In the second year after Cui Xun escaped back to the Great Zhou, the Turks and the Great Zhou entered peace negotiations. The newly enthroned Khagan Sutai prepared to send his daughter Ashina Jia to the Great Zhou to marry the emperor as part of the alliance.
Ashina Jia neither cried nor objected. She had always been submissive and naturally weak-willed, so no one questioned her compliance. However, on the eve of her marriage to the Great Zhou, Ashina Jia packed her belongings, took a horse, and quietly left the royal court alone.
As she was about to leave the royal court far behind, Ashina Wuduo blocked her path.
Since being burned in the great fire, Ashina Wuduo’s right face bore a horrifying scar. She was no longer the most beautiful woman of the Western Regions, the daughter of the Turkic Khagan. The men who had once pursued her eagerly now ignored her completely. Those who had once feared her now spoke to her with cold words. Ashina Wuduo disregarded it all, but the deep anger and bitter resentment hidden in her eyes grew with each passing day.
Ashina Jia shrank back a little. Even though their positions had reversed, she still harbored deep fear toward her cousin. She pressed her lips together and asked, “Sister Wuduo, what are you doing?”
Ashina Wuduo sneered: “That’s what I should be asking you.”
Ashina Jia clutched her luggage and, summoning her courage, finally said firmly: “Yes, I’m going to find Cui Xun!”
Ashina Wuduo’s sneer faded, replaced by surging fury. The hideous scar on her right face, combined with the moonless night, made her appearance resemble an evil spirit. She said, word by word: “What did you say?”
“I said, I’m going to find Cui Xun.” This time, Ashina Jia wasn’t frightened by her. She raised her head and said tearfully, “I won’t marry the Great Zhou Emperor. I only love Cui Xun. I’m going to the Great Zhou to find him!”
Ashina Wuduo gritted her teeth: “You’ve finally spoken what’s in your heart.”
“Yes, I’ve said it. And I regret saying it so late.” Ashina Jia’s eyes were filled with tears. “I should have spoken up when you were torturing him, but I didn’t. I watched with my own eyes as you tortured him for two years. He was once a young general galloping across battlefields, but you tortured him until he could no longer hold a sword! Is this love? No! Whoever catches your eye suffers the greatest misfortune of their life!”
Ashina Wuduo laughed rather than showing anger: “Would you have dared to say these words a year ago? A year ago, when I made you whip him, why didn’t you speak up? It’s only because your father has taken the Khagan’s throne that you dare to say these things now!”
Ashina Jia poured out all her thoughts at once, as if a great stone weighing on her heart had finally been removed: “I admit I am timid and weak, but now I want to be brave just once. Since he has returned to the Great Zhou, I will go to the Great Zhou to find him, and I won’t come back.”
The fury in Ashina Wuduo’s eyes deepened: “He is my lotus slave. How dare you?”
Despite her threats, Ashina Jia’s eyes showed deep pity: “Sister Wuduo, don’t you understand yet? He is not your lotus slave. No one in this world could willingly be a lotus slave.”
The anger in Ashina Wuduo’s eyes was about to erupt, but suddenly her tone softened. She called Ashina Jia by her childhood name: “Aina…” She said, “Let’s not ruin our sisterly relationship over a man.”
She continued: “Since you want so much to go to the Great Zhou, your sister won’t stop you anymore. Take care on your journey.”
Ashina Jia was caught off guard by this sudden change. Ashina Wuduo stepped forward and embraced her: “Aina, what happened before was my fault. If you find Cui Xun in the Great Zhou, please apologize to him on my behalf.”
Ashina Jia’s body stiffened at her embrace. She didn’t know whether to return the embrace or not, but before she could decide, a golden-sheathed curved dagger, like a venomous snake, pierced her back.
Ashina Jia’s eyes widened in disbelief. Without wasting words, Ashina Wuduo pulled out the dagger and struck Ashina Jia’s body again and again. Soon, Ashina Jia stopped breathing. Ashina Wuduo sneered: “I told you long ago, he is my lotus slave. Mine.”
Her face and hands were covered with Ashina Jia’s fresh blood, yet she showed no fear, only quietly waiting for someone’s arrival.
Indeed, soon Khagan Sutai discovered Ashina Jia’s disappearance. He rode after her on horseback but found only Ashina Jia’s still-warm corpse.
Sutai stumbled in his steps. He checked for Ashina Jia’s breath, but she was completely lifeless. Enraged beyond measure, Sutai drew his waist dagger and held it to the throat of Ashina Wuduo, who had not fled: “You killed Aina!”
“Yes, I killed her,” Ashina Wuduo admitted immediately.
“Why did you kill her?”
“She didn’t want to go to the alliance marriage, didn’t want to marry the Great Zhou Emperor. Doesn’t she deserve to die for that?”
“Nonsense!” Sutai raged. “Do you think I don’t know? Aina liked your slave, so you killed her! You killed my daughter. I’ll have your life in return!”
With these words, Sutai’s dagger swung toward Ashina Wuduo’s neck. Ashina Wuduo shouted: “Uncle Sutai! Rather than killing me, you should think about how to explain this to the Great Zhou!”
Sutai’s dagger halted. Ashina Wuduo said mockingly, “You’ve already promised the Great Zhou that you would send your daughter for the marriage alliance in three days. You only have one daughter, Ashina Jia. How will you produce a second one for the marriage?”
