Chapter Fifty: Multiple Anomalies
Ling Jin remembered that when the human traffickers caught him, they said that his face could fetch a good price. In the black market cages, buyers pried open his mouth to look at his teeth like they were choosing livestock, and discussed how many gold coins his emerald green eyes were worth.
Until Li Bao'er appeared.
That day, she was wearing a pale yellow shirt, holding a candied hawthorn in her hand, and squatted in front of the cage, looking at him curiously: "Your eyes are so beautiful, like jade."
She spent all her savings to buy him, and Li Yu even secretly slipped him a piece of osmanthus cake.
That was the sweetest thing he had ever eaten in his life.
And that line, "My older sister said you're part of our family now!"
Those were the most beautiful words he had ever heard in his life.
He still remembers the lights in Qingfeng Courtyard of the Li Mansion that night; they were brighter than the stars in the desert.
He originally thought that the children of wealthy families were just having a passing fancy, and that he would eventually be kicked out of the mansion because of his special status. But as spring turned to autumn, the three of them grew taller and taller, and the only thing that remained unchanged was...
The girl squatted under the tree and reached out to him, her pomegranate-colored skirt brushing against the moss. "Catch!" Li Yu threw a sour apricot from the tree, and the three of them burst into laughter.
So when Li Bao'er was infatuated with Mu Yuan, he was willing to be her weapon.
If killing Mu Cenlin would make her happy... he was willing to get rid of him sooner rather than later.
Last year, he lay in wait for three days, finally waiting for the opportunity for Mu Cenlin to go alone. He held his breath and drew the bowstring taut, but the moment he let go, he met a pair of eyes that suddenly looked back, sharp as a hawk, as if they had already seen through his existence.
The arrowhead was crushed, and the counterattack was more ferocious than expected. Before the sound of it cutting through the air even arrived, a sharp pain had already pierced through his left shoulder. He remembered hearing the crisp sound of his collarbone breaking when he fell from the tree.
Ling Jin gritted his teeth and rolled into the bushes under the cover of night. Behind him came Mu Cenlin's cold voice: "Little fish."
He dragged his broken body through the dense forest for half the night, his left arm already numb. Before dawn, he hid in an abandoned house and used a shard of silver bell left by his mother to carve out an arrowhead.
Seven days later, when he returned to the side courtyard of the Li residence in extreme weakness, Li Bao'er was embroidering a sachet for Mu Yuan.
"Where has A-Ling been lately?" Li Bao'er asked anxiously, looking at Ling Jin's weak appearance.
Ling Jin subtly dodged Li Bao'er's hand as she tried to help him up. "I went hunting in the dense forest with some people and saw a wolf." He looked at his left hand, which could no longer draw a bow. "It's a pity it got away."
Mu Cenlin's gaze just now clearly showed that he recognized him, but he didn't explain because... neither the gentle and hypocritical Mu Yuan nor the ruthless and dangerous Mu Cenlin were worthy of the bright moon in his eyes.
His god should forever hang high in the heavens, and he will be her most faithful believer, even though she is about to marry the Princess of Jing.
"Ling Jin!"
A sharp rebuke interrupted her thoughts. At the end of the corridor, Li Yan strode over, lifting her skirt, followed by Li Zhou with a gloomy expression.
Li Yan knew this man was the siblings' guard, and deliberately tried to find out some information from him, "I heard... His Highness Prince Jing graced our residence with his presence today?"
Ling Jin glanced at the smug Li Yan with disgust, inwardly contemptuous. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was going to become the Crown Princess. In reality, only Li Yan would cherish a concubine position obtained through despicable means.
Ling Jin did not intend to respond and turned to leave.
Li Yan, who was already immersed in the joy of her impending liberation, was even more furious when she saw that even a guard from Qingfeng Courtyard was so rude to her: "You stop right there!"
Ling Jin continued walking without looking back.
"I'm asking you a question!" Li Yan rushed up and grabbed him. "What brings Prince Jing here today?"
He shook off her hand: "Second Miss, why don't you just ask the Prince directly?"
"You!" Li Yan trembled with rage. "A lowly Western Region bastard, does he really think he's a master?"
Ling Jin paused in his steps.
"What? Did I hit a sore spot?" Li Yan sneered. "You're just a dog that Li Bao'er keeps!"
He turned around, a ruthless glint in his emerald eyes: "At least I don't have to rely on mystique to gain recognition."
Li Yan's face turned deathly pale instantly. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Li Zhou grabbed her wrist.
"Enough!" Li Zhou snapped in a low voice, "Have you made enough of a scene? Father is still waiting for us."
These words ignited anger in Li Yan's eyes. On the way back from Longhua Temple, the two remained silent due to their father's urgent summons.
These words only diverted Li Yan's attention; she now loathed her brother to the extreme, and his words disgusted her even more: "Mind your own business."
