Chapter 70: Chapter 70: He Is a Mad Dog
"You! What are you trying to do now?!" Mo Changgong’s fear of Mo Lingwei was practically carved into his bones.
Mo Lingwei was a mad dog, capable of anything.
He fell to the ground and looked back, screaming hoarsely for the palace attendants, "Someone! Someone!"
Mo Lingwei walked up to him, looking down with cold, sharp eyes, his lips curling into a contemptuous smile.
"Mo Changgong, you’re just like a worm." ’Shen Ningning wasn’t wrong.’
With that, Mo Lingwei lifted his boot and stomped directly on Mo Changgong’s back.
Mo Changgong cried out in pain and said through gritted teeth, "Mo Lingwei, you are the Crown Prince! You have repeatedly disregarded palace rules and harmed your own kin. If you dare hurt me again, the Emperor will not let you off!"
"Is that so?" Mo Lingwei raised an eyebrow, his pleasant voice laced with a unique youthful air. "You think I’m afraid? He’d better not let me off. Even if I had just one breath left, I would crawl back from hell to slice you and your mother into a thousand pieces. Believe it or not."
Mo Changgong knew that Mo Lingwei would do as he said.
’He’s a demon!’
"What in the world do you want from me? I only sent assassins after you because you were always threatening me! And now you’ve already turned me into a cripple. What more could you possibly want?!" As Mo Changgong spoke, his voice broke into a sob.
Mo Lingwei chuckled. "You think this is enough? You haven’t forgotten how my mother died, have you?"
Mo Changgong’s eyes widened in terror, his lips trembling as he stammered, "It had nothing to do with us! She set herself on fire!"
"Set herself on fire?" A vicious glint burned in Mo Lingwei’s narrow eyes, as if he could lose control at any moment.
He crouched down, and the hand adorned with Buddha Beads shot out, grabbing Mo Changgong by the collar. Veins bulged on the back of his hand.
Even so, an arrogant, cold smile remained on Mo Lingwei’s face.
"I know perfectly well who locked her in that grand hall. The Emperor may believe Consort Li’s lies, but I’m not fooled."
As he spoke, the longsword in Mo Lingwei’s hand slowly came to rest on Mo Changgong’s right ear.
Mo Changgong shrieked in terror, "What are you doing?!"
"This ear of yours looks like it’s in the way. It wouldn’t be a problem if I just cut it off, would it?"
"N-no! Don’t!"
"If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better listen closely. Don’t touch Shen Ningning again. Otherwise, I’ll have your mother come and collect your corpse. Understand?"
Mo Changgong was so scared his teeth were chattering. He nodded frantically. "I won’t! I won’t go after her again!"
Just then, Consort Li’s sharp, panicked voice came from the palace entrance. "Ling Wei! What are you doing?!"
Mo Lingwei glanced over and saw the Emperor and Consort Li approaching together.
The Emperor snapped in shock and anger, "Let him go!"
Mo Lingwei scoffed and shoved Mo Changgong away.
Consort Li hurried over to embrace her son. "Chang Gong, are you alright?!"
Mo Changgong was deathly pale and trembling uncontrollably, clearly terrified to his very core.
The Emperor glared at Mo Lingwei. "Have you lost your mind?! What did Chang Gong do to provoke you this time?"
Mo Lingwei walked right past him, his voice cold. "Ask him yourself."
Then, without a backward glance, he left the palace.
The Emperor’s chest heaved with anger, his expression dark.
’This son of mine is becoming more and more savage!’
Consort Li discovered that Mo Changgong had actually wet his pants out of fear.
’Her son, whom she had always doted on and cherished, had suffered such a humiliation!’
"Your Majesty!" Consort Li cried. "Ling Wei’s behavior is simply too outrageous! Chang Gong is his own brother!"
The Emperor frowned but only said, "Carry Chang Gong inside first. Summon the Imperial Physician to see what’s wrong."
Consort Li felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Every time she brought up punishing the Crown Prince, the Emperor would never give a straight answer.
Even when Mo Changgong’s tendons in his hands and feet were severed, Mo Lingwei was only forced to kneel for a single night.
Consort Li was utterly disappointed.
She lost all composure, shrieking furiously, "Where are the Palace Attendants? Where did they all go? Do you all want to be put to death?!"