Sutai glared at her furiously. Ashina Wuduo continued: “Let me go to the Great Zhou. I’ll enter the marriage alliance.”
“You?” Sutai scrutinized the horrifying scar on Ashina Wuduo’s right face. “How would you qualify?”
Ashina Wuduo touched the scar on her face: “For this scar, I’ll find a way.”
Her lips curved upward: “Uncle Sutai, you wanted Ashina Jia to enter this marriage alliance partly to gather intelligence on the Great Zhou, didn’t you? Do you think the weak and incompetent Ashina Jia could fulfill your mission? I am the best candidate.”
A trace of hesitation flashed through Sutai’s gloomy eyes. Ashina Wuduo pressed on: “Uncle Sutai, let me go to the Great Zhou in Ashina Jia’s place. If I succeed, you benefit. If I fail, you lose nothing. You’re a clever man. I trust you’ll make the right choice.”
She looked at Sutai with confidence. Sure enough, Sutai slowly sheathed his dagger. He glanced at Ashina Jia’s corpse and said, “Aina, don’t blame your father. If anyone is to blame, it’s yourself.”
Sutai was an extremely cold-blooded ruler. To him, his children were merely tools to be used. He agreed to Ashina Wuduo’s plan. Ashina Wuduo summoned a skilled artist and asked him to tattoo her dark red scar into a flower. The artist asked: “What kind of flower should I make?”
Ashina Wuduo slowly stroked the ugly scar and said deliberately: “A lotus.”
When the silver needle pierced her face, Ashina Wuduo clenched her teeth tightly. She refused to let the artist use anesthetic. She wanted to be fully conscious to feel the pain. She wanted to remember that this pain was inflicted on her by Cui Xun.
Soon, a lifelike lotus gradually bloomed on her right face. The petals were layered in order, crimson like the sunset clouds, adding a vivid splendor to her already striking features. From then on, she was no longer Ashina Wuduo, but Ashina Jia, about to embark on a journey to the Great Zhou for a marriage alliance.
The mist dispersed, and Li Ying emerged from Ashina Jia’s memories, returning with her to the new residence in Yongxing Ward. She looked at the delicate and beautiful Ashina Jia and said, “So, you were killed by Ashina Wuduo, and your father, for the sake of his power, didn’t avenge you.”
Ashina Jia nodded and murmured, “I wasn’t surprised that Father Khan didn’t avenge me. From the moment I was born, I knew my existence was merely for my father’s political marriages. I envied Sister Wuduo. At least Uncle Nidu truly doted on her, giving her the privilege to be arrogant and domineering, which I never had. When Cui Xun arrived in the Turkic lands, it was the first time I saw someone dare to defy Sister Wuduo. I became interested in him and secretly observed him. The more I observed, the more I liked him. He possessed the courage and backbone that I lacked. I fell hopelessly in love with him, but I never imagined that my affection could also become a weapon to hurt him.”
Li Ying pressed her lips together. In her mind, she hazily recalled that cold, snowy night when Ashina Jia’s brutal lashes fell on Cui Xun’s body. For him, it wasn’t just physical torture, but mental torture as well.
Ashina Jia cautiously opened her mouth: “Princess Yong’an, am I very useless? Have I greatly wronged Cui Xun?”
Li Ying was taken aback. She smiled bitterly: “I… don’t know how to answer.”
Ashina Jia lowered her head, her eyes gradually filling with tears: “I’m sorry. I am a useless person.”
She kept her head down, appearing deeply sorrowful. Li Ying sighed: “Actually, everyone’s personality is shaped by their environment. If I were in your situation, I might have developed a similar character. But your final decision to defy your father and go to the Great Zhou to find Cui Xun was quite brave.”
Ashina Jia slowly raised her head. Finally, her eyes showed a glimmer of hope. She asked: “Really?”
Li Ying comforted her: “You lost your life for him. A strand of your obsession remained attached to the curved dagger for three years. If he knew about all you sacrificed for him, he wouldn’t blame you.”
Ashina Jia thought for a moment, then smiled bitterly: “Yes, he wouldn’t blame me, because he simply wouldn’t care about me at all. Although I sympathized with him and liked him, I never took any action. I didn’t dare speak up for him, nor did I dare to ease his suffering. I even whipped him under Sister Wuduo’s coercion. What use is such weak affection? In his heart, I’m probably no different from an accomplice. And his temperament is as cold as the snow on Tianshan Mountain. I would never have a place in his heart. Even if I lost my life for him and my obsession lingered for three years, he wouldn’t shed a single tear for me.”
Li Ying was stunned. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. She knew Ashina Jia was telling the truth. Cui Xun’s nature was indeed very cold. He found it difficult to open his heart to others. When he fell into boundless darkness, Ashina Jia didn’t even dare try to save him. Naturally, he wouldn’t care about Ashina Jia. Even if Ashina Jia died for him, he wouldn’t shed a single tear for her.
Li Ying’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. While Ashina Jia’s infatuation was certainly pitiful, Cui Xun wasn’t at fault in their relationship either. After a moment of silence, she said, “I’m going to find Cui Xun now. Princess Ashina Jia, would you like to come with me?”