Did the Seventh Prince attend court today?

"Burn them! Burn them!"

"Burn these adulterous couple to death!"

A deer woke up amidst the noise, and just as he was about to rub his head where he had been hit, he found himself tied to a frame. He immediately snapped awake and asked instinctively, "Pixiu, what's going on?"

A small beast with a dragon's head and a horse's body, horns and fangs, resembling a dragon but not quite, appeared out of thin air. At the same time, a childish voice rang in the deer's mind.

"Boss, you're finally awake! If you hadn't woken up, you would have been burned to death!"

Lu was dumbfounded. Wasn't he accidentally injured by love while eating melons in the food street? How come he's going to be burned now?

Pixiu noticed his confusion and explained, choking back tears: "You sneaked off to the mortal realm to play and got injured by ordinary people. The God of Destiny felt ashamed and sent us to this world for trials, saying that if you could change the fate of the Dayong Dynasty's downfall, you would be allowed to return to Heaven."

From Pixiu's fragmented words, Youlu finally understood her current predicament and said angrily, "You damn Siming, I told you to watch less short dramas, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're using a short drama plot against me! I'll pluck your beard when we get back!"

"That's right!" the Pixiu echoed repeatedly, then, realizing what was happening, shrieked, "Boss, stop complaining! Your life is more important! These mortals are going to burn you alive!"

If his hands weren't tied, Youlu would have covered his ears to avoid the Pixiu's demonic cries. He clicked his tongue and said, "Is such a small thing worth making such a fuss about?"

He tried moving his wrists; wow, they were tied really tightly, but it didn't stop him.

【Can't! 】

Just as he was about to use magic to untie the rope, the Pixiu screamed again.

You Lu was so frightened that he immediately stopped. It was fortunate that he stopped in time, otherwise he would have been struck by lightning.

Looking at the sky, which suddenly erupted in a whirlwind of wind, clouds, and lightning, Youlu asked with lingering fear, "What the hell was that noise?"

[The Star Lord has placed a restriction on you; if you use any immortal techniques without authorization, it will attract a tribulation of lightning.]

The Pixiu sighed, clutching its tail.

"Then how am I supposed to save my own life?" You Luqi laughed.

[Use your clever little brain, sir?]

Pixiu scratched his head.

You Lu rolled his eyes and said, "So now all I can do is wait to die?" If his hands weren't tied, he would have given her the middle finger.

【Of course not! The body the Star Lord has arranged for you belongs to the seventh son of the current Emperor Wulong. You were stolen shortly after birth and thus lived among the common people. As long as you can reconnect with your ancestors, you can definitely break this deadlock!】

The Pixiu (a mythical creature) hopped around him happily.

"At least that old man, Siming, has some conscience." Youlu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "So, what crime did this body commit?"

[It was said to be adultery. Adultery was a serious crime in Dayong, punishable by either drowning in a pig cage or being burned at the stake.]

The Pixiu blinked its innocent big eyes, giving off an expression that said, "I'm just a child, I don't understand."

You Lu nodded knowingly, and only then did he have the mind to observe the current situation.

He was now tied to a wooden frame, with piles of dry firewood at his feet. The crowd of onlookers stood around him, and on the high platform stood an official in a scarlet robe. At the official's command, the yamen runners holding torches would light the firewood.

Besides him, a young woman was also tied to the execution platform; she must have been his mistress. However, the girl remained silent, neither pleading for her innocence nor struggling or begging for mercy. Instead, she stared blankly at the richly dressed man in the crowd, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes filled with tears, as if she had unspeakable sorrow.

A deer smelled the melon.

He immediately disregarded everything and activated his Heavenly Eye to examine the woman's life. What he found shocked him – she had been wronged!

The woman's name was Shen Yuyao. She was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yongchang's family. She was engaged to Gu Cheng, the eldest son of the General Weiyuan's family, who was her equal in social standing, since childhood. The two were childhood sweethearts and innocent, which was a beautiful story. However, after the arrival of Liu Yanran, the cousin of the Marquis's family, the two often had disagreements. Over time, they developed a rift and their feelings gradually faded.

