Chapter 78: Chapter 78: It Was You Who Ate Our Carrier Pigeon
The Emperor was greatly perplexed.
"Don’t you like her very much? You even sent people everywhere to find her."
"Does liking her mean I have to make her a female official?" Mo Lingwei retorted coldly.
The Emperor froze, unsure how to respond.
He had only made this suggestion because he wanted to make Mo Lingwei a little happier.
After all, while this son of his had committed every evil imaginable, ruthless and cruel, he had at least retained a shred of humanity when it came to Shen Ningning.
The Emperor had hoped to use Shen Ningning as an opening to mend his relationship with his son.
But Mo Lingwei reacted like a wolf whose tail had been stepped on, his eyes instantly turning fierce.
"Never mention this again, and don’t even think about trapping her in the palace," he said, his voice frigid.
The Emperor opened his mouth, about to say something.
As if guessing his thoughts, Mo Lingwei cut him off sharply. "And don’t send anyone to disturb her."
Only then did the Emperor close his mouth.
After a long moment, he heaved a heavy sigh. His shadow, elongated by the candlelight, made him look like a weary, defeated old wolf.
"Ling Wei, your father has no other intentions. I just want you to be happier."
"Don’t touch her. Let her live freely. Don’t disturb her, and I’ll be happy."
The Emperor was silent for a moment before nodding. "I understand."
After sitting for a short while longer in silence, the father and son had nothing more to say to each other, so the Emperor had no choice but to leave.
Not long after he left, Chen Shaobei arrived.
Mo Lingwei was practicing his calligraphy. His breathing was calm and steady, and his jade-like hand held the brush, but the characters he wrote seemed to echo with the clash of weapons, each stroke sharp and deadly.
Catching sight of Chen Shaobei in his peripheral vision, he shot him a sideways glance. "Visiting so late. Is there something you need?"
Chen Shaobei cupped his fist. "I heard the Emperor came to ask your opinion on bringing Miss Shen into the palace. Knowing Your Highness’s temperament, I was worried you two might come to blows, so I came to check. It’s good to see you’re alright, Your Highness."
Mo Lingwei scoffed, his gaze returning to the paper.
"He’s been Emperor for so long that everyone yields to him. My refusal certainly angered him, but it wouldn’t come to blows."
Chen Shaobei nodded and went along with it. "That’s true. No matter how outrageous Your Highness gets, you wouldn’t raise a hand against the Emperor."
Mo Lingwei shot him a cold glare. "It’s that he can’t beat me anymore."
Chen Shaobei choked.
The Emperor and the Crown Prince had indeed fought before.
On the day of the late Empress’s funeral procession.
The father and son had argued in the mourning hall, and the Crown Prince had been the first to throw a punch at the Emperor.
When the court officials tried to pull them apart, Mo Lingwei injured them all.
His eyes back then were like those of a wolf cub, covered in bloody scars.
Guarding the late Empress’s coffin, he looked ready to rip out the throat of anyone who approached.
The Emperor had furiously denounced him as unfilial, but only Chen Shaobei knew what Mo Lingwei had been through.
"Back then, the late Empress..." Chen Shaobei began in a heavy voice.
But Mo Lingwei didn’t want to continue this topic.
He cut him off directly, asking, "How has Shen Ningning been lately?"
Chen Shaobei snapped back to the present. "Magistrate Fu has been taking good care of her. He arranged for the students from the private school to go with Miss Shen to Jingshan Manor for some fun. They should be back in a couple of days."
The movement of Mo Lingwei’s brush became smoother.
He chuckled softly. "Jingshan is so hot. Can she handle it? Never mind. In two days, we’ll go to Jingshan and pick her up."
Chen Shaobei nodded, then said hesitantly, "However... I heard that Qin Fangmei is also studying at that private school now."
The slightly gentle smile on Mo Lingwei’s face immediately faded, replaced by a cold indifference.
He looked up. "Qin Fangmei?"
"Yes. She’s the younger daughter of Wang Guihong, the woman who burned to death. After Wang Guihong’s death, she was taken in by her uncle-in-law, Landlord Du."
So, it was also Landlord Du who had arranged for Qin Fangmei to attend the private school.
