Chapter 186 The Truth

The empty yard was immediately filled with darkness and an oppressive feeling.

Even when they surrounded County Magistrate Cao, they kept jumping off the roof, with an expression of disbelief on County Magistrate Cao's face.

"Who are you?"

"Of course I am his man." Shen Anan said calmly, "Lord Cao wouldn't think that I would be so stupid as to come here alone to die knowing that there is a fraud."

His pupils suddenly shrank. "I am an official appointed by the imperial court. If you dare to touch me, the emperor will not let you go. You will be charged with the same crime as the fourth prince."

"It's okay," Shen Anan walked out from the group of men in black and stood at the front. Her hair hanging on her temples fluttered in the wind, but her words were cold and unfeminine.

"Then leave it all here. This way, no one will know what happened tonight."

The face of Cao Jun Shou slowly turned purple. He never expected that a woman like Shen Anan would be so cruel.

"Since you know that everything I did today was in accordance with the orders of His Majesty, do you think that if I die, I can hide it from His Majesty?"

"Why do you want to hide it?" Shen Anan didn't care, "I'm not as skilled as others, I admit it, and he has to admit it too."

As long as Xiao Yuan was not implicated, if the emperor dared to use her to deal with Xiao Yuan, he would have to bear the cost of backlash.

"Qingfeng, let's do it."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qingfeng rose from the ground, and the knife in his hand was like the pen of the devil that reaped lives. In an instant, a large number of people fell down.

With the addition of the men in black, the offensive against the governor of Cao County was almost overwhelming.

The cold wind howled, and the smell of blood mixed with roars rang out in the yard, slowly tearing apart the silent night.

Shen Anan doesn't know kung fu, but she can still give finishing blows. For those officers and soldiers who were injured in the fight and fell to the ground, she would raise her knife and give them a fatal blow.

There were countless streaks of bright red blood on her face and body, making her look eerie and creepy, like a ghost from hell.

"Chen An'an, you...you're crazy," Cao County Magistrate's voice trembled uncontrollably, "You are slaughtering people. I am an official appointed by the court. After tonight, even if you are the prince's consort, you will not be tolerated by the world and will be the target of public criticism.

Even the Fourth Prince can’t protect you. ”

Shen Anan wiped the still warm blood off her face with a handkerchief and looked at County Magistrate Cao who was huddled behind the table.

"I have always been crazy and don't know how to scheme, but... I like to fight to the death, and destroy everything. As long as I can achieve my goal, it's fine."

Li Huaiyan dealt with one person and quickly moved closer to Shen Anan, "Shen Anan, are you okay?"

"It's okay." She shook her head and stared at Magistrate Cao, whose face turned pale with fear under the table.

Li Huaiyan frowned and said, "What that person said makes some sense. If we massacre Tianshui City today, I'm afraid there will be no place for you in the capital. It's better to capture the Cao first and then think of a solution when we return."

Shen Anan said nothing, but walked towards the governor of Cao County step by step. Lord Li and Gu Chen had already died under the chaotic swords.

"Chen An'an." Li Huaiyan could only follow and deal with the officers and soldiers who tried to get close to her.

Cao Jun Shou poked his head out from under the table tremblingly, and looked up at Shen Anan, who was covered in blood. Under the moonlight, the woman's cold and cruel eyebrows looked more like a demon.

He swallowed and said, "The Emperor has already known about tonight's operation. As long as I die, you will definitely be held accountable. How can you explain hundreds of lives?"

"And those men in black, you must have transferred them from the army, right? Even the only heir of the Qi family will be implicated. You..."

Puff——

His voice was cut off abruptly by the sound of a sharp blade cutting into flesh.

The long knife in Shen Anan's hand pierced his shoulder blade, and blood gushed out like a pillar, flowing all over the ground.

"I can tell whether they are settling accounts for me alone or for everyone in the Fourth Prince's Mansion. How can a dead person point fingers at the Qi family?"

Perhaps because of the bright red color that dazzled his eyes, Li Huaiyan felt a little uncomfortable and turned his head slightly.

But the whole courtyard was already red, and blood was flowing on the ground like water, making a dripping sound.

Everyone says Shen Anan doesn't love Xiao Yuan? Now, Li Huaiyan doesn't believe it.

If he didn't love her, how could he massacre a government office with blood? That was more than a hundred lives. Even he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling.

"I know why you came to Jiangnan." Cao Jun Shou suddenly said, "If you let me go, I will tell you what the secret hidden by the emperor is. Don't you want to avenge your grandmother?"

"You know my identity, right? I am the only person in the world besides the emperor who knows the truth. If you kill me, you will never be able to avenge your grandmother in this life."

At this time, Qingfeng and others slowly stopped their actions. All those wearing officers' and soldiers' uniforms fell to the ground, and the rest stared in the direction of Shen Anan.

She said nothing, but after a moment's silence she suddenly pulled out the sharp knife.

A glimmer of hope rose in the eyes of Cao County Magistrate. "In fact, the real cause of your grandmother's death was the Fourth Prince's mother, Concubine Shu."

"Back then, my little sister accompanied her fiancé to the capital to take the imperial examination. Once that bastard passed the exam and worked in the Hanlin Academy, he wanted to get rid of my little sister."

