Chapter 110 Finding the Puppet, Turning the Tide Against Him!

Xiao Qidi suddenly fell silent, a look of unspeakable pain rising in his eyes.

This expression was fleeting, but Ning Jinli keenly noticed it.

She released her grip and gently touched Xiao Qi's ear. "Did I pinch you too hard?"

“It doesn’t hurt,” Xiao Qidi said softly. “The reason I understand is because when I was a child, my mother often brought various men home. Our living quarters were very simple, with only one room, so…”

At this point, Xiao Qidi's lips trembled, and he clenched his teeth.

Those memories were too painful to recall, and he simply couldn't continue talking about them.

Ning Jinli's heart skipped a beat. "I understand what happened... I'm sorry for making you feel bad."

"Xiao Ning? Can you still hear me?" Old Zheng's voice came through the phone.

Ning Jinli removed the microphone she had been covering. "Yes, Grandpa Zheng, please continue."

At this moment, Xiao Qidi spoke up, "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, sure, go ahead," Old Zheng readily agreed.

Xiao Qidi asked, "Why does the Prime Minister keep the real son of Xiao Qidi alive? Why...why not just kill him? Isn't he afraid of leaving future troubles?"

"It's a long story, let me explain in detail," Old Zheng analyzed. "According to our research, Situ Wei himself had no ambition for the throne, or even if he did have ambition, he wouldn't dare to bear the name of usurper."

"Throughout his life, he only aimed to gain supreme power by controlling the monarch. From the beginning, he helped Xiao Qidi's father escape back to Da Xuan to assist him in ascending the throne. After his death, he immediately tried every means to bring Xiao Qidi back to Xuan to succeed as monarch and continue to assist him. All these actions can prove this."

"So, under such circumstances, what he needed from beginning to end was a monarch that he could control."

"Later, during the process of nurturing Xiao Qidi, he must have sensed that Xiao Qidi would gradually slip out of his control."

"So he found someone who looked and looked almost exactly like Xiao Qidi early on, just in case."

"Or perhaps they came across this person by chance, and thus developed the idea of ​​just in case."

"Later, Xiao Qidi was defeated and captured. He was tortured by the enemy and turned into a human stick. This gave Situ Wei a great opportunity to replace him with a puppet."

"Perhaps he felt that a puppet is ultimately just a puppet; if it lacks ability, a rat's offspring will still be a rat, and it can't possibly give birth to a dragon."

“By keeping Xiao Qidi’s biological son, he can obtain a next-generation monarch who has inherited the legitimate bloodline and excellent genes and can be taught and fully controlled by him from birth. This is far more useful than a puppet.”

"Besides that, perhaps he had some feelings for Xiao Qidi and couldn't bear the thought of him having no descendants..."

"Considering all factors, Situ Wei ultimately chose to keep Xiao Qidi's child."

"Of course, only Situ Wei himself knows what his true thoughts are."

After listening to Professor Zheng's well-reasoned and detailed explanation, Xiao Qidi fell silent.

Ning Jinli knew very well that, no matter what, Xiao Qidi would have to deal with Situ Wei next.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Thank you for your answer, Grandpa Zheng. I have another question. Is there any more information about that puppet in the new data you discovered?"

“Yes,” Old Zheng replied. “Although there is no record of the puppet’s origin, the information mentions that before he officially replaced Xiao Qidi, he was secretly arranged by Situ Wei to live in a certain place. I have sent people to find the site and excavate it. The artifacts unearthed can also be matched.”

Afterwards, Ning Jinli obtained the specific address of the puppet's residence more than two thousand years ago from Old Zheng.

Hsiao Chi-ti stated that he knew the place.

That place isn't far from the capital of Xuan Kingdom.

This phone call brought them extremely important information.

Without further ado, putting aside their sightseeing trip for now, the two immediately began to devise a plan to deal with Situ Wei.

Situ Wei was, after all, the prime minister, who once held absolute power. Even though some of his power had been taken away by the Empress Dowager and the Marquis of Le'an, and had now fallen into Xiao Qidi's hands, he was still not to be underestimated.

Most importantly, we must take back the power that Situ Wei controls.

Ning Jinli had a flash of inspiration and said, "I have an idea."

Xiao Qidi said, "I also have a solution."

"Don't say anything yet," Ning Jinli said, picking up her phone and starting to type. "You type it out on your phone too, and we'll look at it together."

