My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Yao Jingyuan looked up and around upon hearing the sound.

He was dragged here with his eyes closed the whole way, and he really didn't know where he was being taken, only that it wasn't far from Shu Rou's bedroom.

His trembling gaze carefully swept over the entire palace.

Broken tiles and bricks, cobweb-covered pillars, half-collapsed steps, and even a dry well in the courtyard.

I was wondering when such a dilapidated place had appeared in the palace...

A sudden thought struck me.

Yao Jingyuan was jolted as if struck by lightning, his pupils dilating suddenly.

here……

This is Zhaohua Palace!

My unease grew stronger.

But Yao Jingyuan still forced himself to speak, his voice trembling even more than before: "Your Majesty, this place...this place is Zhaohua Palace."

Shu Jingwei's voice was emotionless, indifferent: "Oh? You recognized me at a glance? This is my first time here."

She paused for a moment.

Just then, a gust of wind suddenly rushed in, causing the two rows of palace lanterns to tilt to one side, their light and shadows swaying violently on the ground.

"Tell me, who was it that stopped me from coming in the first place?"

Yao Jingyuan's mind went blank.

He hurriedly kowtowed, his forehead pressed against the stone bricks: "It's my fault! It's all my fault! I was jealous of Ye Fan's abilities back then, it's all my fault! I'll accept whatever punishment Your Majesty deems appropriate, I just beg Your Majesty to spare my life!"

Thinking about why he was able to return, he grasped at a straw like a drowning man, suddenly raising his head, his eyes brightening again, and quickly added:

"Rou'er! Yes, Rou'er is still waiting for me in the palace! Your Majesty, you only let me return because of Rou'er, didn't you? Rou'er can't be without her father! I raised her since she was little, Your Majesty, please think of Rou'er—"

As he spoke, he crawled on his knees to Shu Jingwei's feet, grabbed her soft fox fur coat, and cried uncontrollably, trying to evoke even the slightest bit of tenderness in Shu Jingwei.

Didn't she let me come back for her daughter's sake?

For Shurou's sake, we definitely won't let him die, right? Right!

However, Shu Jingwei never looked at him again.

She simply tilted her head back, her gaze fixed on the dilapidated plaque, and spoke softly:

"Rou'er doesn't need a father like you who is jealous and ruthless."

"You should go and apologize to Ye Fan."

After she finished speaking, she made a gesture to the guards behind her.

Two imperial guards obeyed and approached Yao Jingyuan, getting closer and closer.

Yao Jingyuan's eyes were about to burst.

The last glimmer of hope in my heart was uprooted and crushed to dust on the ground.

He knew that this time, he was truly finished.

He suddenly laughed.

The laughter squeezed out from deep in his throat, growing louder and sharper from a soft "ha" until it became an almost manic howl.

Saliva dripped from the corner of his grinning mouth, hanging on his chin, and was chilled by the wind.

"Shu Jingwei! Shu Jingwei, oh Shu Jingwei—"

He forced himself to stand up and dodged the hands of the two guards who were grabbing him.

His gaze was fixed on the woman who hadn't turned around, his eyes filled with resentment and malice.

"You think you'll get away with this? Let me tell you—"

He was shoved to the ground by more guards, half his face pressed against the cold stone bricks, his mouth deformed from the pressure, but he was still shouting.

I imagine Shu Rou is probably meeting with that damned divine messenger by now.

Yao Jingyuan laughed even more maniacally, his voice spitting out each word through clenched teeth: "You will surely—be betrayed by everyone! Die a miserable death! Hahahaha—hahahahaha—"

Laughter echoed through the empty, abandoned palace, causing Shu Jingwei to frown uncomfortably.

Before the words were even finished, the guard, realizing what was happening, quickly drew his sword and pierced the man's chest with a single blow.

"puff."

Yao Jingyuan's laughter stopped abruptly.

His mouth was still open, maintaining the shape of a "ha".

Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, more and more, dripping down his cheeks onto the uneven stone bricks with a soft pattering sound.

His limbs began to twitch, and his fingers unconsciously dug at the dirt in the cracks between the floor tiles.

But Yao Jingyuan's eyes remained wide open, blood gushing out along with his words: "Shu Jingwei... I'm downstairs... waiting for you..."

After uttering his last words, his body convulsed violently, and then he remained motionless.

The guard knelt down to confirm that Yao Jingyuan had stopped breathing before standing up and reporting back to Shu Jingwei.

……

Lin Ye sat in front of the Heavenly Mirror, quietly watching everything.

Only after Yao Jingyuan had completely stopped moving did he take his phone down and look at it again.

"Old Ye," Lin Ye said, a slight smile playing on his lips, his voice barely audible to himself.

"This is the first one."

……

Shu Jingwei didn't take Yao Jingyuan's curses to heart at all.

It was just a dying rant—

Even a dog barks twice before it's beaten to death, so what's the big deal?

She waved her hand, her voice even calmer than before: "Dispose of the body. Wipe the floor clean, don't leave any traces."

With Yao Jingyuan dead, the tightness in my chest that had been pressing on me for days finally eased a bit.

Shu Jingwei tilted her head to signal, and the palace servants beside her immediately stepped forward and opened the main hall door in front of her.

The moment the door was pushed open, a musty smell mixed with dust rushed out, making Shu Jingwei cough twice.

Spiderwebs hung down from the lintel, fluttering in the wind stirred up by the door.

She avoided the spider web and went inside.

Moonlight streamed through the perforated window paper, spreading in streaks across the ground and making the dust appear as if covered in snow.

The old tables and chairs were covered with a thick layer of dust, and the teapot in the corner was overturned on the table, so dirty that its original color was no longer visible.

Shu Jingwei stood there, the wind blowing in from the porch outside the door, blowing her half-up hair wildly, then slowly letting it fall back down.

"Fan Lang."

She spoke tentatively, her voice echoing in the empty hall, sounding faint and distant.

"I've avenged you, did you see?"

Her voice was no longer as cold and hard as it had been when she was facing Yao Jingyuan; instead, it was a deliberately softened tone, carrying a hint of probing and ingratiation.

"It was all Yao Jingyuan's fault for interfering and driving a wedge between you and me. I was deceived by him back then and did some... some foolish things."

She took two more steps inside.

"Now he's finally dead. I'm personally sending him down to you as an atonement."

"Please come back and help me, okay?"

She stopped, looked up, and her voice suddenly rose a little, carrying a hint of urgency.

"Or—or you could have your brother help me!"

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, her voice growing faster and more urgent, as if afraid of being interrupted:

"I can erect a monument for you! The biggest monument! Build a temple! Let all people offer incense to you, generation after generation, so that the incense may never cease—"

She knew Ye Fan was dead, and she also witnessed Lin Ye taking his body away.

but--

He's such a resourceful person, with so many amazing abilities, what if...?

What if he left some kind of backup plan here before he died?

What if his soul hasn't completely dissipated and is still watching her from some corner of this dilapidated hall?

Her elite forces have been completely wiped out, and the powerful families in the court are still eyeing her covetously.

Wang Meng's forces are pressing forward relentlessly, and it looks like they're about to reach the capital!

She really couldn't think of any other way...