NO!!!
"Father... Grandmother... Yi-niang... Yulan..."
"Tang Qinghua, I beg you...! Stop this, release my family...! I beg you."
Her face was completely devoid of color as she screamed at the feet of the scumbag Crown Prince, Tang Qinghua, and the white lotus, Bai Xilin.
"Xilin, please beg him to release Father, Grandmother, and Yi-niang."
"I beg you... Xilin...! I beg of you..."
She had fallen to her knees, discarding all her dignity just to beg Bai Xilin.
"Haha! Father, Grandmother, Yi-niang, do you see? Bai Xiyun is begging me! Hahaha!"
"Don't you find it ridiculous, Bai Xiyun? Why should I beg for them? They only loved you and never cared about me, Bai Xilin."
Bai Xilin's expression didn't change in the slightest, nor did she even spare a glance at her own mother. She looked at the scumbag Crown Prince with a calm gaze:
"Crown Prince brother, I am a bit tired. I shall return to my room."
Her face paled. Now completely driven to despair, she shrieked:
"TANG QINGHUA!!! If you have the guts, kill me!"
"Little Xiyun, don't be so foolish. Just let us die. Don't worry about us old folks, it's not worth it."
Dazed, she turned her face toward her grandmother and her clan.
"Grandmother, it is Xiyun's lack of filial piety that has dragged everyone into this. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
She knelt before her entire clan, kowtowing repeatedly.
"Xiyun, you are not to blame. The fault lies with us. We failed to protect you..."
"Xiyun, stand up. Don't be foolish anymore."
"Haha, what a touching display of familial love."
"Crown Princess, since you want to die so badly, let me fulfill your wish."
His face was cold, his sharp gaze locking onto her.
He bent down, lifting her chin, and said ruthlessly:
"Do you think I wouldn't dare to kill you, Bai Xiyun?"
She pushed his disgusting hand away and looked up at him, her voice cold.
"Then kill me."
Her eyes burned with resentment as she stared at him. Recalling his sweet, honeyed words, she now felt nothing but disgust. She realized how wrong she had been, bringing ruin to her entire clan and harming everyone she loved.
She stood up, looking helplessly at the sky, thinking, *'If only I hadn't loved him back then, hadn't been so infatuated, hadn't insisted on marrying him... would things be different now?'*
"The auspicious hour has arrived."
BEHEAD!!!
Her eyes were vacant and helpless as she watched her clan, her loved ones, perish before her eyes, unable to do anything. Tears had begun to stream down her face unnoticed as she wept, walking toward her family.
Trembling, she cradled her father's still-warm body.
"N... No."
"F... FATHER... NO... PLEASE, DON'T."
"Ah... Ah... Ah!"
"Father, Grandmother, Yi-niang, please don't leave me... No... NO..."
She wailed over her father's corpse. She knew it was too late for regrets. She had no family left, no one to protect or pamper her anymore.
"Well? Does your heart ache? Do you hate me? Do you want to kill me?"
"HAHAHA..."
His voice snapped her back to reality. She picked up a sword, taking step after step toward Tang Qinghua.
In her mind, only two words remained: "REVENGE."
"Guards, seize the Crown Princess! Take her to the Ding Ministry of Punishments so she can watch Tang Molong have his tendons ripped out!"
She suddenly realized there was someone who had always silently sacrificed himself for her, endured every punishment for her, and given her an incomparable, sincere love—yet she had ruined everything for him.
Once again, pain gripped her, squeezing her heart tight. She loathed herself.
"Molong..."
Ding Ministry of Punishments...
Dazed, she was dragged into the Ding Ministry of Punishments by two soldiers.
By now, her eyes were swollen, and her throat ached so much that she could no longer make a sound.
Entering the great hall, she saw Tang Molong, covered in wounds, bound to the prisoner's pillar. Suddenly, for reasons she couldn't understand, tears began to stream down her face. She whimpered, unable to utter a word, looking at him with a breaking heart.
In a soft voice, she said:
"Molong, I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry, I dragged you into this."
Tang Molong looked up, gazing toward the girl he loved.
He could say nothing now. The woman he loved was sobbing, weeping for him. His deep, warm voice called out softly:
"Xiyun...! Don't look. I look dreadful right now."
She looked at him in agony, tears streaming down her face. Only now did she truly understand what real love meant.
"Molong...! It hurts so much... *sob* *sob*."
"My heart hurts so much, Molong."
"I think I have fallen in love with you."
He looked at her and smiled, his mind in a chaotic tangle. His very first tear fell. Was he crying? Now, he began to feel afraid—afraid of who would care for her if he died, afraid that others would bully her, afraid that she would forget him.
*Clap, clap, clap*
"Oh, Imperial Uncle, are you crying?"
"Haha, how touching..."
Tang Qinghua's cold gaze swept over Bai Xiyun. His eyes burned with fury as he roared:
"BEGIN THE EXECUTION!"
Tang Molong suppressed his pain, looking at her as he said:
"Don't look, Xiyun...! I beg of you."
Bai Xiyun froze. *Even now, he is still thinking of me. He... and yet he...*
She completely collapsed inside as she watched the man she loved having his tendons pulled.
She was no longer crying now—not because she didn't feel the pain, but because she utterly hated that scumbag Crown Prince, Tang Qinghua, who had stripped her of everything.
"Molong...! MOLONG...!"
Her face darkened. She lowered her head, unable to watch any longer, unable to bear the sight of Molong in agony as his tendons were pulled at the execution pillar.
"Look! Look at your lover! He is enduring this punishment in your stead."
Tang Qinghua gripped her shoulders, squeezing tighter and tighter... seemingly with no intention of letting her off.
Tang Molong looked at her and smiled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. In a faint, raspy whisper, he said:
"F... fare... well... Xi... yun... I love you."
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. No longer begging Tang Qinghua, she snatched a sword from the guard standing beside him and pressed it against her own neck.
She had no hope left to live; she had lost everything.
Suddenly, she burst into laughter:
"HAHAHA..."
Her laughter was eerie and terrifying as she glared at Tang Qinghua.
"Tang Qinghua, I curse you to never eat in peace, to never sleep in comfort, to fail to hold your imperial throne, to fail to govern your nation, to have no heirs to carry on your lineage, and to be betrayed by the one you love!"
"I HATE YOU!"
Pressing the sword against her neck, she looked up at the vast sky. *Heavens, if you have eyes, please let me be reborn just once more! I beg of you.*
She spun around as if bidding a final farewell to the mortal world, escaping from that cruel, scumbag man.
At the moment of her death, the sky suddenly opened up with a torrential downpour. Thunder and lightning crashed incessantly, as if weeping for the tragic fate of her and Tang Molong.
Suddenly, Tang Qinghua pulled her lifeless body into his arms, and tears began to stream down his face as well.
"Am I crying...?"
"Haha, am I crying for Bai Xiyun...?"
"Ah... Ah...! Xiyun, I'm sorry. Wake up, please."
"Bai Xiyun, I command you to wake up! Wake up, please!"
Clutching Bai Xiyun's body tightly to his chest, he wailed:
"Xi... XIYUN...! Please come back to me..."
Why was he crying? Why had he pushed her to this point? He had tormented her until her death, only to realize that he loved her—loved her so deeply that he could not bear to be without her for even a single minute or second.
He realized his mistake, but it was already too late. She was no longer by his side.