***
After half a month, Jing Lu's punishment was finally decided. All the court officials agreed that even though he had the late emperor's decree to pardon him, he could not be forgiven for all his crimes.
At most, for Jinglu, who was a prince, there was a swift and dignified way to die, to be given poisoned wine and leave his body intact.
Jing Huaixu loved Jing Lu deeply and was very strict with him. Jing Lu had made many mistakes, but the one thing he could not accept the most was that Jing Lu colluded with An Guo.
If Anguo had not betrayed his promise in the past, his father, the emperor, would not have died tragically in the court of another country, and Jingguo would not have remained silent for more than forty years, allowing other countries to ridicule him.
Although Jing Huaixu had few children, he would rather not have such a heartless and ungrateful son who didn't know what his ancestors were.
After the court session, Jing Huaixu summoned Jing Lu to his side and threw the imperial edict ordering his execution into his arms.
Looking at the imperial edict before him, Jing Lu showed neither sorrow nor joy; on the contrary, this behavior only angered Jing Huaixu more.
He laughed in fury: "You do have the awareness of the victor being king and the loser being villain. You haven't even begged me for mercy yet. I am worse than you. I shouldn't feel sorry for you anymore."
Jing Lu calmly picked up the imperial edict ordering his death from the ground, his eyes cold as if he were appreciating someone else's death. Then he raised his eyelids and chuckled.
"Why does Father Emperor speak of such deep fatherly love? You probably don't remember when I was young. That time, Anguo wanted a hostage, and you couldn't bear to part with my elder brother, nor did you want to let the Cheng family down by sending away my second brother."
“They chose me, their beloved youngest son, because I have nothing. I don’t have the position of Crown Prince, nor do I have a maternal uncle who died in Anguo with my grandfather.”
"On the contrary, since Mother is a member of the Zheng family, you can easily give her up without any burden, only needing to shed a couple of unavoidable tears."
Jing Lu suddenly became agitated, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared directly at Jing Huaixu, whose eyes suddenly widened in realization.
Jing Lu watched with great satisfaction, as if he had finally released all the resentment he had harbored over the years. Jing Huaixu finally understood why he had become like this.
He waited for Jing Huaixu to regret his actions, to feel remorse, and to weep bitterly, saying that he was the one who caused all the trouble and never expected to end up like this.
Jing Lu waited for a long time, but he only got a slight reaction from Jing Huaixu at first, and then nothing more.
This was not the result Jing Lu wanted. He became even more agitated, completely losing the indifferent attitude he had shown when he saw the imperial edict ordering his death.
Because of the chains binding his hands, Jing Lu could not move easily. He bent over and stared intently at Jing Huaixu, laughing wildly and furiously.
"What, you're acting like I should just die? You don't regret what I've become like?"
Jing Huaixu remained expressionless. Jing Lu was greatly disappointed, his intense anger vanishing. He said coldly, "Father, you are indeed heartless."
As Jing Huaixu listened to Jing Lu's accusations, he closed his eyes heavily for a long time, tilted his head back, and said with a heavy heart.
“At that time, Jing Kingdom was severely damaged by An Kingdom. You feel wronged and pitiful, but do you know that I was also humiliated by An Kingdom when I was young?”
"At that time, Anguo even wanted to start with me, and have the Marquis of Jiang bring the entire Jing Kingdom to become Anguo's vassal state. If Jing Kingdom hadn't been forced to the brink of life and death, and was willing to sacrifice the entire nation's strength, do you think Anguo would have given up?"
“After you and the Crown Prince were born, the Jing Kingdom finally had a chance to catch its breath, but it was ultimately unable to contend with the An Kingdom.”
Jing Huaixu shook his head and smiled sadly as he said this.
"Their goal is indeed not you, but the Crown Prince of Jing. They want to control the future of Jing in the hands of An. Even in trying to persuade An to keep the Crown Prince, Jing has paid a huge price."
"The court officials and I have agreed that we would rather pay Anguo a higher sum of money than send the Crown Prince there."
