Chapter 162 His eyes were still open when he died.
Now that things have come to this, how could the Dowager not understand that all of this was clearly a scheme orchestrated by Achan?
She first turned Zhao Yin to the side, and then used the incense burner as bait to lure Huang Lin into the trap she had set long ago, all for today.
The Dowager Consort suddenly recalled what Zhao Yin had said before. He had first lured her out of the desolate forest to deal with A Chan, and today he had deliberately lured her out of the city.
She didn't even trust her own father, yet she never doubted Zhao Yin, and thus she easily fell into the trap.
The Empress Dowager hated Achan, who was secretly manipulating Zhao Yin, but at the same time, an uncontrollable fear welled up in her heart. She knew that this fox demon would not let her go.
The only chance now is Zhao Yin; we cannot give up easily, no matter what.
The Empress Dowager looked at Shang Yin: "Zhao Yin, do you know that the demon race's possession of human bodies is intolerable to Heaven and Earth? Helping her is aiding and abetting evil. No matter what she promised you, she is only using you. Don't be stubborn."
“I know she’s using me.” Shang Yin’s answer made the Dowager’s heart sink. He said, “Her purpose in approaching me was to use me to kill you. I’ve always known that.”
“That’s not how it is, Zhao Yin. You’ve just been bewitched by her. It’s not too late to stop now. Why risk your life for her?” The Dowager said earnestly. “You are my own grandson. What can’t we talk about properly as a family? I’ve wronged your mother. I know you resent me. I promise I will give you justice regarding the Shang family matter.”
The Dowager spoke with heartfelt sincerity, and Achan listened with great interest.
It seems the Dowager Consort used all the tenderness she had in her life to win Shang Yin's heart. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong person.
When the Empress Dowager finished speaking, Achan couldn't help but chuckle, which interrupted the emotions the other party had just been building up.
Sensing the Dowager Consort's venomous gaze, Achan deliberately asked Shangyin, "I think what the Dowager Consort said makes a lot of sense. What do you think?"
"Hmm," Shang Yin replied perfunctorily.
"Do you want to go back on your word? You are the one with the highest cultivation level here. If you want, you can overturn our previous agreement at any time."
Shang Yin glanced at her. Was he going to back out?
He was certain that if he dared to betray Achan, he would immediately become the next Huanglin.
Beneath Achan's harmless appearance lies a powerful demon.
He bent down and placed his hand on Zhao Xun's head. After a moment, Zhao Xun opened his eyes in a daze.
Seeing that he had woken up, Shang Yin finally spoke, "I will not go back on my word."
His answer made the Dowager's face turn completely ashen. She had already thought of countless ways to escape, but none of them were feasible. Zhao Yin's existence had blocked all possibilities.
The Dowager was filled with regret. The vicious dog she had trained for her own safety had turned on its master today.
Looking at the Empress Dowager's changing expression, Achan said, "I guess the Empress Dowager is now regretting sparing your life. She must be cursing you in her heart as an ingrate. Am I right, Empress Dowager?"
The Empress Dowager scoffed, her tone disdainful, "If you have the guts, then kill me. Don't waste your breath."
Achan clapped her hands, her tone full of admiration: "As expected of the Dowager Princess of the Northern Wilderness, she is truly admirable."
After saying that, she said to Shang Yin, "Since the Dowager Consort has made such a request, we must make sure she is satisfied."
At this moment, Shang Yin had already picked up the awakened Zhao Xun, pushed him next to the Empress Dowager, and said to him, "Tie her hands and feet."
At the same time, a roll of hemp rope was thrown at Zhao Xun.
Zhao Xun instinctively grabbed the rope, looking at Shang Yin and Chen Hui, who had just thrown the rope to him, with a terrified expression.
He had overheard their conversation and knew their purpose. Now, all that remained in his heart was fear.
"I...I..." Zhao Xun's hands, holding the hemp rope, trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing that he had been dawdling for a long time without making a move, Achan said lazily, "If he is unwilling, then deal with him and let his son do it."
"good."
Shang Yin agreed without hesitation. Seeing him walk towards him, Zhao Xun screamed, "I'll tie him up! I'll tie him up! Don't come any closer!"
Zhao Xun scrambled to his feet, ignoring the mud on his body. He looked away, not daring to meet the Empress Dowager's angry gaze, and tremblingly used hemp rope to bind her hands and feet.
When the Dowager saw that Zhao Xun actually dared to do as she was told, her chest heaved violently, and she angrily rebuked him: "Zhao Xun, how dare you! I am your own mother!"
Zhao Xun swallowed hard and replied softly, "Mother, I had no choice. They forced me to do this. You can understand me, right?"
