Chapter 1158: The True Culprit Behind the Scenes

This was what he had placed here a few days ago.

The fire was about to spread to the mountain. The Snail Toad hated heat and dryness, so it burrowed into the ground and fled in a hurry.

……

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui returned to the foot of the mountain and saw hundreds of soldiers surrounding the small hill, as if afraid that a fish might slip through the net.

They were already soldiers of the Peng Kingdom.

One small squad had a dozen soldiers, and the leader was dragging a person toward a dark place, away from the main force.

This person was sallow and emaciated, wearing ragged clothes, not dressed like a soldier.

"Get lost!" The leader pointed to the distance. "This has nothing to do with you anymore!"

Seeing him turn around to leave, the person became anxious and grabbed the leader's arm: "Military lord, you haven't given me the fifteen taels of gold yet! The fifteen taels of gold for finding the person!"

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui, hidden in the dark, looked at each other and understood.

This was the informant? He looked like a beggar.

No one else had found Consort Mei's trail, so how did he discover it?

The leader's gaze was gloomy. He suddenly kicked the person's leg, and after he fell to the ground, he added a few more kicks, sneering: "I already gave it to you, and you dare to come and ask for it again? Greedy wretch, a lazy ghost who has money to take but no life to spend!"

The person felt the pain, curled into a ball, and screamed, the sound sharper than an owl.

The other soldiers just watched from the side, their gazes indifferent and mocking.

The leader finally stopped, and asked him again: "Did you take the money or not? Did you take the money just now, huh?"

"I took it!" The person was already kicked until his face was covered in blood, two of his teeth had fallen out, and he lay on the ground crying with snot and tears, "The little one took fifteen taels of gold. The little one was greedy. The little one doesn't dare to ask for it anymore!"

"Consider yourself sensible." The leader spat at him and turned to lead the team away.

The person struggled on the ground for a while before slowly climbing up and limping away.

He looked back while crazily cursing the leader, his eyes flashing with resentment.

……

The summer vegetation was dense, and in just over an hour, the small hill was burned bald, with blue smoke curling everywhere.

The Peng Kingdom army didn't leave until dawn, going up the mountain twice in the middle to inspect the fire scene.

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui then returned to Ji Town and brought the captive into the guest room for interrogation. The old man who looked after the door was long gone.

The black shadow's cloak had long since fallen off, revealing a soft and beautiful face.

Because of her, the desolate and ruined house added a lot of color.

"Consort Mei, we meet again."

This black shadow was indeed Consort Mei, her hands bound, her beautiful hair disheveled, and dust still falling on her body—the image of a beauty in distress.

She looked left and right, stretched her hands forward: "Uncomfortable, can you help me untie them? I am a weak woman, where else can I escape to?"

Her fair wrists had already been rubbed red.

"There is a barrier, she can't get out." He Lingchuan nodded, and the ghost ape on Dong Rui's shoulder immediately jumped over and untied the rope on her hands.

Consort Mei pressed her wrists and found a chair to sit down on her own:

"How did you know I would come to White Hill?"

Her tone was as if she were very familiar with the two.

"We probably thought of the same thing as the new king, You Enguang." Dong Rui pointed toward the lonely mountain. "This is your masterpiece; you probably wanted to take another look."

He Lingchuan was certain that Consort Mei would come to admire her proud work.

But he also didn't expect to see such a horrifying scene: she dug out the Bo King's heart and ate it.

Watching such a vivid beauty swallow a rotten heart bite by bite like eating dessert was still quite visually impactful.

What kind of deep hatred must this be? Consort Mei gave him a gentle smile, as if it wasn't her who had just eaten a human heart raw:

"What are you looking for me for?"

"To find the person behind this series of events." He Lingchuan exhaled, "You Enguang is in a hurry to kill you; it seems he is in cahoots with you."

"Now that you know, is it useful?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "You Enguang has already ascended the throne as king, and the entire Peng Kingdom is his. Even if you expose him now, it won't change the Mou Emperor's mind."

"Why?" Consort Mei tilted her head slightly, as if puzzled.

The beauty's confusion was even more adorable, and Dong Rui couldn't help but look a few more times. But when he thought about what the beauty had just done, his heart turned cold again.

Beautiful but ruthless, he had to repeat it to himself a few more times: beautiful but ruthless.

"The Mou Emperor needs to support a regime here that is close to the Mou Kingdom. You Enguang is very smart; he came to surrender before the war with sincere intentions." He Lingchuan said indifferently, "This person understands the big picture and considers the overall situation. In the absence of other better choices, he will naturally be chosen. By comparison, what does the death of a few Shadow Tooth Guards count for?"

The Mou Emperor wouldn't even take this little loss to heart.

"You were originally in You Enguang's group. He was worried that your crimes of stealing the Bright Lamp and framing the Shadow Tooth Guards would be exposed, displeasing the Mou Kingdom, so he wanted to kill you to silence you." He Lingchuan said to her, "He used you, but he wasn't smart enough, or rather, he was too cautious, otherwise he would have understood that this was an unnecessary move."

"It doesn't matter." Consort Mei sighed lightly, "I only wanted to use him in the first place."

She didn't mind being used at all.

People must have value to be used by each other, and neither had good intentions.

"You caught me." A wisp of morning light passed through the hole in the window and brushed against her face, showing a bit of innocence and ignorance, "What do you want to do to me?"

A weak and helpless beauty, sitting crookedly in a ruined house in a desolate town, asking what you want to do to her……

Originally, he didn't want to do anything, but being asked like this, a thought popped up.

Dong Rui had just warned himself that this was a scorpion beauty, but upon hearing this, he swallowed again.

He Lingchuan looked at Consort Mei and said: "The Bo King said you harmed royal relatives. What deep hatred is there between you?"

This woman really knew how to use her strengths.

"He killed my whole family and seized my father's foundation." Consort Mei was light and airy, as if it were someone else's whole family that died, "I returned the favor, killed his whole family, and destroyed his foundation. Isn't that fair?"

Her voice was still as gentle as honey laced with poison.

Dong Rui immediately said: "Fair, very fair."

He Lingchuan then asked: "Does the Bo Second Prince's insanity have anything to do with you?"

Consort Mei's beautiful eyebrows relaxed: "Eh, you just called it the Mou Kingdom?"

Shouldn't a Mou Kingdom person call it "our country"?

This woman was very meticulous. "I ask, you answer. How much do you know about the Bright Lamp?"

Consort Mei lowered her eyes and tucked a wisp of hair from her forehead behind her ear: "Why?"

"The Bo Second Prince went into qi deviation and became insane. The newly appointed Imperial Physician Chen submitted a memorial that the Bright Lamp could save the Second Prince, and it just so happened that the Bright Lamp matured recently. This series of coincidences added together is inevitable—it's what you manufactured." He Lingchuan looked at her, "You are very familiar with the usage of the Bright Lamp."

Consort Mei said indifferently: "My understanding of the Bright Lamp is limited to that ancient book, which is now in the hands of Imperial Physician Chen. Why don't you go find him to get it?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1159 =====