Free Web NovelChapter 99: Chapter 99
Chapter 99
Initially, the villagers thought they would wait for the Young General to be in a good mood before approaching him to show their sincerity. Given the recent situation with the general, even the most foolish knew it was an extremely shameful event. Meeting him right away might only serve to become an outlet for his frustrations. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Who would have known that even before they had the chance to show they weren’t enemies of the soldiers or allies of the bandits, they would be arrested by the numerous soldiers?
"B... Brave soldiers, why are you arresting everyone in the village?" The village leader was feigning ignorance. Sweat was beading on his face, but he couldn’t show any sign of panic.
Standing before so many brave soldiers only added to the pressure. Many villagers were crying, and if the village leader showed weakness, the villagers would lose all strength to resist.
"You’re still asking, old man?! The wicked woman you had poison us has confessed everything." The demeanor of the soldier who was holding the village leader had changed completely after he harshly shouted.
He was just a low-ranking soldier in the army, unaware of the hidden secrets. He only knew the news that the leaders wanted him to know—that the culprit who poisoned them was found, and one of the villagers was an informant for the bandits. It was suspected that the entire village was in cahoots with the bandits as well.
It could be confirmed from the fact that every time they went on patrol, they would find bandits waiting to ambush them. The soldiers didn’t blame themselves for not being cautious enough. They didn’t blame themselves who had the secret plan to deal with Mu Heng, which had made them careless, focusing only on Mu Heng and neglecting the bandits. Everything they had done had been forgotten completely.
What remained was that these villagers had harmed their comrades to the point of death, and although he survived, his body remained weak. Of course, it wasn’t just him acting this way; there were hundreds of victims suffering from the debilitating poison!
So, from once respecting the village leader, now he was tempted to slap this old man’s head! Pretending to be innocent in front of them—hadn’t he deceived them enough already?
"W-We didn’t do it, sir."
"Yes, yes. What did Mu Tian say to make you all think this way?"
"Indeed. My husband died because of the bandits. How could I possibly collude with them? I only wish to help soldiers like you to the fullest." Many villagers proclaimed their innocence immediately upon hearing this.
The soldiers’ faces grew even darker. The more the villagers made excuses, the more it seemed like an act to them.
"Hah! Claiming your husband was killed by bandits? What kind of bandits have morals? They kill each other over disagreements all the time. Your husband, a bandit, deserved to die!" The soldier said, appearing deranged, disregarding any rational thought, as if his mind had been completely washed.
Yueqian was the one who showed no sign of panic. She simply sat, resting her chin in her hand, observing the villagers who were defending themselves, trying to prove their innocence. Little did they know, these soldiers were utterly obedient to their master’s orders.
Otherwise... how could they accept a task to lure Mu Heng, an ordinary villager, to be killed?
"In truth, the villagers’ words do hold some reason," Mu Heng said. Yueqian nodded in agreement.
"But true words carry no weight compared to the words of a master," she said according to the truth. Once, she had chased the Young General to his camp and witnessed many astonishing things. Even if the master ordered them to die, they would die. If the master ordered them to cut off their own arm and live as a cripple for life, they would still do it.
This seemed like a very strange matter when Yueqian first arrived in this dimension, but eventually, she got used to it. Even in Qin Manor, such events existed. However, the servants were not as loyal as here. They would still cry out or even try to fight back. But those trained as soldiers for the kingdom were different. Their loyalty was extremely high.
Of course, because if they dared to resist, their families would be accused of treason and executed immediately. So, choosing to die alone was still the best option.
"Heh," Mu Heng shook his head slightly at the thought, but he couldn’t say anything. From now on, he could only be cautious. If he ever found himself in another kingdom, he would have to be careful about this as well.
He wasn’t very good at socializing, but he needed to have a good head on his shoulders. Otherwise, if he died, what left behind wouldn’t survive either. Relying on the influence of the foreign Wang was not that beneficial. As long as he couldn’t stand on his own, he couldn’t relax.
However, in this era, killing humans was too easy. As long as someone had a bit of influence, they could kill anyone using their underlings to do the work smoothly and then frame them as guilty. Innocent villagers could be easily killed, just like now... even low-ranking soldiers could beat people up.
They didn’t even know the truth! If one had to be bullied from head to tail, wouldn’t it be better to become the head and fight against the head?
While the two were talking as if they had no worries, the two children who glanced at each other couldn’t help but sigh. They didn’t know what big brother and sister-in-law were thinking. Initially, they were also scared when they were captured, not to mention the cries of many adults. So, they were trembling with fear about this matter.
