The Traitor Crown Princess (Transmigration) - Chapter 12

Shen Yi stood up with a fake smile, forcibly dragged Mo Li up, and tossed him aside, half a meter away from Chu Yun. He then sat down next to Chu Yun. “You don’t need to be so close to us; you just need to answer a few of our questions.”

Mo Li’s eyes flickered slightly, but he said calmly, “Naturally. I wonder what you would like to ask?”

Shen Yi: “I heard you are the owner of the Jiangnan mines. I wonder if that is true or false?”

“It is true. I am just trying to earn a living.” Mo Li lowered his eyes and asked meekly, “I also have a question for you: were you sent by the yamen (magistrate’s office), or are you here of your own volition?”

Shen Yi was about to say yes, but he suddenly realized that if he claimed to be sent by the yamen, the questioning might be more effective. “Naturally, the yamen sent us.”

Mo Li’s expression darkened with suppressed anger, and he silently clenched his hands. Shen Yi did not notice the emotion in Mo Li’s eyes and continued to ask: “Then, were you also the one who directed the forging of the weapons?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Mo Li stood up abruptly. “I want to ask you, what is Hao Tian thinking! Why are you asking me? It was clearly he who betrayed me first, and he should bear the consequences for everything I have done!”

Shen Yi was confused: “What on earth?”

Mo Li: “Sir, playing dumb is not fun. Since you want to play this way, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

He clapped his hands a few times, and soon several burly men burst into the room, each nine feet tall and looking menacing.

Mo Li stood proudly in front, with his back to the two of them, and said lightly: “Leave them alive.”

Hearing the order, the burly men rushed toward the two.

Shen Yi tried to use his internal energy, only to find it had been sealed; it turned out the tea was poisoned.

Fortunately, Chu Yun had not drunk the tea. He gripped one of the burly men’s arms with one hand and tossed him away, knocking down two thugs behind him.

Seeing the situation turn sour, Mo Li turned to flee.

Chu Yun was about to chase him, but two burly men appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Shen Yi from both sides. Shen Yi shrieked in panic: “Hiss—get your trotters off me!”

Chu Yun kicked a stool into the air and threw it. Shen Yi hurriedly ducked, and the two men beside him were hit directly in the face by the stool. They instantly sprayed bright red nosebleeds, released their hold on Shen Yi, and collapsed to the floor with a “clank,” clutching their faces and screaming.

Seeing that the situation was decided, Mo Li closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

Just as his hand was about to touch the door, it was kicked open from the outside. A large number of red-clad bailiffs flooded in, surrounding everyone. Hao Tian walked in from the entrance. His indifferent gaze swept across the room, commanding authority without even speaking.

When he saw Mo Li, his gaze stopped, and he hesitated: “Why are you here?”

Mo Li looked at him coldly, his eyes filled with disgust: “Magistrate Hao, what a clever ploy to ‘lure the tiger out of the mountain.’ I admit defeat.”

Hao Tian was full of confusion. When he saw Shen Yi and Chu Yun, he guessed the situation. “We will discuss this at the yamen. Take them back first.”

The bailiffs acted quickly, taking everyone lying on the ground away, except for Mo Li.

Hao Tian stepped forward and whispered, “Come back with me. I will ask a few questions and then let you go.”

Mo Li kept a cold face: “Do whatever you want, kill or cut.”

Hao Tian sighed and glanced at the guards beside him: “Take care of Master Mo. If he loses a single hair, I will hold you accountable.”

“Yes,” the guard cupped his hands. “Master Mo, please.”

Mo Li pursed his lips and walked out of the room first.

Hao Tian walked up to Chu Yun and Shen Yi, cupping his hands in salute: “I am late, please do not blame me, Your Highness.”

Chu Yun: “It is fine.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness.” Hao Tian stood up, shifting his gaze guiltily: “Your Highness and Master Su, please return to the yamen first. Once I have interrogated them clearly, I will show you the testimony.”

Chu Yun said nothing, and the three boarded the carriage to leave Nanfeng Pavilion.

The dusk was heavy, and the lanterns were being lit.

Two hours had passed, and the bailiffs still hadn’t been able to extract any information.

Shen Yi felt this matter was full of suspicious points and it was inconvenient to ask during the interrogation, so he waited until late at night, knocked out the guards, and entered the dungeon to look for people.