If it were just losing a fiancé, Shen Yuyao wouldn't be so miserable. The worst part is that her father favored her cousin, her mother only told her to be tolerant, and her brother even declared that he only wanted one sister, Liu Yanran. Shen Yuyao, who was originally a noble lady in the capital, fell from grace and became someone anyone could trample on.

You think that's the end of it?

No, not yet!

The so-called affair between Shen Yuyao and her lover was actually a complete conspiracy!

Liu Yanran impersonated Gu Cheng's savior to gain sympathy by playing the victim. The blind Gu Cheng believed her without even checking, and was only interested in announcing the engagement. However, he was worried that announcing the engagement without a reason would damage the reputation of the General's Mansion, so he came up with this insidious method.

Gu Cheng first had Liu Yanran drug Shen Yuyao, then threw Shen Yuyao with a street ruffian—the original owner of his body—completely ruining Shen Yuyao's innocence. Next, he used Shen Yuyao's alleged loss of chastity as an excuse to break off the engagement. When Shen Yuyao was desperate, the second young master of the General's Mansion stepped in to propose marriage. In this way, both brothers got to marry the women they loved and also received Shen Yuyao's generous dowry, truly gaining both love and wealth.

This was a plan devised by the Gu brothers. Unfortunately, Liu Yanran wasn't after Gu Cheng as a person, but rather the dowry left by Shen Yuyao's maternal grandfather. Therefore, she had no intention of letting Shen Yuyao live.

It was Liu Yanran who secretly spread the news and led so many people to catch the adulterer, which led to this scene on the execution ground.

You Lu is enjoying the gossip immensely; it would be even better if he weren't an innocent bystander caught in the middle.

He also learned that although he couldn't use magic, it wasn't against the rules to use his innate ability to investigate other people's past and future.

This really did him a huge favor.

"By the way, you said I'm the emperor's son, so where's the token?" Youlu asked. He only remembered this after finishing his melon. Since he had been wronged, he was going to "seek justice."

[Um... the Star Lord only said this body belonged to a prince, but didn't give any token.]

Pixiu's gaze wandered, and it shrank its neck to examine its chubby paws.

Youlu was so angry he laughed again, and he took back the praise he had just given to the old man Siming.

The path of recognizing relatives may not be easy.

His eyes darted around, and he turned his gaze back to Shen Yuyao.

He saw that soon the yamen runners would light the pyre, and when he and Shen Yuyao were burned and their skin was torn open, the second young master of the general's mansion would arrive unhurriedly, produce evidence to prove Shen Yuyao's innocence, and he and Shen Yuyao would be saved, but both of them would be burned and disfigured.

Although she survived in the end, the process was too agonizing, and Youlu didn't want to suffer like that.

Meanwhile, Gu Cheng, his face dark with rage, questioned Liu Yanran in a low voice, "Didn't we agree not to make a scene? How are we going to clean this up now?!"

Liu Yanran covered the corners of her upturned lips, pressed her eyes, and said with tears welling up in her eyes, "Does Gu Lang doubt me? Sister Yuyao is my own cousin. If you hadn't repeatedly begged me, how could I have agreed to help you drug her and smear her reputation? I've gone to such lengths for you, and you still don't believe me?"

Gu Cheng's heart softened as expected. He pulled the tearful Liu Yanran into his arms and gently comforted her, "I don't doubt you. It's just that although I no longer have feelings for Shen Yuyao, I still wronged her and can't bear to see her die unjustly."

He said he couldn't bear it, but he wouldn't even say a word in defense of Shen Yuyao.

The prefect, seated on the high platform, glanced at the time and shouted, "The execution time has arrived—light the fire—"

The yamen runners raised their torches.

Seeing this, Youlu disregarded whether there was a token or not and shouted, "I am a prince! Who dares to harm me!"