The wind was biting cold, and snow was falling heavily.

On the execution platform, more than twenty prisoners, men, women, and children, were kneeling.

"It's noon, carry out the execution!"

The executioner threw down the execution warrant, and as the executioner's blade fell, a woman's piercing scream echoed from the city gate not far away:

"No!!!"

The cries of grief were heart-wrenching and echoed through the heavens.

The woman's eyes were bloodshot as she struggled desperately, but she was held down tightly and unable to move.

She could only stare through blurry, tear-filled eyes at the corpses scattered on the execution platform.

Those were her maternal grandfather, uncle, cousin...

"Sister, are you satisfied with the birthday gift that the Emperor specially prepared for you?"

Her cousin Shen Ying's voice was softer than snowflakes, but to Shen Wan, it sounded like it came from hell, chilling her to the bone.

satisfy? !

Shen Wan gave a sad smile.

Ignoring her father and brothers' advice, she insisted on marrying Xie Jingyin, devoting all her efforts to helping him eliminate his rivals and ascend the throne. What did she get in return?!

In return, on her birthday, he slaughtered her maternal grandfather's entire family, sparing not even a two-year-old child!

What did Shen Wan do to offend Xie Jingyin that she deserved such retribution?!

Shen Ying waved her hand, and the two eunuchs who were supporting Shen Wan stepped back. Without their support, Shen Wan collapsed to the ground.

She looked up at Chen Ying, her eyes filled with boundless hatred, "Why was he so cruel to me..."

"Why?!"

She screamed hysterically.

Even if she dies, she wants to die knowing why.

Shen Ying laughed as if she had heard a joke, "Cruel? This is nothing..."

She looked down at Shen Wan, "My dear sister, you don't really think your eldest brother drowned in the lake while drunk, do you? And your father, my dear uncle, didn't die from a relapse of his old illness either. Oh, and your child, the Emperor himself forced him to have an abortion..."

These words were like heavy hammer blows, striking Shen Wan's heart. The immense grief was like vines tightly binding her, suffocating her. She stared intently at Shen Ying.

Because of her miscarriage, she was unable to have children. After Xie Jingyin ascended the throne, the officials argued that she was not suitable to be made empress because she had no children. So he took her cousin, Shen Ying, into the harem and had Shen Ying give birth to a child and register it under her name...

The more moved she was by Xie Jingyin's plans for her back then, and the more grateful she was for Shen Ying's sacrifices for her, the more ridiculous she felt today.

They conspired to manipulate her, and she was still incredibly grateful to them!

Shen Ying's face was full of smugness. "Let me tell you, the Emperor has never liked you from beginning to end. He even despises you to the extreme. He married you because he had no other choice. Your father, Marquis Pingyang, is a general who holds military power. Your maternal family has amassed wealth that rivals that of a country. How could the Emperor allow you to marry someone else and shake his determination to become the crown prince?"

"The person the Emperor most wants to kill is you. If it weren't for Prince Ling's rebellion in the Northwest and the fact that he still has a use for you, the Emperor would have sent you to the underworld long ago to reunite with your father and brothers."

"You pitiful thing, still believing that the person who saved you back then was the emperor, and still so devoted to him..."

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Shen Ying pulled her bright red fox fur cloak tighter around her.

The maid stepped forward and said, "It's windy, Your Highness should return to the palace. Don't keep the Emperor waiting."

Shen Ying's face was filled with sweetness as she thought of the Emperor's tenderness and affection for her last night.

"No rush, let's see my dear sister off one last time."