The Dowager Consort, of course, could not understand helping the murderer harm her own son. She gritted her teeth and cursed, "How could I have given birth to such a heartless and ungrateful bastard like you! You even harm your own mother! You will die a horrible death!"
Knowing she could not escape death, the Dowager was filled with anger and despair. She no longer cared about her image and wanted to curse all those who had harmed her with the most vicious words.
In her eyes, Zhao Xun is now one of the accomplices.
Zhao Xun was berated by her, his face turning ashen. Just as the Empress Dowager was about to scold him again, Zhao Xun suddenly slapped her across the face.
After the crisp sound of the slap, the Empress Dowager stared at Zhao Xun with disbelief.
Zhao Xun's angry panting could be clearly heard. He pointed at himself and said, "I'm a lowly bastard? Aren't you lowly too? You climbed to the position of the Northern Wilderness King by stepping on my father's corpse, and you don't want to acknowledge me, thinking I'm your disgrace? You abandoned me to the Zhao family and ignored me, but when you remember me, you give me a look like you're teasing a dog, and then you think I should be grateful, right?"
You think I'm not worthy to be your son, and only Bai Zhanhuang is your son, right? Too bad Bai Zhanhuang can't save you.
As he spoke, he used hemp rope to tightly bind the Empress Dowager's hands, tying a secure knot, and then went to bind her feet.
After tying the man up, Zhao Xun was still furious. He turned to Shang Yin and said, "I've tied him up. What else do you want?"
Shang Yin pointed to the wooden frame standing not far away and said to him, "Hang her up there."
"No, Zhao Xun, put me down!" The Empress Dowager finally reacted and screamed incessantly, but Zhao Xun did not hesitate to hang her on the sturdy wooden frame.
"Do you have a butcher's knife?" Shang Yin asked Chen Hui.
Chen Hui turned and left, and returned shortly afterward carrying two boning knives.
Shang Yin took the knife, walked behind Zhao Xun, put one of the boning knives into his hand, and then held his hand.
"Father." Shang Yin called out to him, and Zhao Xun shuddered, instinctively tightening his grip on the knife in his hand.
What are you going to do?
Shang Yin's voice rang in his ear: "Today, only one of you and the Empress Dowager can leave here alive."
Zhao Xun's upper and lower teeth began to chatter, making a rattling sound.
“Compared to the Dowager Consort, there’s no deep-seated hatred between my father and me, don’t you think?” Shang Yin gently patted Zhao Xun’s shoulder. “So, I still hope you can have a chance to live.”
“Zhao, Zhao Yin, she is, after all, your grandmother.”
"So you want to die in her place?" Shang Yin's voice was full of doubt. "It's not impossible."
"No, I..."
“I know, Father just misspoke.” Shang Yin’s tone softened, as if to comfort him. “You’ve probably never killed anyone with your own hands, right? It’s okay, you can treat her like a pig. Just find the right angle and stab her.”
Shang Yin released his hand, nudged the stiff-bodied Zhao Xun, and said encouragingly, "Go."
The Dowager Consort watched in horror as Zhao Xun approached, boning knife in hand, her eyes filled with terror as she repeatedly cried out, "No, no, stop..."
However, Zhao Xun seemed possessed, his eyes wide open and bloodshot: "Mother, don't blame me, I just want to live."
Then, he strode to the wooden frame, closed his eyes, and stabbed it with a knife.
With a soft thud, the blade pierced the body, and warm liquid splashed onto the face and hands. The scream was piercing, but only a few people present could hear it.
Zhao Xun opened his eyes, looked down, and saw that his knife had stabbed the Empress Dowager in the side.
Shang Yin clapped his hands behind him: "Well done, keep it up."
Zhao Xun pulled out his knife and then stabbed him again.
At first, his hands trembled with fear. After his two attempts, the Dowager was in excruciating pain, screaming repeatedly. She went from cursing at first to begging him to give her a quick death.
Hearing the Empress Dowager's pleas, a hint of reluctance flashed across Zhao Xun's face. When he stabbed her again, he aimed for her heart, but the knife suddenly veered off course as it pierced her chest.
The Empress Dowager's clothes were already soaked in blood, and dark red blood pooled on the ground. Despite being stabbed so many times and losing so much blood, she still had the strength to cry out in pain.
Achan sat in her chair watching this scene unfold, seeing Zhao Xun plunge the knife in again and again, each time he missed a vital spot. She counted; this was already the eighth stab.
The suspended concubine swayed, just as she had once told Shang Yin, like half a pig hanging on a butcher's stall.
Zhao Xun was covered in blood and had lost control. He stared at the Empress Dowager with wide eyes and asked her repeatedly, "Why aren't you dead yet?"
