Chapter 350 Enduring What Others Cannot Endure
Zhou Zhining stopped clapping and glared fiercely at Yao Qingling: "Who's crazy? You're the crazy one!"
She lunged forward, trying to tear Yao Qingling apart, but Zhan Xingzhuo pulled her over and pinned her to his side.
His gaze toward Qingling was complex.
Yao Qingling understood that Prince Xin did all this not only to lure and capture Lin Shiyuan, but also to humiliate her.
But none of that matters, since she doesn't love him anyway.
She was only worried about Lin Shiyuan's safety.
She was forced to marry Prince Xin, and she believed that Lin Shiyuan would understand her predicament. She did not want him to come.
I just hope that everything he did wasn't in vain.
I just hope he's still alive, even if he's injured...
Zhan Xingzhu swallowed hard and said casually, "Why haven't Shao Wenchu and Tao Weixian arrived yet? They're about to miss the auspicious time."
Just then, there was another thud, the sound of footsteps being stomped on.
Judging from the sounds, there are quite a few people coming.
The group turned to look at the stairwell.
Leading the group were Shao Wen-chu and Tao Wei-xian, behind whom were the Imperial Guards.
Shao Wen-Chu and Tao Wei-Xian both looked unpleasant, and it was hard to tell that they had come to offer their congratulations.
Prince Xin's faint smile gradually faded, and he closed his fan: "What's wrong with you two? Why are you so late?"
Tao Weixian's face twitched slightly, and he opened his lips as if to say something. At this moment, a person walked out from behind the Imperial Guards.
Lin Shiyuan, dressed in a black brocade robe, walked slowly to the front of the group with his hands behind his back.
Prince Xin narrowed his eyes: "Lin Shiyuan, you've finally shown up."
Lin Shiyuan glanced at Yao Qingling, then turned his cold gaze back to Prince Xin: "Your Highness, you've set up such a grand display, aren't you just waiting for me?"
"However, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Your Highness."
He withdrew his hand from behind his back, revealing a bright yellow imperial edict in his hand: "Your Highness, why are you not kneeling down?"
Prince Xin glanced at him and already understood.
Lin Shiyuan not only survived, but he also obtained crucial evidence, gained the emperor's trust, and was arrested with an imperial edict.
What was supposed to be a hunt turned into a capture, something King Xin had not anticipated.
To resist, or to kneel down?
The king quickly weighed the options in his mind.
This place is full of his men; if we take a chance, we might be able to escape.
However, these were all imperial guards, and there were countless other people deployed outside. If he were to rashly escape, and Lin Shiyuan ordered his men to fire arrows, would he still be able to escape safely?
Lin Shiyuan's meticulous planning, his willingness to watch Yao Qingling be humiliated and tortured rather than reveal himself, shows that he is a ruthless person. He wouldn't care about killing a prince.
He only needed to report to the Emperor that Prince Xin had been arrested and mistakenly killed, and he would be completely unharmed. Moreover, the arrest of Prince Xin would further confirm that he had treasonous intentions.
But if he surrenders, the consequences... Emperor Jingyan wants to establish his authority; he will not consider blood ties or family relationships if anyone threatens him...
The king's heart was growing colder and colder.
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
Lin Shiyuan held the imperial edict high, his voice twice as loud, and said again, "Prince Xin, seeing this imperial edict is like seeing the Emperor himself. Why don't you kneel down!"
Tao Weixian and Shao Wenchu looked pale and knelt down with two thuds; Zhan Xingzhuo pulled Zhou Zhining to kneel down slowly.
Zhan Xingzhuo whispered, "Your Highness—"
Prince Xin looked at the three people kneeling on the ground.
Because of Yao Qingling, Zhan Xingzhuo became estranged from him, and he was unaware of the core issues concerning the ore.
So, it must be Tao Weixian and Shao Wenchou?
Prince Xin was clever and immediately understood that Lin Shiyuan's absence during this period must be because he had arrested Tao and Shao, forcing them to become witnesses and testify against him.
