Seeing the Emperor speak thus, the Empress’s mind buzzed with a ringing sound. She collapsed to the ground in despair, staring straight ahead with both eyes, even forgetting to shed tears.
“Liar, liar! You said I had a noble fate—what kind of fortune-telling was that! Liar!” The Empress roared in fury, then began wailing. She rose and tried to dash her head against a pillar.
However, Prince Ning had long anticipated this move. He grabbed her back with one hand, first efficiently dislocating her jaw, then with several “crack crack” sounds, broke her four limbs before casually tossing her to someone behind him.
The Empress screamed in pain, tears and mucus streaming down her face. Unable to close her mouth, saliva drooled onto her clothes.
Prince Ning smiled at the Emperor: “Imperial Brother, it’s getting late. Would you like to accompany this subject brother outside to see what the common people are doing?”
The Emperor didn’t dare meet Prince Ning’s gaze. He was both frightened and angry at this moment. Seeing the Empress in such a state and not knowing how Prince Ning would dispose of her, the Emperor’s tears also flowed down.
Seeing his silence, Prince Ning treated this imperial brother as if he didn’t exist. He turned and ordered: “Take her down. Stuff all the holes in her body with oiled cloth, wrap her entire body tightly with hemp rope in two layers, then soak her in an oil vat. Announce to the entire city that this prince will provide everyone with entertainment today—at the hour of xu, we’ll ‘light a human oil candle’ in front of the Meridian Gate. Everyone will surely enjoy watching! Haha!”
By the end of his speech, Prince Ning was laughing heartily. He casually added: “Go tell those families who were persecuted most severely by this wanton woman that today this prince will use the demon empress to light a human oil candle. Reserve front row space for them—tell them to come early, as we won’t wait for latecomers!”
“Yes!” The soldiers had long hated the demon empress for bringing chaos to the country, so they didn’t find such cruel punishment inappropriate. Rather, they looked forward to it eagerly.
As for the demon empress, she had already fainted from fright upon hearing the phrase “light a human oil candle.”
The Emperor grabbed Prince Ning: “Prince Ning! Killing someone only requires taking their head—if you still remember the affection between us, give her a quick death! She’s just a weak woman!”
“A weak woman? When she was steaming and boiling living people alive, throwing them into oil vats, she didn’t seem weak then, nor did she show sympathy for anyone. Imperial Brother, in this subject brother’s opinion, you’d better think carefully about how to settle accounts with this subject brother afterward and avenge your empress.”
Having said this, Prince Ning casually cupped his hands, turned, and swept his sleeves as he departed.
The Emperor was so angry his chest ached severely. He pointed at Prince Ning and trembled for a long while, finally unable to endure it, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Prince Ning, having left the palace gates, ordered his men to bind the Empress securely and soak her in the oil vat. He commanded three thousand men to form layers of guards in front of the Meridian Gate, then led the remaining nearly seven thousand men in a charge toward the Cao Mansion.
When Prince Ning arrived, the Cao family was in complete chaos. Servants were fleeing with bundles, others clutching vases and valuable items from their masters’ homes—the entire Cao household was in utter turmoil.
Prince Ning led his men charging in with swords drawn. Without asking questions, upon seeing anyone from the Cao family—whether master or servant—they killed on sight. In an instant, the entire Cao household was plunged into a sea of blood.
Some people claimed they had done nothing wrong, that they were merely servants of the Cao family.
Prince Ning sneered coldly as he thrust his sword into that person’s chest: “The Cao Bingzhong household doesn’t have a single good person. Haven’t you done plenty of bullying and oppressing others by relying on your power? Today this prince acts on behalf of heaven and will definitely clean up you scoundrels!” He turned and shouted to his men: “Kill them all for this prince! Don’t let a single one escape!”
“Yes!” The accompanying soldiers had all become bloodthirsty. During the process, some stuffed valuable items into their clothing, but Prince Ning turned a blind eye and ignored it.
This made the soldiers kill even more enthusiastically, and the entire Cao household was thoroughly plundered.
This time, they killed a total of six hundred people, including masters and servants.
Prince Ning carefully inspected the corpses, giving several additional sword thrusts to the Imperial Uncle Cao’s sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters-in-law, and anyone else surnamed Cao.
However, the only regret was that Imperial Uncle Cao was not at home!
Prince Ning then ordered his men to carefully investigate all the rooms in the Cao household.
Finally, behind the bookshelf in the inner courtyard’s study, they discovered a hidden door.
Opening the secret door, Prince Ning led his men with torches in pursuit. When they saw daylight again, they were in a firewood shed in the rear courtyard of an estate in the outer city.
Prince Ning and his accompanying personal guards emerged from the tunnel, looked around, and then entered the estate.
“Your Highness, there was fighting here two hours ago. There are footprints and bloodstains on the ground, but no other people are to be seen.”
Prince Ning snorted coldly and said through gritted teeth: “That old wretch probably got word immediately and escaped through the tunnel with his silver, not even caring about his own family members. Truly laughable!”
The soldiers also greatly despised Imperial Uncle Cao’s behavior. After discussing among themselves, their leader asked: “Your Highness, what do we do now?”
“Return.” Prince Ning said: “The time is about right. Let’s go out and find horses. If we hurry back, we can still watch the entertainment.”
Hearing this, everyone excitedly responded in unison.
The hour of xu.
The sky had already darkened, and the last streak of evening glow was about to disappear behind the mountains.
A high platform had been erected outside the Meridian Gate, with a cross-shaped wooden frame mounted on top.
