Other Turn of Lanling

Prologue

Prologue:

'Beauty as if ascended from heaven; skin as white as snow, lips as red as rose, eyes as black as coal.'

'He's a general yet too beautiful to scare his enemies, unfortunately charming them in reverse.'

'I've heard some of his enemies became pursuers, betraying their own nation for the prince.'

'He had to wear an ominous mask everytime during the battle to scare off his enemies.'

'The emperor had taken suspicions towards him, that was why he poisoned him.'

'His tomb was raided and they had found it empty of his corpse.'

'Does that mean the emperor actually keeping him away from folks eyes? For what?'

'Some sick entertainment? How should I know? Maybe the tomb raider had taken his corpse. He's so beautiful when he was alive, I bet no one could resist him even if it was just a dead body of him.'

'As the folks had said, beauty is really a curse rather than blessing.'

Gao Changgong, in the North Qi Kingdom of the southern and northern dynasties, the forth son of Emperor Wenxiang, also known as Prince Lanling (兰陵王), was famous for his diligence, modesty, military talent and, of course, charming looks.
But not everyone was lucky enough to witness his charm. It was said that as a military general his face too pretty to scare enemies, so he had to wear an ugly mask in battles.

However, competence, talent and reputation led Prince Lanling to his death. When his cousin Gao Wei ascended the throne, Prince Lanling's existence upset him a lot. Realizing the emperor suspicions and ill will towards him, Prince Lanling often pretended to be sick, stayed away from wars and politics as to lay low from the eyes of the emperor. However, his low profile didn't save him. Finally in 573 A.D, the emperor sent him a cup of poisonous wine, Prince Lanling was forced to drink it and died in his early 30's.

These were what the book had written. But these were not exactly how fate was woven.