Without these two men, the emperor would never have believed Lin Shiyuan, who had been hiding things from him.
Ah, no wonder he survived the battlefield.
To be able to endure what others cannot.
Prince Xin let out a strange laugh, flung off his robe, and knelt down.
Lin Shiyuan's eyes narrowed, and he ordered the Imperial Guards, "Take them down!"
The sounds of armor rubbing together and footsteps echoed in the small space, yet they did not sound chaotic.
Soon, Prince Xin and his entourage were taken away.
Even Zhou Zhining was arrested along with them.
Dressed in her wedding attire, Yao Qingling stared blankly at Lin Shiyuan, tears welling in her eyes.
She imagined him bringing his old troops to kidnap her; she imagined him fighting a bloody battle, sharing life and death with her; she imagined him perhaps being seriously wounded, unable to move, coughing up blood out of desperation...
But no one could have imagined that he would pull such a turn of events.
"Lin Shiyuan, you always surprise me." Tears streamed down her face as she ripped the flowers from her hair, tore open her clothes, and threw herself into the man's arms. "You've finally come."
Lin Shiyuan frowned deeply, enduring the pain from her impact on his wound.
He can endure this pain.
Compared to losing her, this pain only brought him happiness.
"Yao Qingling, I'm so sorry you've suffered..." He rubbed her neck and back, pressing her hard against his body, as if he wanted to mash her into his bones. "I should have come sooner."
Across from them, Nie Yun swiftly removed the hanging banner with a few leaps and then, with a few quick sword strokes, tore it to shreds.
She looked up, a slight smile playing on her lips. Thankfully, it was all in time.
...
Taking advantage of the reconstruction of Yongning Temple, Prince Xin secretly forged weapons. With the accusations of Tao Weixian and Shao Wenchu, he could not escape his guilt and was given poisoned wine in prison.
Zhou Zhining raised funds for Prince Xin's rebellion, sold national treasury treasures, and amassed a fortune. The evidence against her was conclusive, so she was imprisoned and executed in the autumn.
Zhan Xingzhuo did not participate in Prince Xin's rebellion, but he knew about it but failed to report it, which should have been severely punished. However, because of the plea of the Grand Princess, he was relieved of his official post and became an idle person.
Yao Qingling, having colluded with bandits, returned to prison to await her fate.
Lin Shiyuan and Zhan Xingzhuo each carried a food box and took the child to visit the woman.
Zhou Zhining regained consciousness, but she was completely exhausted. Her eyes were devoid of any light, and she sat slumped against the wall. Even when a mouse crawled over her, she didn't react.
She schemed and plotted so much, but in the end, she returned to her cell and was destined to die.
The Zhou family has not changed at all.
—A letter arrived from a distant relative, informing her that her younger brother had fallen ill and died last year.
Her parents and relatives, far away on the northern border, were serving hard labor; her father had been hit by a rock that rolled down the mountain and was waiting for her to send money to save his life.
But there was nothing she could do; she was dying.
"Eat something." Zhan Xingzhuo said expressionlessly, taking the contents of the food box out.
He had lost all feelings for this woman. If there was any emotional connection that made him still want to see her, it was only because of Xiao'er.
The child is still young, but she is, after all, the mother.
But this is the last time.
Zhan Xingzhuo made a decision: he would no longer bring the child to see her.
The child is still young, and as time goes by, Zhou Zhining will disappear from his memory.
He didn't need to know that he had a mother who had committed a serious crime, a maternal grandparent family who had committed serious crimes, and a biological father who had abandoned him.
“I plan to send Xiao’er to Yongzhou. I have a friend there. Xiao’er will be away from everything here, and he will have a chance to start over. Zhou Zhining, you should take a good look at him.”
After Zhan Xingzhuo finished speaking, he left the prison cell, allowing Zhou Zhining to have one last reunion with her child.
He and Zhou Zhining had nothing more to say to each other, so they stopped talking about parting.
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