The king was forced to take a step back by Baili Chengyou's strength, but he quickly moved forward, with a serious look on his face and regained his imperial dignity.
"Oh, Third Brother, what you said is nice! If Shen Gaolang really has a clear conscience, he -"
"The good minister is filled with hatred, and the family and country are in unrest. The fault of this disaster lies with the Lord and cannot be argued with!"
Shen Ningyun suddenly spoke coldly, interrupting the king's words.
Everyone turned to look at Shen Ningyun, only to see that she did not accept the second prince's support, but slowly stood up on the ground.
The tears on her face were not yet dry, but the sadness had been wiped away, leaving only coldness and resentment.
She stepped forward step by step, walked up to the king, raised her head and shouted angrily:
"The world only knows that the king of the country knows people well and does his job well, but he doesn't know that the king of this country is secretly selfish, suspicious, narrow-minded, jealous and capable of harming the virtuous!"
"Shen Ningyun, you——"
The king's face turned red with anger and his whole body trembled, but Shen Ningyun was already fearless.
She took a step closer, with a sarcastic smile on her lips.
"My Lord, what did I say wrong? I have been committed to you for so many years, do you think I can't see it? You are terrified day and night! You are afraid that you will be compared with me!"
"Because of your despicable jealousy and comparison, the entire Shen family suffered a lot of injustice, and my father died of hatred!"
"My Shen family is indeed at fault. The fault is that I was loyal to you. The fault is that even though I was forced to a dead end, I never had second thoughts, and that's why I am being humiliated like this!"
"You are the one who should be betrayed by everyone, and this is the fate you deserve!"
The king looked at Shen Ningyun who was close at hand. The legitimate daughter of the Shen family who had been cowardly and submissive in front of him for eighteen years finally showed her fangs. Her true face was so ferocious!
This questioning made the king lose all face, because the deepest fear and unhappiness in his heart were dug out by Shen Ningyun and exposed nakedly.
He was so angry that he trembled all over, pointed at Shen Ningyun and cursed angrily:
"If you, the Shen family, are really loyal to this point, you should abide by your duty as a minister, instead of going around trying to win over people's hearts and shake Gu's foundation!"
"Even Gu's harem is in the hands of your Shen family. How can you not let Gu be afraid or guard against it!"
Shen Ningyun's eyes were heavy and she stared at the king in front of her. Hearing his pale accusation, she couldn't help laughing, but the laughter was sad and made people's eyes sore.
"My lord, my lord, why bother to inflict crimes on me!"
"Do you remember that back then, you were the one who insisted on marrying your aunt. At that time, your father was very worried and declined the request. What did you tell your father at that time?"
"You said - the king and his ministers will never trust you!"
"My aunt treated you sincerely back then, but was tortured to death by you in the end. Dad shouldn't have done anything wrong. I believed in your words and your heart as a king!"
"You are treacherous, ruthless, and want to kill everyone. How can you be worthy of the sincerity of our Shen family!!!"
Shen Ningyun suddenly screamed, tears rolling down her face, containing too much grief and anger, for her father who had suffered so much, and for herself who had almost had her life ruined.
She opened her mouth, but when she wanted to speak again, she felt that her chest was constricted and her eyes were turning black. She calmed down, but she didn't expect that the next moment she would spit out a mouthful of blood!
The blood drops sprayed on the king's bright yellow dragon robe and slowly soaked in, as if to remind the king how much blood and tears of the Shen family were hidden in the Baili family's throne.
"Mother!"
"Yun'er!"
"younger sister!"
There were exclamations, and Baili Chengyou immediately caught his mother.
Shen Ningyun's face was pale, and her tears couldn't stop flowing down. She grabbed Baili Chengyou's shirt tightly and said in a trembling voice:
"You'er, take the queen home. The queen wants to go home."
Shen Yongning ignored the rules, stepped into the imperial study room, and rushed to Shen Ningyun's side.
Shen Ningyun's eyes fell on her eldest brother's embarrassed face, and she cried bitterly the moment she opened her mouth:
"Brother, take me home, I want to see daddy..."
When Meng Guxue saw this scene, she couldn't help but shed tears.
It's really too bad.
Since ancient times, loyal ministers have been hard to be punished, and their fates are only mentioned in the history books. Now, seeing it with my own eyes, I realize how much regret, blood and tears it contains, which is so heavy that it makes people breathless.
"Sister, big brother will take you home now!"
Shen Yongning's eyes were moist as he took Shen Ningyun from Baili Chengyou's arms.
My sister sacrificed everything for the Shen family.
He had dreamed back countless times at midnight, dreaming that he and his sister had escaped from this prison. The three of them were sitting in the pavilion at home, chatting and high-spirited as before.
Now the dream has finally come true, but I didn't expect it to be such a sad sight.
Baili Chengyou's heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. At this moment, he could not bear the pain and shouted: "Come here!"
A Lin Jun came in in response.
"Send Madam and Mr. Shen back home quickly!"
He couldn't go to see his grandfather yet, he had one last step left to complete.
He wanted to bring the imperial edict to his grandfather in an upright and dignified manner, so that he could live up to his grandfather's good intentions!
The palace door closed again, Baili Chengyou turned to look at the king, and said in a cold voice: "Prepare the edict!"
The king's eyes moved away from the blood stains on his chest, and when he looked at the gloomy Baili Chengyou, he still sneered.
"Impossible! Shen Gaolang must be alive! Third brother, don't think that I will be at your mercy!"
Baili Chengyou looked at the stubborn king in front of him, and closed his eyes slightly. When he opened them again, his eyes were clear and indifferent, as if he had made up his mind.
"Everyone go out, Guan Sheng stays."
Baili Chengyou spoke calmly.
Upon hearing this, the second prince gave Baili Chengyou a deep look and was the first to walk out. Upon seeing this, the second prince immediately followed.
Meng Guxue thought for a while, then picked up the fourth princess who looked dull and went out together.
The eldest prince arched his head outwards. Baili Chengyou turned to look at him and said coldly: "Brother, you don't want to go anywhere."
Everyone left the imperial study room, and the palace door was immediately closed.
Meng Guxue stood outside the palace, looking at the palace road illuminated by the moonlight, with a complex look on her face and mixed feelings in her heart.
She had a vague guess about what would happen in the imperial study. After tonight, the battle for the throne of Nanli Kingdom would really be settled.
But the price of this, alas...
"Your Highness, do you really...don't you feel it's a pity?"
On the other side, Lan Manrong looked at the second prince standing with his hands behind his back, still unable to hold back the doubts in his heart.
The second prince looked at the moon in the sky with a cold expression and a calm tone.
"A's honey, B's arsenic, all living beings want different things. My ambition is not here, just like Miss Lan, her ambition is the end of the world."
Lan Manrong was slightly startled when he heard this, and then smiled knowingly.
"yes--"
There was silence outside the hall for a moment, and Lan Manrong suddenly spoke again, with good intentions.
"Your Highness, my wife is trapped in a ditch but her heart is towards the bright moon. It is really admirable."
"But the human heart is made of flesh. If you struggle in the mud for too long, your wife will be confused, shrink, and doubt herself."
"Next, Your Highness, please be more patient."
The second prince finally turned his head after hearing this. Speaking of Shen Ningyun, his eyes showed tenderness, and he nodded gratefully to Lan Manrong.
It’s been eighteen years of waiting.
All his patience was given to her, and it will be the same from now on——
