CWTGD Chapter 257: When Minister Lu Ordered the Desecration of Corpses, Did He Consider Respect for the Dead?
Lu Chongyuan refused to believe Guo Shi had colluded with Prince Cheng. This daughter-in-law, though not of his choosing, had always been meek and devoted to his eldest son.
Staring at Guo Shi kneeling on the floor, Lu Chongyuan’s voice turned glacial: “A few letters prove nothing! The Black Armor Guards and the Fourth Prince’s men ransacked her quarters—who’s to say evidence wasn’t planted?”
“Do you accuse me of framing her?” The Fourth Prince’s face twisted.
“These letters were found in her room! Even if you deny them, what of Qin Xin? She served Guo Shi for decades—”
“A slave’s word holds no weight!” Lu Chongyuan’s gaze snapped to Tangning. “I recall it was a traitorous maid who deceived Princess Rong for thirty years. If even such loyalty can be bought, how much easier to corrupt a lowly servant?”
Tangning’s expression frosted over.
Guo Shi, trembling, cried out: “Father is right! Qin Xin betrayed me—”
The bloodied Qin Xin lifted her head: “Madam, I served you faithfully! When your affair with Prince Cheng nearly exposed you, you begged me to silence witnesses. When you aborted your first child to avoid bearing the Lu bloodline, I cleaned your mess. When you bore Prince Cheng’s bastard and passed him off as the Lu heir, I falsified his birth records—”
“Lies!!” Guo Shi lunged, clawing at Qin Xin’s face. “My son is the Lu heir! Why slander me?!”
Qin Xin, bleeding, spat: “You kept Prince Cheng’s bastard as the Lu heir while palming off some Lu brat as his royal son! You drugged Princess Rong for years to prevent her conceiving—until her recent pregnancy slipped through!”
She turned to Xiao Yan: “The jade bracelet on Madam’s wrist was Prince Cheng’s gift—a relic from the late Imperial Consort. Check the palace archives. Its provenance will confirm everything.”
Guo Shi stared at the bracelet, remembering Empress Lu’s maid Jin Zhi: “This is blessed by eminent monks… Wear it discreetly, lest the other wives grow jealous.”
“This… this was from the Empress!” Guo Shi ripped off the bracelet. “Jin Zhi gave it to me!”
“Silence!!” Lu Chongyuan smashed a teacup at her forehead. “Where’s your proof?”
Guo Shi froze. Jin Zhi had delivered it privately, with only Qin Xin present—now her betrayer.
Fourth Prince struck her: “Dare you implicate my mother?!”
Lu Jiuan, a Lu cousin, stepped forward: “I witnessed Jin Zhi’s visit. She brought only food and clothes—no bracelet. You slander the Empress!”
Guo Shi gaped at this once-respectful nephew. Lu Chongyuan coldly interjected: “Your crimes shame the Lu. Must you drag Ruo’er to death with you?”
At her youngest son’s name, Guo Shi stilled. Memories flooded her: “Mother, I’ll bring you sweets!” “I’ll protect you!”
Tears welled. She met Lu Chongyuan’s pitiless gaze—understanding. The Empress had trapped her. Exposing the truth would doom both Lu and Ruo’er.
“I… brought shame to the Lu.” Guo Shi whispered. “But Ruo’er is your blood. Spare him.”
Suddenly, she yanked a hairpin and plunged it into her throat.
Blood pooled as she choked: “I… won’t… drag down the Lu… But the Empress… I’ll haunt her…”
Her corpse hit the floor, eyes wide with hatred. The Fourth Prince recoiled.
Xiao Yan observed indifferently. Tangning stood silent.
Lu Chongyuan turned to the Fourth Prince: “Satisfied?”
He addressed Xiao Yan venomously: “Does the dead deserve no dignity?”
Xiao Yan smiled icily: “When you exhumed and whipped the Hè family’s corpses to cement the Lu’s rise, did you respect the dead?”
Lu Chongyuan’s pupils shrank—suspicions about Xiao Yan’s identity flaring.
As they departed for the palace with Guo Shi’s body, crowds gathered, whispering. The Fourth Prince raged: “Drive these peasants away!”
Xiao Yan watched Lu Chongyuan’s stiff back, recalling his father’s words: “Eradicate the clans’ greed, and the realm will flourish.”
At the palace gates, Cang Lang murmured: “The item from the Lu vault is secured. The replica goes unnoticed.”
Xiao Yan nodded. Ahead, the Hall of Governance loomed—where a teenage Crown Prince once stood with his father, dreaming of a united empire.
Closing his eyes, Xiao Yan exhaled.
A eunuch announced: “His Majesty summons you, Governor Xiao.”
“Understood.”
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You can read ahead to chapterr 400 (100+ extra chapters) here
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