Meanwhile, within the Summer Kingdom's imperial palace,
Ouyang Ting sat clumsily on the dragon throne, his plump hands rubbing the armrests.
"Father, Daughter doesn't quite understand. Why did you have me deliberately seduce Mo Bai, have him meet Gu Qianying, and then have Mother Consort meet Mo Bai? What is the relationship between these people?"
Beside him, Ouyang Wan'er was eating fresh fruit, attended by two maids.
The gold threads on her pink dress shimmered brilliantly in the candlelight, her face etched with confusion.
"Mo Bai is the Ninth Imperial Prince, Nangong Mo, whom the Eastern Victory Kingdom specifically requested be killed. You and he cannot be together."
"What? Ninth Imperial Prince Nangong Mo? How could it be him?" Ouyang Wan'er was greatly shocked.
At the time, she hadn't known Mo Bai's true identity. She had only followed her father's orders, using a chance encounter as a pretext to get to know Mo Bai, then deliberately brought Mo Bai to a palace banquet to meet the woman beside Ouyang Qinglin.
Afterward, she learned that Mo Bai and the woman beside Ouyang Qinglin knew each other, and they had a tumultuous past.
Her father had also told her about the matter between her mother consort and Mo Bai.
"Father, what should we do about them next?"
"We must eliminate them as quickly as possible. Ouyang Qinglin, Nangong Mo, all of them must die!"
Ouyang Ting's eyes glinted with murderous intent, his face full of schemes.
At that moment,
The personal eunuch rushed in, holding a wailing infant. "Your Majesty, this servant has brought the child."
The personal eunuch knelt and presented the infant in his arms.
Ouyang Ting stood up, walked down, and looked down at the child in the eunuch's hands. He asked coldly, "That slut Chen, did you bring her back too?"
"No, she escaped and took the young prince with her."
The personal eunuch kept his head bowed low, trembling as he reported.
"Useless!"
Ouyang Ting kicked him. The personal eunuch fell to the ground, and the infant in his hands was flung half a zhang away.
The infant let out a sharp cry, a loud wail.
Without the Emperor's command, the young eunuch dared not approach.
Instead, Ouyang Wan'er stepped forward and picked up the crying infant from the ground.
"Father, she is just a child. How could you do this to her?"
Though she said this, her armored fingers tightened around the infant's delicate neck.
Ouyang Ting watched without a word, unmoved. Only when the infant's cries stopped and her palm-sized face turned red did Ouyang Ting speak, "Don't kill her. She's still useful."
His voice was chilling, utterly devoid of emotion.
Ouyang Wan'er released her grip and then fiercely pinched the infant's tiny arm again. The crying suddenly intensified. The nearly suffocated infant, in pain, seemed to gain a surge of life.
Then, Ouyang Wan'er tossed her to a waiting eunuch. "Take her down, find a wet nurse to care for her properly, and tell her that I dislike this child's face. Have her handle it as she sees fit."
"Yes, Princess."
The eunuch carried the female infant away, feeling a pang of pity.
It was truly tragic that such a young infant was about to be disfigured.
After the eunuch left with the infant, the hall became much quieter, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Father, if you want to kill, do it thoroughly. However, Daughter implores Father to leave Mo Bai's face and that little slut Gu Qianying's face to me. I do not wish for anyone in this world to be more beautiful than me. Even if I die, I want to die with a face as mangled as flesh and blood!
Ouyang Wan'er acted with propriety. She understood that since her father harbored murderous intent towards Mo Bai, Mo Bai was someone who could not be spared.
Although she liked Mo Bai more, if it endangered her noble status in the palace and her image as a good daughter in her father's eyes, then even if she liked him, she had to let go in time. There were plenty of handsome men in the world; why be fixated on one?
Since she couldn't have him, she would destroy him!
"Yes, that is acceptable."
Ouyang Ting agreed readily.
Ouyang Qinglin and the others were certainly doomed. What was a face compared to that!
"Thank you, Father."
Ouyang Wan'er was overjoyed.
A masked figure in black clothes climbed through the window and knelt to report, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Third Prince and the other two have fallen into the trap."
Ouyang Ting narrowed his small eyes, his fat belly jiggled, and after a hearty laugh, he said, "Good, very good. Issue the order. Everything proceeds according to plan. I will have the heads of Ouyang Qinglin and the other two!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The masked figure then departed.
Afterward, Ouyang Ting instructed his personal eunuch, "Send word to the Eastern Victory Kingdom. Tell them the cooperation is very pleasant and that they should prepare the reward."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eunuch took the order and retreated.
On the other side,
The farmer's house did not have many rooms, but the old woman had managed to find a way to arrange two rooms for Gu Qianying and the other two.
In the dead of night,
By the donkey manger, in a small thatched hut, two handsome men sat on two worn-out wooden planks.
Their expressions were identical, both with dark faces.
Inside the thatched hut, the dilapidated bench and some dry straw had been disturbed, raising dust. The two handsome men, unable to bear the foul smell of their surroundings, leaped up, breaking through the thatched roof and landing on the trunk of a tree, each occupying a small space sufficient for rest.
"Ninth Imperial Prince, you are of noble status and should enjoy wealth and honor. Why do you put on such a pretense here, acting so deeply affectionate? If Qianying truly cared for you, why would she have written the divorce letter?"
Ouyang Qinglin half-closed his eyes, his head resting on his arms, a wicked smile playing on his lips, lazy and alluring.
His words struck directly at Nangong Mo's sore spot.
Divorce letter!
These three words were like a sharp knife, scraping at his heart, causing him pain.
His deep eyes were filled with icy coldness. He raised his palm and struck fiercely. The branches next to Ouyang Qinglin were cleaved by a powerful internal force, scattering leaves and twigs in all directions.
"Shut up!"
"Heh? Angry? Ninth Imperial Prince, I am speaking the truth. You should dare to accept it, not evade it..."
Ouyang Qinglin deliberately rubbed salt into someone's wound.
Nangong Mo's expression was frigid. He ignored Ouyang Qinglin's taunts and sarcastic remarks, only coldly lifting his eyelids and spitting out, "I have also heard of Ouyang Lie's deeds. If you wish to hear, I can recount them to you now."
Ouyang Qinglin's body trembled slightly.
His hands beneath his red sleeves clenched tightly, and a flicker of panic flashed in his devilishly handsome eyes.
The name "Ouyang Lie" was also what he most wished to avoid.
Ouyang Lie was his maternal uncle, the executioner who tormented his mother consort, and the person who had deceived him in his childhood, the one he believed to be closest to him.
Childhood memories floated before his eyes like phantoms.
His tensed body could not relax for a long time.
Until... a scream of "Ah!" came from the distant farmer's house.
Both Ouyang Qinglin and Nangong Mo froze.
"Not good, it's that girl!"
"It's the little one's voice!"
They both moved simultaneously, leaped down, and rushed towards the farmer's courtyard at the same time...