^Happy New Year 2026 to all my dear readers! May you strike it rich!^
Inside the side chamber, it was dark and damp, the air permeated with a faint, lingering scent of blood and mildew.
Liu Yiyi’s hands were suspended high by iron chains, her entire body hanging limply, disheveled hair covering her deathly pale face.
Hearing the sound of the door opening and footsteps, she struggled to lift her eyelids.
Against the light, she saw a tall, straight figure enter, carrying with it a bone-chilling coldness that abruptly sharpened her muddled consciousness.
It was His Highness… the Crown Prince!
Instinct for survival made her struggle, the chains clanking loudly as they tugged at her wounds, sending waves of darkness before her eyes from the pain. Yet, she still managed to force a hoarse, broken voice from her throat, crying out, “Your… Highness… spare… me…”
Pei Zhen stopped a few steps away from her, his expressionless face scrutinizing her wretched state. There was not a trace of pity in his eyes, only a deep, unfathomable cold disgust.
“Take her down,” he commanded coldly, his thin lips parting slightly.
The guards behind him immediately stepped forward, using a specially made key to unlock the shackles at the ends of the chains.
With two heavy clangs, Liu Yiyi, now unsupported, fell to the ground like a rag, emitting a dull thud. Darkness swam before her eyes, and in her blurred vision, she saw a pair of boots.
After a brief moment of dizziness, she ignored the pain throughout her body and crawled with all her strength toward those boots, extending a blood-stained hand, desperate to grasp at this last lifeline.
“Your Highness… your humble servant knows she was wrong… spare me… for the sake of… our past affection…”
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the surface of the boot, Pei Zhen coldly moved his foot away, then mercilessly stomped down on her outstretched hand.
“Ah!”
A piercing scream instantly filled the air.
He pressed down with his foot, slowly grinding it, his voice terrifyingly calm yet each word sharp as a blade. “Spare you?”
“When you punished Sheng Sheng to kneel on the cold stone floor, unable to move, did you ever think of sparing her? When those hundred lashes fell upon her, did you ever think of sparing her even a little?”
“And… did you ever think of sparing the child in her womb?!”
At this, he gritted his teeth, wishing he could immediately cut this woman before him into a thousand pieces!
Liu Yiyi trembled in pain, but upon hearing the word “child,” she froze for a moment before screaming hoarsely, “It wasn’t me! The lashes… that was your humble servant’s fault!”
“But her legs… her legs were already injured when she left the Empress’s palace, it has nothing to do with me, Your Highness! It was the Empress! It was the Empress who…”
“Slap her mouth,” Pei Zhen interrupted her, his voice flat and emotionless, yet it made Zhao Dequan, standing nearby, shudder inwardly.
The guards immediately stepped forward, striking her face left and right with force. Her cheeks instantly swelled red, the corners of her mouth split, and she could no longer finish her words.
“Your… Highness…”
Liu Yiyi spat out a mouthful of blood, then suddenly clutched her stomach, looking at him with hopeful eyes. “Your Highness…”
“If that Chu Shengsheng can have a child, your humble servant can too. For the sake of the child in my womb, I beg Your Highness to spare my life…”
These words instantly silenced the side chamber. Zhao Dequan glanced at Pei Zhen, seeing the man’s expression grow even colder, and shook his head inwardly. This Consort Liu truly had no sense of self-preservation.
Of all things to mention, she had to bring up a child.
And moreover…
Does she truly believe His Highness is unaware of her unspeakable deeds?!
“Spreading slander against the Empress Dowager behind her back, attempting false accusations—such a tongue is useless to keep.”
The man looked down at her with indifferent eyes and said, “Pull it out.”
“No! Your Highness! I beg you…”
Upon hearing this, Liu Yiyi widened her eyes in terror, shaking her head frantically as she tried to retreat, but the guards held her firmly in place.
One of the guards retrieved a specially crafted iron clamp, swiftly and precisely inserting it into her mouth.
“Ugh… huff…”
A chilling muffled sound and gurgling noises followed. Liu Yiyi’s eyes bulged, blood continuously gushing from her mouth. The excruciating pain and suffocation caused her limbs to convulse. After struggling briefly, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
“Douse her awake.”
Seeing this, Pei Zhen did not even lift an eyelid.
A bucket of ice-cold water mixed with shards of ice was poured over her head. Liu Yiyi shuddered, awakening to the cold and intense pain. Her throat could only emit agonized gurgles, her eyes now filled with endless fear and despair.
“As for the child…”
He spoke as he slowly stepped forward, then abruptly kicked her in the stomach, causing her to spit out several mouthfuls of blood.
