Blind Empress Rebirth

Midnight, in a little outer courtyard of the City Lord's House, the sobbing of a little child intertwined with the cool breeze of mid-winter. Even though it was called a courtyard, it only has a little cottage with a single room lighted by torchlight; there were only the basic things of daily life inside. The yard only had greenery and wild plants; the only beautiful thing was a plum blossom that grew behind the tall stone wall.

The sobbing grew louder and a choking voice was heard, "Eldest... eldest miss, wake up... Zhi'er doesn't want to be alone again..." a six-year-old boy was kneeling in front of a single bed where a beautiful fifteen or so year old woman was lying. Her face was paler than snow with a deathly air around her, but her exquisite features and silky long black hair didn't make the sight unbearable, her complexion was thin that the song of nature could blow her away.

"Umgh..." soft whimpers were heard amid the child's sobbing.

The little child froze but the choking of his mouth and his muddy nose didn't stop sounding until he heard a commanding voice, "Stop crying! This Empress had a bad dream and now has a headache."

He stopped right away, not for the command but because of fright, his miss had never used such a tone before.

"Water, " the commanding voice rang once again.

It didn't take much for the child to react and a smile quickly was drawn on his little and tender face, he happily stood up and reached for a bowl with some clear water. Her miss had got a high fever, thus he already had gathered some water beforehand. He hastily put it on the outstretched thin hand.

The young woman felt something heavy on her hand, the glass was pretty big and rough but she didn't mind, she was very thirsty right now. She sat on the bed but all her body ached; she dropped the bowl of water and it splashed on the wooden floor.

"Ugh..."

The little child face paled and said with worry, "Eldest miss, eldest miss, it's better to lie back on the bed."

"Presum..." She didn't finish her words, after rummaging through the words of the little child she shivered as she thought with furrowed brows, 'A child? This Empress doesn't have a kid or a servant that young. Eldest miss? Is he talking to this Empress?' She heavily shook her head and turned to the voice's origin, she slowly opened her tired eyes, but she saw a pool of darkness, obsidian black like the Dark Abyss of Death from the depths of the Spirit Origin Blue Sea. She quickly commanded, "Light the Night Pearls."

Hearing no answer, she said displeased, "Didn't you hear me?"

"Eldest miss, what is a Night Pearl?"

"You..." She simply didn't know how to answer and some anger arise. But before she could berate at him, she recalled her dream and a pool of darkness, filled only with voices, flavours and fragrances overlapped with it. She gave a cry, "So, it wasn't a dream! This Empress died, what a fool! Ha ha ha, what a fool! Ha ha ha..." She laughed madly before calming herself and said with anger and hate, "Huang Yinxun, Li Meigui, even if you both were to be in another world, this Empress will never spare you", she bit her lower lip and thought to herself, 'My Huan family has big brother and eldest cousin, thus nothing big will happen to the family, right?'

"Eldest miss, you are scaring Zhi'er."

She recovered from her thoughts at the sudden cry, she couldn't see the little child but she knew, the little child must be holding back his tears. She was deprived of the joy of giving birth in her past life; her heart softened, she first closed her eyes before beckoning him. This body was blind since birth, she wanted to laugh at the irony; she was blind of love in the past but now, she was truly blind!

"Zhi'er, come here. It's late. Let's sleep." This little cottage only has a single bed and because Zhi'er was just a little child, and the only servant left, the previous host will let him sleep with her. In the past months, she got used to sleeping alone, but she never had a child and she longed for one. Moreover, it was winter now and there was only a thin blanket. No wonder the owner of this body got sick and died from high fever.

Zhi'er bit his lips and said, "But... Eldest miss is sick."

"Oh, don't worry. You won't get sick."

"No... it isn't that. Eldest miss must rest comfortably."

"But with this thin blanket I will feel cold. I will sleep more comfortably if you sleep with me, " she said as she thought, Tsk, this Empress was a concubine born daughter and always had the best. But the previous host was a legitimate daughter and had nothing, what a crude irony!'

Zhi'er didn't think twice at her words and jumped onto the bed to sleep.

The young woman embraced him and slept while enjoying the warmth of this new feeling, dropping aside the nightmares of her past life and the worries of this new life.

The sun was rising from East, and a thirteen-year-old girl was already running through the yellowish grass towards the North part of the City Lord's House with a joyful smile while an old man and a maidservant followed behind.

Her footsteps slowed down at the sight of a little wooden cottage, she smoothed her breath, dispersed her smile and said with worry as she went through the courtyard entrance.

