She Holds the World After Being Reborn-Chapter 22: Enjoy Yourself, Your Suffering is Yet to Come

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Enjoy Yourself, Your Suffering is Yet to Come

Lin was known to be the right-hand man of the seventh Prince, serving him diligently, a fact known throughout the court.

But at this moment, he found himself ordered to be tied up!

Why was this happening?

The crowd was shocked and confused.

"What crime has Lin committed for the seventh Prince to act this way?" someone asked.

Xiao Hongshen’s face was dark and grim, his eyes on Lin as if he were looking at a corpse, frightening Lin into immediately kneeling on the ground.

"Your Highness, what have I done to deserve your anger?" Could this be about Princess Anping? But wasn’t that matter already settled?

Lin was puzzled, but seeing the Prince’s expression, he knew something terrible was afoot.

At that moment, the Crown Prince arrived fashionably late, dressed in a black python robe, his hair tied up high, looking both aloof and noble, inviolable. freewebnσvel.cѳm

This sight momentarily stupefied Yan Wanqing standing in the back of the crowd.

This fellow really had several faces.

The Crown Prince stepped forward and stood on Lin Pingzhi’s shoulder, following with a hefty kick, flipping the old man over.

Seeing the Crown Prince enraged, everyone immediately knelt.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger!"

Lin, despite the pain, hurried back to his knees.

"Lin Pingzhi, you have quite the gall to commit murder and robbery!" the Crown Prince declared.

At these words, the crowd erupted.

Lin Pingzhi was visibly shocked, "Your Highness, I am wronged! How would I dare... Even a hundred lives wouldn’t be enough for me to dare."

His eyes were filled with panic as he repeatedly looked at the seventh Prince, but seeing him turn away to avoid his gaze, he felt hopelessness settle in.

Xiao Pingfeng sneered coldly, "Keep pretending, and I’ll throw you directly into a blazing fire to burn clean!"

His aura was fierce, making him look like a fearsome deity that no one dared to face directly.

Yet Lin Pingzhi remained kneeling, continuously kowtowing, crying injustice.

Seeing his contemptible state aggravated Xiao Pingfeng, who glanced at Xiao Hongshen standing silently aside, growing even more displeased.

"Little brother, you handle this matter, let’s see if you have made any progress."

Xiao Hongshen’s hand hidden in his sleeve clenched into a fist. If it weren’t for his status and the public eye, he would have loved to smash his shameless brother’s face.

The people outside the Empire might not know what kind of person his brother was, but those within the Empire knew clearly.

Outwardly gentle as jade, a god among men, but behind closed doors he was ruthlessly cunning, with a venomous tongue that could infuriate someone to death.

Even Empress Zhang Lanyi dared not confront him lightly, fearing that she might end up crying from his scathing words.

Xiao Hongshen suppressed his anger and addressed Lin Pingzhi, "Confess honestly. What have you done? Why commit murder and plunder?"

Lin Pingzhi vigorously shook his head, "I haven’t done anything!"

A classic case of refusing to shed tears until seeing the coffin.

Xiao Hongshen had originally wanted to preserve the dignity of this old official who had served him for years, but his stubborn denial was infuriating.

"Lin Pingzhi, you really deserve to die!" Xiao Hongshen clapped his hands, and a servant girl helped a woman walk over.

The woman was frail and delicate with lingering charm, full of the gentle grace typical of women from South of the River, gentle like the poplar flowers of spring. However, Lin Pingzhi seemed to have seen a ghost: he collapsed to the ground all at once.

He could no longer utter any words of excuse.

"You, why are you..."

"Why am I here?" The woman took over Lin Pingzhi’s words, her eyes bloodshot yet unwilling to shed tears. "If I weren’t here, how could I send such a scum on his way!"

A fourth-ranked official charged with a homicide case was bound to lose his head according to Dawei’s penal code.

Especially given Lin Pingzhi’s severe circumstances.

"No wonder, no wonder Mr. Lin’s daughter flaunts gold and silver jewelry, those expensive adornments, just to lose them. It turns out the family is wealthy," people who saw Lin Yanran’s melodrama by the creek that night remarked.

