When the Imperial Noble Consort heard her child calling out to her in heart-wrenching cries, her heart felt as if it had been pierced by a thousand sharp arrows.
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she turned her head away, unable to look at her son.
Given the current state of the battle, the Imperial Noble Consort knew that the Xie family's defeat was inevitable, but she felt extremely unwilling.
Originally, he only wanted to raise a sharp knife to kill for him, but unexpectedly, the knife ended up becoming a weapon that pierced his own heart.
The woman surnamed Xie tried to calm her turbulent emotions, deliberately ignoring her son's presence, and angrily said to Ye Qingzhu, "Summon Chu Yu to see me..."
Ye Qingzhu intended to refuse Xie's suggestion, but unexpectedly, a sound came from the crowd.
Chu Yu walked to Ye Qingzhu's side and raised his hand to signal her to put down her sword, preventing her from harming the Nineteenth Prince.
Ye Qingzhu was very puzzled, "Godfather?"
Chu Yu cast a glance at Ye Qingzhu, his expression stern and authoritative.
Although Ye Qingzhu did not understand why this was necessary, she still put down her sword and ordered her men to release control over the nineteenth prince.
As soon as the nineteenth prince saw that the others had let go of him, he immediately ran to Lady Xie's arms, crying. Like a chick desperately seeking a sense of security in its mother's embrace, he hid behind Lady Xie with a frightened expression.
The woman surnamed Xie looked at the man wearing a blue mask before her and sneered, "What? You don't dare to face me with your true face now?"
The Dark Moon Pavilion Master smiled, seemingly responding to Xie's question.
Under everyone's gaze, he removed his mask, revealing a gentle and refined face.
Seeing the man's appearance, Xie's wife laughed with a hint of self-mockery, "I knew it was you... Lu Yuanxiu, you've been lying to me from beginning to end."
Lu Yuanxiu did not refute, but only smiled at Xie Shi, his eyes filled with sympathy for her, "Yao'er, I did not lie to you. I am also Lu Yuanxiu, also Chu Yu, also the Dark Moon Pavilion Master. They are all me..."
Looking at the man she had been longing for, Xie's wife gave a bitter smile. "Tell me, was our meeting part of your entire scheme from beginning to end...?"
Lu Yuanxiu remained silent and did not answer Xie's question.
Seeing his attitude, Xie's daughter was furious and roared, "Tell me!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuanxiu looked up at her and said in a deep voice, "That's right, my encounter with you was indeed a scheme of mine."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yaohuan burst into laughter. "How ridiculous... how ridiculous... for twenty whole years, I never thought that I, Xie Yaohuan, would end up being nothing but a joke."
Twenty years ago, fifteen-year-old Xie Yaohuan encountered bandits while hiking in the countryside. Just when her life was hanging by a thread, she met twenty-year-old Lu Yuanxiu.
He was so dashing back then, and just one fleeting glance from him completely captivated her heart.
At that time, she was the most favored daughter of the Xie family. She could have whatever she wanted, and the men who wanted to marry her were so numerous that they almost wore down the threshold of the Xie mansion.
However, Xie Yaohuan only had eyes for Lu Yuanxiu.
At the age of twenty, Lu Yuanxiu was still a scholar who had repeatedly failed the imperial examinations. He had no money, no future, and all his relatives had passed away. He was all alone in this vast world.
Xie Yaohuan didn't know why she had been so blinded by love and fallen for a man like Lu Yuanxiu.
She desperately tried to get close to him and fell in love with him.
Even after learning that he was a descendant of the Chu family from the previous dynasty, Xie Yaohuan still did not give up on the feelings that were mixed with hatred for her family and country.
Finally, she boarded Lu Yuanxiu's lone boat. In order to help her beloved complete the great cause of restoring the country, Xie Yaohuan did not hesitate to gamble with the Xie family and enter the palace. She climbed step by step from an ordinary concubine to the position of Imperial Concubine, just one step away from the position of Empress.
For twenty long years, she went from a graceful young girl to a jealous woman in the palace, all for the half of the country and the position of empress promised by her beloved. Now, the Xie family has become his stepping stone, and sweet words have become poison.
Is this karma?
The Xie family has now been wiped out by the Dark Moon Pavilion, not even newborn babies were spared. Apart from the nineteenth prince, no one in the Xie family survived.
Xie Yaohuan was heartbroken, and her ruthlessness towards Lu Yuanxiu reached an unprecedented peak.
With defeat already decided, Xie Yaohuan no longer wanted to put up any more futile resistance.
Xie Yaohuan stared at the man before her, her eyes filled with hatred, and let out a hoarse roar, "Lu Yuanxiu, I hate you! I, Xie Yaohuan, swear that even if I die and become a vengeful ghost, I will not let you go!"
After saying this, Xie Yaohuan snatched the sword from the guard beside her, said nothing to the nineteenth prince behind her, and then raised the sword to commit suicide.
When the nineteenth prince saw his mother commit suicide in front of him, he was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he crawled to Xie Yaohuan's side like a stray dog.
He reached out and covered Xie Yaohuan's bleeding neck, seemingly trying to stop the bleeding from continuing.
Xie Yaohuan's eyes widened, then lost focus, and she soon stopped breathing.
The nineteenth prince looked at his mother in his arms, who was gradually losing her breath, and he completely broke down, crying and shouting, "Mother, you...you don't scare your son. Your son will listen to you from now on and will not make you angry anymore. Let your son study, and your son will never skip class again."
"Open your eyes quickly and look at your son!"
Upon hearing of Xie Yaohuan's sudden suicide, the soldiers who had originally supported her immediately switched sides, putting down their weapons, covering their heads with their hands, and squatting down to surrender.
Seeing his former lover lying in a pool of blood, Lu Yuanxiu remained calm and indifferent, as if Xie Yaohuan's death had not caused any ripples in his heart.
Standing beside Lu Yuanxiu, Ye Qingzhu couldn't help but feel a tremor in her heart when she saw the coldness and ruthlessness on the face of her adoptive father who had raised her.
After all, in her heart, she didn't feel that she was much more important than Xie Yaohuan, and perhaps one day in the future, she would also die at the hands of her adoptive father.
Being around such a person stirred up a storm in Ye Qingzhu's heart.
But Ye Qingzhu did not express his inner unease. He only darkened his eyes and pointed at the nineteenth prince who was crawling on Xie Yaohuan's corpse and crying, "Father, what should we do with the nineteenth prince?"
Lu Yuanxiu turned his head, his eyes utterly cold. "Do I have to teach you how to do it?"
Ye Qingzhu immediately knelt down and explained, "Godfather has misunderstood, it's just..."
Ye Qingzhu dared not speculate about the nineteenth prince's background, after all, the current emperor was no longer able to have sex.
Given the relationship between her adoptive father and Xie Yaohuan, the nineteenth prince was most likely his son, which is why Ye Qingzhu dared not decide the prince's life or death.
Otherwise, killing the nineteenth prince would have been just a side effect when she was killing the Xie family.
Lu Yuanxiu narrowed his eyes, staring at Ye Qingzhu with a sinister look, his intentions all too clear. "Just what?"
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