"good."

The two of them typed the message together on their own phones.

Then they all light up at the same time.

Both phone screens displayed the four characters: "Use the enemy's plan against them."

It just so happens that Ning Jinli opened a time-space portal in Shuncheng, and Shuncheng is not far from where the puppet is hiding; it can be reached in a day on horseback.

So Xiao Qidi returned to Shuncheng and set off immediately with Li Yao.

The two rode at full speed and arrived at their destination in the evening.

In this ordinary little town, there is a mansion that looks unremarkable on the outside but is as luxurious as a palace inside.

As soon as night fell, the houses in the mansion were brightly lit.

In the magnificent hall, a man who looked almost exactly like Xiao Qidi from head to toe was reclining on a golden bed, surrounded by women on both sides, enjoying the performance of singers and dancers.

There was a long table in front of the bed, filled with delicacies from land and sea, fine wines and dishes.

"Great! Well done!" the man clapped and laughed. "But your dress is a bit of an eyesore, take it all off!"

The dozen or so dancers were already only wearing semi-transparent gauze; if they took off any more, they would have nothing left.

But they dared not disobey, and accompanied by the music of zithers and the humming of songstresses, they shed their long, thin dresses as they danced.

The man grew increasingly excited as he watched, and then grabbed several alluring women from the bed and began to have sex with them on the spot.

As he was having fun, he noticed a maid and a servant next to him blushing with embarrassment and not daring to look at them.

"You two, are you new here?" the man asked, shifting his body slightly.

The maid and servant hurriedly knelt down, "Reporting to our master, we... arrived just yesterday."

"Look up," the man commanded.

The two of them, suppressing their embarrassment, slowly raised their heads.

"You two are both very thin, but you have delicate features and look quite alike. Are you from the same family?" The man asked with interest.

The servant replied, “Master, she is my younger sister. My family is too poor… My parents died a few days ago and we had no money for their burial, so… so I came here, signed a contract of servitude, and am now serving you…”

How old are you two?

“Reporting to Master, I am thirteen, and my sister is twelve.”

The man narrowed his eyes, a wicked smile playing on his lips. He paused his revelry with the woman beside him, then casually picked up a juicy roast suckling pig from the table. "Want some?"

The brother and sister couldn't help but swallow, their eyes full of anticipation, and they nodded timidly.

The man took a big bite of the roast suckling pig, his mouth dripping with oil, and then threw the pig on the ground.

The servant immediately crawled over on all fours, saying, "Thank you for the reward, Master!"

He picked up the roast suckling pig, turned around and handed it to his sister, saying, "Here you go, quickly thank your master!"

The maid quickly kowtowed in gratitude and then excitedly accepted the roast suckling pig.

This was the first time the brother and sister had ever eaten meat in their lives, and they were so happy that tears streamed down their faces.

Just as the two were about to share the food, the man suddenly frowned and scolded, "You worthless bastards! Did I say it was a reward for you?"

The maid was so frightened that she stood frozen in place, holding the roast suckling pig, at a loss for what to do.

The servant was the first to regain his senses, and tremblingly kowtowed, "Master, spare me... I was wrong... Master, punish me if you must..."

"Hahaha! This is fun, very interesting!" The man suddenly clapped his hands and laughed again.

The servant and maid, a brother and sister, didn't dare to utter a sound.

Before they arrived, they had heard that the owner of the house was very difficult to please.

He often had servants executed or tortured to death, so he had to buy new servants every now and then.

However, they are quite generous with their money.

The brother and sister signed a contract of servitude together, and the money they received was enough to buy a good coffin for their parents and a decent plot of land for a proper burial.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have risked their lives to sell themselves into slavery here.

I thought that as long as I acted carefully, I shouldn't upset my master.

Unexpectedly, this master's temperament was completely unpredictable.

"Tell me, do you two want to eat or not?" the man asked with a smile. "Don't be afraid, answer me honestly."

"I...want to eat..." the maid said in a low voice.

The servant dared not lie and answered the same way, saying he wanted to eat.

"Good boy, very good." The man nodded with an appreciative look on his face.

Before the brother and sister could breathe a sigh of relief, the man grinned maliciously, "But my things aren't something you can just eat casually. You two take off your clothes and give me a performance first."

"Perform...?" the servant asked in a panic. "Master, my sister and I come from poor families. We don't even know how to read... let alone sing or dance."

