"The Liuyang Dynasty will never allow a cruel and vicious woman to be the queen!"
It was still cold in February during the Awakening of Insects. The Liuyang Dynasty was firmly established.
On the city tower, Shen Li's white clothes were stained with blood.
Her tendons in hands and feet were all severed, and her lifelong martial arts skills were in vain.
Her once as pure and aloof as snow on a tree face had been horribly slashed. The flesh was turning outwards, almost exposing the white bones beneath!
Below the city tower, all the subordinates of the Night Phantom Division who had followed her for years were pushed onto the execution ground.
Three days ago, they were the meritorious heroes who had helped Xiao Hanzhi conquer the Liuyang Dynasty, and she was the future queen whom Xiao Hanzhi had promised to protect for a lifetime.
At this moment, they had become traitors of Liuyang and a hidden danger to the stability of the country. The commander, Shen Li, was sentenced to be hung on the city wall for three days and then executed in public!
"Shen Li, at this point, do you have anything to say?"
Looking up, Xiao Hanzhi was dressed in a magnificent imperial robe. His face still had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, but the look in his eyes when he looked at her was only disgust and disdain.
The woman standing beside him was also dressed in gorgeous clothes. With a beautiful face that only needed a light touch of makeup to be breathtakingly beautiful.
At this moment, the two of them standing together really looked like a perfect match!
"Your Majesty, does it really have to be like this? Must you execute elder sister?" Shen Miao looked full of worry. She held onto Xiao Hanzhi's arm with one hand. She was the only one who would still "plead for mercy" for Shen Li at this point.
But this so - called plea for mercy from Shen Miao really made Shen Li sick to her stomach.
"I, Shen Li, have always been proud all my life. I never thought that in the end, I would be ruined by the two people I trusted the most! If we talk about cruelty and viciousness, who can match you, Shen Miao?!"
Every movement would tear open her wounds again. The act of opening her mouth tugged at the wounds on her face, and the pain went deep into her bones. But Shen Li's voice didn't tremble at all. Her pupils were filled with bloodshot eyes, and the coldness in her eyes almost drowned the two people in front of her.
"Elder sister, I'm kindly pleading with the emperor for you. How could you..." Shen Miao turned her head and leaned on Xiao Hanzhi's shoulder, sobbing softly.
Her tearful appearance was very endearing. It was also because of her tears that when the family of her second uncle declined, Shen Li still took in this good younger cousin from her second uncle's family.
But now she finally knew what kind of jackals and leopards she had taken in back then.
"Humph, if it weren't for your father leaving the Night Phantom Division to you, Shen Li, do you think you could still be alive today?" Sure enough, as soon as Shen Miao cried, Xiao Hanzhi's look towards Shen Li became even more impatient.
Hearing this, Shen Li only felt it was ridiculous.
In the past, she was just a silly girl who only knew how to practice martial arts and study military strategies. When Xiao Hanzhi appeared, he made her fall in love. She schemed for his power, fought battles for him, eliminated his opponents, and paved the way for him. And this was the end she got!
"Xiao Hanzhi, is it because of the Night Phantom Division?" Shen Li pulled the corner of her mouth into a smile. Her scarred face made her smile look extremely hideous. "You keep me alive because even if you have the Night Phantom Division, you don't have the ability to use it! Without me, Shen Li, you simply don't have the ability to sit on the throne of this world!"
Snap!
As soon as the words left her mouth, a long whip landed hard on her face.
New wounds were added on top of the old ones. The deep pain made her tremble all over, and she spat out a mouthful of turbid blood.
The one who made the move was not Xiao Hanzhi, who was already so angry that the veins on his forehead were bulging, but Shen Miao, who had always been gentle and graceful.
She looked at Shen Li with a face full of indignation, but her eyes were full of gloating pride: "Elder sister, you committed treason first. Instead of repenting, you even dare to slander the emperor with your nonsense. I really misjudged you! I even pleaded with the emperor to let me raise your child!"
Hearing this, the expression on Shen Li's face gradually froze, and her pupils were full of horror.
"My child! No! Xiao Hanzhi, if you still have a shred of conscience, you shouldn't give my child to Shen Miao. That's also your child!"
Xiao Hanzhi, full of anger, said disgustedly: "The bastard you gave birth to. If it weren't for Miaomiao's plea, I would have already let him hang here with you!"
Watching Shen Miao walk up to her gracefully with a charming smile, Shen Li only felt a chill all over her body. She felt that she had killed many people over the years, but no one was more terrifying than Shen Miao.
This cousin whom she had regarded as the apple of her eye since childhood, in collusion with her second uncle and Xiao Hanzhi, had framed her father and elder brother to death. But she had known nothing about it. She had even allowed her to climb into Xiao Hanzhi's bed and had entrusted her child to her before leaving.
"Yes, elder sister. You were born in the Night Phantom Division and have been used to bloodshed since childhood. A killer like you is simply unworthy of raising the imperial heir. If it weren't for me, your child would have died with you today."
There was still a smile on Shen Miao's red lips, but her eyes were full of cruelty. "Don't worry. In the future, I will surely raise your child well. Every year on your death anniversary, I will cut off a part of his body to offer sacrifices to you, until... he becomes a human pig! Just like your useless elder brother. I almost forgot to say that it was the emperor himself who cut off your elder brother's hands and feet!"
A rush of blood came from her lungs to her throat, and the sweet - tasting liquid suddenly gushed out of her mouth.
Xiao Hanzhi was quick - witted and quickly protected his precious Shen Miao behind him.
Looking at Xiao Hanzhi protecting Shen Miao with a mouth full of blood, Shen Li finally understood that she had been wrong all her life.
When she was young, she hated herself for being born into the Night Phantom Division, an infamous assassination family. But later, this family that she had hated had protected her all her life.
Later, when she was young and naive, she believed the words of Shen Miao, her second uncle, and second aunt. She rushed to be with him voluntarily and knelt in front of Xiao Hanzhi's mansion for a whole day and night. But this man whom she had been crazy about had now made her the biggest joke in the world.
Her clansmen had died because of her.
Her lover wanted her to die.
"Hehe—"
Shen Li, who had been spitting blood because of anger just now, suddenly burst out laughing.
This laughter was like a ghost climbing out of the ground, full of hatred that could devour people's bones and blood, making Xiao Hanzhi and Shen Miao feel a little guilty.
"Slut, what are you still laughing at?"
Xiao Hanzhi's voice was tense. But when Shen Li looked up, her eyes were like cold pools.
The aura emanating from her was so powerful that it made people feel scared. Her empty eyes full of bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the two people in front of her, and she gritted out words from between her teeth:
"I'm laughing... If there is an afterlife, I will surely make your endings a hundred times more miserable than mine!"
"Humph, good. Then I and Miaomiao will wait for you in the afterlife! Guards, execute Shen Li and all the traitors of the Night Phantom Division!"
When the blade fell, Shen Li couldn't help but look up at the sky.
At this moment, the only ray of sunlight was just covered by the clouds. Before losing consciousness, she suddenly heard someone urgently report that an army had entered the city and was advancing irresistibly.
The enemy army had already been wiped out. Where did this army come from?
Forget it. All these no longer mattered to her...