“A bastard child—did you truly think I knew nothing?”
After being poisoned, he had never visited Liu Yiyi’s chambers. How could there be a child?
It was merely a scheme he had devised, turning their own plot against them.
After speaking, he slowly crouched down, looking at Liu Yiyi, and continued.
“Right… Pei Yang.”
Liu Yiyi’s pupils contracted sharply at his words. Before she could react, she saw the man suddenly stand up and step back a few paces, coldly uttering a single word:
“Legs.”
Immediately, a guard took an iron rod that had been prepared in advance and smashed it fiercely against her legs. Intense pain surged through her, followed by the sound of bones cracking.
“Crack! Crack!”
Her body arched violently upward, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, veins bulging in her neck. Yet she could not even let out a complete scream—only gurgling sounds remained—before fainting once more.
Ice-cold water was poured over her again.
This time, when she awoke, she lacked even the strength to crawl, lying on the ground like a heap of mud. Only the faint rise and fall of her chest proved she was still alive.
“Hang her up.”
The guards re-suspended her with iron chains, but this time, her legs hung limply at unnatural angles.
“The whip.”
Seeing this, Pei Zhen turned to Zhao Dequan and said coldly.
Zhao Dequan bowed, presenting a specially crafted long whip with both hands. The whip was pitch-black, and upon closer inspection, it was covered in fine, sharp barbs.
The man took the whip, weighed it in his hand, then flicked his wrist. The long whip lashed out like a venomous snake, whistling through the air as it struck Liu Yiyi’s body with brutal force!
“Thwack—!”
With the first strike, her clothing tore, flesh split open, and the barbs tore away shreds of skin and meat.
He did not stop, lashing her again and again with precise and ruthless blows. Each strike carried his fury and hatred—for the unconscious Sheng Sheng, for the unborn child, and for the heartache and torment he had endured day after day.
The whip flashed through the air, blood and flesh flying.
At first, Liu Yiyi could still convulse, but eventually, she lost even the strength to twitch. Almost no patch of skin remained intact on her body, leaving her a bloodied mess.
Only when she fainted once more did Pei Zhen cease, tossing the blood-stained whip to a nearby guard.
“Splash her awake, continue beating, keep her alive with medicine.”
He took the silk handkerchief, meticulously wiping the blood splattered on his hands, his tone so indifferent it was chilling. “Don’t let her die.”
“What she owes Sheng Sheng must be kept with this breath, waiting for Sheng Sheng to collect it herself.”
“Yes,” the guard responded solemnly.
With that, he turned to leave. At the doorway, his steps paused slightly, as if suddenly remembering something. Without looking back, he asked, “How was Prime Minister Liu at today’s morning court?”
Zhao Dequan immediately stepped forward half a pace and whispered, “Your Highness, today in court, His Majesty confronted the Prime Minister, dismissing him from his post on the grounds of failing to educate his daughter, attempting to harm the royal heir, and showing contempt for imperial authority. He was ordered to reflect at home. After returning to his residence, Prime Minister Liu claimed to have fallen ill.”
“Claimed illness?”
Hearing this, Pei Zhen’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Since he’s ill, let him fall gravely ill.”
“Pass the word: Prime Minister Liu, burdened by concerns for the nation and its people, has exhausted himself and fallen seriously ill, requiring careful recuperation. This illness should reach its conclusion within seven days.”
His voice was not loud, but each word was clear, carrying an undeniable air of decisive authority.
Liu Yiyi, who had just regained consciousness, heard these words clearly.
Father… the Liu family… it’s over…
Extreme fear and despair instantly overwhelmed her.
She wanted to cry, to scream, to beg for mercy, but could only emit hoarse sounds, tears mingling with blood streaming down her face.
The man glanced at her pitiful state from the corner of his eye, his expression showing not the slightest ripple.
Prime Minister Liu was a crucial ally for Pei Yang in court. Removing him was both revenge for Sheng Sheng and a blow to his dear second brother.
“Oh, and have the Imperial Physician remove that ‘lump of flesh’ from her belly and send it to Pei Yang’s residence. Tell him… his child has been returned.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Zhao Dequan waved a hand, immediately arranging for someone to carry out the order.
“To Phoenix Palace.”
With that, he did not linger, striding out of the side chamber. The crisp air dispersed the scent of blood behind him but could not dispel the ferocity and coldness etched between his brows.
The grievances Sheng Sheng suffered at the Empress’s hands, the injury to her leg, and those ambiguous “teachings”…
It was time to settle the score properly.