The Empress Dowager's mouth was agape, filled with blood. The pain had caused her to bite off a piece of flesh from her tongue. Her eyes were open as she listened to Zhao Xun's words, wondering to herself, why wasn't she dead yet?
Achan's gaze shifted from the nearly insane Zhao Xun to Zhao Zeqian, who had just woken up.
She realized she had underestimated Shang Yin's vengefulness; his consciousness, imprisoned by his body for twenty years, was indeed only outwardly normal.
Shang Yin was speaking to Zhao Zeqian. He said, "This time, it's your turn, little brother. Only one of you and your father can survive."
He added, "I didn't want to involve you, but Dad insisted on bringing you here. You have to do something to prove yourself."
Then another knife was shoved into Zhao Zeqian's hand, and Zhao Zeqian gripped it.
Zhao Zeqian was indeed much more ruthless than Zhao Xun. He gripped his knife, got up from the ground, quickly walked behind Zhao Xun, and then plunged the knife into his back.
Zhao Xun's movements froze. He turned his head with difficulty and saw only Zhao Zeqian's face, which was twisted and contorted with rage from the exertion.
"Ze... Ze..." He opened his mouth, then collapsed to the ground, and fell silent.
The Dowager Consort watched helplessly as her own grandson killed her own son. The next moment, she saw Zhao Zeqian stare in horror, his hand holding the knife rising uncontrollably, and he stabbed it viciously into his heart.
The knife tip pierced in and then pulled out, and warm blood sprayed all over the Empress Dowager's head and face.
Under the watchful eyes of the Dowager Empress, Zhao Zeqian also collapsed. Now, she had not only lost her son, but also her grandson.
When everything calmed down, Shang Yin walked step by step toward the Empress Dowager.
He stood in front of the wooden frame, took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the Empress Dowager's face, but there was so much blood that the handkerchief couldn't clean it properly; instead, it smeared blood everywhere, making it look rather gruesome.
Shang Yin's movements were gentle, and his voice was mild. He said, "When my mother died, she was hung in the cell just like this, exactly the same position you are in now."
The Dowager Princess spoke weakly, her voice muffled and pitiful: "I was wrong, kill me."
Shang Yin shook his head: "How could the Dowager Consort be wrong? You don't think you're wrong either, do you? Do you know why you ended up like this?"
He didn't need the Empress Dowager's response, and answered his own question: "Because of Achan."
"Your Highness, aren't you curious why Zhao Yin, who was once so obedient to you and would give his life for you, would betray you? Why would he help Achan?"
"Why?" the Empress Dowager gasped. Even if she died, she wanted to know why she had lost.
Shang Yin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Because I am not Zhao Yin. Zhao Yin is just a fragment of my consciousness that was separated from me. Later, he took control of my body. He was just a little bit away from making me disappear completely."
Seeing the Empress Dowager's blank expression, Shang Yin sighed softly, "Only A Chan discovered me. She never liked to meddle in other people's business, so she never thought of helping me. Until you sent someone to kill her, and I went to inform her."
"It was you?" The Empress Dowager finally understood why A-Chan was able to escape before she could.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths, and in the end, managed to get someone into the capital.
“It’s me.” Shang Yin tidied the Empress Dowager’s disheveled hair and continued to satisfy her curiosity. “Shortly after I arrived in the capital, A Chan found me and then awakened my consciousness.”
"So that's how it is..." she murmured softly.
"Yes, it's that simple," Shang Yin said with a smile. "This is probably what they mean by 'those who harm others will not have a good end,' don't you think?"
The Empress Dowager lifted her eyelids and looked at Achan, who was still sitting motionless not far away. She could hardly see him anymore, but she could feel Achan's gaze.
That was a dismissive look; she didn't take him seriously at all.
Many times before, Achan had looked at him with that same gaze.
She was just a fox demon who had wandered into a human dwelling, ignorant and naive, yet she was arrogant and indifferent to everything.
She loathed that look; it reminded her of the Shang family members she once knew.
They were just ordinary people, yet they flaunted their so-called family background in front of her. What good was their deep family background if they were all wiped out in the end?
The Empress Dowager suddenly felt very cold. She heard a series of screams in her ears. Were those the voices of the Shang family? Were they cursing her, cursing her, the one who brought the Northern Wilderness King, to die a horrible death?
She tried to hear their voices, but the cold and pain blurred her consciousness, and she could no longer hear them. The more she tried, the more desperate she became.
Their curse brought her to this state; they must have come back for revenge!
The Empress Dowager died from excessive blood loss. From the time she was stabbed by Zhao Xun until her death, she held on for a full three hours before finally taking her last breath.
He died with his eyes still open.
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