CHAPTER 828: GRAND FINALE (PART 5)

Emperor Hongxiao had all the items that the Empress Dowager might have used to seek death removed from the room. So, now she truly could neither live nor die as she wished.

"Your... Majesty..." Lin Roujia murmured. She had trouble recognizing the emperor’s face; under the dim light, the once weak and needy young boy had grown into a tall sovereign, unfathomable, and strong-handed, the very reason he had imprisoned her so resolutely.

Those of the Imperial Family who survive to rise to this position are indeed not of tender hearts and soft hands.

Lin Roujia briefly came back to her senses, and no matter what, she did not wish to appear lesser in front of Emperor Hongxiao. Just as she was about to utter some sarcasm, her gaze suddenly fell upon a huge rosewood chest. For some reason, she was drawn to the chest, unable to look away as if some treasure within it held her eyes captive.

Emperor Hongxiao followed her gaze and smiled, saying, "I have come today to give you a gift." He waved his hand, "Someone, open the chest."

Two guards approached, pushed the chest in front of Lin Roujia, and opened it.

Lin Roujia looked inside.

In the rosewood chest, lined with golden velvet as though it held a valuable offering. However, atop the velvet lay two heads side by side, their necks bloody and raw, but their faces had been wiped clean of any dirt, making their features distinctly recognizable. One was Yin Zhan, and the other was Yin Zhili.

Upon seeing the two faces before her, the Empress Dowager screamed, "No—," she lunged forward, pulling the heads out and holding them in her arms. Both had been beheaded and naturally could no longer be alive. But she held them as though she still hoped to bring them back to life, bursting into wails, shouting, "Ah Zhan! Zhili!"

Regrettably, whether it be Yin Zhan or Yin Zhili, both had their eyes tightly shut, unable to respond to her cries anymore.

"The Yin Family Troops have been defeated, and the Jinwu Army has returned victorious. This is the spoils of war. I thought since you were once the Empress Dowager of a country, you should share in such joyous news of the state. I specially brought them for you to see. How about it?" Emperor Hongxiao said with a smile, though his words were through clenched teeth.

He finally saw the Empress Dowager weeping bitterly, full of regret. This woman’s heart was as hard as iron, always indifferent no matter what happened. Emperor Hongxiao was human too, with a desire for revenge. The Empress Dowager had caused the early death of Noble Consort Xia, shrouding his youth in gloom, and he too wanted the Empress Dowager to taste the flavor of pain.

And Lin Roujia, she must have truly loved Yin Zhan. She held Yin Zhan’s head close to her breast, not minding the foul stench on it, nor finding it terrifying, clenching it tightly as if fearing someone might snatch it away. She even kissed Yin Zhan’s cold lips, crying and saying, "Ah Zhan... Ah Zhan... do not leave me..."

This dreadful scene struck all the onlookers with a chill. As Lin Roujia cried, she suddenly said, "Emperor, kill me!"

"Oh?" Emperor Hongxiao asked, "Why should I kill you?"

"It was I who caused the death of your mother, and I also killed Yu Hongye and Jih Minghan. I have a deep hatred towards you, please, let me die!" The Empress Dowager kept crying, her tears and mucus flowing freely, no longer maintaining her serene demeanor from the temple. She truly felt desolate. Yin Zhan was dead, Yin Zhili too was dead. In this world, the only two people she loved and felt affection for were both gone. What meaning did her life hold now? There would be no day of turning her fate around; she could only suffer in this dark hell day by day.

How could she be separated from Yin Zhan, even in death?

The Empress Dowager kept kowtowing to the emperor, something that would have been unthinkable in the past years. She had always held herself above, using words that were praise on the surface but designed to torment and sting the young emperor with hidden barbs.

Emperor Hongxiao looked at her coldly, and suddenly said, "The Second Miss of the Jiang Residence has also sent you a present."

Eunuch Su took something out from his bosom, smilingly approached Lin Roujia, and placed the item before her. Roujia was initially stunned, only to suddenly scream, descending into a madness of laughter and tears.

In Eunuch Su’s hand was a Bronze Mirror. The mirror clearly reflected Lin Roujia’s disheveled and dirtied appearance, a complete transformation from her former self. Emperor Hongxiao spoke indifferently, "Lin Roujia, with such ugliness, when you get to the underworld, how could Yin Zhan ever wish to acknowledge you? In my view, it would be best for you to keep living, and give Yin Zhan a chance at life."