Chapter Ninety-Eight: Beauty Is Often Cursed with a Fragile Fate

For women in ordinary households, keeping male concubines or remarrying is considered the behavior of a loose woman. To fail in upholding the virtues of a wife is to invite ridicule.

However, for a princess of the royal family, such actions are taken for granted; they are symbols of power and status. Yet, not every princess enjoys such treatment; only those most favored and of the highest standing are granted this privilege. Those who are out of favor, or born to mothers of low status, are destined to be pawns for royal marriage alliances—tragic, expendable sacrifices used to maintain relations with other nations.

It is thus easy to imagine why princesses engage in cutthroat infighting. It is simply a struggle to gain enough favor to be one of the privileged few rather than a sacrificial tool for political marriage. Furthermore, in the royal court, the battle for the throne is not solely the business of princes and concubines; the princesses participate as well. Those with full-blooded brothers support them, while those without choose a prince they deem worthy to back, hoping that once that prince ascends the throne, they will be rewarded with a life of comfort and security.

Grand Princess Luo Bai was the full sister of the previous emperor, and his most cherished sibling. When she proposed to marry the top-ranking scholar, he granted the marriage decree without a moment’s hesitation. This was partly because the scholar was the man his little sister adored, and partly because he favored literary arts over martial prowess. Thirdly, it was because Dugu Bancheng had also submitted a petition to marry Luo Bai. The emperor had no interest in that warlord who only knew how to wield blades and spears; he was no match for a scholar well-versed in poetry and song. His sister deserved the best.

Because he loved his sister so dearly, the emperor even agreed to her proposal to forgo the traditional princess’s residence for her husband, allowing the scholar to move directly into her manor—a request that defied all court etiquette. This only fueled the envy, jealousy, and hatred of the countless men in the capital who admired Luo Bai.

As it turned out, the couple proved their detractors wrong. Their life together was one of deep affection, as sweet as honey and inseparable. The scholar-consort kept no mistresses, nor did he ever frequent houses of ill-repute. The Grand Princess, naturally, kept no "pretty boys" to serve as concubines. They lived in perfect harmony, a couple so devoted they became the envy of all, breaking the hearts of countless talented young men who had once pined for her.

Among those filled with envy and hatred was Dugu Bancheng. Rumors persisted that it was his inability to possess Luo Bai that drove him to launch a coup, usurp the throne, and establish a new dynasty. Dugu Bancheng had been one of her many suitors before her marriage, but as a regional warlord, he could not remain in the capital for long. When his proposal was rejected, he was forced to return to his fiefdom, and soon after came the news of the imperial marriage, leaving him with no recourse.

After Dugu Bancheng breached the capital, his first act was not to bloodbath the palace or force the emperor to abdicate, but to head straight to the Grand Princess’s manor.

On that very day, word spread that the entire Grand Princess’s household—over three hundred souls—had been slaughtered, leaving not even a cat or dog alive. Rumors abounded: some said the Grand Princess, unable to bear the humiliation, had hanged herself; others claimed that Dugu Bancheng, consumed by love turned to hate, had slain her in a rage because his rejected proposal had caused him to lose face. Still others whispered that he remained obsessed, willing to betray the empire for the sake of one woman, and that when the Grand Princess saw her beloved husband murdered, she died of a broken heart, following him to the grave.

In any case, that enviable, devoted couple ceased to exist. The Luo royal family, which had ruled the Zhongping and Nanshui domains for a thousand years, was eradicated, with neither main nor collateral branches left alive. Not a drop of royal blood remained. The reign of the Luo family was brought to a definitive end, exiting the stage of history. Even Luo Feng, the world’s greatest swordsman who cared little for power and lived a carefree life, ultimately died on the battlefield, his remains never found.

Most martial artists felt little sympathy for the fall of the Luo dynasty. To them, a ruler who protected their interests was worthy of support; what did it matter who sat on the throne or what surname the empire bore? It was lamentable that of a millennium-long dynasty, the only figures remembered by the people were Luo Feng, the peerless swordsman, and Luo Bai, the beauty who possessed both intellect and grace. When power and status vanish, only formidable strength and striking beauty remain in the memory of the world.

Of course, there were those who coveted Luo Feng’s legendary sword techniques, but with him dead, obtaining his unique art was impossible. As for the possibility that Luo Feng left behind descendants, no one dared to imagine it. In the eyes of the world, he was a man who disregarded all customs and laws, seeing nothing but his sword and the path of martial arts. He was a true wanderer, a drifter of the pugilistic world. Many women had once been captivated by his looks, skill, and status, exhausting every means to seduce him, only to be cast out without the slightest mercy. For years, no woman had ever been seen by his side. Over time, people remembered only his title as the world's greatest swordsman, forgetting that he was also a man of flesh and blood, capable of passion and desire. That he had fought against the rebels after Dugu Bancheng’s coup was already a shock to the world; how could anyone fathom that he might have left behind an heir?

Luo Feng was the exception to the Luo family; he did not stay in the capital but roamed the world in pursuit of the pinnacle of martial arts. Thus, apart from him, wiping out the Luo family was an effortless task. Dugu Bancheng had even tracked down and killed the illegitimate children of the royals, yet he missed a variable like Luo Feng. It was perhaps fated by the heavens—a single oversight in a meticulous plan.

Yet, what kind of storms will such a variable stir in the future? What earth-shattering changes will befall the Qianwu Kingdom and the entire Yaohua Continent? At this moment, no one knows, and no one would dare to guess. Even Luo Changning, the person involved, does not know how the trajectory of the future will unfold.

The world says Dugu Bancheng launched his coup out of a rage born of unrequited love, but those in power scoff at this notion. To them, no woman is worth such a massive upheaval; it was all driven by Dugu Bancheng’s burning ambition. Luo Changning shares this view. The story of a man unable to bear seeing his beloved marry another was merely an excuse for his rebellion and theft of the state—a lie spread to divert attention. If he truly loved the Grand Princess, how could he have had the heart to send her to her grave? Moreover, Dugu Bancheng’s harem was never lacking in beauties; it would be no exaggeration to say he had thousands. Yet, his offspring were few. Especially considering the size of his harem, the fact that he produced only a dozen or so princes and princesses was highly unusual. Throughout the history of the Yaohua and Dilong continents, any emperor without a hidden ailment would have dozens, if not hundreds, of children. A dozen is remarkably few, and it is clear that Dugu Bancheng’s health was perfectly fine.

Instead, it was the noble Grand Princess Luo Bai who was unfairly branded as a "femme fatale," a curse upon the nation. Luo Changning finds this deeply ironic. That Grand Princess, his aunt, a woman of unparalleled beauty and spirit, was used by a power-hungry schemer as a pretext for his rebellion. To have a woman help him deflect blame, to have a woman suffer the world’s scorn in his place—it is truly pathetic, lamentable, and utterly hateful.