"My mother is amazing!" Su Yun'an hadn't expected her mother to have planned everything so thoroughly. Thinking about how her mother had manipulated Duanmu Shenghua all day, Su Yun'an felt that her mother was incredibly capable.
For the first time, Su Xuening truly felt Duanmu Junyu's wisdom and strength: "What does Mother Empress intend to do with Duanmu Shenghua?"
"Don't worry, this time I won't care about sisterly feelings anymore." Duanmu Junyu looked at Su Xuening with affection.
Ning'er didn't grow up in Xiliang. When she inherits the throne, she will definitely face even more challenges.
Therefore, she had to remove Duanmu Shenghua, this cancer, from Ning'er's side. Duanmu Shenghua had harmed her enough, and she couldn't let her harm Ning'er as well.
Su Xuening also knew that her mother had tolerated Duanmu Shenghua for a long time. Duanmu Shenghua had repeatedly courted death, so she really couldn't blame her mother.
The group returned to the capital in a grand procession. With such a large entourage, including troops and prison carts, it quickly attracted the attention of the city's residents.
"Isn't that King Hui?"
"Yes, why are you in a prison van?"
"The one behind seems to be the Second Prince."
"Why are Prince Hui and the Second Prince both in prison carts? And the one in the imperial carriage behind them looks like the Empress."
"I heard that the Empress and Prince Hui went hunting in the South Field today, but they returned not long after they left. Something must have happened."
"Look, there are many corpses of men in black behind us."
"These are all assassins, aren't they? Did someone stab the Queen in the hunting grounds?"
"Who dares to assassinate His Majesty?!"
"Whoever is sitting in the prison van must be the one who has such audacity."
"Prince Hui and the Second Prince actually attempted to assassinate His Majesty! They are plotting a rebellion!"
The people began to point and whisper about the prison cart.
Duanmu Qingxin was terrified. She huddled in a corner of the prison cart, burying her head in her knees.
She was truly terrified. She wasn't afraid of the gossip from the common people; she was afraid that her mother, the Empress, might actually kill her in a fit of anger.
If she were truly the Empress's biological daughter, then perhaps even if she were a traitor, the Empress wouldn't have the heart to kill her. But now she's not the Empress's biological daughter at all, and not only is she not the Empress's biological daughter, but she's also the biological daughter of this traitor, Duanmu Shenghua! Then the Empress might very well kill her!
Duanmu Shenghua wasn't afraid of death; she was just worried about implicating Xiao Jincheng and Xin'er.
Duanmu Junyu immediately ordered her men to drag Duanmu Shenghua and Duanmu Qingxin to the execution ground.
The soldiers escorted Duanmu Shenghua and Duanmu Qingxin to the execution ground.
As Duanmu Shenghua was being led to her kneeling at the execution ground, she was still shouting, "Duanmu Junyu, you should take responsibility for your own actions. It was I who pushed you off the cliff, it was I who sent assassins to kill you, and it was I who wanted to rebel. It has nothing to do with Xin'er. You can kill me or torture me as you please, just let Xin'er go!"
Duanmu Qingxin couldn't care less about anything at this moment. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Duanmu Junyu: "Mother Empress, these things really have nothing to do with your son. Please spare your life, Mother Empress, for the sake of the fact that your son has always called you 'Mother Empress'!"
Duanmu Junyu stared at Duanmu Qingxin expressionlessly, without any reaction.
Duanmu Qing was anxious and kowtowed to Su Xuening again: "Sister, I really did not rebel. All of this was Duanmu Shenghua's own idea and has nothing to do with me. I will never call you a bastard again, and I will never compete with you for anything. Please, sister, help me plead with Mother Empress."
Su Xuening did not react at all.
It is the mother's right to decide how to deal with Duanmu Shenghua and Duanmu Qingxin. They did things that hurt her, so they should be punished. As for how to punish them, it is entirely up to the mother. She has no opinion.
Duanmu Junyu did not immediately punish Duanmu Shenghua and the others. Instead, she waited until more and more people gathered around before she spoke: "Prince Hui, Duanmu Shenghua, not only plotted against me several times, but also poisoned General Shao and took over the army to start a rebellion. Duanmu Shenghua is sentenced to be burned by the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard Duanmu Junyu's verdict.
"They're actually going to invite the Vermilion Bird divine beast to punish King Hui!"
"This Prince Hui is indeed despicable. She has plotted to harm His Majesty several times and even planned to rebel. His Majesty sentenced her to be burned by the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, which she deserved!"
"General Shao was also poisoned by Prince Hui! How could Prince Hui be so cruel!"
When the imperial relatives and officials heard that Duanmu Junyu wanted to ask the Vermilion Bird divine beast to use fire as punishment, they were all somewhat reluctant.
But after thinking about what Duanmu Shenghua had done to His Majesty, no one dared to utter a sound.
Duanmu Junyu began to play the flute.
"Chirp!" The moment the flute sound rang out, the Vermilion Bird divine beast descended from the sky.
"The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast!"
The moment the Vermilion Bird appeared, everyone became instantly excited.
After circling in mid-air once, the Vermilion Bird divine beast flew down to Duanmu Junyu's side.
Duanmu Junyu raised her palm, and the Vermilion Bird mythical beast habitually rubbed against her palm.
Duanmu Junyu stroked it affectionately: "Fire, go."
Duanmu Junyu said nothing, but the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast seemed to understand her thoughts. It took off again, flew to Duanmu Shenghua, and breathed fire at her.
"Ah!" The raging fire suddenly surged onto Duanmu Shenghua's body, burning her so badly that she screamed desperately.
The flames seemed to have a mind of their own, instantly spreading to Duanmu Shenghua's entire body and enveloping her completely.
Duanmu Shenghua rolled around on the ground in agony, but the flames were no ordinary fire; they were the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire. No matter how hard she struggled, the fire showed no sign of being extinguished.
Duanmu Qingxin looked at Duanmu Shenghua, who was engulfed in flames and suffering immense pain, and felt terrified: "No, don't burn me!"
Some officials and imperial relatives were reluctant to watch, but the common people and soldiers were thrilled.
Burn her!
"Burn her! Burn her!"
Someone in the crowd shouted something, and everyone immediately joined in with excited shouts.
Hearing the cries of the people, Duanmu Shenghua, who was enduring the punishment of the Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire, felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.
It's that feeling of helplessness where no matter how hard you try to do your best, you can't get recognition from others.
She governed Xiliang very well when she temporarily replaced Duanmu Junyu as empress, so why can't the people see her efforts and her good deeds?
Why do these people only recognize Duanmu Junyu? Why do they only recognize that stinky bird, Zhuque?
What is it about her that makes her inferior to Duanmu Junyu?!
This was perhaps the question that troubled Duanmu Shenghua her whole life, but she never figured out the answer before she died.
Duanmu Shenghua was burned half to death. The extreme pain and the feeling of being worse than dead made her see the end of her life. She knew that no matter how much she struggled, she could not escape her inevitable death.
"Duanmu Junyu, I have lost this time. You are the Empress of Xiliang recognized by Zhuque, while I am nothing. I admit defeat and accept my fate! For the sake of our sisterhood, I only ask one thing of you: put your mind at ease and let Xiao Jincheng go!"
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