Chapter 50: Chapter 50: You Fool, You Killed the Wrong Person

The carriage rumbled away from the Imperial Palace.

Once she was gone, Mo Lingwei’s expression turned cold. He turned and headed for the Emperor’s palace.

Shen Ningning sat in the packed carriage, feeling overwhelmed as she looked at the dazzling array of gifts.

’He gave me way too many things!’

She reached out with her small hand and casually picked up a coral necklace.

The large, open chest was stuffed to the brim with all kinds of jewelry, pearls, and gems.

Besides these, there was also the calming medicine Mo Lingwei had the Imperial Physician prescribe for her—ten doses in total, arranged neatly in a corner.

Not only that, but twenty bolts of brocade in various patterns were stacked so high they touched the roof of the carriage.

Shen Ningning scratched her cheek with a small hand.

’If I’d known he was going to give me so many things, I would have thanked him properly just now.’

By the time the carriage reached the foot of Wolf Mountain, it was already dusk.

A sea of eerie, glowing wolf eyes shone from the darkness of the woods.

They had been waiting for a long time.

Usually, Shen Ningning would be home by dusk.

But this time, she still hadn’t returned even after the moon had risen.

When they finally saw Shen Ningning’s small figure jump down from the carriage,

the Black Wolf King let out a deep, drawn-out howl and led the pack charging over.

"Langlang!" Shen Ningning threw her arms around the Black Wolf King’s massive head. "I’m sorry for making you worry! I got held up by something today!"

Although the Crown Prince’s guards had long heard rumors about Wolf Mountain,

seeing so many wolves appear at once still made them furrow their brows in apprehension.

"Miss Shen, all these things in the carriage..." a guard asked.

He was asking if they should help her carry the items home.

But given Shen Ningning’s relationship with the pack, and recalling what the Crown Prince had said, they feared they would have to venture deep into the Wolf Cave just to deliver everything.

Fortunately, Shen Ningning looked at them and said with a beaming smile, "You can take them to the village! I have a house there where you can put everything!"

"Yes, miss." The guards immediately drove the carriage toward Xiangyun Village.

Shen Ningning led the way with her wolf pack.

The grand procession entering the village caused the villagers to stop and stare in amazement.

"Which wealthy merchant or noble is visiting our village now?"

"You’re mistaken. Cangyun Country has regulations: wealthy merchants and commoners may use a one-horse carriage, but only Princes, nobles, or key ministers can drive a two-horse one. The Emperor’s own carriage is drawn by four fine horses!"

"Why does that carriage look so familiar? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before."

As they craned their necks to get a better look, they saw a familiar figure.

The villagers immediately cried out, "Hey! Isn’t that Ningning!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The little girl waved her small hands, directing the Crown Prince’s guards to pull the carriage right up to the door of her village house.

Then, pile after pile of silks and treasures were carried down by the guards and taken into her home.

The wolves patrolled the courtyard while the guards stood watch at the entrance, long sabers in hand, waiting for everything to be moved.

Seeing this scene, the villagers didn’t dare to approach, keeping their distance.

Once everything was moved, a guard saluted. "We will take our leave now."

Shen Ningning said in a sweet voice, "Thank you for your hard work, big brothers!"

The carriage drove off and disappeared.

Only then did the villagers dare to come closer.

"Ningning, which noble have you befriended now? He gave you so many things!" Sister-in-law Liu asked curiously.

Shen Ningning thought for a moment. "My brother gave them to me."

"Brother?" The villagers exchanged glances. "We didn’t know you had a brother."

Could it be Aunt Qin’s eldest son, the one who’s serving in the army somewhere else?

To their surprise, Shen Ningning said, "Crown Prince Brother."

The villagers burst into a shocked uproar.

The little girl explained calmly, "He gave me these things to thank me for saving him."

As she spoke, she noted it was getting late and that she should hurry home so her grandmother wouldn’t worry.

Shen Ningning then locked the door to her village house and waved goodbye to the villagers.

「Later that night.」

The Guangyang County government office was shrouded in a grim cloud of tragedy.

All the government officers on duty that day were stripped of their positions and sentenced to death.

Even Lord Lan, the Chief Clerk who had given the order, was beheaded on the spot for slander, false accusation, and dereliction of duty.

His daughter, Lan Qian, was not spared either.

As Lan Qian was being dragged away, she kept screaming, "It was Qin Fangmei who tricked me!"

