Chapter 177: Doing the Best

Amidst the cheers of the emperor, his majesty left the court and returned to the Yugan Palace. He saw a familiar figure kneeling in the palace from afar.

His majesty's expression paused. After raising his hand to signal the guards to stop, he sat quietly on the dragon chariot and looked at the figure. After a long time, he stood up and walked down from the dragon chariot.

With a complex and subtle mood, he walked into the palace and slowly approached the person kneeling on the ground.

With a shadow covering her head, Concubine Duan raised her head and saw the king standing in front of her. She was obviously a concubine who was favored not long ago. She was gentle, luxurious, bright and beautiful, and had a deep friendship with the king.

In just a few days, the world turned upside down and ended up in such a situation.

At the same time, the emperor also saw her face clearly. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face was pale and haggard, and her eyes had lost the gentle color of the past, leaving only endless desolation and sadness.

In just two days, the once favored Concubine Duan seemed to have aged by a dozen years.

The emperor sighed in his heart.

"Your Majesty," Concubine Duan spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly, and her eyes filled with tears implied a plea, "I deserve to die."

The emperor's mood at this time was extremely complicated, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

Heartbroken?

Maybe a little.

After all, the Ling family did a great job in protecting the emperor more than 20 years ago. Over the years, Concubine Duan has been flawless, gentle, and considerate, which makes people relax unconsciously.

He actually likes her very much.

But when he thought of the Ling family's unscrupulous and unrestrained arrogance over the years, even the eldest princess, who was arrogant, he suddenly felt that he had done his best.

No emperor of any generation could tolerate such a rebellious minister, not to mention that Ling Ancheng embezzled so much silver from him, which was simply unforgivable.

When the treasury was short of money, he didn't even dare to celebrate his birthday in order to save money, but Ling Ancheng dared to use the military pay to embezzle, forge account books, and put the money from the treasury into his own pocket in various ways!

But is he angry?

Seeing the woman who had served him for more than 20 years, the emperor could not bear to punish her any more. He just said calmly, "The matter of the Ling family ends here. I will not pursue it further, nor will I let it implicate you and Tian Zheng. Don't think too much. Go back."

After the words fell, Concubine Duan was shocked, and despair instantly appeared on her face: "Without my natal family, even if the emperor forgives me, how can I live in the future? I..."

"So you want me to show leniency and let the Ling family go?" The emperor looked at her expressionlessly, and every word was soaked with cold anger. "The crimes committed by the Ling family are unforgivable. How can you ask me to forgive them? If I forgive them, how can I convince the people in the future? Do you treat the laws of the country as decoration?!"

Concubine Duan shook her body and cried silently.

"Duan Fei." The emperor put his hands behind his back, with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "You have treated Tian Zheng like a treasure over the years. You are afraid that he will melt if you hold him in your mouth, and you are afraid that he will fall if you hold him in your hands. You are a responsible mother. You are devoted to the Ling family and give all the benefits to the Ling family. As a daughter and a sister, you have done them with a clear conscience."

"Although I don't often mention your two nephews, their behavior is really not commendable. With the family tradition of the Ling family, they are destined to not last long. Even if I don't kill them today, they will still be doomed in the future."

After a pause, his voice became deep: "Qing Huang is also your daughter, but you know how you have treated her over the years, and I know it very well. If you are so partial, Duan Fei, you should reflect on yourself."

Duan Fei's face was as pale as paper, and she knelt on the ground in a daze, as if she had lost her soul.

"Come here." The emperor ordered, turning around and walking towards the Yugan Palace, "Send Concubine Duan back."

"As ordered."

"Your Majesty!" Concubine Duan suddenly raised her head and cried out in a shrill voice, "Ling Yan and Ling Jing are not married yet, and the Ling family has no offspring. I don't know whether Ling Jing is dead or alive now. I only ask Your Majesty... Please let Ling Yan leave a descendant, and also leave a memory for me, okay? Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, be merciful!"

The emperor paused and said calmly: "Let this child be born without a father or a mother? Or let him live in hatred as soon as he is born, and seek revenge on me when he grows up?"

Concubine Duan shook her head: "I will never-"

"There has never been such a rule since ancient times." The emperor rejected her unrealistic request, "Go back."