Mom just made a little mistake, why are you holding it against her

Zhenqing Prison!

This was the Zhenmo Department's prison, an institution under its jurisdiction, specifically designed to incarcerate demons of passion. It was equipped with exclusive tortures aimed at dealing with all kinds of hopeless romantics and those obsessed with love.

To deter those who intended to cause trouble.

Although it had just been established, the equipment was already extremely perfect, and Wei Chengye became the first distinguished guest of this Zhenqing Prison.

Xie Changfeng, who had been promoted to the position of Severing Passion Envoy of the Severing Passion Department, entertained him well. His purpose was to ask about the true fate of the White-robed Chancellor.

If not in the Chongning Nunnery, then where?

Under interrogation, Wei Chengye racked his brains and spat out everything he could think of.

Then...

He suddenly cried out.

"I remember, I remember..."

"I know where the White-robed Chancellor is."

"Oh?" Xie Changfeng's spirits lifted.

He didn't expect it to actually work.

It seemed he needed to beat him more.

Maybe he could get more and bigger news.

After all, this person knew too much. Almost as soon as he opened his mouth, he spilled all the scandals of the late Emperor Xiao Jingyuan, almost stripping the royal family bare.

"Speak quickly!"

"Hmph!" Wei Chengye snorted coldly, showing no appreciation for the favor: "You are so anxious, which shows the importance of this matter."

"Such an important matter is in my hands."

"You want me to speak, and I will speak?"

"Hmph, unless... you kill Cai Genhua for me..."

"Slap!"

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Changfeng slapped Wei Chengye across the face, then waved his hand, and a subordinate immediately brought over chili water.

Seeing this scene, Wei Chengye's eyes instantly cleared up.

"I'll speak, I'll speak, I was wrong, I was wrong..."

"Haha..." Xie Changfeng laughed loudly. He knew Wei Chengye was a coward who couldn't withstand such ruthless methods at all. However, he still said, "If it were any other request, I wouldn't bother with you, but this request?"

"I can agree to it."

With a wave of his hand, he immediately ordered his subordinates to do it.

Not long after, a bloody head was thrown at Wei Chengye's feet.

Looking at the miserable state of this old woman, Wei Chengye felt much more comfortable in his heart. Of course, he didn't dare to delay any longer and told everything he knew one by one.

"My lord, when His Majesty was imprisoned in the Yuchen Mansion by Tuoba Xiangtai, Lord Pei once sent someone to sneak in and obtained three blood letters from His Majesty. One of the blood letters was to be given to Her Highness the Eldest Princess, and in that blood letter, it was once said that if Her Highness the Eldest Princess was undecided about something, she could go to the Chongning Nunnery to ask."

Xie Changfeng frowned.

This was basically nonsense.

Just as he was about to get angry, Wei Chengye added, "The blood edict also wrote that if she couldn't be found in the Chongning Nunnery, she could go to another place."

"It's just that Lord Pei only let me read it once, and the matter involved the Eldest Princess, so I didn't look closely, and now I can't quite remember."

"But..."

Wei Chengye's voice suddenly grew louder: "Lord Pei definitely knows. Even if he didn't memorize it, the blood letter is in his hands."

Pei Jingzhi?

Xie Changfeng didn't doubt the meaning in Wei Chengye's words. He didn't dare to linger and passed this news up to Su Jin.

Now the prototype of the Zhenmo Department had gradually developed, looking more and more like an official institution. Although Su Jin's status had not changed, his title had changed from Vice Commander of the Zhenmo Department to Vice Zhenmo Envoy!

Abbreviation: Zhenmo Envoy!

Upon receiving the news, Su Jin didn't dare to delay either and hurried to find Ren Tianye.

At this time, Ren Tianye had just come out of the palace.

He went to see the Empress Xiao Mingzhao, and as a result, the Empress Xiao Mingzhao was still lying in bed playing dead. During this time, she had occasionally woken up twice, but the time she was awake was not very long.

It's just that...

According to the imperial physicians, Xiao Mingzhao was recovering very well and getting closer and closer to a normal condition.

This point made Ren Tianye very unhappy.

But he wasn't too worried.

After all, given the current situation, if he didn't want Xiao Mingzhao to fully recover, could Xiao Mingzhao recover?

Leaving the imperial palace, he returned to the Duke Ren's Mansion.

On the way, he ran into Su Jin who was rushing over, and the news Su Jin brought.

"Pei Jingzhi?"

"Perfect!" Ren Tianye said, "The time I gave him is up, and it's time for him to give me a reply. Right now, it's the perfect time to resolve all these matters together."

Ren Tianye led his personal guards, with Wang Ming by his side.

Following behind were Vice Zhenmo Envoy Su Jin and Commander of the Severing Passion Department Xie Changfeng, marching grandly towards the Pei Mansion.

