“If we don’t leave, we’re all doomed. This isn’t our territory.” Mu Run sighed. “Besides, I might not be in any danger either. If you want to eat Sister Cai’s braised pork, you guys wait for me to come back at home.”
Granny Song urged Mu Run, "Let's go."
At the urging of Madam Cai, Hongmi, and Shi An, Mu Run followed Granny Song out of the Fu residence and boarded a large blue carriage.
After the carriage left, Cai and the others remained bound until the laborers who were waiting at the teahouse to collect their wages from the red rice vendors came to ask for their money, at which point they discovered that they were tied up.
After escaping, Cai immediately went into the outhouse that Mu Run had visited...
There was a broken tile on the ground. She picked it up; it had some brand-new scratches on it.
Take a broken tile and draw the exact same scratches on it onto a piece of paper.
On the reverse side, there is a line of text: "There are spies in the counterfeit operation, run!"
The bandit group had spies, which means their identities were exposed, and so was their leader!
"Shi An, hurry back to the inn and tell Master Jin this news. Ask him to try to contact Boss Shang." Hong Mi said to Shi An.
Shi An immediately turned and left.
Madam Cai's expression was grave. "What should we do, Madam?"
Hongmi clenched his fists and slammed them hard on the table. "If anything happens to Madam, I will risk my life to make sure the Prime Minister's mansion suffers."
...
Mu Run sat in the carriage as Song Mama wiped away her disguise, revealing her true face.
"I shouldn't be saying this to you, but I just find you pleasing to the eye." Granny Song looked at her face. "You look exactly like Princess Xiaoyu!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Run was shocked. "You mean... me and Princess Xiaoyu, what?"
“You not only look alike, but you are also twins,” sighed Granny Song. “It’s a pity that you were born from the same womb, but your fates are so different.”
"Yes, that's right." Mu Run recalled Xin Lian's short and pitiful life. "She was a princess who was high above everyone else and received all the favor. Even her title was the same as the emperor's. As for me, I was always hungry and poorly clothed. In the dead of winter, I was covered with a patched sheet. To prevent myself from freezing to death, I would wrap myself in the sheet and crawl into a thatched hut to keep warm. Can you imagine that?"
Granny Song looked at her with pity.
Mu Run continued, "Do you think I'd willingly become a bandit's wife? It's only because the bandits are good to me! The kindness and warmth in human nature come from people in the gray areas. Do you think I don't find that absurd? But that's how the world is."
They've been kind to me, and I'll repay them tenfold, a hundredfold. When you and Shrimp Cripple kidnapped me and we passed through Chongyang Mountain, I could have escaped, but I didn't. It was because of a casual conversation between you and Shrimp Cripple—that Prince Zhou would be suppressing bandits…—that I, overestimating my abilities, came to the capital with you, hoping to find out when the court would deal with the mountain stronghold.”
“The imperial court won’t be dealing with Bianyun Village right now; in fact, it’s too busy to interfere. Besides, Bianyun Village seems to have quieted down for a while now,” Granny Song told Mu Run.
Mu Run felt a little relieved. "Yes, thank you for telling me this, Granny."
Looking at her, Granny Song felt even more sympathetic. "Actually, the emperor is far away and there are many chaotic places. Bianyun Village is nothing. It's the black witches over at Yunlong Mountain who are truly feared."
"Yunlong Mountain?"
"That place is quite remote, mostly Gobi Desert. But at some point, a foreign tribe took up residence there. At first, because it was far from the capital and their numbers were small, the court assumed they were foreign invaders and didn't pay much attention. But gradually, the court realized something was wrong, because this tribe wasn't a foreign tribe at all, but... the Black Miao Witches! There was once a prophecy in the Northern Jin Dynasty: 'When the Black Witches appear, the dynasty will perish!'"
7017k
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
