Death Sentence? My Dad Had Other Plans

Framed for treason and colluding with the enemy, Northern Marquis Xie Guihong faces the execution of his entire family. On the execution ground, to break the law of collective punishment that would wipe out nine generations, Xie Guihong publicly reveals “family scandals”: he claims his eldest daughter Xie Mingtang was a foundling picked up by the roadside, his youngest daughter Xie Xiaoman was never entered into the family registry, and even spreads rumors that his legitimate son Xie Wenjing’s bloodline is questionable—begging that only he himself be executed. The shocking confession stuns the entire court and Emperor Yuansheng; the beheading is temporarily suspended. This desperate act exposes a jade pendant of the Phoenix Feather Bureau on the so-called adopted daughter Xie Mingtang, reopening the sealed case of the bureau’s total incineration seventeen years earlier. The Xie family is thrown into the Heavenly Prison and that very night suffers an assassin attack—only to be saved by Regent Prince Xiao Zhi. To uncover the truth behind the assassination, Xie Mingtang follows the Regent into the palace, where she is repeatedly framed and set up. Layer by layer the clues peel back two imperial secrets: the late emperor left a special secret edict, and Xie Mingtang is no adopted daughter of the Xie family—she is the late empress’s own blood, the biological younger sister of Emperor Yuansheng, a lost imperial princess. The Shen clan, led by the Empress Dowager and Shen Huaiyan, has spent years covering up their crime of murdering the late empress and seizing power; they continue to hunt and frame the Xies. Xie Guihong and Xie Mingtang join forces with Regent Xiao Zhi, deliberately setting a trap that forces the villains to reveal themselves. Everyone races into the underground palace beneath Fengyi Palace, gathers the Phoenix Feather jades, and uses Xie Mingtang’s imperial blood to open the stone gate—obtaining the late empress’s final letter and the complete evidence of the Shen clan’s crimes. Cornered, Shen Huaiyan attempts open rebellion, but the court has long prepared an ambush. The Northern Army and the Imperial Guards crush the revolt together; every culprit is executed. In the aftermath Xie Mingtang is conferred the title of Princess Changning. Uninterested in palace intrigue, she still treasures the Xie family bonds. The entire Xie household receives rewards and honors, bringing the story to a satisfying, triumphant close.