Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

"Nan Shu Cheng is involved in tax evasion and failure to report his real income. There are some misappropriate handling of…."

"Official Nan also colluded with the other kingdoms and leaked information. Based on the testimony of Concubine Xin and the pieces of evidence found, it could be seen that the Official had long leaked out some confidential state matters to other kingdoms. This action is nothing short of betrayal!"

"Nan Shu Cheng also obtained funds illegally by using the funds that are supposed for the tax in order to obtain more…."

"Qu Family had already been caught for killing the innocents and dragged some people inside."

"There are a lot of drugs found in Nan Shu Cheng's Residence. We believed that he had used them in order to falsify the truth of the matter. Many of these drugs are used in order to cause weakness, which will make his target weaker and unable to resist."

Many reports were piling up.

Each and every single one of them was putting Nan Shu Cheng in a tight spot. It was as if everything that had happened in the past few years were dug on the spot, leaving him bare without any chance to cover it all up.

Even things that he didn't know were brought up.

It was to the point that Nan Shu Cheng wanted to faint.

He wanted to yell that these were all false, but looking at the eyes the officials gave him, he knew that the pieces of evidence were already conclusive. There was no need for this trial to happen in the first place.

Beside him, Qu Fei Jiao was not any better. She was shocked speechless when she heard about what had happened to her family. Especially when they dug out the matter from so many years ago.

The two of them were both pinned on the ground by the guards, so they couldn't move.

Nan Shu Cheng closed his eyes in despair, knowing that he would never be able to get away. He looked at his father, who was standing at the side without any expression on his face.

It was clear.

Old Master Nan gave up on him.

Nan Shu Cheng thought that it would be fine if he just did things little by little and covered many things from what he was doing. But he never thought that everything would be shown in front of others like this.

He felt lost.

The other officials were also doing tricks here and there in order to be able to keep their position. Whose hands were actually very clean? Hadn't they all dip in this poisonous pool for a long time?

However, he knew that Nan Family was not the only one facing this problem.

He had attended the other families' trial, and the result was devastating. Those who were deeply and directly involved will be sentenced to death, and those with some slight relationship would be punished according to their involvement.

Some were punished with prison, some with labor, and some with money, but they all suffered and had to pay the price.

Even then, Emperor Yang Zhou couldn't possibly eliminate all the officials in the kingdom. If he were to do that, the kingdom wouldn't be able to move forward because there was no one who could work.

Nan Shu Cheng closed his eyes.

He knew this was his end.

There was still unwillingness from deep within his heart, but what could he do when he was already in this position?

He tried to run away but only ended up being beaten up, and his men were killed. The Imperial Guards would never let him escape because they were ordered to bring him to the trial today.

There were also many officials on the sidelines.

They were all watching his joke.

Nan Shu Cheng felt utterly humiliated as someone who had been high above and had his eyes on the sky. His dignity was completely trampled in front of these officials whom he always looked down on.

Yet, he couldn't do anything.

Qu Fei Jiao felt worse.

As a woman, she was never involved in whatever her brother was doing. So when she heard about the entire Qu Family getting executed yesterday, she was terrified. She didn't want to get implicated.

She was praying, burning incense, and hoping from the bottom of her heart that she would not be implicated with Qu Family as a married daughter. She didn't attend the trial, so she didn't know the specifics and hoped that no one was trying to pour the dirty water on her when her family members were trialed.

Though, Qu Fei Jiao knew that the chance was low.

She was not stupid enough not to know the true face of her family members. Each and every one of them was selfish. She herself was included, and the only reason why her father agreed for her to get married to Nan Shu Cheng back then was because he wanted her to get Nan Shu Cheng's affection.

Her starting point as a concubine might be low, but Qu Fei Jiao had many servants who would help her to be able to gain Nan Shu Cheng's affection. Schemes and tricks were used constantly until she could pull Nan Shu Cheng to her side.

But these servants couldn't always stay by her side.

When they were killed because of other matters, Qu Fei Jiao could not keep Nan Shu Cheng's heart. And Nan Hua's appearance had disturbed the pace that she used to be confident in.

The Qu Family will only support her when she is useful to them.

Thus Qu Fei Jiao could only hope.

Hope that her family members were still being sensible.

But as it turned out, she would also be implicated.

Because the Qu Family worked together with Nan Shu Cheng.

'And I don't know anything….'

Qu Fei Jiao felt helpless, yet she couldn't do anything. She wanted to yell, scream, cry, and run, but not a single one of them was possible. All she could do was to stay there, lay motionless.

All of the information bombarded her mind, telling her whatever had been done by her husband and her family members behind her back. And in their eyes, she must have been a clown.

A clown that was being used by them.

But what could she do? She simply fell in love with the wrong person and ended up being dragged into this end.

"Nan Shu Cheng, do you have anything to add?" The eunuch asked. Even he felt utterly disgusted when he read everything from the bamboo scroll in front of him. To think that this was actually the official that used to be referred to so high in the palace that many people tried to curry favor.

Now, it turned out that he was much worse than many other families out there.

Nan Shu Cheng was silent. He looked at the bamboo scroll along with the pile of pieces of evidence that was thrown together in front of him. Everything he did was recorded there, and Nan Shu Cheng knew that there was no way out of this.

He's desperate.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The other officials who were present in the main hall were also looking at Nan Shu Cheng with a disgusted expression. To think that the person whom they always respected was actually such a scum.

Their eyes must have been blind!

It was at this time that the guard outside announced the arrival of two people. "Young Master Long and First Young Miss Nan are here."

First Young Miss Nan?

Hearing that phrase, everyone had a different reaction.

Some officials were pleasantly surprised, some others were suspicious, and some others didn't seem to care that much. They had heard about the decision that was made for this young miss and young master who seemed to have severed their relationship with their father.

The so called severing relationship was not actually an official matter.

But it was still worth considering.

After all, even the foolish official knew that there was still Old Master Nan, the big tree that was covering for his two grandchildren. The two children also didn't stay in Nan Shu Cheng's Family Residence, so some leniency could be given.

Unless there was evidence showing the two children's direct involvement with Nan Shu Cheng's crime, it was hard to pull them down.

And among this evidence…

There were none.

Nan Shu Cheng was in disbelief. He turned his head with difficulty and looked at the two people who walked slowly but surely into the main hall. Her eyes swept across them with indifference before she looked away once more.

What Nan Shu Cheng could see was that gaze in her eyes.

No warmth.

No longing.

No affection.

There was only indifference and coldness, as if she was looking at an unfamiliar person. It was the same gaze and similar face. Everything about the two of them was so similar.

For a moment, he could remember his wife once more. And the more he remembered, the more he felt his entire body was clenched so hard that he found it hard to breathe.

He didn't know why, but he wanted to turn back time.

Back to the time when she only had him in her eyes without anyone else. The warmth and soft gaze, the unrelenting support, and also the love and affection that she gave to him.