I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

Once it's made public, this good brother of mine will immediately be nailed to the pillar of shame.

She couldn't guarantee that her brother, after learning the contents, would truly consider their sibling bond and not kill her.

The hall suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Zhu Houcong's hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face gradually froze.

Bitch!

They still dare to hide it now.

"hehe!"

That soft laugh made Li Yang's heart sink completely.

She clearly saw that the last trace of warmth in the emperor's eyes had vanished.

Instead, a chilling coldness filled the air.

The next second, Zhu Houcong suddenly grabbed Li Yang's right wrist.

With his other hand, he reached directly into his sleeve and precisely pulled out the purse.

"His Majesty!"

Li Yang's face turned pale instantly, and he abandoned all decorum and lunged forward to snatch it.

Snapped!

A resounding slap echoed in the hall.

Zhu Houcong slapped Li Yang with all his might, causing him to stagger several steps and fall heavily to the ground.

Half of her face immediately swelled up, and a trickle of blood slowly seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Zhu Houcong didn't even glance at her, coldly opening his purse.

Sure enough, the letter was lying inside.

"My dear sister, you've learned to play mind games with me!"

Zhu Houcong sneered.

"Yan Song, see the guest out."

Chapter 168 Liyang Dies, Two Sons Escape

Liyang slumped to the ground, his hair disheveled, and one side of his face swollen and red.

Before Cao Zhichun could enter, she quickly knelt down and kowtowed deeply in the most standard kneeling posture.

"Your Majesty, please do not be angry with Bi'er and Jingrui; they know nothing about this matter."

Zhu Houcong sat upright on the soft couch and slowly unfolded the letter.

He didn't even lift his eyelids when he heard Liyang's plea.

"I can agree to your request, but what I want is dignity."

Do you understand?

"Kasayo...I understand."

She kowtowed again with difficulty, then, trembling, propped herself up and turned to leave.

As soon as the palace doors closed again, a cluster of flames suddenly shot out from Zhu Houcong's hand.

The flames instantly devoured all the secrets, and the entire letter vanished into thin air as a wisp of smoke.

"Cao Zhichun," he suddenly said.

"This servant is here."

"Send someone to keep an eye on the Princess's residence."

"Yes!"

From that day on, news kept coming from the Princess's residence.

Princess Liyang was heartbroken by her husband's exile and spent her days in tears, refusing to eat or drink.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Houcong specially arranged for his carriage to visit him in person.

When he stepped into the room, he saw that Li Yang was already lying emaciated in the brocade tent.

Her once radiant face is now sunken beyond recognition, and her eyes are utterly empty.

"Liyang, sister, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Zhu Houcong sat by the bed, grabbed her withered hand, and cried out in grief.

But there wasn't a single tear in her eyes.

He knew perfectly well that this was Kasayasu making a final deal with him, risking his life.

If they were killed, others might laugh at the royal family, saying they couldn't even protect the eldest princess.

I'd have to go through a lot of trouble to investigate, and if I found anything, it would cause even more problems.

Leaving in this way is the most dignified and reasonable option.

"Convey my decree!"

He turned to the kneeling imperial physicians and sternly said, "Save the Princess at all costs. If anything goes wrong, I will have you all executed."

The imperial physicians had no choice but to accept the decree with trepidation.

A day later, as the death knell tolled at the Princess's residence, Zhu Houcong was reviewing memorials.

He put down his vermilion brush, walked to the window of the Wanshou Palace, looked at the swirling snowflakes outside, and sighed softly.

A satisfied smile then appeared on his lips.

Liyang is a smart man.

Since she chose to protect her two children in this way, she probably never revealed the contents of that blood-written letter to them until her death.

Xie Bi, spare his life!

The death of Xiao Jingrui alone is enough.

"By imperial decree, Princess Liyang shall be given a grand funeral. Although Xie Yu has been stripped of his second-rank military title, Xie Bi is hereby granted permission to inherit the title of Marquis of Ningguo."

"Yes!"

Unfortunately, it backfired.

Zhu Houcong never expected that Xie Bi, this self-righteous fool, would force him to eliminate the threat completely.

White banners hung low inside the mourning hall of the Princess's residence.

Xiao Jingrui was kneeling in front of his mother's belongings, carefully sorting through each item.

Suddenly, his fingers paused, and his brows furrowed deeply.

"Xie Bi, have you ever seen the purse that Mother wore close to her body, the one embroidered with twin lotus flowers?"

Xie Bi was adding paper money to the brazier when he heard this and was taken aback.

"Pouch?"

He thought carefully for a moment, then said, "I remember the last time I saw it was the day my father was exiled. My mother used it to store the letters my father wrote to him."

Where is that purse now?

"I haven't seen him since I returned from outside the city that day..."

"I feel something is wrong with this."

Xiao Jingrui's heart sank upon hearing this.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Jingrui's gaze slowly shifted to the coffin in the center of the mourning hall, and he said in a deep voice, "Xie Bi, I've been holding this in for many days. Don't you think Mother's illness is too suspicious?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Bi's hand, which was about to add paper money to the brazier, suddenly froze.

"We both know perfectly well that Mother and Father... and Lord Xie have long been estranged, living in separate rooms for many years."

Xiao Jingrui's voice grew increasingly deep.

"Why did my mother suddenly become so grief-stricken that she starved herself to death as soon as Lord Xie was exiled?"

“That’s right. Although I’m reluctant to admit it, what you said makes sense. There is indeed a problem here.”

After listening to Xiao Jingrui's words, Xie Bi also agreed with them.

"do you remember?"

"On the day Lord Xie left the capital, my mother was urgently summoned to the palace by His Majesty..."

Upon hearing this, Xie Bi's pupils constricted sharply, and the image of his mother returning home immediately flashed before his eyes.

Her hair was disheveled, her right cheek was swollen and red, and there was a handprint on her face.

"That handprint, you mean?"

Xie Bi suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

The two brothers looked at each other and saw utter horror in each other's eyes.

"You thought of that too, didn't you!"

The more Xiao Jingrui spoke, the more horrified he felt.

“I suspect that the emperor and my mother had a quarrel that day, otherwise who in the entire Liang Dynasty would dare to hit my mother?”

"Perhaps it was because of what Lord Xie wrote down that Mother became a different person after she came back."

After some deduction, both of them grasped the key to the matter.

What exactly was in that letter?

Perhaps Xie Yu left something inside that led to his mother's death.

Xie Bi became increasingly uneasy. He gripped the hem of his mourning clothes tightly and asked in a trembling voice.

"Jingrui, what exactly did that letter say?"

Xiao Jingrui shook his head.

"I don't know, but I know it's definitely something that will kill people. My mother was the emperor's own sister, and she still died because of this letter. Do you think we can survive?"

"what?"

Xie Bi was struck dumb.

"You mean His Majesty will kill us?"

"He killed even his own sister, why can't he kill us?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Bi was instantly drenched in cold sweat, his mourning clothes soaked through.

He nodded stiffly.

"You're right, what should we do now?"

"Walk."

Xiao Jingrui ripped off the mourning cap.

"Escape the capital before His Majesty makes a move, the sooner the better!"

"Okay, it's up to you."

The two quickly packed a few changes of clothes and valuables, and decisively chose to leave.

As soon as Xiao Jingrui and Xie Bi stepped out of the mansion, several pairs of eyes suddenly lit up from the shadows.

"Strange, why aren't those two focused on observing mourning? What are they doing out here?"

One of the Eastern Depot agents frowned and gave his companion a wink.

His companions quickly led a few others to secretly follow, while he returned to the Eastern Depot to report.