...

Pei Mansion!

Pei Jingzhi sat in the front hall, with account books placed on the desk.

In front of him were all the servants of the Pei Mansion, each holding silver taken from the accounting room.

Pei Jingzhi's life was not considered shabby, after all, he had the help of the Liu family of Hedong, but it wasn't overly luxurious either. However, right now, the wages given to these maids and servants were all very high.

After settling the silver for these people, he stood up and said, "I will have the housekeeper return your deeds of sale to you one by one. Keep your silver well."

"After all, we have been master and servant."

"This is all I can give you."

"Now..."

"Flee for your lives!"

"Remember, after taking the things, leave the Pei Mansion immediately. In the future, it is best if there are no storms. If there are, change your names and hide your identities. From now on, don't mention the words Pei Mansion again."

"Consider these years in the Pei Mansion as..."

"A dream!"

Pei Jingzhi had always been very generous to the servants in the mansion, otherwise he wouldn't have raised a talent like Hongxiu. Now, his action of dismissing everyone caused the servants to kneel down in a swath.

There were even those who kowtowed to express their unwillingness to leave.

Looking at this scene, a bit of sorrow arose in Pei Jingzhi's heart.

If he hadn't been driven to a dead end, why would he need to do this?

He waved his hand, letting everyone leave respectively. He then went to deal with his relatives and clansmen. In the past day or two, they had already been settled separately, and he had dispatched trusted aides to escort them far away to other lands, destroying the correspondence documents. He believed that by now, they had basically all left the capital.

Then only the last, and most important matter remained.

His closest people.

One son.

Two daughters.

And... Madam Liu, whom he really didn't want to pay attention to.

But right now, he had no confidence in the Great Yu Dynasty anymore, no confidence in himself, and felt that there was no hope for Ren Tianye in this life. He only wanted to show his resolve with death, using his old bones to burn out the last spark of the Great Yu's empire.

He had to finish dealing with these.

Returning to the study, not long after, his son and two daughters all hurried over.

Behind his third son followed Madam Liu, but she didn't dare to come in.

Pei Jingzhi suppressed the turbulent waves in his heart, covering up the despair and sorrow in his eyes, and used the most peaceful voice and posture possible to say, "You're here?"

"As a father, I have written a letter of divorce. You... will give it to your... your mother in a moment."

"She and I, from now on, will have no more entanglements."

Pei Jingzhi spoke these words calmly, originally to end everything, but he didn't expect that as soon as the words fell, his three children refused to accept it.

"Father, how can you be so heartless? Mother only made a small mistake, why must you hold onto it forever? Now you even want to divorce her. Do you have any idea how much gossip she will suffer at her age if you do this?"

"Father, Mother has already listened to us and dismissed those eighteen men. Who doesn't have a past? You can't just condemn her completely because of a few past transgressions!"

"Father, even the sages say that there is no greater virtue than correcting one's mistakes. Mother will change. How can you divorce her?"

...

Pei Jingzhi looked at his three children, waves of emotion surging in his heart once more.

He had truly neglected their upbringing over the years, leaving them entirely in the care of Madam Liu. He had not expected them to become so utterly unreasonable.

Nor did they understand his painstaking efforts.

Given his current predicament, he had only two choices: submit to Ren Tianye and be used by him, or die.

Having eaten the emperor's salary, how could he betray the Great Yu?

He would rather die.

Only by his death could his three children possibly be kept safe.

Only by his death, and by leaving behind this divorce letter, could his three children possibly avoid losing their mother after losing their father.

Even after he had done all this, his three children still could not see the truth. They blindly took Madam Liu's side, hurling all sorts of accusations at him.

Pei Jingzhi's gaze swept across the faces of his three children. Suddenly, his throat tightened uncontrollably, but he could not even let out half a sigh.

Things having reached this point, he could not even show his sorrow in front of others.

He merely stared fixedly at the now-quiet courtyard outside the door, sitting behind his desk, ready to welcome the impending disaster.

"Enough..."

After a long while, Pei Jingzhi finally spoke. "Take the divorce letter and leave. Give it to Madam Liu."

"Then, leave the Pei Manor."

Having pleaded for ages, the three children saw that not only did Pei Jingzhi show no sign of changing his mind, but he was also acting with such absolute callousness. This instantly infuriated them.

"I never thought you were this kind of father. I was really wrong about you before. I thought you truly loved Mother, but it turns out you are no different from anyone else!"

"Father, with this behavior of yours, don't blame us for disowning you from now on. From today forward, we only have a mother, not a father!"

"Right, we won't acknowledge him anymore. Mother merely made a mistake that any woman in the world might make, and it's not like she won't correct it. He insists on holding it against her. Such a father is not worth having!"

...

The three grumbled for a moment, then one by one flicked their sleeves and stormed out. They pulled Madam Liu, who was waiting outside the door, and left together.