The man grinned, "Who told you two to sing and dance? I want you to show me!"

"What...what should I do?" the servant still didn't understand.

The man pulled the glamorous woman next to him, and she obediently spread her legs, biting her lip to endure the pain, letting him ravage her.

“It’s about…doing…this kind of…fun thing,” the man said breathlessly with a wicked grin.

The servant's face turned deathly pale instantly, and the maid beside him froze.

"Master!" the servant pleaded on his knees, "She and I are...we are siblings...please have mercy!"

"Make it for me right now!" the man roared, baring his teeth.

However, the servant refused to agree to such an immoral and heinous act, and knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

The man said ominously, "You really won't do it?!"

The servant shook his head, crying, "Master... you can take my life if you want, please, spare my sister!"

"This is so boring! What a disappointment!" the man roared in anger. "Guards!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly men ran over.

The man pointed at the brother and sister who were paralyzed with fear, "Drag these two ignorant brats out. You can have the girl as a treat, but you have to play with her in front of her brother. After you've played her to death, kill this little brat. Finally, chop them both up and feed them to the dogs."

Before the servant and maid could beg for mercy, several burly men dragged the two out the door.

Inside the hall, the lights were bright and the atmosphere was lively with singing and dancing, while outside in the courtyard, it was dark and eerie.

The bluestone pavement in the courtyard was stained with blood over the years, and the air was filled with a lingering smell of blood.

Even the burly men guarding the house didn't know how many servants had died here.

"Brothers...please spare my sister, just kill me! I...I'll kowtow to you!" The servant's face was already covered in blood from kowtowing, and he kowtowed again to the burly men.

The maid was terrified, but she still desperately shielded the servant behind her, kowtowing repeatedly and pleading, "Please, gentlemen, spare my brother... I... I'm willing to accept any punishment..."

The brother and sister were willing to die themselves, each wanting the other to live.

Such a scene did not evoke the slightest pity in these burly men.

"Stop howling!" The burly man at the head kicked the servant to the ground. "Once you're in here, your life and death are not in the hands of fate, but only of our master! Whatever our master does to you, you have to endure it! There have been plenty of servants here who were worse off than you two before!"

After kicking the servant over, he skillfully pulled the maid in front of him and tore off her clothes.

Several other burly men gathered around, eager to try their skills.

The servant's eyes were bloodshot, and he got up, wanting to fight them to the death.

Unfortunately, he was too weak to even kill a chicken, and was easily slapped by the strong man, causing him to vomit blood and fall to the ground.

The servant let out a desperate and furious roar.

The little maid screamed in agony.

The burly men laughed louder and louder than the last.

Just as the burly man in the lead was about to do something beastly.

Whoosh!

A slight whooshing sound suddenly rang out.

The burly man trembled and froze on the spot.

"Boss, what's wrong?"

The others nearby laughed and joked.

"Could it be that they're planning to send their underlings first this time?"

"Boss, you're too kind, hahaha!"

The burly man at the head of the group stared wide-eyed as he laboriously raised his hand to touch the back of his head.

However, he collapsed to the ground halfway up his hand.

The others were stunned for a moment, and only when they got closer did they realize that there was a short arrow stuck in the back of his head that none of them had ever seen before.

The arrows had all penetrated into his skull.

He twitched a few times on the ground and then stopped breathing completely.

The other burly men were shocked and hurriedly looked around.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Then came a few more soft sounds.

Before the three burly men could even see what was happening, they too were struck in the head by arrows and fell into pools of blood.

"An assassin?!"

"Guards! Seize the assassin!"

The remaining two burly men ran while shouting.

But before they could even finish shouting, a towering figure, three heads taller than them, leaped out of the darkness and blocked their way in the blink of an eye.

The two stood there stunned, quickly shutting up and rubbing their eyes vigorously.

Although the lanterns in the courtyard were dimly lit, one could immediately tell that the person had an unusual build and physique.

Even without seeing their faces clearly, it's obvious that no one here, except for their master, is as tall as them.

"Master...Master?"

How did you come out from over the wall?

The two men, their faces filled with awe, cautiously asked in hushed tones, then turned their heads in confusion to look at the distant hall entrance.

At that moment, a pair of strong hands grabbed their necks.

"Master...Master!"

"Master, what is this...?"

The two turned their heads in alarm.

But before he could finish speaking, his neck was snapped in an instant...