Soul of Searing Steel - Chapter 158: A Horizontal Sweep

He is Xi Liang’s legendary emperor: a decisive and ruthless king; a man of supreme wisdom; a cunning strategist.

According to legend, he once conferred the love meant for the three thousand concubines in his harem onto one woman, while the world watched in envy.

According to legend, he once executed a hundred people for her, turning the palace into a purgatory overnight.

According to legend, he ultimately sentenced that same woman to death by execution…

A conspiracy that swept through the country resulted in her tragic end. This lifetime seems to be a repeat of her past life. Can she escape the clutches of fate to attain true love in this life? In both lives, she was the Emperor’s wife, but is that ruthless man really her true love mandated by Heaven?

Did she really die, just like that?

In the end, beyond the veil of lies and mysteries, who exactly was she? Was she a woman that he truly loved, or was she merely a chess piece to be used in his political machinations?

The stories passed onto later generations remain fraught with conflicting opinions.

- Description from Novelupdates

She has been drawn into the life of the phoenix, such fate – “The Emperor Swallow”, but few days later she married the Prime Minister; she possesses beauty that overthrows cities and ruins states but also has a talented and virtuous mind, yet her husband is deeply in love with the Emperor’s doted consort. On their wedding night, his face filled with guilt, says to her: Apart from love, I can give you anything……

Though deep in nobility, her life is not monotonous, to pick up the new number one scholar from within the imperial palace, to rescue the Nu clan’s prince in the back alleys, and with the young general falling off the cliff, with the Emperor engaging in a battle of wits over the inner palace…….

Many men were unable to conquer her beauty and wisdom, yet when trying to win the beauty, they cannot let go of their plundering desires in lust for power. Within the imperial court, there is an underlying turbulence of disputing fronts. On the battlefield, there is the slaughtering of armoured cavalry……the tender grace of a beauty, hearts fuelled with lust for power, which is it that is the burial of such heroes?

Troubled times since the war, they survive in this strife, fighting to dominate this world, seizing the beauty that overthrows cities and ruin states……

The world, because of this beauty, is in chaos; but who is it that this beauty charmingly smiles at?

Defiance of natural order of a single young Dragon soul.

Thea fell in love with Ryder who is her childhood best friend.She kept her feelings hidden.A deceitful third party involvement manipulated Ryder into believing that she had broken his trust.~Exceprt~Thea's voice trembled as she grasped Ryder's hand. “Ry...Ryder, please listen.” she begged, her eyes pleading for his attention.Ryder jerked his hand free from Thea's grasp, his expression hardening into ice. “I don't want to hear anything from you.You're no one to me from now on.”“You are going to believe her?”her eyes welled up with tears.“I don't want to believe you..” Ryder spat, his eyes flashing with anger. “From now on, don't dare show your face to me.” With those cutting words, he turned and walked away,leaving Thea shattered, her body racked with sobs as she collapsed to the ground.Years passed Thea returned to the city working as a waitress to support her life.But fate delivered a cruel blow when Ryder and his fiancee walked into the restaurant.“Didn't I say you better stay away from us?How dare you appear in front of us?”Thea's voice trembled as she spoke, her heart heavy with emotion.“Ry...Mr. Thompson,” she corrected herself, her eyes locking onto his, “I never thought our paths would cross again, especially not here.”“I made it clear previously that I never wanted to see you again..” he said, each word cutting through Thea like a knife, reopening old wounds and slicing through her fragile heart.Thea's eyes welled up with tears as she gazed into Ryder's, “I didn't mean to hurt you, Ryder...” she implored, her gaze clinging to his, desperate for him to see the sincerity in her eyes and believe her words.He scoffed,“Hurt?I hate you for what you did to her.How can you hurt my woman?”Thea looked at his eyes to find the glimmer of the boy she once knew.But that boy was gone replaced by a man consumed by rage and hatred for her.She knew she lost him forever.Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes.Will Thea and Ryder ever find their way back to each other, or is their love lost forever, a casualty of misunderstandings and hurtful words? Will they be able to overcome the lies and betrayal that tore them apart, or will their hearts remain forever fractured?