"She said Shen Ningning was a little orphan, so I believed her! If I had known she was one of the Crown Prince’s people, I never would have bullied her like that!"

However, the Crown Prince’s guards, who were carrying out the order, turned a deaf ear.

Following Mo Lingwei’s command, they ruthlessly sent the father and daughter to their deaths.

Meanwhile, Aunt Qin, who had been scared out of her mind, was temporarily imprisoned in the Guangyang County government office.

She was tied to an iron rack, barely breathing, her hands already chopped off.

Her mouth was stuffed with crushed eggshells, and her entire body was covered in wounds from being whipped.

The Crown Prince himself had ordered that she was not to be allowed to die a quick death.

After just a few rounds of torture, Aunt Qin could no longer bear it and passed out.

While the Crown Prince’s guards were escorting the Lans to the Capital City, Landlord Du took two attendants, bribed the sentries, and slipped into the government office unnoticed.

As if sensing something, Aunt Qin weakly opened her eyes and saw Landlord Du standing before her with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Brother-in-law..." Her voice, hoarse as a squawking duck, was choked with tears. "Shen Ningning is a demon, I tell you! She just vanished into thin air..."

’She’s spouting absolute nonsense!’ Landlord Du thought.

"You imbecile! I went to great lengths to bribe that Chief Clerk Lan to give you a chance to kill Shen Ningning, and you killed the wrong person!"

"Has being locked up made you stupid?! She was rescued by the Crown Prince! Now that he’s protecting her, we can forget about ever taking her life!"

Hearing this, some clarity seemed to return to Aunt Qin’s muddled eyes.

"The Crown Prince is protecting her? Impossible! She’s just a little orphan. How could she possibly know the Crown Prince?!"

"Brother-in-law, get me out of here! I still have a way!" She struggled, her expression turning ferocious as the iron chains clanked.

Landlord Du, however, looked at her with venomous eyes.

"Get you out? Gui Hong, that’s impossible in this lifetime."

Aunt Qin’s lips trembled. "What do you mean by that?"

Landlord Du’s tone was chilling. "Shen Ningning saw me embezzle the disaster relief grain. You know about this too."

"The Crown Prince already has his eyes on you. He gave orders not to execute you right away, but to torture you slowly to vent Shen Ningning’s anger."

"You’re already delirious. If you say something you shouldn’t during the torture, it’ll be bad for me. Therefore, I can only send you to your death!"

The moment he finished speaking, a guard who had been hiding behind Aunt Qin lunged forward and locked his arm tightly around her neck.

"COUGH..." She struggled violently. "Brother-in-law, you can’t do this to me! I bore you two children!"

There was no flicker of emotion in Landlord Du’s eyes. "Zheng’er is away, so you don’t have to worry about implicating him. I will also take good care of Fang Mei."

"For their sake, you must die today. Besides, even if I didn’t make things difficult for you, my superior wouldn’t allow you to live."

As he spoke, he stared at Aunt Qin’s face, which was gradually turning purple, and urged the guard to finish it quickly.

Aunt Qin kicked her feet frantically.

A choked cry for help escaped her throat. "Help... me..."

The guard squeezed with all his might.

Finally, Aunt Qin went still, her disbelieving eyes fixed in Landlord Du’s direction.

"Burn this place down. Make it look like an accidental fire," Landlord Du ordered.

The guard immediately took out a flint he had prepared earlier.

They waited to see the fire start before slipping away, just before the Crown Prince’s guards returned.

It was precisely because of this act

that when Mo Lingwei heard about it the next day, his suspicions were immediately aroused.

He rested his head on one hand, a secret letter pinched between his fingers.

"You’re saying the jail cell caught fire and that Wang Guihong burned to death?" Mo Lingwei asked coldly, looking at the guard kneeling before him.

The guard lowered his head. "Yes, Your Highness. By the time the sentries discovered the fire and extinguished it, the inside of the cell was already charred, and Wang Guihong had perished."

"We investigated the fire’s point of origin. It was a pile of dry straw in the corner."

A cold sneer surfaced in Mo Lingwei’s dark, fathomless eyes.

"There was a heavy rain just yesterday. What a coincidence that a fire would break out and kill her in her cell."

"I originally thought that this Wang Guihong was just a common scoundrel who bullied the weak and feared the strong. But now, it seems she had other secrets."

Someone wanted Wang Guihong silenced forever.

A frosty glint suddenly appeared in Mo Lingwei’s eyes.