Xu Jinlan looked at Lan Shanyang and realized that her greatest enemy in the deep palace had never been Hu Qianyu, but the man in front of her, the man who had always hated her.

“I know you hate me! You hate the Xu family! But there’s really nothing we can do! Who told you you didn’t have enough power to rule this empire! You feel you’ve endured so much, and we feel the same way. We’ve long since run out of time to live like this. Your Majesty, now that we’ve come to this point, there’s no point in talking about sentimentality. I certainly can’t go on living, but there’s one thing Your Majesty must do: please be lenient with me! Jia Yuan…”

"You want to plead for Lan Jiayuan?" Lan Shanyang looked coldly at the woman in front of him.

Xu Jinlan knelt before Lan Shanyang in the best possible position, her head pounding against the ground: "I know I was wrong! I am a sinner for all time! I deserve to die! But, Your Majesty, Jia Yuan is innocent! He is just a child, a child who has known nothing all these years! Please spare him, spare his life! We are the ones who committed the sins, it has nothing to do with him, please be merciful and let him go, just let him live!"

After saying this, Xu Jinlan kowtowed heavily on the ground, as if only in this way could she gain a sliver of kindness from Lan Shanyang and spare Lan Jiayuan's life.

Lan Shanyang looked at Xu Jinlan quietly, then slowly smiled, which gradually turned into a loud laugh.

After a while, Lan Shanyang stopped smiling, stood up, walked to Xu Jinlan, lowered his head slightly, and looked at her strangely: "Your shamelessness is truly astonishing! How did you come up with such a thing? What do you mean Lan Jiayuan is innocent? Let me tell you, his very existence is a disgrace to me! How could he be innocent? All these years, do you know why I didn't say anything and let him live and grow up properly?"

Xu Jinlan raised her head, her face covered in blood, and looked at Lan Shanyang in horror. Then she shook her head slightly, unable to control herself.

Lan Shanyang smiled faintly: "What's so hard to guess! I want him to grow up properly, to understand what shame, utter humiliation, and a living hell mean. Only in this way will my years of painstaking efforts not have been in vain!"

After saying that, Lan Shanyang stood up, gave a strange smile, and said in an even colder voice, "Xu Jinlan, do you think this matter is over just because you're dead? Wrong! Your death is just the beginning! I've suffered so many injustices over the years, I can't just let you people die so easily and that's the end of it! I've already come up with many, many good ways to deal with you, and you will all taste them!"

Xu Jinlan stared at Lan Shanyang as if he were a complete stranger, her trembling voice revealing her inner fear.

"Has Your Majesty been planning this for a long time? Does that mean you already knew about Jia Yuan and her background? Was everything you did intentional?"

Lan Shanyang smiled lazily: "Even if I dislike you, I still have some leniency towards my own son. But look, do I have any leniency towards your son? I've said it before, I only have one child, Linxue, in this lifetime. It's you who didn't believe it, always dreaming of impossible romantic dreams, which not only harmed my Meiying, but also caused my son to suffer so many years of injustice. Do you think I'll let you off so easily?"

After hearing Lan Shanyang say these words, Xu Jinlan was on the verge of collapse.

He knew! He had known all along! Everything he thought was a secret was nothing but a joke in his eyes.

Yet he knew everything, and still kept quiet. What kind of composure was that? What kind of ruthlessness? Lan Shanyang endured the most unbearable thing for a man for twenty years. Such cruelty would surely leave everyone living in hell, their bodies utterly destroyed. This was Lan Shanyang's plan: to make everyone alive experience what it truly meant to be worse than dead.

Xu Jinlan immediately reached out to grab Lan Shanyang's robe, but Lan Shanyang pushed her away in disgust.

"If you dare touch me again with those filthy hands, I'll chop them all off!"

Xu Jinlan quickly backed away, looking at Lan Shanyang in terror, shaking her hands repeatedly: "I won't touch it! I won't touch it! Your Majesty, I was wrong! If you hate me, hate me! I'll pay for it with my life, I'll do anything! Just please, spare Jia Yuan. Even if there's no blood relation, he's been by your side for twenty years..."

Before Xu Jinlan could finish speaking, Lan Shanyang kicked him to the ground.

"Xu Jinlan! From this moment on, I don't want to hear a single word from you, much less see you plead for Lan Jiayuan! Lin Xue just said that your life ends today. As a dead man, I'm only here to tell you that everything you ever wanted in this life was a mirage. You thought your Xu family could prosper forever, but let me tell you, after tomorrow, your Xu family will follow the path of the Qin family. How many kind people did Xu Ming burn to death with flames back then? I will make the Xu family pay for it with countless lives and blood! I'm only here to tell you not to die so young! Otherwise, I won't be happy. If I'm not happy, what do you think will happen to Lan Jiayuan in the end?"

After saying that, Lan Shanyang didn't linger and turned to walk outside.

As he passed by Lan Linxue, he simply said coldly, "Come with me!"

He walked over and didn't say another word.

Lan Linxue said nothing, lowered her head and followed Lan Shanyang out.

Xu Jinlan, who was behind her, watched Lan Shanyang walk out and suddenly rushed out as if she had gone mad.

"Your Majesty! Kill me! Kill me!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!