Chapter 8 — The Portrait That Condemned the Noble Consort

Capturing the real female bandit means hitting the flower thieves' fatal weakness. "To protect my Sixth Sister, of course I tell them what to say, they will say." I clicked my tongue in disbelief: "This group of flower thieves never showed mercy to other women, yet they protected Sister Six with all their might. Is this what people in the martial world call repaying a thief in kind?" When Hoa Ngoc Nghien learned the truth, her eyes widened: "Tong Cam Chau, you are so bold! You dare to collude with flower thieves to harm me!" "What if?" I calmly admitted. Inside this prison, Hoa Ngoc Nghien was already at my mercy. Why should I fear her? A man's desperate cry suddenly rang out from the next room. 16 As I said that, I leisurely took out a small needle and a drawing pen. Hoa Ngoc Nghien was forced to drink Tendon-Softening Powder again. Watching me step closer, she frantically used both her hands and feet to crawl on the ground, trying to get away from me. I must have looked like a demon to her. I seized her by the throat. She struggled, so I slapped her. When she struggled again, I slapped her once more. Until she became obedient, I used my hand to hold her face tightly, slowly placing the pen on her left cheek: "Do you know that not only am I good at drawing, but my calligraphy is just as precise?" "I heard that the portrait I painted for the emperor that day made him extremely satisfied, and he takes it out every day to admire it. Your Highness is worried that what the emperor sees is not herself in the painting, but the person who painted the picture, right?" Hoa Ngoc Nghien spat at her: "Condescending person! As expected, you have such thoughts!" I laughed coldly: "You're afraid that I'll enter the palace and compete for your favor, but do you know that before you came to tease me, I never thought about entering the palace to become a concubine?" "Who believes!" "Believe it or not doesn't matter. Anyway, right now, I really have that thought." "You're dreaming! The emperor's lady truly loves this palace alone!" "Really?" I put a mirror in front of her. In the mirror, Hoa Ngoc Nghien's current appearance appeared. I only saw two words clearly written on her left cheek: "Prostitute"! "Ah…!" She raised her hand to cover her face, her whole body trembling violently: "How dare you! Tong Cam Chau, I hate you!" She wanted to protest, but she didn't even have the strength to raise her hand to push me away. I picked up the needle used to tattoo faces and dipped it into the permanent ink: "Your Majesty is a man. Men all like beautiful women. Don't hesitate to try to guess, after the word 'rapist' that I like on your face can never be washed off, how long can you still be a noble consort?" In the Dali Temple prison, all night long the fierce cries of Hoa Ngoc Nghien echoed, far drowning out the cries of the five flower thieves! 17 To quell the people's anger, the next day the Dali Temple immediately escorted the band of flower thieves to the execution ground in the market to be publicly beheaded. The six flower thieves all had the word "rapist" written on their faces, so that after their death they still had to bear that crime, being spit on by both humans and ghosts. Because of what happened in front of Prince Ninh's palace yesterday, the people gathered especially hated the female robber. The sound of cursing and rotten eggs never stopped. Amidst those scoldings, Hoa Ngoc Nghien completely collapsed, cried, and shouted in a hoarse voice: "I am a noble consort! I am a noble consort! Oh my god! Oh my god!" "Can anyone hear me? I'm really Noble Consort Hoa!" "Save my life! Save my life! Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Come and save me! Come and save me!" But soon, she couldn't cry anymore. Because the beheading has begun. There is only one executioner, one stroke per victim, one after another. Hoa Ngoc Nghien was sixth in line. When the flower thief's head fell to the ground, Hoa Ngoc Nghien still hadn't recovered. When she cut the third person, blood splattered on her face, she was so scared that her whole body trembled violently, she opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. By the fourth person, Hoa Ngoc Nghien's bottom pants were soaked. When the fifth person was beheaded, the flower thief's head just rolled in front of Hoa Ngoc Nghien. Female

His head had just fallen to the ground, he was still hot, his eyelids could still blink. Hoa Ngoc Nghien's eyes darkened, she fainted, and was pulled up by her collar. "Your Majesty… is he human?" Hoa Ngoc Nghien opened her eyes and saw that the person who grabbed her was the executioner. Under the fierce sunlight, the executioner raised his sword high, preparing to slash straight down Hoa Ngoc Nghien's neck! Suddenly, a sharp wind-piercing arrow rushed in, shooting the great sword in mid-air! "The Emperor has arrived!" Everyone was frightened and turned their heads to look back. I saw Emperor Minh Tuyen wearing a dragon robe, holding a long bow, leading his exhausted soldiers to run! Everyone around the execution ground knelt and chanted, "Long live the Emperor." Hoa Ngoc Nghien was so happy that she burst into tears: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You have finally returned!" The emperor returned to the capital one day earlier than in his previous life! 18 Emperor Minh Tuyen got off his horse and ran straight to the execution ground. The royal guard rushed forward and cut off the iron chains locking Hoa Ngoc Nghien.