragedy repeated itself. Feng was summoned and taken to marry King Yibo.
There was no discussion, no consent. One morning, a call came from the palace. Fear gripped the household, but no one dared oppose it... not in all of Beiping.
Babiy prepared and left with them, but within hours, royal attendants returned to take Feng.
This time, Zhan lost all restraint. He fought like someone possessed, refusing to let them take her until one of the attendants whipped him brutally, dropping him unconscious to the ground. He only awoke an hour after they had gone.
By then, the marriage had already been sealed.
And like Juan, Feng was taken to the palace... married to the man people whispered about in secret, calling him the Pharaoh of this age.
The whip wounds on Zhan's back split open, bleeding painfully, his body trembling from the burn of every lash. Babiy and Mah wept as they treated his injuries, while Huan sat silently in a corner, his eyes red with rage but powerless to act.
It took three days for Zhan's wounds to heal. Then, life moved on in silence.
Two months later, Feng too was dead... gone as though she had never been.
They had lost another daughter, another sister, to King Yibo's cursed marriages.
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