Blood spattered out, drenching him from head to toe.
With an expressionless face, he sheathed his knife and turned to bow towards the carriage.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the traitor has been executed."
Li Sangruo, who had almost tumbled out of the carriage in anger just monts ago, relaxed after seeing the person dead, and slowly steadied herself to sit back down.
"Leave such traitors to the care of Director Wei," she said.
Wei Zheng acknowledged, then turned to look back.
The man was staring at him with eyes wide in terror, not quite dead yet.
But he couldn’t speak any longer, nor would he let anyone know that the instigator was the very person who had taken his life.
Wei Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, signaling to his attendants.
"Take him away! Clean the ground, do not sully the Empress Dowager’s sight."
Outside Cuiyu, there was an awkward silence.
To avoid offending the Empress Dowager with the sight of blood, Li Sangruo’s procession had entered through a side gate.
The officials followed in silence.
It was as if no one had seen what had just happened.
After such an ordeal, Li Sangruo was no longer in the mood for the welcoming feast.
Even though she wanted to speak with Pei Jue alone, under these circumstances, she too felt awkward and dared not face him.
She didn’t know what Pei Jue would think of her when he heard those rumors, whether he would also see her as a wilted flower and spoiled beauty?
He certainly would.
That’s why he had been so cold to her.
Li Sangruo clenched her hands tightly, not daring to look at Pei Jue again.
She was afraid she couldn’t control herself, that she would burst into tears in public, crying out her grievances, crying out the excruciating pain she had suffered ever since she learned she couldn’t marry him, and the longing for him during the endless years...
Li Sangruo was extrely tired.
She simply told everyone to disperse.
Leaving only Wei Zheng with her.
"Who was that person today?"
Wei Zheng said calmly, "Song Shou’an’s trusted aide. That dog escaped the other day, unexpectedly hiding here, went to the Empress Dowager to complain."
Li Sangruo fell silent for a mont, then spoke in a lowered voice.
"Is Song Shou’an dead?"
Wei Zheng looked up, his expression unchanged, though his eyes were chilling.
"Your Highness, that traitor is still waiting to see you," he said.
-
Cuiyu was built on a small island in the water, damp and cold.
Inside the woodshed, the light was dim, making the coldness even more severe.
Song Shou’an was bound to a wooden post in the woodshed just like that.
The brazier not far away held burning flas that could not warm him in the slightest.
Li Sangruo stood outside the door for a mont, then walked in slowly.
Knowing that Song Shou’an had been burned by fire, she was ntally prepared, but still gasped in shock when she suddenly saw his face, which had beco grotesquely distorted after the injury.
"Who is this?"
Wei Zheng bowed calmly.
"A traitorous minister, Song Shou’an."
Seeing his forr rival in such a state was indeed very satisfying for Wei Zheng.
Especially the look of disgust on Li Sangruo’s face, which pleased him.
But he did not forget what he had to do.
"I feared detection and have imprisoned the traitor here, waiting only for Your Highness to co to conduct a personal interrogation. So that Fang Fucai will be convinced beyond a doubt."
Li Sangruo glanced at him.
In the glowing firelight, her eyes were a cool ice, taking the testimony with a seal from Wei Zheng’s hand, her eyebrows furrowed, she sneered.
"You certainly know how to honor ."
She was speaking to Song Shou’an.
But Song Shou’an’s head hung low, his body covered in blood, his ssy hair hanging down, showing no reaction at all.
Li Sangruo: "Are you dead?"
She hoped he was dead.
But it seed Wei Zheng did not share the sentint.
He moved to one side, grabbed a bucket of water from the corner, and threw it on Song Shou’an right in front of Li Sangruo.
Song Shou’an moved.
A low moan, filled with pain and despair...
...Until he saw Li Sangruo’s face.
He then suddenly woke as if with a start, his eyes wide open.
"Your Highness... save , Your Highness..."
He struggled in his final monts, calling out weakly.
But on Li Sangruo’s face, there was not a trace of pity.
The person before her was no longer the sa face, his appearance now repulsive to her.
Such a rotten man, and yet she had once favored him for a long ti, granting him high office and power, wealth and splendor, but he was not satisfied, and consorted with prostitutes.
Moreover, before he ca to serve in her palace, he had already been tainted and had even killed his own wife with his hands...
Li Sangruo suddenly began to laugh.
It was unclear at whom she was laughing.
Under the dim firelight of the woodshed, her pale complexion took on a hint of cruel pleasure.
"You say Fang Fucai commanded you?"
Song Shou’an’s eyes were like dying embers, broken and lifeless.
At this mont, if soone would take him off the rack, let him lie down comfortably and grant him an easy death, he would not hesitate to accuse Fang Fucai as the instigator, even if it ant accusing the Empress Dowager...
"Yes," he said.
Fearing that Li Sangruo might not hear him, he nodded weakly again.
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