Perhaps because he had previously been beheaded, Liu Qinghe appeared quite calm.
Yun Zhuo had someone move a chair to the front of the cell. He sat down, leaned forward slightly, rested his elbows on his knees, and looked down at Liu Qinghe, who was sitting calmly on the haystack.
"Do you think that at the last moment, my father will find someone to die in your place so that you can escape? My father has already promised me that I will personally oversee the execution of you and the Ning family."
Liu Qinghe's body slowly stiffened.
Yun Zhuo said, "The escape of criminals can only happen once. So many boys and girls have been killed by you and Ning Hongxi, so many river workers have died because of you. Now the entire Great Zhou Dynasty is filled with anger and resentment. Do you think Father Emperor can save you this time?"
The calm on Liu Qinghe's face finally cracked inch by inch.
“Liu Qinghe, I already know where your family members—including your two children—have fled to. It won’t be difficult to capture them and execute them together.”
Liu Qinghe panicked completely and lunged forward to grab the fence: "What do you want to do!"
Yun Zhuo stared at him for a while before slowly saying, "I'll ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully."
Liu Qinghe pursed his lips.
Yun Zhuo smiled and said slowly, "Before you refined the Longevity Pill, you must have told my father that you needed young boys and girls as the medicinal ingredients; Ning Hongxi's help in capturing people must have also been authorized by my father."
"To put it simply, my father was the mastermind behind this whole affair; he is the one who is guilty of the most heinous crimes. But since he is the emperor, when things went wrong, you had no choice but to die and take the blame."
"Liu Qinghe, you're already on the verge of death, what are you still hiding for him?"
Liu Qinghe's expression changed from initial composure to anger, then to despair, and finally to madness at this moment.
Yes, this time, the emperor will definitely not be able to protect him.
That man is the emperor! When something goes wrong, he and Ning Hongxi are pushed out to die and take the blame! How can this not make people furious! It fills them with boundless hatred!
He was truly dying, and his family would ultimately fall into the hands of the Crown Prince. Since that was the case…
Liu Qinghe took a deep breath and said, "I can tell you everything, but you must spare my family. They know nothing about what I've done!"
“Yes!” Yun Zhuo said, “You and Empress Shen are both from the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom, right?”
Liu Qinghe looked at him in surprise: "You know?"
Yun Zhuo continued, "My father actually knew about your affair with Empress Shen a long time ago, didn't he?"
"..." Liu Qinghe's lips moved as he spoke, and it took him a while to finally utter a sound: "This, you know about this too? What else does the Crown Prince want to ask me!"
Yun Zhuo's icy gaze was fixed on him, his tone heavy with murderous intent: "Since Father Emperor knows that you and Empress Shen are both from the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom, and also knows about your affair with Empress Shen, why does he still keep you alive? What is his purpose?"
Liu Qinghe said, "He did know from the beginning that Empress Shen and I were not from the Great Zhou, and he also knew about our affair... But why did he keep us alive, and what was his purpose? I don't know!"
"In order to survive, I have been working for the Emperor in fear and trembling for the past year. I have never dared to ask about his purpose, nor have I ever known it!"
"All I know is that the Emperor values his reputation highly. He wants to be a benevolent ruler and be remembered for all time! He built the Grand Canal to create a prosperous era for the Great Zhou Dynasty, also for the sake of being remembered for all time!"
"In short, he was an emperor who wanted to achieve great things and cared a lot about his personal reputation! Of course, he also wanted to live forever. I proposed the Longevity Pill, which is why I was able to survive! The Prime Minister proposed the construction of the Grand Canal and the mausoleum, so after the Prime Minister was dismissed from office, he used the effects of the Longevity Pill to quickly regain his position!"
Yun Zhuo understood. The main reason why the prime minister was able to be reinstated was that he was able to advise the emperor on how to create a prosperous era for the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Sending the pills to the emperor was merely a show to others, a way to ensure the prime minister's reinstatement. In reality, it was Liu Qinghe who was behind it all.
Yun Zhuo got up to leave.
Liu Qinghe grabbed the hem of his robe urgently: "Your Highness, remember what you promised me, spare my family!"
"They're already dead, so as long as they don't show themselves, no one can do anything to them!"
With a little effort, Yun Zhuo freed the hem of his robe from Liu Qinghe's grasp. He stepped out of the prison gate, where the sky was cloudless, yet the sunlight seemed exceptionally glaring.
Zhan Shuang hurried over and whispered in his ear, "Your Highness, our spies have brought news that the Emperor..."
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