Someone fished out a woman from a large vat below the platform—her mouth was gagged, her hair disheveled, her entire body wrapped in hemp rope soaked with oil.
Prince Ning stood on the high platform with his hand resting on his sword hilt, facing the dense crowd before him, and declared loudly: “Today, I, Yuchi Jinming, have led troops to capture the demon empress who brought chaos to the nation and exterminated her entire maternal family. From now on, there will be no more demons causing chaos beside His Majesty!”
“Good, good, good!”
The well-trained soldiers below the platform shouted their approval loudly.
The common people also cheered along.
As he spoke, someone had already bound the oil-soaked, rope-wrapped Empress upside down to the wooden frame.
Prince Ning accepted a torch from a personal guard beside him and slowly walked toward the Empress.
The Empress was nearly suffocated by the smell of oil on her body. Now hanging head-down, she watched Prince Ning’s boots approaching step by step in despair, making muffled pleading sounds through the cloth stuffed in her mouth.
Prince Ning said coldly: “The demon empress brought disaster to the country and its people, harming loyal subjects. Not only did she bewitch His Majesty with pillow talk, but she also persecuted Imperial Physician Tang’s family, causing the entire Tang household to be killed. She also caused His Majesty to listen to slander, leading to the extermination of Duke Dingguo’s Sun family. To eliminate rivals, she even had Consort Shu and Consort Xiang boiled alive and fried for consumption… The demon empress’s crimes are too numerous to recount. This prince won’t list them all. Today, everyone shall see the fate of such a demon!”
Having spoken efficiently, without giving anyone a chance to catch their breath, he brought the torch close to the Empress’s oil-soaked, rope-wrapped feet.
The oil-saturated hemp rope burst into flames with a “whoosh.” From a distance, it truly looked like lighting a candle.
The Empress let out a piercing scream of “Ah!” and writhed and struggled continuously. However, her entire body was bound, making struggle useless. She could only endure the searing pain from her feet and despair.
Soon, she fainted from the pain.
Prince Ning would thoughtfully splash a ladle of water to wake her up.
When the fire on her feet died out, this didn’t matter either—Prince Ning would personally relight it.
After several rounds of such torment, having burned only to her calves, the demon empress never woke again, apparently having died from the excruciating pain.
But Prince Ning’s movements didn’t cease. He ordered his personal guards: “Burn, keep burning! For the sake of those she killed, burn this woman to ashes for this prince—don’t leave even a speck of residue!”
“Yes!”
The flames of the “human oil candle” flickered bright and dim, illuminating the darkness in front of the Meridian Gate.
The common people were initially frightened, but later began cheering loudly.
In the crowd, Mu Jinghu forcibly revived the fainted Imperial Uncle Cao for the seventh time.
Qin Yining, flanked by Sun Shi on one side, supported the Duke Dingguo’s wife.
Seeing that the demon empress was already half-burned, the group squeezed out of the crowd and went to the nearest residence.
This was property Qin Yining had recently purchased. The family had already moved away, leaving only an empty two-courtyard house.
Upon entering, they found the maternal aunt, sister-in-law, and other female members of the Sun family were already there, along with four unfamiliar men in the courtyard.
Sun Shi became somewhat nervous seeing this situation.
Qin Yining patted Sun Shi’s hand reassuringly, instructed Ji Yun to stay close to Sun Shi, and personally supported the Duke Dingguo’s wife to sit in an open space in the center of the courtyard.
Meanwhile, Mu Jinghu dumped the acupoint-pressed, wooden-like Imperial Uncle Cao on the ground.
The Duke Dingguo’s wife smiled at Qin Yining: “Yi Jie’er, we must thank you greatly this time. Without your timely information, we couldn’t have captured this old scoundrel.”
“Grandmother, please don’t say such things.”
Qin Yining smiled modestly: “In the past, your granddaughter was incompetent and couldn’t help Grandmother. Now that there’s an opportunity to avenge the family, how could I miss such a good chance?”
The Duke Dingguo’s wife nodded with emotion and sighed: “Back then, I forced you to become the leader of the Qingtian Alliance—that was my fault.”
“No, I understood Grandmother’s intentions. You never truly harmed me, and besides, that matter is in the past—there’s no need to mention it again.”
Though she said this, thinking of how she had once harbored such thoughts toward Qin Yining, yet Qin Yining had used herself as a hostage to escort her to safety at the crucial moment, the Duke Dingguo’s wife still felt she was unworthy as a grandmother.
Fifth Sister-in-law and First Aunt had already rushed forward to punch and kick Imperial Uncle Cao, while Second Aunt was so enraged she bit him directly with her teeth. Even with her mouth full of blood, she continued sobbing and refused to let go.
The revenge for the wrongful deaths of the Sun family men could finally be taken!
Though Imperial Uncle Cao felt pain, he could only emit muffled groans from his throat. With his acupoints sealed, he couldn’t move and could only endure it.
The Duke Dingguo’s wife stood up.
The four men beside her immediately followed, glaring angrily at Imperial Uncle Cao and asking: “Alliance Leader, how do you say we should deal with this old scoundrel?”
The Duke Dingguo’s wife smiled slightly, stepped on Imperial Uncle Cao’s face, and ground her foot viciously several times before looking at Qin Yining: “Yi Jie’er, what do you think your grandmother should do with him?”
Qin Yining looked at Imperial Uncle Cao and said: “Grandmother, because he and the demon empress slandered people back then, His Majesty developed designs on Big Cousin, leading to the Sun family’s later disaster. This person is our greatest enemy. Now that we’ve captured him, naturally you should handle him however you see fit. Your granddaughter will support whatever you decide.”