Strangely, he searched for a long time but could not find Mo Li.

A cold wind blew at night, and a crisp, lingering sound of a qin broke the silence of the night.

Just as a servant was finishing his food delivery and walking into the corridor, a small stone suddenly dropped in front of him. The servant looked around curiously and saw Shen Yi waving at him from behind a rockery.

The servant was curious, but he obediently walked over with the tray; after all, even Magistrate Hao respected this person, and as a small servant, he did not dare disobey orders.

“Master, you were looking for me?”

Shen Yi tossed the small stone high and caught it steadily. He asked, “What is the relationship between Magistrate Hao and the person in that room?”

The servant was suddenly terrified: “I don’t know, Master Su, please ask someone else.”

Shen Yi threw the stone to the ground, brushed the dust off his palms, reached into his pocket, and stuffed five taels of silver into the servant’s hand.

“A small token of appreciation. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you told me.”

The servant stared at the silver in his palm and began to hesitate.

Seeing his hesitation, Shen Yi stuffed another five taels of silver into his hand: “Can you speak now?”

The servant smiled, stuffed the silver into his pocket, and nodded repeatedly: “I can, I can. I’ll tell you now.”

“This Mo Li was an orphan. Magistrate Hao adopted him and named him Mo Li.

Magistrate Hao taught him to read and write. Seeing that he liked the qin, he spent a fortune to hire a teacher for him. Their relationship was very good, surpassing that of a normal father and son, and was very close to that of lovers.

Later, I don’t know who spread the word. After Magistrate Hao’s family found out, they forced him to break it off with Mo Li, otherwise, they would force him to resign.

Magistrate Hao had no choice but to comply. Because the security in Jiangnan was poor at that time, if he resigned, one, the new official would not be familiar with the procedures and could easily make wrong judgments; two, he did not want to delay Mo Li’s future. After all, they were 10 years apart, and he wanted Mo Li to have a better future. Splitting up was the best way, so he insisted on sending Mo Li to be raised by a distant relative.”

Shen Yi could guess about ninety percent of the rest.

At that time, Mo Li had already fallen in love with Hao Tian. Hearing that Hao Tian wanted to send him away, he thought Hao Tian looked down on him and that he was affecting his career, so he became discouraged, turned to Nanfeng Pavilion halfway, bought the Jiangnan mine, and used the excuse of mining to blow up the upstream water source. This triggered the flood, causing countless deaths and injuries to the residents downstream. Feeling that it was not enough, he secretly forged weapons, preparing to rebel.

But if you think about it carefully, Mo Li alone could not have bought such a large mine, nor could he have quietly gathered so many people to build weapons. Someone must have directed him to do so.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi walked in the direction the servant had just come from, pushed open the door, and saw Mo Li playing the qin. He was still wearing the clothes from the day, but his face was even paler.

Seeing Shen Yi enter, he took his hand off the qin: “I have already said it, I don’t want to talk. It is futile no matter how much you say.”

Shen Yi: “Sending you away was not his original intention.”

Mo Li sneered: “Do you know him better than I do?”

Shen Yi: “Otherwise? I am an outsider, so I naturally see clearly.”

“Your handling of emotions is even more clumsy than mine, yet you say you see clearly?” Mo Li stood up and walked slowly toward Shen Yi. “You like that silver-haired young man, don’t you?”

Shen Yi’s heart skipped a beat: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

He did have an unfamiliar emotion toward Chu Yun, but he felt it was more like brotherly love.

Mo Li: “That possessiveness of yours—everyone can see you like him, except for him and you. Do you think he will like you? Will he like a homosexual?

The royal family is so obsessed with reputation; how could he choose you? It is truly wishful thinking!”

Shen Yi pondered in secret and tossed the topic back to Mo Li: “If Hao Tian is willing to be in a relationship with you, why don’t you try?”

Mo Li’s voice rose: “This matter isn’t something I can just ‘try’ whenever I want~”

The door was opened from the outside, and Hao Tian walked in: “A-Li.”

Mo Li was unsettled: “What are you here for?”

Hao Tian hesitated: “Actually, I liked you back then, too. It was just that the age gap between us was too large, and with your learning, you had the potential to pass the imperial examinations. I didn’t want to delay you, so I let you live with someone else, hoping to end that thought.”

Mo Li felt a sourness in his nose, and his eyes filled with tears: “Then why didn’t you explain it clearly to me back then? You made me suffer for nothing.”

