[WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ABUSE AND , SO IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH SUCH TOPICS, PLEASE CLICK AWAY]

Chapter Sixteen

Rise of The Empress

Yeonhwa was sitting in front of the dresser, reading a book as Tao walked into their shared bedchamber. He laid himself on the bed, his head leaning on his arm as he stared at his beautiful wife. He was so glad he managed to marry her, even if her heart belonged to someone else. It had been a little over two weeks since they got married, but Tao had not made any inappropriate advances towards her as to not scare her away. He wanted her to like him. As cruel as he might be, he could not deny that he had feelings for this woman. She was beautiful, smart and kind, what man would waste the opportunity to be with her? He certainly would not.

"Yeonhwa, come to bed." he said, his voice husky.

"I'm not tired. Go ahead and sleep." she replied coldly, not even looking up from her book.

"It's late. Come to bed." he repeated, gritting his teeth.

Tao was used to getting whatever he asked for, so Yeonhwa was really testing his patience by defying him.

"I told you, I'm not tired." she replied in annoyance.

Feeling his anger burst, he jumped off the bed, marched towards her and grabbed her hair, yanking her head back. She yelped in pain, but he seemed to have not noticed.

"I think you're getting a bit too comfortable, don't you think? Just because I'm a little nice to you, doesn't mean you can defy me!" he growled as he threw her on the floor.

He grabbed her again and repeatedly slapped her, even throwing a few punches on her small body. Her cries of pain seemed to have gone over his head as he continued to abuse her. He threw her on the floor like a rag doll and began kicking her. Only when Yeonhwa let out a bloodcurdling scream when he kicked her stomach did he notice the blood trickling down her legs.

Tao froze, as he watched Yeonhwa weakly trying to reach out to him, begging him to save her baby. But Tao, being the idiot he is, quickly left the room in panic, telling the maids to "clean the mess up".

The excruciating pain that originated from her womb travelled through her whole body, piercing her heart as she desperately tried to call for help. Her vision was becoming blurry, slowly fading into nothing as she closed her eyes, clutching her stomach.

Tears were streaming down her face as she was starting to lose consciousness. She felt a presence in the room, Luhan's panicked voice screaming for help. She managed to mumble for him to save her baby, before her whole world turned black.

-

Yeonhwa opened her eyes in her personal bedchamber, with Luhan, the Royal Physician, Zhang Yixing and a midwife by her bedside. A sharp pain went through her as she tried to move, so she decided against it and just continued to lay on the bed.

"What happened? Is my baby alright?" she asked, even though she somehow already knew the answer.

There was a long stretch of silence before Yixing finally opened his mouth.

"Forgive me, Your Highness. We did everything we could..."

He did not even have to finish his sentence as Yeonhwa wailed in despair.

-

Since the fetus was already 5 months along, it was fully developed, organs and limbs and all. The midwife had to induce a natural birth to avoid it from harming Yeonhwa further.

It completely broke Luhan's heart to hear Yeonhwa's screams as she went through the labor pains, only to give birth to a still, tiny baby girl with a heart that did not beat.

As Yeonhwa held the tiny figure in her hands, she wept, feeling absolutely pathetic and miserable that she could not saved her precious daughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry sweetheart. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better. I'm sorry I deprived you, deprived us, of a life together. I'm sorry I couldn't find your Baba on time." she cried.

-

Yeonhwa had decided to name her baby Wu Daiyu, as she was as precious as a jade, but had such a dark fate. Wu Daiyu was given a proper burial, as she was, after all, a Princess.

The palace officials were shocked to find out that the Empress was pregnant, especially since the baby was the previous' Emperor's child. But the issue was quickly dismissed as the whole palace grieved the death of a royal heir.

-

Tao never showed up at the funeral. How could he when he was the cause of the unborn child's death? Besides, how was he supposed to know she was pregnant? It was her fault for not telling him. Not that he cared anyway; the baby was not even his. It was Yifan's. He hated anything that had to d