The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 175 - 174

Chapter 174

Mu Qin Shuang shouted at Mu Yingying, her anger overflowing. She could no longer control her emotions. The more she thought about what her enemy had said about her mother, the stronger her sense of foreboding grew.

"Even though you’ve never shown me any mercy, I’ll be merciful to you. How about I let you die without any lingering doubts?"

Mu Yingying said, laughing. She looked Mu Qin Shuang in the eye without fear, a mocking smile on her lips. "Your mother...her body has been thrown to the dogs by Shin Wang! As for your sister, she is being tortured and kept in darkness, seeing no light of day. Once Shin Wang is satisfied with her suffering, her fate will likely be no different from your mother’s."

"No...it can’t be true. You’re lying to me! It can’t be true!"

Mu Qin Shuang shook her head repeatedly, refusing to believe what she had heard. Her mother was dead? And her body had been thrown to the dogs?

Impossible!

Mu Yingying must be lying!

It must be a lie!

Mu Yingying seemed to be able to guess Mu Qin Shuang’s thought. She smirked and leaned in closer. "I don’t need to lie to you. Only the truth can cause you this much pain. As for whether you believe it or not, think about it: if your mother and sister were still alive, would you be here in prison?"

"No...it’s not true,"

Mu Qin Shuang continued to deny it, even though deep down, she knew that what the other was saying made sense and seemed credible. But this was a truth she couldn’t accept.

Her mother was dead?

Her sister was being tortured without seeing the light of day?

No!

She refused to believe it.

Ahhh!

Screaming, Mu Qin Shuang tried to pull her arm back and shouted that she didn’t believe it, over and over, like a madwoman. Seeing this, Mu Yingying finally let go of her arm and watched her fit of hysteria with a smile in her eyes.

Was she showing mercy?

Not at all!

Mu Yingying had come to tell Mu Qin Shuang the truth just to see her enemy’s spirit break with her own eyes!

For Mu Qin Shuang, the greatest torment would come from knowing the fates of her beloved mother and sister, upon whom she had always relied. Learning their fates would shatter her heart completely,

Just as Mu Yingying had experienced in her previous life!

Three days before the execution were more than enough to torture Mu Qin Shuang’s shattered spirit. When someone’s heart was broken and they were forced to face an unbearable reality,

That was enough to ensure Mu Qin Shuang would descend into permanent madness...

Mu Yingying watched her half-sister’s shadow with cold eyes. Mu Qin Shuang had now retreated to a corner, hugging her knees, mumbling to herself softly. Sometimes she laughed, sometimes she screamed and cried, resembling a lunatic.

Mu Yingying stepped back from the cell and turned to look at the figure in the cell opposite. Through the darkness, she could see the silhouette of Mu Cui Ming, curled up and unconscious against the wall. She stared at the man who was once her father, her big round eyes flickering briefly before returning to their icy gaze.

In her previous life, it was her father who abandoned them, leaving her and her siblings to die unjustly. In this life, she would act the same way as her father and let everything unfold as it should!

The downfall of the Mu family was a result of their own greed and selfishness. This time, Mu Yingying had not even needed to lift a finger; she merely nudged events along and watched as they led themselves to ruin.

Now that the story had reached this point, there was no escaping the deadly consequences of their actions. All she could do was stand back and watch, just as they had once watched her suffer in her past life...

In Mu Yingying’s heart, there was not a shred of pity or compassion left for her father. Their bond had been severed beyond repair ever since their previous life. No matter who accused her of being ungrateful, she did not care.

This was the price her father had to pay!

Mu Yingying looked away from the cell and began walking out. As she passed another cell where the Mu family’s servants were imprisoned, she stopped briefly, examining them with a slow, deliberate gaze until her eyes landed on Servant Tao.

In truth, these people were innocent. But because they were associated with the Mu family, they too were caught in the net of execution. Mu Yingying felt no inclination to show mercy or help them. This was their unavoidable fate.

They were not at fault, nor was she. Everyone had their own paths to walk. If it had been her and her siblings who had lost and met such an end today, she wouldn’t blame these servants. After all, they were merely bystanders.