Hao Tian: “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to go this far. It is my fault.”

Mo Li looked at him with red eyes: “It’s not your fault; everything I did was because someone else told me to.”

Hao Tian and Shen Yi said in unison: “Who?”

“It is”

Before Mo Li could finish speaking, a long arrow shot in and pierced directly into Mo Li’s chest.

He vomited blood instantly, and Hao Tian hurriedly held him, shouting: “Mo Li!”

Shen Yi rushed out of the door, jumped onto the roof in a few leaps, and sure enough, saw a man in black running away. He leaped onto the roof to pursue him, blocked the man’s way, pulled out the jade fan at his waist, flicked out the small knife hidden inside, and slashed at the man in black.

He directly tore off the black cloth on the man’s arm, revealing a green snake tattoo on his arm.

The man covered his arm in terror and scrambled away on another path.

Shen Yi wanted to chase him, but he heard Hao Tian’s hoarse voice: “Someone come! Call a doctor quickly!”

It was already near midnight, and Hao Tian had no servants with him, and the servants were all resting; who would hear his voice?

When Shen Yi was hesitating, the man in black had already left. He had no choice but to go and call a doctor, letting the man in black go.

When the doctor arrived, Mo Li was lying in Hao Tian’s arms, his face deathly pale and his breathing weak.

After the doctor checked his pulse, he shook his head: “Sigh, if the young master has any last wishes, please speak them. Let your family try their best to fulfill them for you.”

Hao Tian held Mo Li tightly, cursing: “What a quack! If you don’t know how to treat him, get out! Don’t talk nonsense here!”

Mo Li tried to open his mouth to speak, but found he had no strength, so he used all his strength to stuff the handkerchief in his pocket into Hao Tian’s hand. After doing this, he felt relieved and slowly closed his eyes.

At this moment, Chu Yun and Leng Feng arrived. Chu Yun handed a bottle of pills to Hao Tian and raised his chin, signaling him to help Mo Li take them.

“This medicine can temporarily save his life. I have already asked Leng Feng to send word to the palace to have the best imperial physicians sent over to treat him. Do not worry.”

Hao Tian hurriedly opened the lid, poured out two pills, and helped Mo Li take them. After a while, his breathing gradually stabilized, and his expression relaxed a lot.

Hao Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank you for your help, Your Highness.”

“It is nothing,” Chu Yun asked again. “How is the interrogation of those people going?”

Leng Feng: “They said they also do not know who ordered them to do it.”

Chu Yun pondered: “Forget it, then let Magistrate Hao handle it.”

Hao Tian took off his black official hat and said: “For Jiangnan to become like this, it was all due to my momentary negligence. I cannot bear the title of Magistrate. Tomorrow morning, I will submit my resignation.”

Shen Yi was surprised: “Are you sure?”

The book said that Magistrate Hao loved the people as his own children; moreover, he had been in this position for three years how could he bear to leave?

Hao Tian nodded earnestly: “I just want to accompany Mo Li and help him recover from his injuries.”

In this case, Chu Yun could not say anything: “Leng Feng, you stay for a few days to clarify the events of these past few days and hand over matters to the new magistrate.”

Leng Feng: “Yes.”

The next morning, Shen Yi and Chu Yun went to Hao Tian’s home to bid farewell. Before leaving, Shen Yi saw the handkerchief Mo Li had given Hao Tian, on which a poem was written.

Hao Tian covers the boundless sky, reflecting Mo Li, Deep affection and shallow fate, sighing at the moment of parting. Even with a thousand words, it is hard to express everything, Only hoping for a reunion when the moon is full on the branches.

It brought quite a shock to Shen Yi. He subconsciously glanced at Chu Yun.

The weather had cleared, and the sunlight spilled down through the dark clouds, shrouding the figure at the entrance. His clothes and silver hair swayed with the wind; his stature was like a pine tree, full of security.

Shen Yi walked to his side: “We can go now.”

Chu Yun’s expression was extremely calm. He snapped his fingers, and the black horse behind him walked over, affectionately rubbing its nose against Chu Yun’s hand.

The two mounted their horses, and after riding down from the slope, a group of villagers blocked their way down the mountain. As soon as they saw the two descending, they knelt in a dense mass.

“What is the meaning of this?” Shen Yi was puzzled.