Mo Lingwei’s eyes narrowed ominously.
"The Qin Sheng I had you send people to watch, what is he doing now?"
"He had a hand bitten off by a wolf, so no one will hire him. He can only do manual labor now, and he’s not living well."
After Chen Shaobei finished speaking, Mo Lingwei put down his brush, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked to the window to gaze up at the bright moon.
"How interesting," he sneered.
Chen Shaobei was confused.
Mo Lingwei said darkly, "Landlord Du helped his sister-in-law’s child, yet lets his brother-in-law fend for himself."
Chen Shaobei nodded slightly. "It is strange. He seems to be taking exceptionally good care of Qin Fangmei."
After a moment of silence, Mo Lingwei told Chen Shaobei to continue having people watch Qin Sheng and Qin Fangmei.
He had a gut feeling.
The Qin Family’s targeting of Shen Ningning wasn’t as simple as mere child abuse anymore.
There was another secret behind it all.
...
「The next morning.」
The hope Mr. Huang had been waiting for did not materialize.
The two carrier pigeons did not return.
The Mountain Villa Steward sighed and told him, "They’re short of everything outside. Someone probably caught them and ate them."
This was not a good sign.
Mr. Huang didn’t announce it, afraid of scaring the students.
However, that day’s food rations were cut in half again.
This was especially true for water. Mr. Huang decreed that each person could only drink two cups of water every two-hour period.
This caused a great deal of protest and dissatisfaction among the students.
Lu Shaoyuan, however, secretly pulled Shen Ningning aside.
"You need to be frugal with your water too. When you get your two cups, don’t drink them all at once."
The little girl blinked her round, dark eyes. "Why?"
Lu Shaoyuan pressed his lips together and glanced around.
He lowered his voice. "I suspect the teachers haven’t found a way to call for help. We might be trapped here for much longer!"
"If it really comes to that, water will be the most important thing. You have to stop generously giving your things away to others. Keep what you have for yourself."
Shen Ningning’s rosy lips parted.
She wanted to tell Lu Shaoyuan that she had brought lots of fruit with her to reassure him.
Unexpectedly, Lu Shaoyuan squeezed her hand tightly.
He said, "Remember what I said!"
Just then, a classmate from behind called out to him, saying Mr. Huang was summoning all the boys.
Lu Shaoyuan left.
Shen Ningning returned to her room, and a short while later, Ren Yu came back as well.
Her face was full of delight.
"Ren Yu, what are you so happy about?"
"You don’t know yet, do you, Ningning? Just now, Mr. Huang took the male students up the nearby mountain to dig for wild vegetables! I’ve never had stewed wild vegetables before!"
Seeing how happy she was, Shen Ningning pursed her lips, her chubby pink cheeks puffing out.
Ren Yu found it novel, but the little girl knew the situation was grim.
’If the manor wasn’t running out of food, why would Mr. Huang take people up the mountain to find wild vegetables?’
「That night.」
Shen Ningning only drank half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge.
The rice grains in the porridge were pitifully few, there was little water, and it was cooked to a thick paste.
After finishing, she returned to her room and locked the door as usual.
She first took out a bowl of steamed egg custard from the Immortal Realm and ate it.
Then, she had a plate of cold-dressed tender beef strips, along with stir-fried bok choy and tofu.
After she finished eating, the little girl patted her belly in satisfaction.
The weather was scorching, so she also took out some iced sweet-and-sour plum juice. She drank it all down with a GULP GULP GULP, feeling refreshed in body and mind.
「Two days passed just like that.」
The manor was on the verge of running out of food and supplies.
Early one morning, before Shen Ningning was fully awake, she heard Ren Yu’s angry voice from downstairs.
"How could you secretly roast a pigeon to eat?"
"I caught it, and I wasn’t planning to eat it alone. I was just about to share it with everyone." It was Qin Fangmei’s voice.
In no time, this attracted the other classmates living nearby.
The Mountain Villa Steward happened to be passing by.
He caught the scent of roasting meat and suddenly froze.
He rushed over, his eyes wide.
The eight-foot-tall man suddenly burst into tears.
"You roasted the carrier pigeon?!"
