PFC Chapter 263 He only has himself to blame!
Chapter 263 He only has himself to blame!
A look of joy appeared on Li Wudao's face; the heavy weight that had been hanging over his heart for many days was finally lifted.
"What about the other conditions for Daliang?" he asked.
"It's all done." Shen Ming nodded, but his expression was somewhat complicated.
"The documents ceding fifty cities have arrived, and the Ministry of Revenue is currently checking and handing them over. Crown Prince Lu Minxuan has been bound hand and foot and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail, and..."
He paused, his voice lowered:
“The core members of the Wang family were also brought here.”
"Senior Brother Li, you are unaware of the truth. The capture of His Highness Prince Rui was actually orchestrated by the Wang family, who were secretly colluding with the enemy! They had already defected to the Great Liang and leaked Prince Rui's whereabouts to Lu Minxuan, which led to..."
Shen Ming couldn't continue speaking; his face was full of indignation.
To be fair, the Wang family is Li Wudao's maternal clan. Such a betrayal is utterly chilling.
Li Wudao frowned.
In recent years, the Wang family has become increasingly extreme in its actions, resorting to any means to achieve its goals. This can be seen from the fact that they did not hesitate to expel his mother from the family for a little bit of power.
But he never expected that the Wang family would show no affection whatsoever and actually kill Wang Wan.
"Come with me to the Ministry of Justice prison."
Li Wudao's voice was calm, but his eyes were cold and sharp.
You can touch him.
To harm someone he cares about... No way!
The Wang family's actions thoroughly enraged him.
Even if it is nominally his maternal clan, he will not be soft-hearted.
........
The Ministry of Justice's prison has three underground floors.
This is a death row cell where serious criminals are imprisoned. It is dark all year round, and the air is filled with the stench of decay and blood.
In the deepest, specially made cell, more than twenty people were imprisoned.
Crown Prince Lu Minxuan of Daliang sat leaning against the corner of the wall, his robes tattered and worn, his face bruised, and his eyes flickering uncertainly.
Beside him were several generals who had participated in capturing Prince Rui, all of them dejected and pale-faced.
On the other side of the cell were a group of core high-ranking members of the Wang family.
The leader was Wang Weiyong, the patriarch of the Wang family.
This old man, who once held sway over the court of the Great Yu Dynasty, was now disheveled, dressed in rags, and his face was covered in dust and crisscrossing wrinkles.
He closed his eyes, as if resting, but his slightly trembling fingers betrayed his inner unease.
The most tragic one was Wang Xu.
The head of the Wang family lay sprawled in the corner like a lump of mud, his limbs twisted at bizarre angles.
His face and body were covered with whip marks, some of which had scabbed over, while others were still bleeding. All of these were the work of the Crown Prince of Liang.
His cultivation was destroyed, and the torture he endured for days left him almost unrecognizable; only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.
The cell was eerily silent.
The oppressive atmosphere was like a quagmire, making it difficult for everyone to breathe.
"Cough cough..."
A middle-aged elder of the Wang family suddenly broke the silence with a violent cough.
He glanced at Lu Minxuan not far away, his eyes gradually filled with resentment and malice:
“Lu Minxuan… Our Wang family devised strategies for you, even betraying the Great Yu… How could you treat us like this…”
These words were like a spark, igniting pent-up panic and anger.
"Exactly! If it weren't for the Wang family's advice, could your Great Liang have conquered so many cities in succession?!"
"You ungrateful scoundrel who crossed the river and then burned the bridge!"
"We were truly blind to have believed you..."
The Wang family members started talking amongst themselves, their voices growing louder and louder, escalating from initial complaints to angry shouts.
They dared not curse Li Wudao, and could only vent all their fear and resentment on the Crown Prince of Daliang, who had also become a prisoner.
Lu Minxuan slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze swept over these members of the Wang family—who had once groveled before him—and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips: "Advising me? Betraying the Great Yu for me?"
He suddenly laughed, the sound echoing through the death row. "Your Wang family dared to use me to kill someone else's enemy. I haven't even settled accounts with you for that yet. Where do you get the nerve?"
The faces of the Wang family members froze.
But then Lu Minxuan slowly stood up, walked step by step to the prison bars, and stared at them:
"Besides, does your Wang family... have the right to blame me? You've fallen to this state entirely of your own making!"
He paused, then shook his head and sneered, "I've heard that Li Wudao's mother is a member of your Wang family, and he... could have been the catalyst for your Wang family's rise to power..."
"But what did you do? You mocked and ridiculed him and his mother, expelled them from the palace, and let him suffer all kinds of humiliation in the capital, calling him a 'good-for-nothing' and a 'disgrace'."
“A piece of unpolished jade is trampled underfoot like a stubborn rock. A hidden dragon is regarded as a mudfish and discarded like worn-out shoes.”
"Now he's soaring through the heavens, and you regret it? Too late!"
These words were like knives, piercing the hearts of everyone in the Wang family.
The cell fell silent once again.
Wang Weiyong's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly.
Wang Xu slumped in the corner, his lips trembling, but he couldn't make a sound.
