The Last Emperor 08

"Ah, saying such things..." Fang Zhiyi waved his hand again, and another twenty or thirty people were brought forward. This time, it was Xue Wanqiu's turn to be shocked; almost all of Xue family's direct relatives had been arrested.

Upon seeing Xue Wanqiu, they immediately began wailing and cursing bitterly, especially Xue's Father, who cursed with extreme venom. He had been arrested by the imperial guards breaking down his door last night and knew right then that their plot had been exposed.

Xue Wanqiu's face turned alternately pale and red. Clearly, her father had agreed on the very day of the rebellion! Didn't he also desire wealth and honor? Didn't he also want to crush the superior who had humiliated him underfoot! Why did it now seem like all the fault lay with her?

"Here, I'll give you a choice." Fang Zhiyi looked at Xue Wanqiu, merely raising a finger. The eunuch attendant beside him immediately stepped forward, handing a sharp blade to Xue Wanqiu. "Kill these twenty-some members of the Xue family, and I'll spare your 'Brother Wei'."

When he uttered the words "Brother Wei", Fang Zhiyi almost couldn't hold back a laugh.

"This!" Xue Wanqiu was stunned. She looked at Fang Zhiyi with confusion, finding him somewhat unfamiliar. Looking down at the blade in her hand, she hesitated again. She wasn't the real Xue Wanqiu after all; the lives of the Xue family meant nothing to her. But... if she really did this, how would others view her afterwards? How would Brother Wei, Brother Xiao, and Brother Liu view her?

For a moment, she was frozen, but only for a few short breaths. Suddenly, she stood up: "Fang Zhiyi! Are you sure you want to treat me like this?"

Fang Zhiyi nodded without hesitation: "Alright, wrong answer."

Before she could react, the eunuch stepped forward and snatched the blade from her hand.

Fang Zhiyi turned to look at Wei Lin: "Tell me, do you want to save your entire family's lives?"

Wei Lin glanced at his trembling family members, who could barely stand, and nodded. But looking at the blade offered by the eunuch, then at the equally terrified Xue family, and then at Xue Wanqiu, he too hesitated.

"Tsk, true love," Fang Zhiyi remarked sarcastically. "But it's fine, I came prepared!"

He clapped his hands again, and two more groups of people were escorted forward. Xue Wanqiu saw her Brother Xiao and Brother Liu.

"The rule is simple. Your own records aren't clean either; you provided aid to their rebellion. You can't fool me."

Liu Yan and Xiao Ce trembled all over. The moment the imperial guards holding them loosened their grip, the two immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, have mercy!"

Fang Zhiyi smiled amiably: "I can show mercy. I'll give you a choice."

The old minister who had earlier decided to remonstrate even at the cost of his life unconsciously swallowed hard upon seeing Fang Zhiyi's smile.

"Kill the Wei family or kill the Xue family. You choose." Fang Zhiyi propped his chin on his hand, his tone brooking no argument. "I'll count to five. Either you all die here today, or..."

Xiao Ce was the first to take the blade. After a simple weighing of options, he strode towards Wei Lin's family with the knife. Seeing this, Liu Yan scrambled on hands and knees to follow behind.

Only when the sharp blades pierced flesh and cries of anguish rang out did Xue Wanqiu truly realize her mistake. This emperor before her did not love her at all!

"You! You deceived me! You've been deceiving me all this time!" she wailed. "Was your patience with me, your tenderness towards me, all fake?"

Fang Zhiyi spread his hands while rolling his eyes: "Are you stupid? Since ancient times, apart from puppet emperors, which emperor who survived the struggle for the throne has been gentle and tender? That would be asking for death."

Wei Lin roared and lunged at Xiao Ce and Liu Yan, but was held back by soldiers.

He could only watch in agony as his family members died with wide, staring eyes.

Xiao Ce's expression gradually grew numb. He kept telling himself that he was merely trying to protect his own family.

Xue Wanqiu was equally tormented. Because she had set her sights on Wei Lin early on, even though she knew Wei Lin's family had only adopted him, she had made contact with them long ago. The Wei family had treated her well. When she read the book, she had only seen written descriptions. Now, these living people dying before her eyes dealt her a significant shock.

Fang Zhiyi looked utterly indifferent; the scene before him caused him no shock. On the other hand, Yin Tao lowered her head, staring intently at the tips of her own shoes, thinking to herself that this senior was a madman! Too ruthless!

The agonizing time gradually passed. No one in the Wei family was spared.

The numb Liu Yan and Xiao Ce came forward to report their task completed. The eunuchs hastily collected the blades from their hands.

As Fang Zhiyi had no harem of consorts, many buildings in the palace were empty. That very day, the members of these several families were each imprisoned in different places. The difference was that the three other families remained intact and together, while only Wei Lin was left alone and bereft.

Of course, Xue Wanqiu was in a rather miserable state. Because her entire family had incurred a death sentence, and having witnessed the extermination of the Wei family today, the Xue family's nerves were stretched taut. Seeing this chief culprit, they continuously cursed her, and from cursing, they moved to physical violence. Xue Wanqiu's meticulously styled hair was pulled into disarray, her face covered in slap marks and bloody scratches from fingernails.

Even her own parents did not intervene.

In the latter half of the night, after being scolded and beaten for hours, Xue Wanqiu drifted into a fitful sleep, still muttering about the plot. But she was soon awakened by eunuchs pushing the door open. A eunuch carried a lantern, its light casting eerie shadows on his wrinkled face, creating an indescribable strangeness.

"Everyone, by His Majesty's order, I am here to bring you some light."

Without waiting for the Xue family to speak.

The eunuch directed the junior eunuchs behind him to bring in numerous lanterns. After quickly hanging them in various places, the group departed as if avoiding some ghostly presence.

Xue Wanqiu, seeing the now much brighter room, didn't understand what trick Fang Zhiyi was playing. But then she suddenly heard a gasp of horror.

"This, this, these lanterns!"

Xue Wanqiu was bewildered until her father dragged her by the hair to one of the lanterns.

"Take a good look! This is the sin you've committed!"

Xue Wanqiu first saw the writing on the lantern.

"Wei Jun --- Second son of the Wei family, born --- died ---"

Her mind exploded. A feeling of sheer horror surged through her. As her gaze moved downward, she saw some features that originally belonged to a human!

These lanterns were made from the human skin of the Wei family!

For a moment, the room was filled with terrified wails. Everyone moved away from the light sources. But after a while, they suddenly realized their own likely fate. Xue Wanqiu, still in a daze, noticed the hate-filled gazes from her relatives. She shrank back into the shadows, her mind racing through the plot. There must be a way! But because she had disrupted the plot first, allowing Fang Zhiyi to ascend the throne, she had no idea what would happen next.

The same thing occurred in the places where the Xiao and Liu families were held.

Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi did not do anything further to them. He merely moved them to different quarters the next day. It was a palace built by the old emperor, now dilapidated, but with the advantage of being very spacious.