Xiao Ruixuan spoke with absolute resolve. Prince Changping pitied Xiao Jiping and the unborn child, but who would pity him? Who would pity his mother?
"You worry about how hard life will be for Xiao Jiping and that child without their mother, but have you ever considered that I'm your child too, and I also lost my mother? All I ask now is justice for her, yet you refuse to give me even that. Instead, you ask me to spare a thought for the children of the woman who murdered my mother."
As Xiao Ruixuan spoke, he found it harder and harder to continue. He lowered his head and stared at the cobblestone path beneath his feet, unwilling to expose his vulnerability.
Shen Shixu patted his shoulder in comfort, then turned to Prince Changping. "I know you and Princess Consort Liu are deeply devoted to each other, Your Highness, and you cannot bear to see her suffer. But you needn't worry too much about her. After all, the charges against you are no small matter either!"
Quick to take the hint, Zhang Ming ordered two men to bring the assassins forward. At the sight of the two captured killers, Prince Changping closed his eyes in understanding.
"Prince Changping hired assassins in an unsuccessful attempt to commit murder. Under the laws of Great Qian, he is sentenced to eighty strokes of the rod, reduction to commoner status, and three years in prison!"
Hearing the sentence, Liu Ru slumped to the ground in despair. She had hoped to beg Prince Changping to save her, only to discover that he could not even save himself.
She had schemed so hard to obtain everything she now possessed, yet she had enjoyed it for less than five months. Not only would she have to give