Chapter 70

Chapter 70: He's a Mad Dog

"You! What are you planning to do now!" Mo Changgong's fear of Mo Lingwei's shadow was almost etched into his bones.

Mo Lingwei is like a mad dog, capable of doing anything.

He fell to the ground, turning his head and yelling with all his might for the palace attendants: "Someone! Come here!"

Mo Lingwei approached him, his gaze cold and disdainful, lips curled in a sneering smile.

"Mo Changgong, you really are like a worm," Shen Ningning wasn't wrong.

Having said that, Mo Lingwei lifted his boot and stepped directly onto Mo Changgong's back.

Mo Changgong winced in pain, gritting his teeth: "Mo Lingwei, as the Crown Prince, you repeatedly flout palace rules and mercilessly kill your own brothers. If you dare harm me again, Father Emperor won’t let you off!"

"Really?" Mo Lingwei raised his eyebrows, his pleasant voice carrying a youthful edge: "Do you think I’d be afraid? He better not let me off. Even if I'm left with a single breath, I can climb back from hell to flay you and your mother alive. Believe it or not?"

Mo Changgong knew Mo Lingwei meant every word.

He is a demon!

"What exactly do you want from me? I sent assassins after you because you always threatened me. Now, you've reduced me to a cripple. What more do you want!" Mo Changgong said, his voice breaking into a sob.

Mo Lingwei chuckled: "Do you think that’s enough? Have you forgotten how my mother died?"

Mo Changgong's eyes widened in terror, his lips trembling: "It has nothing to do with us, she immolated herself!"

"Self-immolation?" Mo Lingwei's eyes, filled with malice, seemed on the verge of losing sanity.

He squatted down, his hand adorned with prayer beads, grabbing Mo Changgong's collar, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Despite this, Mo Lingwei's face still bore a proud and cold smirk.

"I know very well who locked her in the Chang Hall. Father Emperor may believe Concubine Li's lies, but he can't deceive me."

As he spoke, Mo Lingwei's long sword slowly descended towards Mo Changgong's right ear.

Terrified, Mo Changgong screamed, "What are you trying to do?!"

"I think your ear is getting in the way. It wouldn't hurt to cut it off, would it?"

"No... please, no!"

"If you don’t want to get hurt, listen carefully. Don’t trouble Shen Ningning again, or I’ll make sure your mother is left to collect your corpse. Understand?"

Mo Changgong, trembling with fear, nodded repeatedly: "I won't dare, I won't bother her again!"

Just then.

A sharp, panicked voice came from the palace gate: "Lingwei! What are you doing?!"

Mo Lingwei glanced sideways and saw the Emperor and Concubine Li approaching.

The Emperor, in shock and anger, commanded: "Let go!"

Mo Lingwei sneered and flung Mo Changgong aside with a swipe of his hand.

Concubine Li hurriedly ran to embrace her son: "Changgong, are you alright?!"

Mo Changgong's face was deathly pale, trembling non-stop, evidently terrified to the extreme.

The Emperor glared at Mo Lingwei: "What madness is this? How has Changgong provoked you now?"

Mo Lingwei walked past him, his voice cold: "Ask him yourself."

Then, without looking back, he left the palace.

The Emperor, infuriated, his chest heaving, had a dark look in his eyes.

His son was becoming more and more violent!

Concubine Li discovered, to her horror, that Mo Changgong had wet his pants in fear.

Her son, whom she had always cherished and held dear, had suffered such humiliation!

"Your Majesty!" Concubine Li cried out: "Lingwei has gone too far, Changgong is his own brother!"

The Emperor, with furrowed brows, said, "First, take Changgong inside and summon the imperial physician to see what's wrong."

Concubine Li felt as if struck by lightning.

Every time she brought up punishing the Crown Prince, the Emperor never directly addressed it.

Even when Mo Changgong's tendons were severed, Mo Lingwei was merely punished by kneeling for one night.

Concubine Li was utterly disappointed!

Losing her composure, she screamed shrilly: "Where are the palace servants? What are you all doing? Do you wish to be executed?"

At this moment, the palace servants who had been hiding nearby hurriedly came forward.

