Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

Seeing that Wang Zheng's guard was getting stronger, it seemed impossible to trick him back with kind words.

Chu Jinsheng and Chu Jingrui exchanged a glance, both annoyed that they had said the wrong thing.

A moment later, Chu Jingrui spoke first, still in that condescending tone, his smile fading:

"At this point, I'm too lazy to argue with you anymore. If you have any sense, get over here and come into the city with us!"

As soon as Chu Jingrui finished speaking, Chu Jinsheng continued:

"Yes, that's right. We do have something to discuss with you. We need you to go in and talk to Xie Moyao."

Xie Moyao is stubborn and won't listen to reason or force. He won't listen to anything I or the Second Prince say. We need to find someone who will listen to us, and since we heard that you are in the Northwest, we would like you to come with us.

I advise you to be pragmatic. There's a cliff behind you; if you fall, you'll be gone without a trace. You'd be better off coming into the city with us.

"If things are done well, the Second Prince and I might spare your life."

"Yes, Wang Zheng, the Crown Prince is right. You come with us into the city and cooperate with us. If you do a good job, we won't make things too difficult for you."

"Considering your past service on the battlefield, I can still give you a sum of money so you can enjoy your retirement. You're an adult; I believe you know exactly which path to take. We don't need to explain further. If you've thought it through, come over."

Behind Wang Zheng was a cliff, and Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng were both certain that Wang Zheng would return to the city with them.

After all, anyone with a brain wouldn't choose a deadly path; following them back to the city offers a glimmer of hope.

Watching them sing and dance, Wang Zheng stood on the edge of the cliff. A cold wind blew by, and light snow began to fall. Wang Zheng felt a chill run through his entire body.

He knew what the eldest and second princes wanted from him.

If he wasn't mistaken, Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng had come specifically to find him, and the guards who had gone to the village to look for him before were also Chu Jinsheng and Chu Jingrui's men.

Their purpose in seeking him out was to use him to deal with, or rather, to use him to blackmail Xie Moyao.

He didn't know the specifics of Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng's plan, but his intuition told him that this was the reason.

Wang Zheng smiled bitterly. Even though the prince has fallen to this state, Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng still refuse to let him go?

His prince has already suffered enough; he cannot allow Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng to have another chance to deal with his prince because of his own actions.

Wang Zheng raised his head, looking at Chu Jingrui and Chu Jinsheng, his face ashen.

"I know your purpose now. You want to use me to coerce my prince into surrendering. I don't know what deep hatred you have for my prince that would drive his family to such a state and put them to death."

I used to be as close as brothers with the prince, so don't try to use me to threaten him into agreeing to any of your conditions!

Or that I could do you any favors? That's a pipe dream! I won't give you that chance!

Seeing that Wang Zheng remained unmoved, Chu Jinsheng completely lost his patience, his smile vanishing and replaced by a sinister glint.

"Oh, really? Wang Zheng, this is not up to you. I'm warning you, come here quickly. If you obediently cooperate with us and get things done, we might still be able to leave you with a whole corpse."

You have nowhere to retreat now, and you can't escape even if you grow wings. There are thousands of us here; capturing you is more than enough for us. Even if you had wings, you wouldn't escape from my grasp today!

"That's right, Wang Zheng, my eldest brother is right. If you take a step back, you're on the edge of a cliff. Do you really want to jump off rather than come back with us?"

Haha, I've never seen anyone as stupid as you in the world. We're just asking you to come with us, not to kill your prince!

Even if you die here today, your lord will never know your loyalty to him! Agree to our request and come with us.

We'll give you some money afterwards, and you can use that money to live a carefree retirement. Wouldn't that be great?

Besides, you have nowhere to retreat now. I advise you to listen to us and not force us to use force against you!

If we force you to return to Liancheng, then all the conditions we discussed before will be null and void. You'd better think it through!

Seeing the two men's determined expressions, Wang Zheng felt a wave of nausea.

"Bah! You two ungrateful bastards! My lord fought on the battlefield for the Eastern Lin Kingdom, and the old lord and the eldest and second young masters even sacrificed their lives for the country. They all did it to protect the court and serve the court!"

Now that my lord has fallen to this state, you have no pity whatsoever. Fine, fine, you even want to use me to deal with my lord. You are just like a dog emperor, your conscience has been eaten by dogs!

Bah! Even if I die today, I will never let you have your way!

After Wang Zheng finished speaking, he subconsciously took a step back, his body already leaning over the cliff edge. Seeing his intention, Chu Jingrui's expression changed:

"What are you going to do!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Zheng fell backward, and Chu Jinsheng quickly shouted:

"Quick, stop him! He's going to jump!"

Chu Jingrui's expression changed drastically. The guards beside him rushed over, but they were too slow. By the time they reached the edge of the cliff, Wang Zheng had already jumped off.

In a daze, Wang Zheng seemed to see Xie Moyao's shadow in the woods. He knew he was just imagining things; Xie Moyao was probably suffering somewhere right now, and there was nothing he could do to help him.

In his heart, he silently bid farewell to Xie Moyao. He knew clearly that he was standing on a cliff, and that if he jumped, he might never see Xie Moyao again in this life.

Xie Moyao, hiding in a tree, witnessed this scene and his eyes widened in horror. He was too far away to help in time, as the First Prince and the Second Prince's thousands of troops were blocking his way!

Unless he has special abilities like Ji Yunshu, who can instantly teleport people into space!

Otherwise, with their mortal bodies, even if he were highly skilled in martial arts, it would be absolutely impossible for him to save Wang Zheng from such a distance!

Xie Moyao suddenly felt his whole body go limp, and even as a grown man, tears involuntarily streamed down his face.

He didn't know how he got away from that tree, but when he saw Wang Zheng fall off the cliff, his first reaction was to rush down to the bottom of the cliff to look for him.

He had just taken cover in a big tree and observed the situation below the cliff several times. The place where Wang Zheng fell was below a waterfall. If nothing unexpected happened, Wang Zheng would most likely have fallen into the pool at the mouth of the waterfall, or he might have escaped with his life.

Xie Moyao had no time to grieve. He quickly went around to the other side of the cliff, pulled a bunch of vines from the woods, and tied them together.

After ensuring the vine was long enough, he tied one end to a large tree and the other end to his waist, then slowly lowered himself down the cliff by pulling on the vine.