Ye Zhen looked at the bright red mark on her forehead and let out a deep breath.
She admitted that she felt a sense of satisfaction at seeing her enemy meet such a fate.
But this revenge has lasted for nine months, and it will soon be New Year's Eve. Ye Zhen wants to leave the past behind in the new year.
He then nodded to the emperor.
After the incident at Anzhai, many officials were dismissed, and various government offices were busy. The emperor was unwilling to keep these two men around and waste the manpower of the government offices, so he sentenced them to immediate execution by slow slicing.
Vice Minister Su exposed many of Li Heng's shady dealings in officialdom.
The head of the Qin family, who was Li Heng's moneybag, also confessed to Li Heng's crimes of using the Qin family to amass wealth.
He also truthfully confessed that his wife was Li Heng's niece.
Just as this was finished speaking, Li Shiling and the others were also brought over. Seeing that Li Heng's plot had failed, Li Heng's younger brother, Li Sheng, who was also Li Shiling's father, confessed everything before even being tortured.
"When the dynasty fell, I was only three years old and knew nothing. It was all my elder brother's plan."
When he was ten years old, he found a boy from the Li family who looked like him, approached him, imitated him, and finally killed him to take his place as the Li family's child.
I was given away by him when I was very young, so I didn't have much contact with him. Later, he became an official in the capital and then arranged for me to come to the capital to marry a woman from the Luo family.
When he wanted to place his niece in the Prince of Dingyuan's mansion, he forced me to divorce Luo Shi, so that Luo Shi could take my niece to the border town, while I would remarry a woman he had found who had the bloodline of the Xiyue Yueya clan.
Although I am a descendant of the Crescent Moon Clan, I have never done anything detrimental to the Great Abyss. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life.
"you……"
Li Heng, who had been unconscious and awakened by the doctor, almost fainted again after hearing his younger brother's words.
"How could you do this to me? For so many years I've gone to great lengths to protect you, never asking anything of you, only wanting you to be happy..."
"That's the kind of happiness you think you have. You took the place of Li Jiazi, so you forcefully demanded that I also take the surname Li, so that I would always remember that I am your younger brother and have to be manipulated by you."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by his younger brother, Li Sheng.
"But have you ever thought about whether the Li family, who adopted me, treat me well? You know that the Prince of Dingyuan's mansion is not easy to approach. They wanted to take advantage of the Luo family's medical skills, but they never asked me if I was willing to marry them."
Just when I finally accepted her and looked at my two children, feeling that my life was finally complete, you disregarded my wishes and forced another woman upon me, wanting me to continue the Crescent Moon clan's bloodline.
They forced me to divorce the Luo family, leaving me with the infamy of coveting the Luo family's medical expertise, taking over the Luo family, and then abandoning my wife.
You despise the Shen family, yet you refuse to divorce him, simply because you don't want to be condemned by the world. But you've made me bear the brunt of your bad reputation.
You kept my son by your side, making him your servant, while you married my daughter off to the Qin family.
I am their father, and their future should be decided by me, yet you never even asked me.
The dynasty is gone, and we're grateful to have survived. But you're never satisfied, always scheming and plotting, and now you've dragged me down with you.
After the fall of his kingdom, Li Heng and his younger brother depended on each other for survival. He was a man who valued bloodlines, so he regarded his brother as his only relative and placed him before his children.
Keeping Li Shiling by his side was a way to promote him, and marrying his niece off to Jiangnan was the best and most appropriate arrangement in his opinion.
He puts far more effort into his nephews and nieces than he does into his own children.
Li Sheng's words were practically stabbing him in the heart!
This is even more heartbreaking for him than today's failure!
He clutched his chest, suppressing the metallic taste in his throat, and was about to rebuke Li Sheng when he heard Li Sheng say, "Your Majesty, although I am of the Yueya clan, I came to Dayuan when I was three years old and grew up there."
He was utterly powerless and had never been involved in Li Heng's affairs; he was completely innocent.
"I know my status makes it inappropriate for me to remain in the Great Abyss. I beg Your Majesty to spare my life and allow me to return to the Western Moon Kingdom. I promise never to set foot in the Great Abyss again, or I will suffer a terrible death."
He swore a solemn oath!
Li Heng swallowed back the words he was about to say and instead cursed, "You heartless wretch! If I had known you were this kind of person, I shouldn't have taken you with me when we ran away."
His younger brother suddenly turned against him in order to survive, but he could tell that his brother was also putting on an act.
As long as the Great Abyss is gone, his return will not be considered a breach of his oath.
The brothers dreamed of conquering Da Yuan, hoping to use Da Yuan's power to reclaim Xi Yue, then merge the two countries, and naturally the dynasty would have to be renamed.
They even came up with a name for their new dynasty in private.
He understood his brother's meaning, and pretended to turn against him to gain a chance to survive before making other plans.
Although it still hurts a little, only if their younger brother can live can the Crescent Moon Clan have a chance.
Chengye has 30,000 private soldiers under his command. If his younger brother were alive, he might be able to help Chengye escape back to Xiyue.
But then the emperor said, "Since you know your brother's thoughts and have not reported them for many years, you shall be punished the same as him."
"I...I don't dare."
Li Sheng feigned a timid demeanor, saying, "My older brother is domineering; I've lived under his thumb since I was little..."
"The Ruyi Ointment containing black sesame was made by you, wasn't it?"
Ye Zhen interrupted him, "It was you who traveled to and from Xiyue all these years, smuggling Wuxiang into Dayuan."
Xie Tingzhou had sent people to follow Li Shiling after she left Beijing, so how could he not have evidence against Li Sheng?
As she finished speaking, Xing Ze presented a stack of incriminating evidence to the emperor.
After reading the report, the emperor learned that Li Sheng had been profiting from black incense and harming many people in Dayuan over the years. Enraged, he immediately ordered the execution of Li Sheng, his two sons, and his stepmother by slow slicing.
After the men were dragged away, the emperor's gaze fell on the Lady of Pingchang...
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