The sight of the Crown Prince wielding a sword had been too terrifying, his aura murderous; they truly didn't dare approach and court death!

After the imperial physician's examination, Mo Changgong had already passed out.

Overwrought with shock, the Emperor consoled him briefly and then left, citing pressing state affairs.

Concubine Li stayed by Mo Changgong's bedside.

"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me..." he suddenly shouted in his sleep, waking up in alarm.

Concubine Li quickly embraced him, tears streaming down: "Changgong, don’t be afraid, Mother is here, no one can hurt you."

Mo Changgong's eyes were vacant, staring ahead in terror.

"Mother, I dreamed of the late Empress; her skin was all burned off, she was choking me, saying we were responsible..."

He couldn’t finish his sentence before Concubine Li quickly covered his mouth.

"Changgong, it was just a nightmare. The late Empress’s death has nothing to do with us. She set the fire herself. It was Mo Lingwei who caused his own mother's death!"

"But... if Mo Lingwei can treat me like this over Shen Ningning, what if one day he discovers the truth? Will he really kill us?" Mo Changgong sobbed again.

Concubine Li held him tightly, gently patting his back.

"He won’t! As long as Mother is here, I won’t let him harm you."

Thinking of Shen Ningning, Concubine Li's eyes turned sinister: "I have my ways to deal with that Shen Ningning."

Mo Changgong panicked: "Mother, don’t provoke her anymore!"

Concubine Li soothed, "Don’t be afraid, Mother is just doing good deeds. What reason would Mo Lingwei have to bully us then?"

"Good deeds?"

"I’ve heard that Shen Ningning has been searching for her biological parents. She wants a father and mother, so let's give her one!"

Night fell.

Shen Ningning couldn't sleep.

After bathing, the young girl sat under the grape trellis in the courtyard, eating fruit and gazing at the stars.

That evening, before returning home from the village, she had removed the lock from her village house’s gate.

If her brother's plan was going smoothly, there should be someone inside by now.

She leaned back in her lounge chair, blinking her large eyes as she watched the stars twinkle.

Despite the oppressive weather during the drought, the Milky Way was bright, shining every night.

As she watched, Shen Ningning unintentionally fell asleep.

After an indeterminate time, she faintly heard the anxious chattering of monkeys.

Accompanied by the sensation of the Black Wolf King licking her arm.

The young girl rubbed her eyes awake: "How did I accidentally fall asleep..."

She looked up to see the monkeys on the eaves, jumping and pointing in the direction of the village, chattering incessantly.

Strangely, this time, Shen Ningning actually understood what they were saying!

They were saying that bandits had arrived in the village!

The young girl quickly ran out of the house, looking towards the direction of Xiangyun Village.

Indeed, in the vast night, the village was ablaze with fire.

She didn’t stop to wonder why she suddenly understood the monkeys' speech and quickly mounted the Black Wolf King.

"Wolfie, let's go!" To catch the bandits!

She left part of the wolf pack to guard the house and take care of the sleeping Granny Qin.

The rest followed the Black Wolf King, ferociously descending from Wolf Mountain, heading straight for Xiangyun Village.

Just reaching the entrance of the village, she saw a man dressed like a bandit fleeing in panic.

Wolf Three pounced forward, pinning the man down with a swipe of its paw.

The pack of wolves, like shadows, surged into the village behind the Black Wolf King.

Shen Ningning, riding the Black Wolf King into the village, discovered that the fire she had seen from the mountain was actually a pile of torches dropped on the ground.

None of the village houses were burned down.

Some soldiers, disguised as villagers, had just tied up the group of bandits.

Shen Ningning asked, "Have they all been captured?"

A soldier immediately bowed: "Miss Shen, rest assured, not a single one escaped."

The tied-up bandits, some were crying in regret, while others cursed —

"Damn it, we were tricked!"

They had thought they were about to gain a hefty reward from this village.

But in a surprise attack at midnight, before they could even start looting, many burly men suddenly charged out from a village house!

They looked like villagers, but their skills clearly revealed they were soldiers trained in the military!

They realized too late that they had fallen into a trap.