"Eldest sister, eldest sister, are you okay? Doctor Tao has come. We are coming in." She wasn't polite at all; she didn't wait for an answer and beckoned her maidservant to open the cottage door. She gave a brief glimpse to the inside before continuing, "Daddy couldn't get a doctor yesterday night, and he has been worried all night that the first thing he made after waking up was to call Doctor Tao. You must be grateful to daddy; Doctor Tao is the best doctor in Huan City."

The young woman on the bed frowned when she heard the noise. She was about to berate but felt the little body in her arms and remembered, this wasn't her body!

She wasn't an Empress anymore!

In her reminiscence, the little body jumped out from the bed, as she heard his soft murmur as he tidied up the blanket over her body, "How can that be called worried?"

'A smart kid, I see, ' she thought while hearing the approaching footsteps.

The thirteen-year-old girl had just crossed the division screen when she turned back and said apologetically, "Doctor Tao, my eldest sister caught a cold and may still be asleep..."

She hadn't finished her words when a weak voice reached their ears, "Third little sister, Meirong didn't know that not only Lord father was worried. My dear little sister has even personally brought Doctor Tao, walking such a long distance because you were so worried, it is better to let Doctor Tao check you after me. If you get sick at night due to anxiousness, you may need to wait until tomorrow morning and that wouldn't be good." She had said so much that as she went on the voice grew weaker. She hated to waste her breath but with this girl, she didn't mind at all.

From the previous host memories, she recognised this voice, it belonged to the third miss of the City Lord's House, Huan Meiqi; she was the daughter of the most beloved concubine of her newly gained father. Si Xuli, that concubine had a crafty mind with a pretty good backing and was able to become the second wife after her mother demise. And like her mother with that Si Xuli, the previous host had eaten too many loses to the well-versed mouth of this third little sister.

The third miss heard all that and she didn't know where to pick to find a fault. Moreover, even though her eldest sister's words were grateful and caring, but if one were to think deeper, they were filled with thorns but this sister of her was simple-minded and easy to bully; those words can't mean other things. She shook her head and just about to say something, she heard Huan Meirong weak voice, "Third little sister, Meirong can't get out from the bed. Please, let enter Doctor Tao. I'm ashamed but Meirong doesn't want to delay Doctor Tao's business."

Doctor Tao was quietly hearing from a side and looking around to the little cottage while frowning, he was in a hurry indeed but since he heard the weak voice his heart calmed a bit, and said as he approached, "The eldest miss mustn't be ashamed, every patient is like this."

Huan Meirong didn't say anything else and let Zhi'er take out her arm and reveal her milky wrist, waiting for Doctor Tao to reach her bedside.

Doctor Tao saw the young woman on the bed and couldn't help but frown once again, the bed hadn't a veil. Even though he was an old doctor, this wasn't that appropriate. Still, he quickly reached to check her pulse; he would think about those things later, what mattered now was the health of the little girl in front of him.

The third miss wanted to say something but watching at the frown and impatience of Doctor Tao, she didn't open her mouth. Doctor Tao wasn't someone she could offend, he was a doctor attached to the Imperial Treasure Hall, after all. In fact, she didn't know how her daddy did to please him. A glimmer of light crossed her eyes and gave three steps back, but after thinking once again she slightly shook her head and stood in place.

After five minutes, Doctor Tao finally said, "Her body is still weak but the fever has already passed. Her body just needs to be nursed back to health with proper meals, " he emphasized the last two words.

"Eldest miss may excuse me. I will give the recipe to the City Lord."

"Meirong thanks, Doctor Tao. My third little sister will lead the way."

The third miss wanted to stay a bit more. As smart as she was, she quickly got the doctor's meaning in his emphasized words. She was displeased because of this and wanted to play a bit here. But it will be disrespectful of her if she didn't accompany him to see the City Lord. Therefore, she bid her farewell after saying some caring words to her eldest sister.

Huan Meirong sighed and said, "Zhi'er, I will sleep a bit more. Do what you usually do and don't wake me up. Don't dare to cross the division screen until I call you."

"If the breakfast is sent, Zhi'er still can wake up eldest miss. The doctor said eldest miss must eat well."

"Even if it is sent you don't wake me up. You eat what is sent, though it still won't be much." She covered herself with the blanket and said no more.

Zhi'er acknowledged the order. He first cleaned up the floor around the bed and then went to the other side of the division screen.

Huan Meirong wasn't sleepy at all, as an Empress, she had been used to sleep late and wake up before anyone. The reason to dismiss this little boy was to check this body herself, she hadn't been able to do it.

