Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Lai De's face became more and more gloomy, and his voice became lower and lower. He asked again: "Then my lady... do you know why only Hua Rongyue Mei survived?"

"It seems that Princess Tianning was very curious about the twin sisters, so she asked the Queen Mother to keep them as palace maids." This was all Ji Anni knew, and until this moment, she thought that this was the truth.

Unexpectedly, Lai De told her with a terrifying expression that could scare ghosts to death, "My queen, it's not just that. When Xi Daxueshi was imprisoned, the three clans were implicated. The case was tried in the Imperial Criminal Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At that time, all 25 people from the An clan and the three Xi clans were present. The prime minister said that if Xi Jinde was willing to kneel down and apologize to everyone in their An clan, he could spare the death penalty for killing Xi Jinde's three clans. Unexpectedly, Xi Jinde refused to bow his head and cursed the prime minister and the queen mother for being beasts in human form. The prime minister was furious and was about to throw them into prison, but Princess Tianning shouted, "Wait a minute."

"Does Princess Tianning want them to leave their beautiful faces behind?" Ji Anni guessed.

Lai De nodded, pursed his lips and said, "Hua Rong Yue Mao was a death row prisoner at the time, and she couldn't be saved by Princess Tian Ning's words. But Princess Tian Ning was really difficult to deal with. She made a scene in the court and insisted on taking Hua Rong Yue Mao as a maid. The Queen Mother always doted on Princess Tian Ning, and she had no choice but to come up with a compromise."

"Compromise?" Ji Anni repeated in a low voice, becoming more and more nervous.

Lai De continued, "The so-called compromise is that if Hua Rongyue Miao agrees to one of the conditions proposed by the Queen Mother, she can be spared from death."

"What conditions did the Queen Mother propose?" Ji Anni's heart beat faster and faster.

Lai De sighed softly, frowned, and said in great pain: "The condition proposed by the Queen Mother is to let them cut off their father's head themselves."

"What!" Ji Anni almost screamed, grabbed Lai De and asked nervously, "How is this possible?"

"Yes, everyone thought it was impossible at the time. In fact, the Queen Mother didn't want to keep Hua Rong and Yue Miao alive, just to deal with Princess Tian Ning. But what no one expected was that Hua Rong actually agreed. She didn't even hesitate at all and agreed immediately."

"..." Ji Anni was no longer able to make any sound after hearing this, and just shook her head in disbelief.

"A little girl in her teens who can't even kill a chicken is forced to kill someone, and her own father." Lai De's tone hinted at a accusation against the Queen Mother, but he didn't dare to speak out. "My Queen, do you know the last words Hua Rong said to her father on the execution platform on the day of the execution?"

Ji Anni shook her head gently, she was already sweating all over. Only then did she gradually understand why Hua Rong's expression always looked so indifferent, whether she was laughing or crying, it always felt like there was no sincerity in her expression, as if she was wearing a mask on her face.

"Did she say she would avenge her father?" Ji Anni guessed.

"No..." Lai De shook his head, unable to continue. He took a breath, lowered his head and said, "On the contrary, she said her father deserved to die. Because if her father knelt down and admitted his mistakes to the An family, the lives of 25 people from the three branches of the Xi family could have been saved. But Xi Jinde stubbornly chose to refuse to obey and would rather die than surrender... 'I will kill you today to avenge my mother, my brother, my sister, and the 22 lives that died because of you. You think you are tough and not afraid of death, but you killed so many people in the Xi family, you deserve to die' - these are the last words she said to her father on the execution platform."

Ji Anni's heart shrank at that moment. She thought Hua Rong should stand on the execution platform with injustice, but she never expected that Hua Rong would stand on the execution platform with hatred. Moreover, she hated not An Shi, but her father.

Ji Anni couldn't comment on Hua Rong's thoughts and actions, but maybe she was right. If Xi Jinde had bowed his head, the lives of the three Xi clans could have been saved. It was because of Xi Jinde's literary pride that everyone in the Xi family was killed. Of course, the biggest murderer in this whole incident was still An, but Xi Jinde himself was also an accomplice in killing his wife, children and family.

Which is more important, life or integrity? This has always been a difficult question throughout the ages.

"Empress?" Lai De saw that Ji Anni was completely lost in thought, so he waved his hand in front of Ji Anni's eyes.

Ji Anni suddenly came back to her senses, and the feeling in her heart was far beyond the description of the word "shock".

"Did Hua Rong really chop off her father's head?" Ji Anni couldn't believe it.

Lai De shook his head after hearing this, and said with a very sad expression: "How could a little girl like her chop off a person's head? She chopped it off with the first knife, but it got stuck in the bone only halfway through. The executioner hurriedly helped to cut it off with the second knife. When the first knife was chopped, Yuemao, who was standing by, fainted from fright, but Huarong stood there and watched Xi Jinde's head fall to the ground without even blinking. It is said that her face was splattered with blood at that time, which was more terrifying than a monster. Some people also said that they seemed to see two lines of bright red tears flowing from her eyes, bloody tears - also her last tears. From then on, no one saw her cry again. Later, she climbed up a tree to get a kite for Princess Tianning, and accidentally fell down. One of her legs was almost broken, but she never cried."

Maybe all the tears that should have been shed have been mixed with my father's blood.

Ji Anni sighed softly: "I just saw her cry..."

On the day when Hua Rong herself told Ji Anni her life story, Hua Rong knelt at Ji Anni's feet, begging her with tears on her face to become the queen and restore the imperial power.

If what Lai De said was true, then what did the tears of Hua Rong that Ji Anni saw that day mean?

After listening to Hua Rong's story, Ji Anni was certain that Hua Rong was definitely not the kind of person who would kneel down and beg others with tears.

Were those beautiful tears that day all fake? Ji Anni's heart ached slightly.

Tears should be the purest things, but now they have become the most filthy weapon to deceive others' sympathy.

A person without tears is almost like a dead person.

Ji Anni asked herself, should she believe the tears she saw that day? If Hua Rong didn't say those outrageous words to ask for her help, why did she approach her? Ji Anni only thought about it for a while, and then she felt very tired.

She didn't want to think too deeply about all the problems, she just wanted to live a simple life.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say..." Lai De hesitated for a long time before he finally said, "Hua Rong is serious about her work and calm in times of danger. With her by your side, she will definitely help you solve your problems. But... Your Majesty, Hua Rong dared to kill even her own father, so what else can't she do? Your Majesty..."

"Okay, Lai De, don't say anything."

The basis for judging who should be trusted and who should not be trusted is your own heart, not what you hear.