In her previous life, when she and her siblings were bullied and tortured within the Mu Manor, these servants never involved themselves, nor did they intervene to help. They allowed her and her siblings to endure their bitter fate until their last breaths.

Thus, Mu Yingying had no intention of showing mercy or helping them, just as they had done nothing for her in her past life!

She did not reach out to bully or harm them, but they could not escape the fate of the Mu family. Everyone had their destiny, unavoidable as it was. Mu Yingying acknowledged that she was neither good nor overly compassionate. To her, refraining from further harming them was already a considerable kindness.

Lowering her gaze slightly, Mu Yingying turned and walked out of the imperial prison amidst the darkness. With each step she took, her shoulders, once burdened with a heavy weight, felt increasingly lighter. It was as if the vengeance she had carried for so many years was finally beginning to dissipate as she settled her scores with her enemies...

...

..

.

Three days later, the time had come for the Mu family to face their sentence of death for nine generations. On the streets of the capital, a procession of prisoners was paraded, allowing the public to witness their disgrace before they were taken to the execution platform in the city center. As the procession moved through the throngs of people lining both sides of the road, stones, eggs, rotten vegetables, and other things they prepared were hurled at the prisoners amid a continuous stream of insults.

To the common people, corrupt officials who embezzled state funds were the root of their hardships. The taxes they paid each year were meant to improve the nation and, by extension, their lives.

Yet, for many years, no matter how many dynasties, there has never been an end to corrupt officials who had been continuously embezzling the state funds, leaving the common people oppressed and neglected. This was why the people felt great anger towards these officials.

The streets were packed with villagers eager to witness the spectacle. They threw objects relentlessly and shouted insults that echoed along the route.

"Betrayers! You will not die well!"

"May you burn in hell!"

"Bastards!"

"Wicked official! You’re despicable!"

"Die!"

Mu Cui Ming, confined in a wooden cage on a horse-drawn cart, could only stare at the contemptuous and scornful eyes of the crowd with despair. All his life, he had strived for recognition, willing to do anything to be exalted and blessed. Yet now, all he saw were looks of disdain and hatred. The harsh words of condemnation never ceased.

Following behind her father, Mu Qin Shuang’s condition had deteriorated drastically. Her hair was disheveled, and her prisoner’s garb was filthy. The rotten eggs and vegetables thrown at her only added to her wretched state. Her forehead bore a fresh wound from a rock thrown earlier.

“No...it’s not true. Mother is still alive,”

Mu Qin Shuang muttered repeatedly like a lunatic, oblivious to the objects hurled at her and the insults shouted by the crowd. Sometimes, her eyes rolled upward, then left and right, and her face contorted through various expressions, appearing utterly deranged that people watched her in disgust and revulsion.

As the procession reached the execution grounds, the soldiers led the prisoners to the platform immediately. Below, a large crowd had gathered to witness the execution. At the appointed time, the executioners took their positions behind the prisoners, raised their sharp blades high, and swiftly beheaded them, ending their lives in an instant.

Blood sprayed across the platform, and heads rolled to the ground one after another. The metallic scent of blood permeated the air, causing many onlookers to feel nauseated uncontrollably. When the execution ended, the crowd dispersed.

Among the dispersing crowd were the three siblings who had watched the entire execution from start to finish. Once the crowd had cleared, the soldiers began collecting the severed heads and bodies of the deceased prisoners, preparing to discard them for the wolves to consume.

Mu Gongzhen, Mu Qingxuan, and Mu Yingying watched these proceedings until everything was finished. Then, they turned and returned to their carriage, heading back to their residence. This visit was their final farewell to the entire Mu family, in accordance with tradition...

Zhuiping Residence

Inside Mu Gongzhen’s study, the three siblings were gathered to discuss their next steps. Having successfully dealt with their nemeses—the three women and the Mu family—it was now time to turn their attention to the Empress Dowager and Shin Wang.

"My informants report that the Empress Dowager is currently facing financial troubles. She’s been stretching her resources thin and even had to borrow money from the Right Side Chancellor,"

Mu Gongzhen recounted the report he had received, his eyes glinting with a knowing look at his youngest sister. Mu Yingying didn’t evade his gaze, her eyes narrowing from a wide smile. "It seems the poison I administered is starting to take effect."

