Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 446: Yu Lang Waits for Me on Yellow Spring Road

Chapter 446: Chapter 446: Yu Lang Waits for Me on Yellow Spring Road

Consort Jing was disheveled and filthy, her sanity long gone.

She was confined in a cage, her head and hands fixed outside, wearing a giggling smile that seemed insane.

Countless rotten eggs and spoiled vegetable leaves were thrown at her, a festival of rage and venting for the common people.

Such a scene hadn’t been witnessed since Lady Wang was beheaded.

Lady Wang was malicious, having caused Princess Consort Ling and her relatives to be separated for many years, and Consort Jing was no better. To elope with the Emperor, she killed the parents of Mei Yuzong, poisoned Mei Yuzong’s throat, and yet she still peacefully remained a favored consort in the Imperial Palace, enjoying all the glory and riches!

No one would refrain from spitting on such a woman.

Some even cursed Chen Honglian for feigning madness to avoid humiliation.

Looking like this, she could hardly be recognized as her former self, resembling instead an old woman from a rural marketplace.

Everyone pointed at her and hurled insults.

Chen Honglian just kept on smiling foolishly.

The procession of death row prisoners circled around the crowd, eventually reaching the Market Entrance.

That place was already swarming with people.

"It’s truly sad, her son, the Third Prince, hasn’t come to see her on her last journey!"

"Serves her right! Murder demands a life! Forsaken by all!"

"As a son, the Third Prince should have come to send Chen Honglian off on her last journey."

"How could the Third Prince dare to come? He’s already been disfavored by the Emperor, who is planning to appoint the son of Noble Consort Yun as the Crown Prince, don’t you know?"

Consort Jing, with her head bowed, heard these words and her pupils sharply contracted several times before quickly returning to normal, her face still bearing a foolish smile.

She didn’t want to see the scorn and disgust on the faces of these lowly common people while sober; as long as she was mad, she could still consider herself the high and mighty Consort Jing.

Commoners are nothing but commoners, what right do they have to mock her?!

Consort Jing laughed eerily, even as she was led to the guillotine.

She feared death, but these days, she had made peace with it.

She owed it to Mei Yuzong.

Thus, she could face death unafraid, for after death, she could seek out Mei Yuzong and repay him.

Hadn’t Mei Yuzong told her "I love you" before he died?

She wasn’t completely worthless as a person, at least one man had loved her till his death.

She even wondered if Mei Yuzong was waiting for her below.

He certainly must be. Yu Lang was so affectionate. Yu Lang had only felt guilty towards his parents, and once dead, wouldn’t everything be settled once and for all?

The executioner noisily sharpened his blade.

Consort Jing was not scared at all.

Instead, a sense of anticipation rose within her.

Once her head fell, would she be able to see Yu Lang?

She was pushed down to kneel on the ground, her head resting on the execution stone; she laughed loudly looking at the crowd, You bunch of lowlifes, even in death, someone is waiting for me!

However, just then, her smile abruptly stiffened on her face.

In the crowd, a distinct middle-aged man stood out, beside him stood a pretty young girl.

Consort Jing blinked hard, thinking it was a hallucination she saw before dying.

But it wasn’t!

After blinking, they were still standing there.

"Mei Yuzong!"

"Mei Yuzong, how are you not dead!"

Consort Jing suddenly yelled frantically.

"Mei Yuzong, why didn’t you wait for me on Yellow Spring Road! You lied to me!"

She struggled to stand up, as if she had suffered a tremendous blow.

People looked in the direction she was looking, but they saw no strange person.

After all, poor Mei Yuzong had long ago died in a collision within the palace, perhaps Consort Jing was mad enough to see hallucinations.

Only the guilty see ghosts.

"How ridiculous, she caused the death of Mei Yuzong’s entire family and yet expects Mei Yuzong to wait for her on Yellow Spring Road, what a deluded old woman!"

"She must be faking insanity to escape beheading!"

"Don’t let her escape!"

"Off with her head! Off with her head!"

Excited voices erupted from the crowd.

The tall, strong executioner pressed Consort Jing down, his hand raised, the blade fell, and the head dropped to the ground!

The unwillingness in Consort Jing’s eyes rolled away with her severed head.

"Let’s go, troupe leader, we should go to bid farewell to Princess Consort Ling."

Xiao Yuyu supported Mei Yuzong as they made their way through the crowded masses towards Prince Ling’s Mansion.

Mei Yuzong looked up at the sky, pausing in his steps: Father, mother, your son has finally avenged you, may your spirits in heaven find peace.

He too finally felt a weight off his shoulders, just as Xiao Yuyu had been telling him these days, all the bad things had passed, and it was time to look forward.

His parents surely didn’t want him to be trapped in the day they died forever.

Divine Doctor Zhai specially came to check Mei Yuzong’s pulse.

"Hmm, you’re almost fully recovered. However, you still cannot engage in strenuous activities for the time being, such as horse riding or fighting, try to avoid rough rides as well, since the injury was to the head, not anywhere else."

Murong Jiu then said, "If you are thinking of going south, then go via Tianjin Guard, take the water route going south, as it is more stable than a carriage ride."

"Thank you, Princess Consort, Prince, and Divine Doctor Zhai. Your great kindness will never be forgotten by Mei, and if there’s a chance in the future, I shall repay it!"

Jun Yuyan said, "You don’t need to repay us. If it weren’t for you, Consort Jing wouldn’t have been brought down so easily. However, to avoid being recognized while the Emperor is still around, you might want to keep your face hidden for now, otherwise there could be serious trouble."

"You don’t need to tell me, I understand. Divine Doctor Zhai has provided me with a human skin mask. I was actually wearing it when I entered the Prince Mansion earlier."

He only revealed his face for a moment before Consort Jing’s death.

Mei Yuzong knew all too well he had faked his own death and fled. If the Emperor’s men discovered him, not only his death would be trivial, but it could also implicate Prince Ling’s Mansion.

Deceiving the Emperor was no trivial crime.

...

Mei Yuzong’s departure brought a temporary closure to the matter of Consort Jing.

The Third Prince, however, likely wouldn’t fare well.

Due to Consort Jing, his reputation plummeted. He didn’t attend her execution, an act of filial impiety, causing his reputation to fall further.

Actually, the Third Prince had planned to go, and his aides had even prepared what sentimental words he should say; he had memorized them thoroughly.

But who could have expected that one of his concubines would suddenly attempt to assassinate him, stabbing him in the abdomen and causing unceasing bleeding; naturally, his attendance at the execution became an impossibility.

What infuriated the Third Prince even more was that the concubine was Prime Minister Li’s goddaughter, who hanged herself after the stabbing.

The Third Prince was not foolish; how could he not realize this was Prime Minister Li’s "Military Decree" to the Emperor!

By deliberately delaying him and preventing him from restoring his reputation at the execution ground, the aim was to keep him at a disadvantage, unable to compete with the Young Prince for the throne!

With this act, Prime Minister Li effectively severed ties with the Third Prince’s Mansion, signaling to the Emperor that he was now a staunch supporter of the Young Prince!

That damned opportunist!

The Third Prince was full of hatred!

Even though he was his father’s most beloved son, why had things ended up like this!