Ling Jin left without looking back, followed by Li Yan's hysterical scream: "You're just a lowly guard, how dare you show me such attitude! Once I become the Crown Princess, I'll make you pay!"
*
Kneel down!
As soon as the study door closed, Li Xiangyuan smashed the teacup at Li Yan's feet, the scalding tea splashing onto the skirt she had carefully chosen that day, leaving several unsightly stains.
Li Yan trembled and subconsciously looked at Li Zhou beside her, only to see that he had already stood with his head down, looking as if it was none of his business, and had no intention of helping her at all.
"Father, isn't it a good thing that I've become the Crown Prince's concubine?" she forced to speak, but her voice was weak and shaky, and her fingertips unconsciously tightened around the hem of her skirt.
Li Xiangyuan sneered and slammed his hand heavily on the table. "Fool! You only care about the title. Do you have the life to withstand the Empress's wrath?!"
The spilled tea soaked through Li Yan's skirt, and the chill crept up her knees, making her shiver involuntarily.
Her Majesty the Empress...isn't she a very gentle person? Otherwise, how could she allow Consort Zhang to act so arrogantly towards her?
Anger surged in Li Xiangyuan's eyes. He suddenly looked at Li Zhou, who was silent to the side, and questioned, "Do you know about this?"
Li Zhou's Adam's apple bobbed, and he was about to speak when he felt Li Yan's intense gaze. In the end, he spoke: "I don't know anything about it."
A soft chuckle rang out, and Li Yan smiled with relief, a self-deprecating glint in her eyes. What was she expecting? She had already anticipated this outcome.
"Since you want to know, then I'll tell you. Fang Xu and I met at Longhua Temple. He saw through my ambition, and I paid the price to get the result I wanted." Li Yan smiled as she stood up, walked straight to the armchair and sat down, even slowly rubbing her aching knees.
"As for the birthmark, it was painstakingly pierced with paint, one needle at a time," she suddenly said, pulling open her collar to reveal the peony mark on the back of her neck.
Li Xiangyuan suddenly stood up, staring intently at the glaring red mark on the back of Li Yan's neck, his voice extremely low: "Forging a birthmark is a crime of deceiving the emperor!"
Li Yan smiled.
She slowly adjusted her collar, looking at Li Xiangyuan with a seductive smile: "Will Father expose his daughter?"
"If you dare say this birthmark is fake, the entire Li family will be buried with me."
The cinnabar piercing was more than just a birthmark; it was a knife held to the neck of the Li family.
The Eastern Palace.
Crown Prince Mu Chen's hand, holding the brush, hovered over the Xuan paper, ink dripping down and staining the line "The moon hides behind heavy clouds."
"Your Highness." The personal eunuch knelt below the steps, holding a gilded letter box. "It's an urgent message from Her Majesty the Empress."
Mu Chen put down his pen, looked up at the crescent moon shrouded in thin clouds in the darkness, and suddenly chuckled softly, "Hmm, somewhat gloomy."
He casually reclined in the rocking chair, his fingertips brushing against the white jade wine pot on the table. He took a sip and said softly, "Open it and read it to this prince."
Upon hearing this, the eunuch bowed low in fear, his forehead pressed against the cool jade brick. "Your Highness, Her Majesty specifically instructed that you must open it yourself."
With a sharp crack, the wine pot slammed heavily onto the table, followed by a soft, displeased sigh.
Mu Chen rested his chin on his hand, the moonlight illuminating half of his face, making it appear deathly pale: "What? Has the Crown Prince changed his surname to Wang?"
"If my words have no effect, then you may go to the palace to serve the Empress."
Xiao Dezi trembled, his hands shaking as he opened the gilded letter box. If he were driven out of the Eastern Palace, he knew he wouldn't live past tomorrow! His voice trembled as he said, "The Longhua Temple divined today that Li Yan, the illegitimate daughter of Prime Minister Li, is a woman of destiny. The Imperial Preceptor has already requested an imperial decree to bestow her upon the Eastern Palace's concubine. This girl's mother, Zhang, comes from a brothel. I will not allow such a lowly servant to defile the Eastern Palace. My son, you should make plans as soon as possible."
The courtyard fell silent, save for the sound of the night wind rustling through the robes.
Sweat began to trickle down the eunuch's forehead. He dared not raise his head or get up until His Highness the Crown Prince spoke.
"Get up and burn the letter."
The letter burned to ashes in the candlelight.
"A woman of destiny?" Mu Chen chuckled, watching the last spark disappear. "Why is Fang Xu so annoying? Hmm? Little Dezi, tell me."
"This servant...this servant does not know," Xiao Dezi dared not breathe, standing cautiously to the side.
Upon hearing this, a dark glint flashed in Mu Chen's eyes, followed by a deep voice: "What use are you now? Get out!"
The last word was as soft as a sigh, but Xiao Dezi felt as if he had been granted a pardon. As he crawled backwards across the threshold, he heard the sound of porcelain shattering coming from the inner room.
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