The young prince had fainted, with blood still on his lips. In his unconscious state, all his arrogance vanished, leaving only the frailty of a child.
Concubine Li crawled over and grabbed the emperor's foot, crying, "Your Majesty, all the mistakes are mine, but this child is innocent. Please spare his life, Your Majesty! Please!"
Saying so, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed frantically. The whole hall echoed with the sound of her head hitting the floor.
She put all her strength into it. At this moment, all her schemes and intrigues had nothing to do with her. She was just a mother desperately pleading for her child's life.
The emperor watched coldly as blood oozed from her forehead, gradually staining the floor red, but there was not a single ripple in his heart. "You deserve to die, but your child is not innocent either. A bastard. I'll kill him if I want to."
Saying this, he shifted his gaze to the young prince lying on one side. This was the child he had once held in his arms, loved and doted on. He had truly loved him before, but now, that little bit of tenderness had turned into utter disgust with the revelation of his true parentage.
A bastard, and also proof of Xie Guang's ambitious designs. How could he let him go?
Suddenly, he laughed. He sheathed his sword and let the queen rush to Xie Guang's side to stop the bleeding. Then he squatted down, grabbed Concubine Li by the hair, and held the sword in front of her. "Do you want your child to live?"
Concubine Li nodded frantically through her tears, but the emperor looked down at her, his eyes full of cruelty and malice. "Fine. I'll give you this chance."
"Today, only one of your child and Xie Guang can survive," the emperor teased the prey in front of him like a cat playing with a mouse, pretending to be doing her a favor. "If you want your child to live, go and kill Xie Guang."
"What's your choice?"
One was her beloved, the other was her own child. He was being "merciful" and giving her a chance to make the choice herself.
Didn't she love Xie Guang? Then he wanted to see which was more important to her, her child or her beloved.
Concubine Li looked blank. Her gaze slowly shifted to the sword in front of her.
The sword was extremely sharp, still stained with Xie Guang's blood.
The queen, who witnessed all this, gritted her teeth in hatred. "You brute!"
"If you say one more word, I'll kill Xie Guang right now!" the emperor suddenly twisted his face and roared at the queen, his body exuding a fierce aura.
Concubine Li let out a sob. She seemed scared and wanted to back away, but her scalp was being tugged painfully by the emperor. The sword in front of her was getting closer and closer, as if he was not asking her to kill someone else but to kill her instead.
The emperor withdrew his gaze, his aura full of anger. "I don't have that much patience. If you don't make a choice after I count to three, I'll chop that bastard into pieces."
Suddenly, a muffled sound came from Concubine Li's throat. It was as if she wanted to scream but dared not, so she could only hold it in.
"Three, two..."
Concubine Li trembled as she slowly reached out to take the sword. The bone - chilling cold seemed to freeze her heart.
The emperor stopped counting and let out a soft laugh. "Go on. Let me see your choice."
Concubine Li was shaking all over, but she had no choice.
Her gaze passed over her unconscious and still - young child on the ground, then slowly shifted to Xie Guang, who was half - reclined in the queen's arms.
She trembled like a sieve, her face full of tears. She stood still, struggling desperately in her heart.
The child... that was her child, the one she had carried for ten months. She had fed him, made clothes for him, and accompanied him as he grew up every day.
This was her darling, her greatest hope in this life.
The queen... the queen was also Xie Guang's mother. She would understand, right?
In front of her child, what was her beloved?
Her muddled mind suddenly cleared. She was filled with endless regret.
If she hadn't had an affair with Xie Guang and the young prince wasn't his child, would things not have ended up like this?
She closed her eyes. After a long while, when she slowly opened them again, the struggle was gone, replaced by determination.
She slowly walked towards Xie Guang.
The queen hugged the half - unconscious Xie Guang tightly, staring at Concubine Li with a fierce look in her eyes. "Are you crazy! Do you think killing Guang'er will save your child? You're so naive! The emperor is perfidious and heartless. In the past, my Song family had great kindness to him, but didn't he turn around and kill hundreds of people in my Song family?!"
"If you kill Guang'er today, your child will be doomed tomorrow!"
"I... I have no choice!" Concubine Li cried bitterly. She wasn't a smart person. What else could she do?
"Queen!" The emperor's cold voice came from behind her. "The people of the Song family deserved to die. They were guilty of deceiving the emperor and should have been lingchi. I was merciful and left them with a whole body. You should thank me."
"Concubine Li, what are you waiting for?" He turned to the hesitant Concubine Li. "Or do you want to watch your child being cut into a thousand pieces right in front of you?"
Concubine Li suddenly trembled. Her hand tightened on the sword handle. She walked up to the queen and looked down at Xie Guang, who was weakly staring at her. She slowly showed a sad smile. "I'm sorry, but for the sake of my child, I have to do this."
Saying this, she suddenly raised her hand, about to pierce his chest with the sword.
At the critical moment, the queen suddenly threw herself on top of Xie Guang. The sharp sword stabbed into her back, and blood immediately gushed out, like a blooming flower.
Concubine Li had put all her strength into this sword strike, aiming to take Xie Guang's life. Now, it had pierced the queen right through.
This also exhausted all of Concubine Li's strength. The warm blood splashed on her face, almost driving her crazy.
Suddenly, she let out a scream, fell to the ground, covered her head, and kept shrinking back, her face looking crazy.
The emperor saw this dramatic scene and even clapped his hands and laughed.
The laughter echoed outside the hall. Even Fu Donghai, who was used to seeing life and death, couldn't help but shiver.
He stood there, flicked the whisk in his hand, and tried to act as if he didn't exist. Just then, a young eunuch suddenly rushed over in a hurry. "Father Fu, something terrible has happened!"
Fu Donghai frowned immediately. "What's so terrible? Speak clearly!"
The young eunuch stammered, "Outside, there are a lot of ministers. They're coming to the Zichen Palace right now!"
Fu Donghai was shocked. A sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.
He had kept the news very tightly. How could it have leaked out!
If the news hadn't leaked today, even if the emperor killed the queen and the eldest prince, he could have blamed it on Concubine Li, and it would have nothing to do with him.
Even if someone suspected, so what? Without evidence, who would dare to suspect the emperor? How many lives would they have?
But now, those ministers who were coming in a hurry clearly had received the news and were coming to stop it. If they saw the emperor's cruel and ruthless side, how could the emperor maintain his dignity in front of his officials in the future?!
He gritted his teeth, left the whisk behind, and quickly ran into the hall.
He had to clean up the mess for the emperor. At least, he couldn't let the ministers see the blood in the hall with their own eyes.