Chapter 1960

Zhang Ping and Zhang Shou stepped into the Imperial Study.

An invisible, suffocating pressure rushed toward them; before the dragon desk, Wu Zhao, in her black dragon robe, stood like a deep pool or a towering mountain.

That face, which could topple kingdoms, was now as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, and the fury surging in her phoenix eyes almost condensed into substance.

"Zhang Ping, Zhang Shou, do you know your crimes?"

Zhang Shou's heart trembled, and he wanted to open his mouth to defend himself.

But when Zhang Ping saw Wu Zhao asking about their crimes right away, he understood everything in his heart and no longer held any hope; his legs went weak, and he knelt directly, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold floor tiles.

"Your subject knows his crime!"

Although Zhang Shou did not understand, he also knelt down.

Wu Zhao's voice was cold, as if it came from hell, carrying heaven-shaking hatred and cold murderous intent: "You are incompetent and derelict in your duties, yet you still chase shadows; for the sake of your own interests, you did not hesitate to frame a loyal official, and you dared to deceive the Emperor! The evil of your crimes is such that your hearts deserve to be punished! Your crime—deserves death by a thousand cuts!"

Once the words "death by a thousand cuts" were spoken, the temperature in the Imperial Study plummeted.

Zhang Ping and Zhang Shou both raised their heads in unison, their eyes full of shock and fear, and beads of cold sweat instantly soaked their official uniforms!

Although Zhang Ping knew Wu Zhao was furious, he had not expected her to be this enraged.

"Your Majesty, your subject knows he was wrong, please, Your Majesty, forgive me!"

Zhang Ping knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically.

At this moment, he was truly afraid.

Zhang Shou was also panicked; this death by a thousand cuts was the greatest of capital crimes!

"Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty, consider..."

Before the words "the Zhang family" could leave Zhang Shou's mouth, he was angrily interrupted by Wu Zhao, "Shut up!"

Her phoenix eyes spat fire, her jade hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white.

If not for the fact that she still had her reason, she would have wanted to hack these two idiots into ten thousand pieces immediately! If not for their random accusations, how could she have committed this irreparable mistake?

But thinking of the Zhang family, and thinking that the Embroidered Uniform Guard—this sharp blade—must be firmly held in her own hands, Wu Zhao took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fury in her heart.

She said with a cold face, "Considering that you have just taken charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and still have minor merits, and this matter... is also my fault, I will grant you special grace!"

Hearing this, Zhang Ping and Zhang Shou let out a heavy sigh of relief in their hearts.

This counted as having saved their lives.

But the next second.

Wu Zhao's words made their hearts tighten again.

"The death penalty is spared, but the living punishment is unavoidable!"

"Someone, drag them out, punish them with twenty strokes of the bone-piercing nail board! Dismiss them from office but keep them in their posts, let them serve while bearing their crimes; if there is a next time, all crimes will be punished together!"

"Bone-piercing nail board?!"

Zhang Shou and Zhang Ping instantly turned deathly pale!