Marrying a playboy? She turned the tables and used a magical talisman to become famous throughout th

"We don't want the Xiao family's wealth and status."

The Queen took a deep breath, her voice heavy and firm.

"I made the Xiao family give away all their wealth, sell all their land and shops, and use all the money to do good deeds and help the poor."

Even the Xiao family's mansion in the capital was donated. I sent the whole family back to their hometown, where they would live a simple life, supporting themselves. The Xiao family would no longer be involved in wealth and luxury. Master Shen, is that enough?

她能

Old Master Shen felt a slight unease in his chest, and after a long pause, he let out a cold laugh.

"Give away your family fortune? Do good deeds and accumulate virtue? Your Xiao family has enjoyed more than a hundred years of good fortune, and now you want to wipe it all away by doing a few good deeds?"

Haha, there's no such thing as a free lunch!

"Then what do you want!"

The Empress knew this was a difficult topic to discuss, so she could only grit her teeth and say...

"So you're determined to kill the entire Xiao family? Fine, all the wronged souls of the Xiao family who died will go to the underworld to cause trouble, won't they?"

Even if I die, I will kneel before the gates of Yama's palace for a hundred years, begging for a chance to settle old scores with you.

Mr. Shen, you shouldn't hate our generation the most, because we never knew that the wealth and luxury we enjoy were plundered by our ancestors!

We admit our mistakes, but we were born here, so aren't we innocent too?

Mr. Shen remained silent, his expression shifting between light and shadow in the mist.

Tears streamed down the Queen's face, but her voice grew ever more resolute.

"I can't bring all 123 people back to life. But I can promise that from now on, the Xiao family will do their best to help those who can't afford to eat, even if it means eating chaff and wild vegetables themselves, to make up for the debt our ancestors owed us."

Mr. Shen, you are an educated man. Think about it, if you really killed everyone in the Xiao family, would the hatred in your heart be gone?

"If your 123 relatives in heaven have spirits, would they want to see you become a vengeful ghost with blood on your hands?"

Upon hearing these words, Master Shen was stunned.

He stood in the hazy mist, the cold, menacing look on his face gradually fading, replaced by something indescribable—a mixture of sorrow and bitterness.

He seemed to have been struck in some deepest pain; his hunched figure swayed, and his lips trembled slightly.

"Would they want to see me like this?"

He muttered to himself, his voice no longer cold and hard, but filled with an empty and confused feeling, "I used to only think about revenge, only about collecting debts."

I can't hear anything you say. But...but..."

He looked up into the Empress's eyes, and suddenly large tears welled up in them.

These are not the tears of a ghost, but the tears of a human being, the sorrow of a living, breathing person.

"But it's been a hundred years, and I've almost forgotten what they look like."

He suddenly burst into tears and murmured,

"All I remember is blood everywhere, corpses everywhere, my mother holding my three-year-old brother, being hacked to death with knives."

My older brother stood in the doorway and was pierced through by a spear. My youngest daughter, who had just learned to walk, was thrown off the building by the thieves...

These memories have been my nightmare for over a hundred years, like being fried in oil every day—it's so painful!

The Queen gazed at him silently, her whole body trembling, and said in a hoarse voice,

"Master Shen, I think your family wouldn't want to see you like this either. You were reincarnated to collect your debts and became a little devil who kills and sets fires. You've taken your revenge, but the blood on your hands is no less than that of the bandits back then."

Do you want to become the kind of person you hate the most?

These words were like a knife, piercing into Mr. Shen's chest.

He staggered back two steps, feeling as if his bones had been removed, and slowly squatted down, covering his face.

"ah!……"

His suppressed sobs echoed from the gray fog, low and muffled, like a beast that had been caged for a hundred years.

After a long while, he lowered his hands, raised his head, and his face was devoid of any hostility, only a look of dejection remained.

"The daughter of the Xiao family..."

He called out slowly, his voice regaining some calmness, "You said you'd give away all your wealth to do good deeds and accumulate merit, can you really do that?"

"I can do it!"

Seeing his attitude change, the Empress was secretly pleased. She slowly held up three fingers, gritted her teeth, and said...

"Three promises I, Xiao Yanran, as a daughter of the Xiao family and the Empress of the Great Chang Dynasty, make to you, Master Shen:

First, all of the Xiao family's assets in the capital—shops, farmland, and mansions—were sold off, leaving nothing behind.

Secondly, all the money obtained from the sale was used to relieve the poor, to build bridges and roads, and to distribute porridge and medicine. The money was used wherever the poorest people were, regardless of whether they were from the Xiao family’s hometown.

Third, I command Xiao Heng to take his entire family back to their hometown, to farm and live a simple life, and not to return to the capital for a hundred years, nor to allow his descendants to enjoy any fame or fortune.

She paused, then added,

"I swear once again on the honor of my ancestors, if I fail to keep this promise, may my Xiao family line end and never rise again!"

That's a very strong statement.

The Xiao family, a prestigious clan that had enjoyed wealth and honor for over a century, was suddenly reduced to commoners, akin to falling from the clouds into the dust.

Master Shen suddenly felt somewhat satisfied. Wasn't this more painful than killing them?

The gray fog was so quiet that you could hear the faint sound of the wind in the distance.

He slowly stood up, his figure beginning to fade and become transparent, like mist gradually dissipating; his voice also became ethereal.

"Daughter of the Xiao family, remember to keep your word... There's one more small matter. Over the years, I've been tainted with resentment and committed many sins while I was in the Xiao family."

Those old people were killed because of me, and that dog puppies were killed by my own hands. I accept these sins.

He looked in the direction of the Empress, his gaze complex: "Your Xiao family must remember that giving away wealth and doing good deeds is not only to pay off my debt, but also to accumulate virtue for yourselves and leave a way for future generations."

I've gotten everything I was entitled to, and the rest...

Before he could finish speaking, his figure vanished completely into the gray mist. His last words drifted away in the fog, and the Empress did not hear them clearly.

However, she knew that the rest was up to the Xiao family to find a way to survive.

"I'm leaving."

In the secret room, the talisman affixed to Xiao Huanjia's chest suddenly lit up and then turned into a puff of ashes.

"what!"

Xiao Huanjia let out a strange noise, his body jerked violently twice, and his face contorted into a grimace.

The last wisp of black smoke emerged from his forehead and melted away under the golden light.

After a long while, his body stopped trembling.

The seven-year-old child lay quietly on the cold ground, his face ashen and lifeless.

He has already stopped breathing.

The old woman screamed in fright, rushed forward to check, and her face turned deathly pale.

"Your Majesty! The young master... he's not breathing! He's dead!"

The Empress slowly opened her eyes, her face still wet with tears, her chest heaving violently, as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

She glanced down at Xiao Huanjia's corpse, showing no panic, but simply closing her eyes wearily.

"Good riddance. He should go back now."