Only then did the Palace Attendants, who had been hiding nearby, hurry forward.
The Crown Prince’s appearance just now, sword in hand and radiating killing intent, had been too terrifying. They hadn’t dared to come over and get themselves killed!
The Imperial Physician came to examine him, but Mo Changgong had already passed out.
He was suffering from extreme shock. The Emperor offered a few words of consolation before saying he was busy with state affairs and leaving.
Consort Li kept watch by Mo Changgong’s bedside.
"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me..." he shouted, jolting awake from a nightmare.
Consort Li quickly embraced him, tears streaming down her face. "Chang Gong, don’t be afraid. Mother is here. No one can hurt you."
Mo Changgong’s eyes were vacant as he stared ahead in terror.
"Mother, I dreamed of the late Empress. All her skin was burned off, and she was strangling me, saying that we were the ones who..."
Before he could finish, Consort Li clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Chang Gong, it was just a nightmare! The late Empress’s death has nothing to do with us. She set herself on fire! It was Mo Lingwei who cursed his own mother to death!"
"But... Mo Lingwei dared to do this to me just for some Shen Ningning. If he ever finds out the truth, will he really kill us?" Mo Changgong was so scared he started crying again.
Consort Li quickly hugged him, gently patting his back.
"He won’t! As long as I’m here, I won’t let him hurt you."
At the thought of Shen Ningning, a sinister glint appeared in Consort Li’s eyes. "As for that Shen Ningning, I have my ways of dealing with her."
Mo Changgong panicked. "Mother, don’t provoke her!"
Consort Li soothed him, "Don’t be afraid. I’ll only be doing a good deed. What reason would Mo Lingwei have to bully us then?"
"A good deed?"
"I heard that this Shen Ningning has been looking for her birth parents. She wants a mother and father, so we’ll just give her a set!"
「Night fell.」
Shen Ningning was not asleep.
After her bath, the little one sat under the grape trellis in the courtyard, eating fruit and watching the stars.
Before coming home from the village that evening, she had dismantled the lock on the gate to her village courtyard.
’If Brother’s plan went smoothly, there should be people inside by now.’
She leaned back on the lounge chair, her big eyes blinking as she watched the twinkling stars.
In these years of drought, although the days were oppressive, the Milky Way was bright, shining brilliantly every night.
As she watched, Shen Ningning accidentally fell asleep.
After some time, she vaguely heard the anxious chittering of monkeys.
It was accompanied by the wet sensation of the Black Wolf King licking her arm.
The little one rubbed her eyes and woke up. "How did I fall asleep..."
She looked up and saw the little monkeys on the eaves, jumping and pointing toward the village, chattering wildly.
The strange thing was, this time, Shen Ningning could actually understand what they were saying!
They were saying that bandits had come to the village!
The little one quickly ran out of the residence and looked in the direction of Xiangyun Village.
Sure enough, in the vast darkness of the night, a bright glow of fire lit up the village.
With no time to wonder why she could suddenly understand the monkeys, she quickly vaulted onto the Black Wolf King’s back.
"Langlang, let’s go!" ’Time to catch some bandits!’
She left a portion of the wolf pack to guard the house and watch over the sleeping Grandma Qin.
The rest followed the Black Wolf King, charging fiercely down Wolf Mountain and straight toward Xiangyun Village.
Just as they reached the village entrance, she saw a man dressed as a bandit fleeing in a panic.
Wolf Three lunged forward, pinning the man to the ground with a single paw.
The rest of the pack streamed past the Black Wolf King like a flurry of dark shadows, rushing into the village.
Shen Ningning rode the Black Wolf King into the village and discovered that the firelight she had seen from the mountain was just a pile of torches dropped on the ground.
None of the village houses had been burned.
A group of soldiers disguised as villagers had just finished tying the bandits together.
Shen Ningning asked, "Did you get them all?"
A soldier immediately cupped his fist in salute. "Rest assured, Miss Shen. Not a single one got away."
Some of the bound bandits cried with regret, while others started cursing—
"Damn it, we were tricked!"
They thought this village had received a huge reward.
But when they launched their midnight raid, before they could even start looting, a group of tall, sturdy men had rushed out of one of the village houses!
They were dressed like villagers, but their fighting skills were clearly those of soldiers trained in the army!
Only then did they realize they had fallen into a trap, but it was too late.