The expressions of the other members of the Wang family changed; some had regret in their eyes, while others had bitterness on their faces.
Yes... if only back then...
If they had been kinder to Wang Yun back then, if they had treated that child better, if...
The Wang family is now considered royalty, enjoying endless wealth and honor, and is destined to become the foremost family in the Great Yu Dynasty.
But they destroyed all of this with their own hands.
"Enough!" A member of the Wang family suddenly lunged at Lu Minxuan, shouting, "I'll kill you—"
"boom!"
Lu Minxuan kicked him away.
Although his cultivation was sealed, his physical strength as a Martial King in the early stage remained. This kick sent the elder crashing into the wall, spitting out blood.
"You're asking for death!" Lu Minxuan's eyes were icy cold.
The Wang family members immediately changed color. They had almost forgotten that the Crown Prince of Daliang was also a genius, and his cultivation was not weak.
In this chaos—
"Squeak-"
The heavy prison door was pushed open.
The footsteps approached from afar, unhurried yet carrying a peculiar rhythm, each step feeling like it was treading on the tip of one's heart.
Everyone in the cell turned their heads at the same time.
A group of people walked slowly towards them.
The leader was a young man in a blue robe, with a handsome face and eyes as calm as an ancient well.
He didn't release any aura, but when his gaze swept across, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, as if an invisible sword was pressed against their throats.
It was Li Wudao.
Behind him followed Shen Ming, as well as several imposing Imperial Guards.
Shen Ming waved his hand, and immediately someone brought over a rosewood chair and placed it in the center of the cell.
Li Wudao casually sat down, his movements relaxed yet exuding an air of superiority.
At that moment, you could hear a pin drop in the cell.
Wang Weiyong finally opened his eyes.
His cloudy old eyes looked at Li Wudao, and a complex emotion flashed deep in his pupils.
There was disbelief, regret, fear, and above all, a bitter feeling.
This is his grandson whom he has never given a second glance.
This is the "good-for-nothing" that the Wang family discarded like trash...
Lu Minxuan also stared intently at Li Wudao.
A storm raged within him. The boy before him looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, yet he possessed the power to overthrow a nation.
That composure, that unfathomable depth, was far beyond what even his brilliant and ambitious father, the emperor, could match.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the Wang family members suddenly burst into mournful cries.
"You wicked nephew! I am your third uncle!"
"Child, your second aunt loved you the most back then, do you remember?"
"We were all forced into this by Wang Xu! It's all his fault!"
"Please, let us go! We know we were wrong!"
Some kowtowed, some cried, some tried to curry favor, and some even slapped themselves in the face, staging a self-inflicted injury.
Only the two of them remained still.
Wang Weiyong remained seated, but his face was ashen, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant.
"Hehehehe...!!"
Wang Xu, who was in the corner, shrugged violently and suddenly let out a strange laugh. The laugh grew louder and more manic.
He struggled to lift his head, and beneath his disheveled hair, his eyes were bloodshot, like those of a vengeful ghost.
"You little beast...you've finally come..."
His voice was hoarse, yet filled with deep-seated resentment: "Are you satisfied now that you see me like this? You little bastard! You mongrel! You're just as worthless as your mother!!"
The calm on Li Wudao's face instantly froze, turning ashen and gloomy.
He stood up slowly.
Without using any movement techniques, he simply walked step by step toward Wang Xu.
The sound of footsteps could be clearly heard in the deathly silent cell, each step lowering the temperature by a fraction.
When he stopped in front of Wang Xu, the entire prison cell seemed to sink into an ice cave.
“What did you just say?!” Li Wudao leaned down, grabbed Wang Xu by the neck with one hand, and lifted him up.
Wang Xu's feet were off the ground, he was struggling to breathe, but he still laughed maniacally: "I said... your mother is a slut!"
"Back then, I forced her to marry into the Miao family, but she refused... She insisted on marrying that good-for-nothing of your father... She deserved to die young! She deserved to..."
"Click."
There was a crisp sound.
Wang Xu's neck was snapped.
The maniacal laughter abruptly stopped.
Li Wudao indifferently released his grip, and Wang Xu's body slid softly to the ground, his eyes wide open, still brimming with mad resentment even in death.
"Xu'er!!!"
Wang Weiyong suddenly stood up, tears streaming down his face.
The Wang family members were terrified, and several of them collapsed to the ground, their crotches soaked with sweat.
Lu Minxuan and the other Liang generals turned pale and felt a chill run down their spines.
Decisive and ruthless.
He killed even his own uncle without hesitation.
Such a temperament is chilling.
"Noisy."
Li Wudao's indifferent gaze swept over the Wang family members.
All the cries and screams vanished instantly.
The Wang family members covered their mouths tightly, not daring to even breathe, their eyes filled with boundless fear.
Li Wudao stopped looking at them and walked straight towards Lu Minxuan.
Lu Minxuan's heart tightened, and he subconsciously took a half step back, but he immediately regained his balance.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to meet the other person's gaze, even though those calm eyes gave him the illusion that he was being stripped bare and seen through.
"You are the Crown Prince of Liang?"
Li Wudao's voice was flat.
“Yes…” Lu Minxuan’s voice was dry.