[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal":3,"chapter-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-251":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Investing in the Reborn Empress, She Actually Calls Me ‘Husband’",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},596961,846,"Chapter 251: First Encounter with Injustice, Brother Mooncake","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-251",251,"\u003Cp>【Name: Lu Fuying】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Age: 8】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Bone Structure: None】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Cultivation Level: Mortal】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Fate: Black】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Evaluation: Adrift like duckweed, life like wild grass.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Recent Incident: Saved by Ying Bing while laboring, yet accused of consorting with demons and now facing execution.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the information Li Mo had just glimpsed through his Heavenly Fate Divine Eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, he stood frozen, an inexplicable fury rising in his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very least, this was the first time he’d witnessed such injustice since entering the Southern Pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze fell on the magistrate, who now leisurely sipped tea as he approached Lu Fuying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate’s eyes held no regard for the child as a living being.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Out of mercy for your youth and ignorance, I’ll grant you one last chance,\" he said coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tell me—was the woman you saw human or demon?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The frail little girl, not even ten years old, trembled with fear, too young to grasp the implications of his words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That... that pretty sister was... an immortal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still defending demons even at death’s door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate snorted, splashing tea onto the executioner’s blade, though the grime and bloodstains remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The executioner, his expression numb, raised the heavy guillotine blade, ready to add another innocent soul to its toll.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clink—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the blade descended, a crisp sound rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front half of the blade snapped clean off, spinning through the air before clattering to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate, oblivious at first, suddenly felt his head bare. His hair disheveled, he turned to see his official hat knocked away by the broken blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And lying before the stunned child was the object that had shattered the executioner’s weapon—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single golden bean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dazed, she looked up to see a young man standing protectively in front of her. His refined features seemed familiar, though she couldn’t recall where she’d seen him before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The youth turned to the bald monk beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Take her to her family.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before she could even cry, Lu Fuying found herself tucked under Murong Xiao’s arm and whisked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, the soldiers below the platform had snapped into action—some rushing to the magistrate’s aid, others forming a perimeter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Disrupting an execution, abetting a fugitive, and now attempting to murder an official!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You must be in league with that demon!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate, having regained some courage after his earlier panic, straightened his back and barked orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo was sorely tempted to punch him dead on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Heavenly Fate Divine Eye had already revealed the man’s rotten nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But slaughtering the entire garrison wasn’t exactly an option.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your duty is to protect this land. Surely you have methods to distinguish humans from demons,\" Li Mo said, forcing patience into his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The person Lu Fuying encountered days ago was no demon. I can prove it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As everyone knew, Young Master Li was usually a man of reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gentleman prefers words to fists—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless a hammer is involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you know that woman?\" The magistrate narrowed his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo relaxed slightly. \"Naturally.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate’s face darkened instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He just admitted to colluding with the demoness! Seize him—dead or alive!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo: \"?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The garrison soldiers leveled their spears and charged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Demons and beasts typically surpassed humans in raw physical strength at the same cultivation level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the thousand-strong garrison of Bottle Town combined their power through military formations, even a Sixth-Rank Great Demon—equivalent to an Inner Realm expert—could be subdued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These soldiers were all at the Breath Circulation stage, and dozens of them working in unison could easily overwhelm an ordinary Insight Realm cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Mo was no ordinary Insight Realm cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t even bother using special techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his current physique and the innate weapon-like sharpness of his Extreme Soldier Slaughter Body, a single casual punch carried enough force to shatter their formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BANG—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deafening crash echoed as the lead sergeant—a Core Formation expert—grunted in pain, the gathered energy dispersing under the impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers, their qi interconnected, all reeled from the shared backlash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the next instant—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo’s foot shattered the stone tiles as he closed the distance to the magistrate in a single step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You—you—urk—!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A kick to the gut silenced the man’s yapping, doubling him over in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a certain battle maniac once said: If you can solve it with fists, don’t waste time talking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turns out, there was wisdom in that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you... have any idea... who oversees this territory—?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate, now kneeling from the beating, still tried to threaten through bloodied lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before he could finish—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRUNCH.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo’s fist cratered the man’s greasy face, sending teeth scattering across the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young Master Li had given him a chance to reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pity he couldn’t even handle that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate collapsed, finally silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo didn’t leave. Instead, he took a seat on the nanmu-wood chair and waited calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, a more elite contingent of garrison troops arrived, their armor gleaming, their auras fierce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A crushing pressure locked onto Li Mo from afar—emanating from the middle-aged commander at their head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The commander’s hair was streaked with white, his mustache neatly trimmed, his piercing gaze seeming to dissect the youth before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you? Do you understand the consequences of defying the Southern Garrison Army?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d intended to arrest Li Mo immediately—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the boy’s extreme youth gave him pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To dismantle an Insight Realm-capable formation unscathed at such an age... perhaps he had powerful backing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is a border army’s duty?\" Li Mo countered, his voice flat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To slaughter the innocent and bully children?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I asked you a question, yet you dare interrogate me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Commander Qi’s laughter was icy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate, seeing his chance, scrambled toward his superior. Li Mo didn’t stop him, watching as the man spat:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The case had your approval, Commander! The facts were clear!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This boy is definitely connected to demons—probably working with that shapeshifted demoness!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Commander Qi was about to order the arrest—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A resounding smack echoed as he backhanded the magistrate hard enough to send the man sprawling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The magistrate gaped in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he saw it—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black jade token in Li Mo’s hand, engraved with a single character: Zhong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the pass Zhong Zhenyue had given him after Li Mo saved his life—guaranteeing unimpeded movement through all southern border garrisons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(Though Li Mo had been in too much of a hurry to actually meet the man.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Any further objections?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"General Qi suddenly recalled... certain irregularities in this case.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sweat beaded on the commander’s forehead as he smoothly changed tack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was Zhong Zhenyue’s personal token. Even if this boy was secretly a demon, Qi wouldn’t dare accuse the Young Marquis’s honored guest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What about the girl?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Completely innocent! No demonic ties whatsoever!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like that, the wrongful conviction was overturned with startling efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Murong Xiao looked bewildered. Huang Donglai could only offer a wry smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the magistrate was dragged away, Commander Qi even enthusiastically invited Li Mo’s group to a banquet—conveniently forgetting the whole \"disrupting an execution\" incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Great Yu, neither law nor reason held as much power as a single token.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The absurdity wasn’t lost on Li Mo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Disinterested in further pleasantries, he walked into the crowd and knelt before Lu Fuying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gently, he wiped the grime from the child’s tear-streaked face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little sister, when did you say you saw that fairy maiden?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're Mooncake Big Brother?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little girl's reply left Young Li momentarily stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>",1262,"2026-05-30T17:19:00.270Z","2026-06-01T04:31:46.889Z",1,"novelbin.me","cbff4b817ce00e542705045edfcbb96d18d074ac3da3324dd5e111e6b43ea1d8","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-252","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-600",737,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Finvesting-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-cover.jpg"]