"Many of the Empress Dowager’s actions, especially her recent framing of the Mu family, required significant manpower and bribes. Her financial issues caused her to handle the situation sloppily, leaving gaps for us to gather evidence of her false accusations, just as Ying’er planned." Mu Gongzhen was impressed and amazed by his little sister’s cleverness and the cunning strategy she had proposed.

Before the chaos erupted in the capital, Mu Yingying had presented a plan to her brother. She explained the poison she had discreetly administered to the Empress Dowager to undermine her financial stability. She also detailed her scheme to incite discord between Shin Wang and Mu Luofei, leading to a catastrophic fallout.

Mu Yingying’s understanding of the three women, Shin Wang, and the Empress Dowager allowed her to know exactly what to do to sow discord among them, foreseeing that once they became enemies, the conflict would escalate dramatically.

Her predictions were spot on. In the end, the three women and the Empress Dowager and Shin Wang had indeed destroyed each other. This was why Mu Yingying proposed to her brother that they wait for the Empress Dowager to make a significant move, then seize the opportunity to collect evidence of her crimes.

Under normal circumstances, the Empress Dowager would act with extreme caution, leaving no evidence behind. However, framing the Mu family for embezzling state funds was a major undertaking, requiring numerous fabricated pieces of evidence and witnesses. The Empress Dowager needed considerable manpower and money for bribes and creating these falsehoods. Coupled with her ongoing financial difficulties, her once-ample funds had started to disappear.

When the funds could no longer be used as liberally as before, many things inevitably became lax, and even the Empress Dowager herself was unaware of it...

This provided Mu Gongzhen’s men with the opportunity to gather all the evidence of the Empress Dowager’s crimes. Once they had collected sufficient evidence and witnesses, even the Empress Dowager, despite her high status, would face the severe punishment for falsely accusing a loyal high-ranking official—a crime punishable by death!

"I have already handed all the evidence over to His Majesty. Now we just need to wait for the right time to deal with the Empress Dowager."

Mu Yingying nodded in agreement and added, "My sources report that the Empress Dowager has recently summoned several high-ranking officials who were stationed in various provinces back to the capital. It seems she is being quite cautious. However, this works in our favor. Once all her people are gathered in the capital, we can eradicate them all at once."

"I’ve heard the same. Commander Wu, stationed in the western province and is one of the Empress Dowager’s people, has been making suspicious movements. I fear that he’s planning something. His Majesty has always been concerned about Commander Wu, who is very loyal to the Empress Dowager and commands over a hundred thousand soldiers. If a rebellion were to occur, the land would be engulfed in flames, and the people would suffer greatly."

Mu Gongzhen expressed his and the Emperor’s concerns openly. For many years, the Emperor had refrained from acting against the Empress Dowager and Shin Wang because their power was deeply entrenched and couldn’t be dealt with easily. Many court officials had long been in the Empress Dowager’s faction. Fortunately, Mu Gongzhen had been working with the Emperor to eliminate many of her allies, leaving the court mostly loyal to the Emperor.

However, the greatest concern was the Empress Dowager’s ace—Commander Wu, who commanded over a hundred thousand soldiers!

If the Emperor acted against the Empress Dowager, Commander Wu would certainly rebel, forcing the court to send troops to quell the uprising. Although the rebellion might eventually be suppressed, it would cause significant losses, especially to the populace. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Therefore, this matter had to be handled with the utmost caution before taking action...

"Since we can’t directly deal with the Empress Dowager, we must swiftly take care of her within our own domain. We also need to ensure that all information is blocked from leaking out of the capital to buy us time to devise a strategy against Commander Wu,"

Mu Yingying suggested, deep in thought. This was a complex issue that required careful planning. She needed to find a way to prevent the land from descending into chaos because if the war really occurred, the repercussions would be extensive.

Whether it was tens of thousands of people suffering, homes destroyed, mass migrations, ensuing disease outbreaks among the homeless, food shortages, and many other problems.

The very thought of it stressed her, knowing that the consequences of war were far more severe than one could anticipate. Thus, avoiding war was the wisest course of action!

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