Qian Renyou pronounced the final fate of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
"Xue Beng, Heaven Dou has fallen. Today, the vast realm your imperial family built has come to an end. Of your imperial kin, only these hundred-odd people in this hall remain."
"Kill them, and I will preserve one last thread of your imperial bloodline. Xue Ke will be spared death and allowed to live out her life in peace."
One sentence decided life and death.
Xue Beng lay prostrate on the floor, his disheveled hair hiding his face, his body trembling violently.
Dead silence, despair, torment, pain, humiliation... countless emotions churned wildly in his eyes, his expression shifting again and again.
Reluctance flashed through his eyes, followed by anguish and the verge of collapse. But a moment later, every trace of weakness fell away, leaving only the cold resolve of a man driven into a corner.
He understood. This was their cruelest torture, the final humiliation and punishment reserved for the emperor of Heaven Dou.
To preserve the imperial bloodline, to save his younger sister, Xue Ke, he had to slaughter his own harem and kill his own children with his own hands.
The imperial bloodline could not be extinguished completely. Xue Ke was the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's last hope.
He had no choice.
Bracing his aching body, Xue Beng reached out with a trembling hand and grasped the cold saber before him.
The chill of the blade spread through his body, nearly freezing his blood in its veins.
He pushed against the floor inch by inch and struggled to rise. His steps staggered, his body swaying like a guttering candle in the wind. The hand gripping the saber trembled without cease as he stumbled toward the kneeling crowd, one step at a time.
The consorts, princes,