Wei Maozhen struggled to get up and was about to speak when Sun Mian interrupted her and handed her a water bottle.
The kettle was very cold, and its surface was covered with water droplets.
Wei Maozhen held the water tightly in both hands and gulped it down thirstily. Water dripped from the corners of her mouth and onto her filthy dragon robe. She continued drinking until she felt unwell before stopping.
"How long has passed...?" Wei Maozhen asked weakly.
"Your Majesty, today is the eighteenth day of the first month," Sun Mian replied. "Have you not had any water for three days?"
To be precise, within three days, he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice or drunk a single drop of water!
"Minister Sun, where is my Yue'er?"
“Her Highness the Princess is...safe!” Sun Mian answered halfway, not daring to tell the truth.
"Is she safe? She's not dead?"
“Yes.” Sun Mian nodded with certainty.
Upon hearing this, Wei Maozhen burst into tears of joy. "It's good that she's not dead, Yue'er... Then, Minister Sun," she pleaded, "I beg you, my Yue'er, please let her live no matter what, please?"
"Living isn't impossible!" Sun Mian hesitated, "but it requires Your Majesty..."
"What do you need me to do?" A sense of unease crept into my heart.
"Your Highness the King of Shu hopes that you can... admit to the following crimes!" Sun Mian said, taking out a piece of paper from his bosom, which was filled with Wei Maozhen's crimes.
[One: He altered the late emperor's edict and plotted to usurp the throne.]
[Second: Imprisoning the late emperor's crown prince, ultimately causing his death from depression.]
[Three: He was licentious and immoral, unfaithful to women, and had affairs with favored officials such as Ling Tiande and Zheng Changqing.]
[Four: In order to harm King Lin Mo of Shu, he did not hesitate to collude with the barbarian Duosi, allowing the enemy to advance unchecked, resulting in the people of Shu suffering greatly from the plundering of the Duosi barbarians, and the borderlands of the Great Xia being devastated.]
[Five: Using ruthless methods, he murdered Li Wenzhong, the Grand Marshal of the Great Xia Dynasty, and his eldest son.]
[Six: Indiscriminately murdering high-ranking officials in the court.]
[Seven: Using rice from the market to supply the enemy state of Dos.]
[Eight: Colluding with the Qutzi, the Arabs, and the Eastern Pangolins, resulting in the loss of national sovereignty and humiliation.]
[Nine: Attempting to divide the Great Xia and cede its territory.]
[Ten: Ineffective governance led to the collapse of the Great Xia dynasty.]
Looking at the ten charges, Wei Maozhen trembled uncontrollably. "No, slander! It's all slander!" she cried out. "Lord Sun, you should know that this is all slander!"
Sun Mian sighed deeply. "Your Majesty," he thought, "each of these ten points is supported by irrefutable evidence." But he didn't say it aloud.
"Your Majesty, for your daughter...for the princess!" Sun Mian said.
"Yue'er..." Wei Maozhen felt extremely bitter. "Minister Sun, if I admit to these crimes, will Lin Mo release Yue'er?"
Sun Mian nodded. "That's right, His Highness the Prince of Shu guarantees that he will spare her life," he said. "At the same time, His Highness will also arrange a suitable marriage for the princess, so that she can live out the rest of her life in peace!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Maozhen felt a mix of emotions. "If Yue'er can be safe and sound," she said, "then what about me? How will Lin Mo deal with me?"
Sun Mian did not answer the question directly, but instead said loudly, "Your Majesty, I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety!"
"Do everything in my power?" Wei Maozhen burst into wild laughter. "Hahahaha, do everything in my power! I haven't lost yet, my million-strong army will soon march into the capital to defend the emperor."
"Your Majesty, please wake up! How did you obtain your throne? Have you forgotten?" Sun Mian said, "Lin Mo's 50,000 elite troops have already taken control of the capital. All he needs to do is raise his voice and enthrone the late emperor's son..."
"The late emperor..." Wei Maozhen's heart trembled.
“Your Majesty, Prince Lin Mo of Shu is not as ruthless as you imagine,” Sun Mian said. “He…he might very well make you shave your head and become a nun, thus ending your miserable life!”
"Really?" Wei Maozhen asked, still somewhat doubtful.
Sun Mian nodded, but very reluctantly, because it was something he had come up with on the spur of the moment, and Lin Mo had not agreed.
Wei Maozhen picked up the paper again, looked at it again and again, and then said sternly, "No, I will not admit to this crime, I will not!"
Any one of these ten charges would be enough to make her infamous for eternity, and she refused to admit it no matter what.
“Your Majesty!!!” Sun Mian shouted.
"Stop talking! Lord Sun, kill him or torture him as you please, I will absolutely not plead guilty!" Wei Maozhen insisted.
"Alas!" Sun Mian shook his head. "Then this humble subject shall take his leave!"
After Sun Mian left, the door slammed shut, and the light vanished instantly.
Wei Maozhen blinked, lowered his head, and curled up on the straw.
The straw no longer smelled of urine and feces; it had no smell at all.
A few more days passed, but Wei Maozhen himself didn't know exactly how many days.
She could no longer distinguish between being asleep and awake. In the darkness, memories quietly crept into her mind, vivid and lifelike, like a dream.
That year was a "wrong autumn," and she returned to the age of eighteen, accompanying the late emperor as he left the palace to go hunting in Chenghe.
Seeing the evergreen grass, smelling the pollen in the wind. Warm days, cool nights, and the sweet aroma of wine.
She remembered her own willfulness back then, and how she had ignored all advice and galloped through the forest on horseback.
She remembered the person who had changed her life.
No one knew where that person came from or where they went. Even the late emperor believed it was all a hallucination born of her panic and fear.
But for Wei Maozhen, it all felt so real.
That day she rode too fast and fell off her horse. Afterwards, she got lost in the forest. In her daze, she saw a woman dressed in shabby clothes.
A woman who gave her a life-long prophecy.
The first prophecy stated that she could marry the emperor, and that prophecy came true.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