"Your second brother has the Cheng family behind him. Although the Cheng family had declined at that time, the entire Jing Kingdom was also weak and vulnerable. Empress Dowager Cheng needed to win over the Cheng family's old friends to support the Jing Kingdom. How can we send Jing Shuo to Jing?"
“I chose you, and I am sorry for you. At that time, I dared not see you smile at me every day, fearing that you would never return after going to Anguo. But I had no choice.”
"In the end, your grandmother Zheng swallowed her pride and wrote to Anguo to plead with you to stay. Anguo gave Jingguo face by only asking for money and no longer wanting the prince. I never expected that it was that incident that made you hate him."
"Let me make this clear to you: if it happens again, I will do the same thing even if I have no other choice."
Jing Huaixu gave him one last pitying look and said heavily, "Don't be born into an imperial family in your next life."
Jing Lu felt wronged for so long, but when he reopened the bloody past, he didn't get any regrets from Jing Huaixu.
This made all his resentment seem like a joke. He suppressed all his indifference and said miserably.
"Father, let me see my grandmother and mother one last time before I die. I will never be born into an imperial family again in my next life."
"Because I also pity Father. If Father knew certain truths, he would be even more pitiful than I am."
"What did you say?" Jing Huaixu asked, puzzled.
Jing Lu did not answer, but a strange light shone through the shadows of his eyelashes, which seemed rather mocking. He shook his head and said, "Take it as my ramblings before I die."
Jing Huaixu didn't want to say anything more to Jing Lu. His death decree had already been issued, and eunuchs would be watching him drink the poisoned wine.
Empress Dowager Zheng asked Jing Huaixu for Jing Lu's body, saying that after the funeral rites, it would be acceptable for the grandfather and grandson to meet before they died.
He waved for someone to take Jing Lu away.
...
The imperial edict ordering his execution was issued after the court session ended, and Jing Lu died in the afternoon.
It is said that when Empress Dowager Zheng saw her grandson's body, she cried until she almost fainted, and continued to cry even after he was brought back to the Longevity Palace.
When Jing Huaixu learned that Empress Dowager Zheng was weeping so bitterly, he wanted to have Jing Lu's body carried out of the Changshou Palace.
However, Empress Dowager Zheng protected him with her life, saying that the monks of Huayi Palace should perform a ritual to help Jinglu pass on to the afterlife, and then he should be buried in a place with excellent feng shui.
Since Empress Dowager Zheng had made such a request, and the person was already dead, Jing Huaixu couldn't say much more.
The Eastern Palace.
The Crown Prince was watching Jing Lu's death closely. He was indeed dead, and it was Jing Shuo who personally watched Jing Lu drink the poisoned wine.
When the eunuch returned to report, Jingyan was playing with a wooden sword with Zhang'er. The two father and son had been spending almost half a month together, and Jingyan would cater to Zhang'er's preferences, so their relationship progressed rapidly.
Upon learning of Jing Lu's death, Jing Yan remained silent for a moment. Yue Jiang then asked Zhang'er to play aside and gently inquired of the silent Jing Yan.
"What's wrong?"
Jing Yan put down the wooden sword, somewhat melancholy: "Although I knew Jing Lu had ulterior motives, I expected this day to come. But suddenly he died, and I can't quite explain what emotions I feel."
Yue Jiang comforted him, "It's alright, Your Highness. After all, the one who died wasn't a stranger. Even if you hate someone, knowing that the other person is dead will still cause you emotional distress."
"I heard that Jing Shuo wanted Jing Lu to die a gruesome death, but Empress Dowager Zheng intervened and gave him a dignified death. Jing Shuo has a lot of complaints about this."
“You don’t hate Jing Lu as much as Jing Shuo, nor do you have the deep brotherly affection to accept all of Jing Lu’s mistakes. It’s only natural to feel some regret.”
After Jing Yan had Yue Jiang talk things out with him, he felt much better and smiled.
“Jiang’er understands my thoughts.”
“Father, Mother, Yu… Yu.”
Jing Yanyue and Jiang smiled at each other, while Zhang'er, who was playing alone, dug out a dark object from the grass.
He recognized it as a piece of jade, picked it up, and presented it to Jing Yan and Yue Jiang.
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