Killer Queen: Tyrant, prepare to die!

Inside the Fengxian Hall, it was as silent as a grave.

Only the letter in Nangong Ye's hand trembled slightly under the dim light of the ever-burning lamp.

The handwriting on the letter was elegant yet sharp, each stroke seemingly stained with tears and blood from twenty years ago.

"Ye'er:"

"By the time you receive this letter, you must be in dire straits. Your mother is so sorry—"

The first line caused Nangong Ye's pupils to shrink drastically!

I feel sorry for him?

Mother...why did you say you were sorry to him?!

He stared intently down.

"In his later years, your father became senile and suspicious, and favored the wicked concubine Liu (who is now Liu Chengzong's aunt).

After that vixen gave birth to a prince

He whispers in your ear day and night, trying to depose you as crown prince and install his son in your place—

That is, Nangong Huan, the father of Prince Jing, Nangong Shuo.

"In the winter of the seventeenth year of Jinghe, your father fell seriously ill. In his delirium, he drafted an edict to depose the crown prince and even stamped it with the imperial seal."

"It was the mother who, together with General Shen Anbang, Li Dequan, and twenty-seven other loyal ministers,..."

Kneeling outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation for three days and three nights,

"Only by threatening suicide could your father be forced to tear up the edict and rescind the order."

"In the spring of the eighteenth year of Jinghe, in the last moments before your father's death..."

That vixen secretly added poison to the medicinal soup.

I want your father, on his deathbed,

Unable to speak, she then forged a will to pass the throne to Nangong Huan.

"It was Mother who personally poured out that bowl of poison and ordered Li Dequan to lead the guards to protect the palace."

Until your father breathed his last,

Read aloud in public—the true will bequeathing the throne to you.

"On the day you ascended the throne, your mother held your father's memorial tablet and wept all night in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Because your mother knows that your throne came too risky, too dirty, too... illegitimate."

The letter trembled violently in Nangong Ye's hand.

His face was ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, and his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a sound.

original……

So that's how he got his throne?

Was it earned through the lives of her birth mother and loyal ministers?

It was... snatched back from the brink of destruction?!

"The Imperial Seal is here; it is for Mother's safety in case of emergency."

The letter continues:

"Although that evil concubine is dead, her son Nangong Huan is ambitious, and her grandson Nangong Shuo is even more outstanding than his father."

The mother was certain that their branch of the family would never accept this.

"Before her death, my late mother instructed Li Dequan to secretly retrieve the true seal and hide it behind the plaque in the Fengxian Hall."

If your throne is secure, this seal will never see the light of day again.

If Prince Jing's lineage rebels, this seal—will be the proof of your legitimacy!

"The one who holds this seal must not only be ordained by Heaven, but also possess benevolence and virtue."

In this sentence, the pen suddenly becomes heavy, almost piercing the back of the paper!

"My son Ye, you have been intelligent since childhood, but you are also extreme in nature, easily angered and suspicious, just like your father in his later years."

"My mother was worried about this day and night."

Therefore, when choosing a consort for you, after much deliberation, we finally selected Shen Qingci—

Nangong Ye's breathing suddenly stopped!

He stared intently at the next line.

"This woman is gentle yet sharp, docile yet proud, and her resilience and broad vision are far beyond those of ordinary young ladies."

"Her mother observed her for three years and knew that she was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, able to endure what ordinary people could not endure, and able to do what ordinary people could not do."

"If she becomes your empress, she will surely assist you in governing the country, guide you towards benevolence, restrain your tyranny, and rectify your heart."

"My son, remember this—"

"Shen Qingci, your mother chose you, for the sake of this Nangong Jiangshan—her destined wife!"

"If she is wronged, you must protect her with your life."

"If she is lost, you will lose your pillar, the empire will lose its leader, and the Nangong family will lose its future!"

"Mother, Duanhui, this is your last words."

The last eight characters, written in deep ink, seemed to have exhausted the writer's last strength.

"Clang—"

The sword in Nangong Ye's hand fell to the ground.

He staggered, almost losing his balance.

Xuan Ying hurriedly supported him: "Your Majesty!"

Nangong Ye pushed Xuan Ying away, clutching the letter tightly, and slowly, very slowly, raised his head.

He looked at Shen Qingci.

Those eyes, always sharp, always gloomy, always hiding violence,

At this moment—only overwhelming, blood-red regret remains!

original……

The Empress Dowager had long taken a liking to her.

He had long believed that she was the one who could assist him, change him, save him—and even save this empire!

But what did he do?

He believed Liu Ruyan's bewitching words!

He believed the fabricated evidence!

He crippled her with his own hands!

They banished her to the cold palace! Let her be poisoned!

Let them bully us!

It even... almost killed her in the fire!

"Heh...heh..."

He let out a trapped beast's hiss, and tears—surging from the eyes of this iron-blooded tyrant!

"Qingci..."

He looked at her, his voice broken and incoherent:

"My mother said...you are the wife destined by heaven..."

She said...you can guide me towards benevolence...

She said... I should protect you with my life...

He staggered toward her, step by step, each step feeling like walking on a knife's edge.

"But I...I almost killed you..."

"I almost... destroyed the only light my mother had chosen for me..."

Shen Qingci stood there quietly.

Holding her baby in her arms.

She looked at the letter, at the words that were so powerful they seemed to penetrate the paper.

Look at that sentence—"If she is wronged, you must protect her with your life."

original.

There really are people in this world who recognized her from the very beginning.

Trust her.

He even... valued her more than the empire itself.

She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

In a certain place, a tiny crack suddenly appeared in the frozen fortress in my heart.

A sour, warm liquid welled up inside.

But she bit her lip tightly, preventing the tears from flowing.

"Your Majesty," she said, her voice calm but with a barely perceptible tremor, "now is not the time to cry."

She looked up at the palace door that had been slammed shut with a loud crash:

"Prince Jing is still outside."

"He's waiting—to take your life."

Nangong Ye was startled.

He suddenly raised his hand and fiercely wiped away the tears on his face.

The action was rough, yet it carried a resolute determination, like burning one's boats!

He bent down and picked up the sword from the ground.

Then, he turned around.

Look at the real Imperial Seal of the State in Eunuch Li's hand.

The lustrous white jade, with its warm glow, seemed to illuminate the human heart and reveal the conspiracy and darkness of the past twenty years.

He reached out and took the imperial seal.

It feels heavy in your hand.

But it made him feel...more at ease than ever before.

"Li Dequan," he said, his voice hoarse but no longer trembling, "holding the late Empress Dowager's letter."

"Mysterious Shadow!"

"Your subject is here!"

"Open the palace doors—"

He held the seal in his arms and walked step by step toward the door.

He walked towards the door, towards the one who wanted to take everything from him—including the imperial seal that his mother had risked her life to protect for him—

brothers!

"Today, I—"

He raised the seal, letting its gleaming white light illuminate his crimson eyes and his resolute face:

"Then it must be done in front of the Queen Mother, and in front of our ancestors—"

Tell Nangong Shuo—

"This empire was given to me by my mother!"

"This imperial seal was left to me by my mother!"

"This empress—"

He turned back and looked deeply at Shen Qingci. That look was as complex as the sea, yet it finally revealed a clear and unwavering light:

"It was my mother who chose it for me!!!"

"he--"

The sword's edge pointed directly at the palace gate, its roar like thunder:

"What are you talking about?!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The palace gates, at this moment—

It was completely smashed open!!!