Serpentine

[1] Liu Shen

"Do only unto others what you wish to be done to yourself"
                                            - Confucius

•||•

For as long as she could remember, Liu Shen lived by the laws of Confucius. Her mother loved reading to her, over and over she'd recite the sayings, quotes, and poems of virtues and morality. They were the lullabies that lulled her to sleep, The Stories that served as her fairy tales.
All good men had good endings, her mother said.

As the eldest daughter from the primary branch of the noble family of Liu, Ah Shen of the Liu Household was naturally a treasured granddaughter to the great Liu Khan.
Lou Khan is widely known for his prestige as the prime minister and most favoured advisor to the emperor. His eldest son, Lou Shen's father, is also one of the most heroic generals and was given the title, North General Liu Zhi. There is ever only five generals in Qin, and for Lou Shen's father to be one of them, was a great honor for the entire family. He vanquished every army that threatened the borders he guarded and hung their heads in poles for all the world to see. He was viscous in battle and he taught all my brothers to be the same. But I was different. I was a daughter, and I was his only daughter. Born from Liu Wangfei, Fa Ruyi, whom was a renowned beauty of many talents, she and the general were known to be a match made in heaven. 
Pity, however, that thet were given such an unfilial daughter such as Liu Shen. As the only daughter of the first household, Liu Shen was favoured by all. Everything she wanted, as long as her family can obtain it, is hers. All she needed to do was say the word. So when the young foolish girl met a prince from the palace that didn't even bother to spare her a glance, she was surprised. Never had she even thought that there could be someone who'd think so little of herself. I
She was offended, but even more so, she was intrigued. He occupied her every thought day and night, she became obsessed. She wanted something she cannot have, and it only made her want him more.
Despite her mother's coaxing, and her father's rare scolding, she knelt at the ancestral hall for three whole months to show her sincerity, her elders sternly scolded her until they flushed red with anger. Their family have always avoided palace affairs, they kept their distance to avoid trouble, trouble Lou Shen couldn't understand them. Thus, she stubbornly kept her stance. Sighing heavily the head of the Liu Clan finally said, 'I will not support this decision of yours, but I will not hinder you either. How you get what you want must be done on your own. From now on, you are on your own'
Not caring for the weight of her grandfather's words, Liu Shen worked hard for years more, she studied poetry and palace etiquette relentlessly, she learned how to play the zither, pipa, erhu, lyre, and even a flute. She mastered the art of chess and Painting so excellently that her family didn't know whether to be proud of her achievements or ashamed that they were achieved for the purpose of attracting one man.
Lou Shen was a young girl of twelve when she first met him, but after four years great effort, she had become the number one beauty of Qin. She aced all womenly arts of Painting, Calligraphy, Poetry, Chess, and Music. She was a rare talent and beauty, and a countless of young men admired her. Countless of families wanted her as a daughter-in-law. Even the royal family were impressed. So much so, that an imperial edict came and she was given the title of a third ranked princess for being the most outstanding young lady of Qin. She was then on known as Princess Liu of third rank.
Unsurprisingly, the blessing came with an equal curse. By outshining so many of the other noble daughters, she had made countless of enemies. Women glared behind smiles wherever she went, the foolish ones that dared provoke me, well... let's just say, they never made the same mistake again. Lou Shen made sure of it herself. She could have, but she didn't. Despite being spoiled, she was still a young girl at that time and was unfortunately, a merciful one. If not stupidly naive. All they needed to do was cower and beg for mercy and Lou Shen would let them off.
She didn't even consider that they might hold grudge and wait for the right time to get revenge. No, instead, she foolishly thought that everything would go smoothly for her because of her identity. She even thought that perhaps those young ladies would even be greatfull for her mercy and would one day gladly return the favour.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
As soon as they got the chance, each and every one of the women that once begged me to spare them, that thanked me for my mercy, and even swore to make it up to me, all stabbed me behind my back. They worked together as one, treated Liu Shen like a blotch that had to be removed at all costs.

