The Emperor, however, showed a proud smile when he heard the Old Ancestor praising the successor he had chosen.
“Old Ancestor, these are the two children I favor the most. I hope you can bless them with a lifetime of joy and peace,” the Emperor said with a smile.
“Hmm, the fate of these two young people is quite good. You don’t need to worry too much; they have their own destinies,” the phantom of the founding emperor said faintly.
“Very well, this junior understands.”
After the Emperor responded, the phantom of the old man slowly withdrew into the Imperial Seal.
At this moment, the Emperor stood up and retrieved the Imperial Seal from the white jade bed.
“Consort Jing, do you have anything to say?” the Emperor asked, looking at her with a face full of mockery.
“Your Majesty, your humble servant was merely confused at the time when she stole the Imperial Seal. I beg you to spare me this once,” Consort Jing pleaded bitterly.
“Consort Jing, actually, I also know a secret about your crime of deceiving the Emperor,” the Emperor said, casting a contemptuous glance at her.
“Your humble servant does not know what Your Majesty means by that statement.”
Upon hearing this, Consort Jing’s eyes flickered.
“I investigated your background many years ago. It turns out your identity is not Luo Yulan, the eldest daughter of Prefect Luo in Jiangcheng, but rather Ming Yulan, the younger sister of the former esteemed master of the Crescent Moon Tower. Am I correct?”
“Later, you had a falling out with your brother, were severely injured, and escaped. You were saved by the wife of Prefect Luo of Jiangcheng. Seeing that you looked very similar to her recently deceased daughter, Luo Yulan, and having nowhere to go, she recognized you as her daughter. By coincidence, your names were the same as her daughter’s. Thus, you changed your surname as well, and from then on, you became the daughter of Prefect Luo of Jiangcheng. Later, through a twist of fate, you entered the palace.”
The Emperor’s gaze was like a sharp blade, looking at her with utter disdain.
Although Consort Jing knew how terrifying the Emperor was at this moment, she was still relieved that he had not discovered her private affairs with Lin Zhenfan.
But in the blink of an eye, the Emperor spoke again.
“Guards, cut out Consort Jing’s tongue, blind her eyes, and imprison her in the Heavenly Prison. Also, all the palace servants in Jinghua Palace are to be imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison as well.”
After speaking, the Emperor turned and walked out of Consort Jing’s secret chamber. The Cold King and his wife also followed closely behind. At this moment, only Consort Jing, who had collapsed on the ground, remained in the secret chamber.
After the Emperor and the Cold King’s couple exited the secret chamber, Eunuch Li, along with two young eunuchs and two guards, entered.
What followed…
Not long after, piercing screams echoed from the secret chamber. Consort Jing writhed on the ground, wailing incessantly. At this moment, she truly regretted her past foolishness, wondering why she had left the Crescent Moon Tower for a man like Lin Zhenfan, voluntarily had her martial arts of the Ming family crippled by her brother, and betrayed her own brother.
But it was too late for regrets now.
After Eunuch Li and the others finished carrying out the punishment, Jian Feng led his men to escort Consort Jing and all the palace servants from Jinghua Palace to the Heavenly Prison.
Jinghua Palace soon became quiet. At this time, the Emperor turned his gaze to Jun Nansheng, who had been silent all along but was being watched by the guards.
“Han’er, hand Jun Nansheng over to Valley Master Lu to deal with later. He caused the deaths of Valley Master Lu’s daughter and dozens of his disciples. Valley Master Lu will surely give him a good treatment,” the Emperor said with a heavy tone.
“Yes, Father Emperor!” Jun Mohan replied respectfully.
Upon hearing the conversation between the father and son, Jun Nansheng’s face immediately turned ashen.
If this dog emperor handed him over to that old man, wouldn’t he die a terrible death?
“Imperial Brother, please do not hand me over to Lu Zongran. He will make me die a terrible death,” Jun Nansheng pleaded shamelessly.
“Jun Nansheng, you failed to usurp the throne and kill your father twenty-two years ago. You should have died long ago. But then you hid in Consort Hui’s palace, which was engulfed in flames. Everyone thought you and Consort Hui had died in that palace fire, so they stopped investigating your whereabouts. Who would have thought you actually escaped and were so lucky to be saved by Valley Master Lu? Yet you repaid kindness with enmity, not only killing his daughter but also causing the deaths of dozens of his disciples. You have no humanity, and yet Heaven allowed you to live for another twenty-two years, but you still haven't learned to restrain yourself,” the Emperor berated Jun Nansheng, pointing at him with great indignation.
“Imperial Brother, since you hate me so much, just stab me to death with one blow,” Jun Nansheng begged humbly again.
“If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? If you had escaped back then, you should have lived honestly. Even if you were living a precarious existence, you should not have harmed others, especially those who saved your life. But not only did you kill your benefactors, but for some sort of warming jade, you even massacred the entire Chu family in Jiangcheng.”
The Emperor had only learned about the massacre of the Chu family in Jiangcheng a while ago from Jun Mohan. At the time, he had found it hard to believe that the Chu family was slaughtered by the Valley Master of Ghost Valley. He had thought it was the work of assassin organizations in the martial world. Little did he expect that the Valley Master of Ghost Valley was a fake.
Moreover, it was Jun Nansheng who impersonated the Valley Master of Ghost Valley, causing trouble under his nose and secretly colluding with evil organizations in the martial world to scheme against the people of the Jun family imperial clan. Such behavior was truly detestable.
The Emperor’s words left Jun Nansheng speechless.
Finally, Jun Nansheng no longer pleaded for himself but harbored a thought of suicide. He bit his tongue to kill himself, but Jun Mohan quickly immobilized his acupoint, causing Jun Nansheng to fall unconscious.
Subsequently, Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli immediately bade farewell to the Emperor and had his two guards carry Jun Nansheng to the palace gate.
As the Cold King’s couple stepped out, they saw the old man Lu waiting on a carriage in the distance. Upon seeing the Cold King’s couple, the old man Lu’s expression became excited, and he hurried over.
“Young Jun, girl, you’re finally out. Where is that beast?”
Leng Ruoli gestured behind her, indicating the person being carried away by the guards.
“I want to take him back to Ghost Valley immediately to offer as a sacrifice for my daughter and disciples,” the old man Lu said sternly to the Cold King’s couple.
“Senior, you can take Jun Nansheng whenever you wish, but I would like to make a suggestion. If you are taking him back as a sacrifice, you should also bring the Chu siblings. This man has an irreconcilable hatred with the Chu siblings, and they also wish to find him for revenge. Furthermore, I will arrange for four guards to escort you back to Ghost Valley. Once you return, no matter what trouble you encounter, you can have the guards send us a message, and my wife and I will rush to help you immediately,” Jun Mohan told the old man Lu warmly.
“Alas, this old man is not afraid. However, if the Chu siblings are to accompany me to Ghost Valley, you can arrange for people to protect them,” the old man Lu replied proudly.
After speaking, the old man Lu came before Jun Nansheng and took a look. He immediately took out a white porcelain bottle from his sleeve pocket, then poured out a black pill and fed it into Jun Nansheng’s mouth.
“He has ingested the Seven-Day Soft Bone Pill that I developed. Within seven days, he won’t be able to escape even if he wants to. And after seven days, if he doesn’t receive the antidote I made, he will slowly die from bleeding from all seven orifices,” the old man Lu said with a cold laugh.
Then, he had the guards lift Jun Nansheng onto the carriage, and they all mounted their horses, disappearing from the sight of the Cold King’s couple in the faint morning light.