She first opened her eyes, but as if were midnight, it was all black. She clenched her teeth and sighed as she thought, 'Well, never mind. This Empress luck... no, not right. My luck is pretty good, not only is my full name the same but I was a three-ringed Alchemist, thus this blindness won't hinder me too much.'

Alchemists were sparse through the world not only because they needed to have the fire and wood elements as their attributes but because of the need of a strong soul and the sense of it at the early stages of cultivation. A powerful soul was the most important part as it let an Alchemist feel and scan the herb's essence and aid in the refinement to control the flame and separate the products. Therefore with the passing time an Alchemist will rely on its soul force to see and feel.

At length, she began to feel her soul. "Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed lowly and unconsciously opened wide her blind eyes.

She got up and sat cross-legged on the bed. She closed her eyes and felt her soul once again, 'This... my soul force grew. Such a good luck I have indeed, with this soul in some years I will be able to become a six-ringed Alchemist. And this body is so young.'

She was getting all excited; the status of an Alchemist in this land will always be prominent. This was the main reason she was able to marry the Crown Prince as his Crown Princess when she only was a concubine born daughter, though her family also played a great role. She was only a two-ringed Alchemist when she got married and when she became a three-ringed Alchemist she was able to secure her position as the Empress when the Crown Prince ascended the throne.

She scanned her body in her fluster and this let her speechless. There was no shred of martial energy in this body, the corners of her mouth pumped and in an unbelievable manner she gave a swept over the previous host memories.

After a couple of minutes she sighed and shook her head, 'No wonder, after so many doctors said the same, they had given up right away on her. They hadn't even checked her attribute affinity. Her combat efficacy will have been low but she could still have something for self-preservation. Sigh, this body is also weaker than the average because of bad nourishment, like this, it can't withstand martial energy circulation. Tsk, tsk...' as she was feeling heartache because of the previous owner ill-treatment that it didn't amount a sliver of her past tragedy, she felt something wrong.

With furrowed brows, she scanned all her body; she didn't find anything that she hadn't already found. But she clearly felt something moving. 'If it isn't in my body, it won't be in my soul, right? I just crossed here, soul abnormalities must be understandable, but still...' with this line of thought, she quickly felt her soul, and she found it.

'A black hole is in the head of my soul. My soul has a hole!' This scared the wits out of her but forcing herself to calm down, she curiously observed the black spot and said to herself, 'This isn't a hole. This little thing, how could be stuck to my soul?' That's right, she recognised it; it was a marquise-shaped black stone that glittered like the stars. This was an heirloom from her mother, and she had left it to her when she passed away in her previous life, though it was handed to her by the hands of her father; it was the only thing she had from her. She always wore it as a necklace because of it. Even when she had faced her dreadful fate, she had had it with her.

She observed the little black stone, and after a while, she tried to move it from her head with her soul force. Just as her soul force touched the black stone, she felt a sucking force; she didn't have time to retrieve her soul force and was sucked into the marquise-shaped black stone.

"Auch..." She was thrown to the ground, she blinked hard and saw nothing, "Oh, right, my eyes can only distinguish black now, " she mocked herself.

She got up and spread out her soul force; she got astounded with what she saw, she exclaimed, "It's just as if I am seeing with my eyes." She laughed and jumped from happiness, she couldn't believe it.

One must know that through soul force, one could see things black defined by white lines, and with more focus one could see the aura and the composition of things; of course, this is determined by the power of soul force. But here, she can see things all coloured.

She looked down and saw a pair of skinny white hands, she then saw that she was dressed in a simple white robe with a wide white sash and no decorations and her mouth twitched, she had come to hate white though she had liked it since birth; she had died wearing all white after all.

She shook her head and scanned the place, but her soul force only reached to cover some tens of kilometres around her. The ground was lush green, and there were trees with green foliage and no flowers. One hundred meters in front of her was a nine-layered pagoda but she couldn't inspect the inside, beside it there was a lake with a rest pavilion in the middle. She ran forward, but no towards the pagoda but to the lake instead.

After some minutes of running and gotten herself out of breath, she looked at the lake; the water was crystal clear and calm with no fish or another kind of living thing inside. She was able to see her own reflection; she was skinny and looked sickly, even more with the white robe but the wide sleeves helped her a little to not look like a bag of bones. She then saw her face and was taken aback; she couldn't believe that her new face looked exactly like the one in her previous life though it was thin, she still recognised her countenance. She bit her lower lip when she saw her closed eyes and opened them; they were phoenix shaped with long eyelashes, truly beautiful, but her dark pupils seemed lifeless, devoid of glitter.