Lin Pingzhi felt a flash of thought, like lightning and flint, but it vanished too quickly for him to grasp.

"Who is it? Who is trying to frame me? Stand out!" Lin Pingzhi cried out to the sky. Why did this woman appear here at this time?! Who is pulling the strings?!

"If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it yourself." The woman spoke slowly to the crowd, her face filled with sadness: "My husband was a wealthy merchant from South of the River. He took on a major cotton supply contract for the Capital City that year, but faced obstacles at every turn. Guided by some well-wishing people, we were eventually introduced to this monstrous beast. Even spending ten thousand taels of silver wasn’t enough. This insatiable beast ultimately took my husband’s life and imprisoned me in a suburban villa, where he violated me at will..."

When she reached the saddest part of her story, the woman began to cry: "I wanted to end my own life, but I couldn’t bear to let my husband die without justice. Thankfully, heaven was watching. My wait was not in vain."

"Don’t worry, the Seventh Prince will surely give you justice," Qin Wu, who had been listening to the cause and effect for so long, finally couldn’t help stepping forward. She patted the woman’s shoulder, empathizing with her suffering as a fellow woman.

The woman covered her face and wept, prompting Qin Wu to look toward Xiao Hongshen: "Seventh Prince, you are wise and valiant. You will surely handle such a villain appropriately, right?"

Xiao Hongshen’s face stiffened, forcing a smile: "Princess, rest assured, Lin Pingzhi’s crimes are severe and unpardonable; he cannot escape death. Since I have taken over this matter, I will certainly give justice to this lady and her deceased husband."

Yan Wanqing hid a smile behind her hand from the back of the crowd.

Lin Pingzhi was Xiao Hongshen’s right-hand man, tied to him by blood and bone. His downfall would cost him dearly.

Seeing Xiao Hongshen’s expression at that moment, Yan Wanqing couldn’t help but feel thrilled.

Xiao Hongshen, you just wait. The tough days ahead are plentiful. The pain you inflicted on me in our past life has just begun in this one.

Enjoy it, your suffering is yet to come.

"Your Highness! You can’t do this!" As soon as Lin Pingzhi heard he was to be executed, he panicked and crawled to Xiao Hongshen, grabbing the hem of his robe: "Your servant may not have merits, but I have suffered! Consider the years I’ve followed you like a dog, spare my life."

At these words, everyone looked at Xiao Hongshen and their perception changed a bit.

Even Xiao Pingfeng added a deep implication: "Seventh brother, this servant of our father’s Emperor acts like a dog licking you. It’s quite unfitting. Help Mr. Lin up quickly."

"Big brother!" Xiao Hongshen was so furious he was about to smoke, seeing this damn Crown Prince pouring fuel on the fire, he gritted his teeth and said: "Mind your words, big brother!"

"What a splendid play, wouldn’t you agree—Empress!" He tilted his head slightly upward, and on a nearby pavilion stood the Empress Zhang Lanyi, dressed in red and enjoying the drama.

After being discovered, Zhang Lanyi didn’t mind at all, casually waived the kowtowing ritual from the crowd, and lazily declared, "Seventh Prince, continue handling this. This palace is just watching. This woman has a tragic background, and your father the Emperor absolutely cannot tolerate such worldly suffering. You must punish the evil severely."

She couldn’t help being overjoyed inside.

Lin Pingzhi had spoken ill of her in front of the Emperor countless times, calling her not dignified enough to support the position of ’mother of the nation’. Such bullshit!

Upon further reflection...

Was Lin Pingzhi perhaps the grand gift that little wolf cub had sent her? What a generous gift it was.

Among the crowd, Zhang Lanyi quickly spotted Yan Wanqing standing in the back. Seeing the other party tilt her little face up and blink at her, Zhang Lanyi responded with a pleased lift of her eyebrows.

This little wolf cub, much more pleasing to the eye now.

Just then, her pupils dilated, and she couldn’t help but shout, "Stop her—!"