It was not a secret that Liu Shen longed to be with Prince Zhen Yu,
No, not at all.
Everyone with ears knew of it.
Lou Shen was the most outstanding young lady in the capotal, it didn't take long for the emperor to propose a marriage between the primeminister's residence and the imperial palace. Prince Zhen Yu agreed immediately, and ofcourse, Liu Shen felt like it was a dream come true.
At the age of 16, Liu Shen married into prince Zhen Yu's household, and in her eyes, things couldn't have been any better. He was kind and gentle and very sweet. He would spend hours playing chess, or chatting, or simply being together with her all day. They would eat our meals as much as they could. For as long as he didn't have any important matters to attend to, he would spend his time with me.
I believed I was not only a decoration, nor a woman to warm his bed, but was his confidante. Together we plotted our schemes and strived for his rise to the throne. Like many other men, he was ambitious. He wanted to be the emperor. And though Liu Shen never really wanted to be empress, she was prepared to do anything just to stand next to him. She dreamed so many times of how they would be rise to the throne and how they would rule all of Qin as magnificent rulers.
Years passed by, and while they slowly set their net and traps around the palace whilst pretending not to want the throne at all, their family grew. Lou Shen gave birth to the young soon-to-be crown prince, Zhen Chang Mi. Followed by a playful Zhen Li, and a beautiful Zhen Ya. Three wonderful children in total. They were the light to Liu Shen's life and she loved them dearly. Even more than she thought she could love any other. Admittedly, at times, even more than her own husband. Especially after Prince Zhen Yu became the Emperor. Though Liu Shen was his empress he took on tens of concubines, several of which threatened Liu Shen's position. Time passed and Zhen Yu started showing sides of him Liu Shen never even knew existed. She was met with coldness, short tempers, unreasonable demands, and outrageous decrees  Though Zhen Yu made Liu Shen his empress, Liu Shen found herself sitting on a gold-plaited throne. Gold in appearance but hollow on the inside. She was an Empress only in name, a phoenix caged with her wings clipped down.
She may have helped him climb on his throne, she may have bore him children, she may have been his rightful empress, but his heart was never truly hers. His noble concubine, had more power than the empress. She had his heart, his undying favor, and for her, he became muddle-headed.
Lou Shen was always beautiful, but after years of schemes, plots, and passing time, her beauty waned. Her family weakend with the demise of her grandfather, Liu Khan. Death by poisoning. Her cousin from her second uncle stood as witness and stated that she poisoned the elder. But only because Liu Shen forced her to. She said that Liu Shen wanted her father on the clan head's position. The kingdom was shocked, her family were enraged and the emperor was disgusted. Zhen Yu stripped her of all her titles and sent her to the cold palace immediately.  Without their maternal clan's  backing, Liu Shen's children became just as unfavoured as she.
At the lowest point, when she was sent to the cold palace, her handsome and clever crown prince, Zhen Chang Mi was poisoned. Energetic Zhen Li, my beautiful and kind, Zhen Ya, and even the little one that died in my belly. All of poisoning.
But the most unexpected of all was that the one accused was Liu Shen. Palace maids confessed to have poisoned the royal children under the command and threats of the dethroned empress. They claimed that the Liu Shen herself told them that if the children died, she could finally escape the palace. The emperor was so enraged that she slapped and kicked Liu Shen until she lay in a heaving heap of bruised and bleeding flesh. Heartlessly, he threw her into a lot of deadly snakes. All obsedian in colour, they were as dark as a moonless night without stars. But even their dark complexion was nothing compared to the charred heart that continued to burn small embers in Liu Shen's chest. In the pit full of slithering snakes, Liu Shen was bitten to death. Poison creeped from the monsters' fangs and blotched the skin underneath. Eyes beginning to blur she watched blue to deep violet blotch her limbs with poison. The blotches spread until not an inch of her skin remained free of poison. Her breath hitched into heavy pants and ever so slowly they calmed into absolute nothing.
Emperor Zhen Yu watched with cold eyes before striding off as of the woman that just died before him was a stranger rather than his empress of more than ten years and his wife for even longer. Noble Consort Yin, on the other hand stayed and watched with lips curved into a wicked smile, at last the thorn that have long been in her path unto becoming empress, have been removed. She couldn't help but say, "I've told you hundred times before that in the end, you would die a tortured woman by my influence. You should have listened, you should have stayed away. Alas, there are no Ifs in this world. Farewell dear sister, you have been such a good stepping stone" Striding off to follow her emperial husband, the Noble Consort left with a cruel chuckle.