"He met a noble lady in the palace at Xiangjue Temple and had an affair with her. The emperor caught him and sentenced him to death. That noble lady was Concubine Shu!"

"She didn't die of illness, but was secretly executed by the Emperor out of consideration for the royal family's reputation!"

Cao County Magistrate's eyes were blazing, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Why do you think the emperor treated the fourth prince and refused to hand over the throne to him? It's because he is not the heir to the throne at all, but the wicked... offspring of Concubine Shu and my ruthless brother-in-law."

The last word was only a soft whimper, and County Magistrate Cao looked at Shen Anan's bloody knife in disbelief as it drew an arc in the air, with blood splattering out.

He clutched his neck tightly and fell to the ground.

The governor of Cao County died.

Shen Anan stood in front of his body and didn't move for a long time, like a sculpture.

"Chen An'an," Li Huaiyan said worriedly, "Don't believe him. Concubine Shu is not that kind of person. This may be a stopgap measure for him to delay."

Li Huaiyan knew what Old Madam Shen represented to Shen Anan.

Including marrying Xiao Yuan, it was all to give an explanation for Madam Shen's death.

She said nothing, but just stood there quietly, looking at the body of Magistrate Cao.

The cold wind was howling, becoming more and more biting, and the smell of blood made people's noses sore.

Shen Anan finally threw away the knife in his hand and ordered Qingfeng, "Tomorrow morning, spread the news that the Tianshui City government office was attacked by bandits and no one survived."

She walked out of the house in the night, and apart from this instruction, she did not speak to anyone else. Her back looked lonely and cold.

Qingfeng stayed to clean up the mess. When Li Huaiyan found Shen Anan, she was sitting in the Shen family yard in a daze.

He walked over and sat down beside her, wanting to say something but not knowing how to comfort her.

"Since you know that he and the emperor are in cahoots, you know that the bastard's words cannot be trusted."

"So I killed him." Shen Anan's voice couldn't be any softer.

And the truth was completely shattered with the death of Cao Pei, and she no longer had the chance to avenge her grandmother.

In fact, all she wanted was to make the emperor's scandal known to the world, at least to give an explanation for her grandmother's death.

But the moment Cao Pei said it, what she wanted was to let this secret disappear completely, bury it tonight, and not let a single word of it spread out.

Because once the news gets out, it will be an almost devastating blow to Xiao Yuan. Not to mention seizing the throne, even protecting himself will be extremely difficult.

When will he slowly walk into her heart again and be able to influence her decision?

Shen Anan raised her hand to cover half of her face, her shoulders shrugging slightly.

Hundreds of lives were lost in her hands. The blinding red was like a pair of scarlet eyes staring at her.

"I am just an executioner, no different from the man in Fengtian Hall."

"No." Li Huaiyan shook his head slowly.

"They were the first to attack. It was the Emperor who left no chance for the Fourth Prince's Mansion to survive. If you don't kill them tonight, when you return to the capital, the bodies piled up will be those of the Fourth Prince's Mansion, the Chen Mansion, and all your relatives and friends."

"And Xiao Yuan!!"

Since ancient times, the road to power has been either you die or I die. "Your decisiveness has saved many lives, far more than a hundred."

Shen Anan opened her eyes from between her fingers, and the dark night spread into a thick ink color in her almond-shaped eyes.

"You're right. The emperor has planned everything. Even if I don't come this time, someone else will. Then, we will be like fish on the chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered."

If she comes, at least those conspiracies can be put to an end here.

——

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.

It was already the second evening when the emperor received the news. He raised his head from the pile of memorials and took the letter handed to him by the eunuch.

When he saw the contents of the letter, his pupils gradually dilated, "Is Cao Pei dead?"

"Yes." The man in black who was kneeling under the dragon table said, "Not only Lord Cao, but also Magistrate Li of Tianshui City and hundreds of officers and soldiers were slaughtered overnight."

"How is it possible?" the emperor was furious. "Who is so bold as to kill an official of the imperial court?"

"It's said that it was done by bandits. The news has spread all over Tianshui City now."

"Nonsense!" The emperor slammed the dragon table and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"You should step down first."

The man in black kowtowed and left the imperial study. The chief eunuch immediately poured the emperor a cup of tea and handed it to him, "Your Majesty, calm down."

The tea placed on the dragon table was swept away by the emperor's dragon sleeve and fell to the ground, making a sharp cracking sound.

"I underestimated that girl. She is really brave."

A palace maid came in to pick up the porcelain pieces, but was driven away by the chief eunuch. "Your Majesty, do you mean that the massacre in the government office was done by the Fourth Prince's wife?"

The emperor sneered, "Who else could it be except her!"

Cao Pei has been waiting for a long time. As long as he accuses the fourth brother of a crime and escorts Shen An'an back, the court will be settled. Once Ye'er comes back, he can be crowned the crown prince.

But now, she is dead. She killed imperial officials and more than a hundred lives. That woman was really brave.

The chief eunuch frowned and said hesitantly, "Didn't everyone say that the Fourth Prince's wife married the Fourth Prince for revenge? Didn't the Emperor tell her the truth?"