But it was just a few seconds, as soon as they saw their big brother and sister-in-law, a sense of security made them relax. It seemed that the two of them were not afraid, so why should they be afraid of anything?!
The two children, with their big brother and sister-in-law as their anchors, felt unafraid as long as the two remained a strong rock, protecting them. Xiao Long and Huan’er feared nothing.
This made the demeanor of these two children quite different from all the other children. They appeared stronger than even the grown villagers.
“The Third and Fifth Princes have arrived!” The resonant voice of the servant beside the two princes rang out, silencing the villagers and prompting them to show respect to the two high-status figures.
When the villagers, who were trying to explain while crying, heard this, they froze. Due to their ignorance of the proper etiquette when meeting high-status individuals, silence was the only thing enveloped them.
“Why aren’t you kneeling and showing respect?!” This situation seemed to happen often, so without delay, the announcer shouted a reprimand, causing the villagers to hurriedly kneel and bow.
Yueqian curtsied, displaying good manners. She was the only one who showed respect correctly, neither appearing weak nor foolish, but with an irrefutable propriety. Mu Heng also bowed. Being observant, he easily mimicked the soldiers. The two children followed their big brother and sister-in-law’s lead, making Mu Heng’s family the only ones who performed great.
Great, but not necessarily to the princes’ liking.
The two princes could not find fault but were not pleased to see commoners behaving with such propriety. Typically, these impoverished villagers were beneath their notice; they shouldn’t have even been standing in their presence. Unfortunately, the customs were followed correctly, so the princes could only wave their hands.
“Forget the formalities. Bring out the culprit,” he ordered the Young General. Soon, soldiers dragged Mu Tian out.
“Father, Mother, help me.” As soon as she saw Mu Xian and Miss Zhu, Mu Tian cried out.
The villagers trembled, casting furtive glances at the Mu family, who were now sweating.
If Mu Tian said such a thing, it was like dragging the entire Mu family into the matter! Therefore, many villagers tried to distance themselves from this problem. They moved further away from the Mu family, even pushing Mu Heng and Yueqian away. Only about twenty people moved closer to her.
These twenty people, of course, were from the five families that Yueqian had helped. They knew that this was a life-and-death situation, but they had been given a second chance at life by Yueqian. It would be improper to show disdain since their lives were already halfway lost.
Not only that, when they were suffering from the fever, these so-called virtuous soldiers selfishly dragged the physician to treat themselves, ignoring the villagers like them. Even when they pleaded for the physician to look at the little kid who was their child, the soldiers kicked his child till the child collapsed. So, for them, Yueqian was the only one worthy of respect.
The Young General looked at this display with a gloomy expression. He initially thought no one would dare approach Mu Heng and Yueqian out of fear of danger. He never expected so many people to try to stay around them.
“Confess your crime. Are you and the villagers spy for the bandits?” The Third Prince asked again, knowing full well that the villagers would surely deny it.
“I didn’t do it. Sob, sob. I really didn’t,” Mu Tian’s body trembled. She tried to plead for help from her parents, but they completely ignored her.
She was already physically weak. Seeing all hope crumble before her, Mu Tian could do nothing but cry. She only felt guilty for being so greedy.
But since Mu Heng could take ten taels, why couldn’t she take two taels? This seemed extremely unfair!
“Still being stubborn? Who gave you those two taels? If you tell me..., I might consider sparing your life,” the Third Prince laughed lightly. Tricking a foolish villager after heavy torture was incredibly easy.
Even if she hadn’t done it, she would have to confess to survive!
Mu Tian’s eyes widened with hope. She glanced around, causing many villagers to tremble. Everyone knew what Mu Tian intended to do.
“If... if I tell you who hired me, will you really let me go?” Mu Tian asked again, her hope rising.
“I am a prince. I do not go back on my word,” the Third Prince smiled cunningly. He was a prince and couldn’t lie. But was he lying? Since he said he would consider it, he just had to consider it.
“Good, good. Then I will tell...” Mu Tian looked around once more before stopping at Yueqian. The more she saw the fox who had embarrassed her many times, the more Mu Tian almost laughed. Unexpectedly, not only would she not die, but she could also bring death to the one she hated!“It was that fox Yueqian! She was the one who gave me the poison to put in the soldiers’ food!” Mu Tian pointed at Yueqian, her expression filled with immense satisfaction.