The study finally fell silent.

A terrifying kind of silence.

Pei Jingzhi's heart, however, calmed down. He put on his formal court attire, straightening his jade belt. Step by step, he walked to the bookshelf, his fingertips slowly brushing across it, his eyes growing increasingly serene.

His household was secure, his old subordinates dismissed. He had no more attachments. Only death remained to preserve his honor and integrity.

Pei Jingzhi brought over a wooden chair and placed it firmly in the middle of the study.

The sunlight outside was dazzling. Though it was broad daylight, it could not pierce the deathly stillness, like a freezing pool, within his heart.

He stood on the chair and tied a white silk cloth to the beam.

His knuckles were distinct, his hands steadier than one going to his death.

Only at the very end did he lift his eyes to look out the window, toward the distant, unreachable imperial palace, toward the common people of the world.

"This minister has done his utmost!"

Closing his eyes, Pei Jingzhi resolutely slipped his neck into the white silk loop.

Just as he was about to kick away the wooden chair, a sudden commotion erupted outside.

"The Duke has arrived! Pei Jingzhi, why aren't you coming out to receive him?"

This voice was like a thunderclap, crashing down on Pei Jingzhi's head.

All the silence was instantly shattered and scattered to the winds.

Pei Jingzhi suddenly laughed, though his face was filled with nothing but bitterness.

"Ren Tianye, you won't even let me die in peace!"

But Pei Jingzhi's will to die was set. He stepped directly down from the chair and took a dagger from the bookshelf.

He unsheathed the dagger; the blade was sharp and fierce.

Just as he was about to slit his own throat, the study door was kicked open. Wang Ming rushed in and delivered a flying kick, sending him sprawling and dizzy.

"Good thing this general saw the people you dismissed and knew you wanted to die. Hah, we haven't even dealt with you yet, and you want to die?"

"Did the Duke give you permission to die?"

"Men! Tie up Pei Jingzhi and bring him before the Duke."

Several guards rushed in, pinning Pei Jingzhi down like a helpless chick, and roughly dragged him before Ren Tianye.

Ren Tianye looked at him coldly.

In his heart, he was also extremely disappointed in Pei Jingzhi.

I gave you a chance!

More than once, at that!

You just didn't know what's good for you.

So what if you are a great talent?

A great talent that cannot be used by me must be killed by me.

Besides, you even thought of making a move against me?

And so, Ren Tianye wasted no more words and directly read out the charges.

"The Minister of the Imperial Household, Pei Jingzhi, has glaring evidence of his crimes."

"He secretly formed factions to cause chaos in the court. Under the guise of saving the Emperor, he sought to hold the sovereign hostage. Taking advantage of the court's turmoil, he plotted to restore the old order and privately consolidate his power. After his conspiracy was exposed, he dismissed his household, attempting to escape responsibility out of fear of punishment."

"His crimes deserve ten thousand deaths. He shall be..."

Ren Tianye paused. "...executed along with his three kindred!"

The words three kindred echoed like a thunderclap through heaven and earth.

Even Pei Jingzhi, whose heart was already like dead ashes, trembled in shock.

Was Ren Tianye refusing to even spare his family?

Was his death alone not enough?

Pei Jingzhi struggled to raise his head. Suddenly catching sight of Ren Tianye's eyes, he instantly understood the man's intentions.

Ren Tianye was killing the chicken to frighten the monkeys!

He had given him chances time and time again, but not only did he ignore them, he even plotted against him. Ren Tianye was worried that the principled people of the world would follow his example, so...

He was using him to establish dominance!

If he, Pei Jingzhi, died, it did not matter!

But did his three children have to die too?

Just then, a nearby guard came to report: "Reporting to the Duke. Just now, your subordinates captured four people outside the Pei Manor. They are Pei Jingzhi's wife, Madam Liu, and his three children."

Ren Tianye said indifferently, "Bring them here."

"They will be beheaded... together with Pei Jingzhi!"

"Yes, sir."

The guard immediately went to fetch them. A moment later, they brought Madam Liu and Pei Jingzhi's three children, forcing them all to kneel there. The moment Pei Jingzhi saw them, his heart was filled with infinite sorrow.

Madam Liu's death was not worth pitying.

But his three children were innocent!

He, Pei Jingzhi, had acted as a loyal minister of the Great Yu, yet he was implicating his own kin. How ashamed he would be to face his ancestors in the underworld!

"Drag them out and execute them one by one!"

Ren Tianye's voice rang out coldly.

The executioners immediately took their positions, grabbing Pei Jingzhi's son and dragging him to the side.

The son instantly paled and broke down, screaming, "Father, Mother, save me! Save me! I don't want to die. Wanqing hasn't agreed to marry me yet. I can't die! If I die, what will she do all alone?"

...