Chapter 87: Twin Brothers

In recent days, because of Meng Yuanheng and Shen Qianmo’s warm insistence, Mo Qingshan had remained in the Xuanzhan Prince’s residence.

Since the banquet held there previously, one invitation had led naturally to another, and then to a third, until countless gatherings followed in easy succession.

So long as Shen Qianmo was in the residence, Ning Hua and Fu Yuechan would come from time to time to see her. And then there was Yun Yi, who was like a slab of chewing gum; no matter how harshly Meng Yuanheng spoke to him or how coldly he treated him, he still clung stubbornly to the prince’s residence and refused to leave.

It was hardly surprising. There was good food to savor and beautiful women to tease; of course Yun Yi would seize every chance and disgrace himself shamelessly to the end.

Ning Hua and Fu Yuechan gradually lost their fear of Meng Yuanheng as well. In any case, so long as Shen Qianmo protected them, they were not afraid, however cold the Xuanzhan Prince’s face might be.

At times, they truly admired Shen Qianmo. The prince was moody and unpredictable, his temper as changeable as the sky; how on earth did Qianmo bear such an eccentric disposition?

The Xuanzhan Prince’s residence, long quiet and cold, was increasingly filled with laughter and cheer, growing more and more lively by the day.

Since the death of Mo Yan, Mo Qingshan had not felt such familial warmth for a very long time. Thus he, too, made the rare choice to stay at the prince’s residence for more than half a month.

Indeed, when one grows old, one ought to spend more time with the young. In the company of these energetic youths, even his own state of mind seemed to have grown younger.

In the pavilion in the prince’s garden, Mo Qingshan was playing a game of strategy with Meng Yuanheng.

“Yuanheng, it has been many years, and your skill has improved so much. This round, your godfather has lost.” Mo Qingshan stroked his beard and smiled faintly, admiration showing in his eyes.

Meng Yuanheng was gifted in martial arts, deeply versed in the art of war, decisive and ruthless in action, never dragging matters out. His skill at the board was just the same.

“You flatter me, Godfather.” Meng Yuanheng merely smiled faintly, unconcerned.

Looking at the man before him, cool and jade-like, his expression serene, Mo Qingshan could not help but sigh inwardly.

Back when he had studied in the Mo Sect, how full of spirit he had been, how he had looked down on everything. Now, however, he had no choice but to conceal his brilliance and endure in silence.

Mo Qingshan had been close friends for many years with the former Xuanzhan Prince, Meng Langqing. Though at the time he was busy with the affairs of the Mo Sect while Meng Langqing spent years away at war, leaving them little time together, Meng Langqing had always trusted him deeply, even sending his only son to the Mo Sect to study.

What Mo Qingshan had never imagined, however, was that Meng Langqing and his princess had such a history between them, and that Meng Yuanheng was in fact the emperor’s own flesh and blood.

Now, Meng Yuanheng’s awkward, ill-defined identity was truly troublesome.

“Yuanheng, what are your plans for the future?” Mo Qingshan asked cautiously.

Since he was the emperor’s son, did he too harbor ambitions of seizing the throne and ruling the realm?

Meng Yuanheng’s face remained as calm as ever, his tone flat and without inflection. “What Yuanheng wants now is only to uncover the truth of what happened seven years ago, so as to comfort the spirits of Father and the more than one hundred thousand soldiers who died. After that, I will spend the rest of my life with Mo’er. Whatever she wants to do, I will accompany her.”

When he mentioned Shen Qianmo, his voice softened, and his gaze turned gentle.

Mo Qingshan nodded, thinking that this was not a bad thing. Lacking any ambition to fight for power was a blessing. Once a person was blinded by the desire for authority and status, it became all too easy to lose oneself and ultimately step onto a path of no return.

These past years, the boy had lost too much and lived too bitter a life. Fortunately, from now on, he had that girl Mo’er at his side. Whether the husband followed the wife’s lead or the wife followed the husband’s, in the end, to live a lifetime in mutual affection was one of life’s greatest blessings.

While the two were chatting idly, Changdong’s ghostlike figure flashed into view outside the pavilion and reported, “My lord, the princess has come with Lord Lu from the Ministry of Justice.”

Why would Mo’er come together with Lu Ziqing? Could it be that that reckless Lu Ziqing had dragged Mo’er away again to help him investigate a case? Meng Yuanheng’s expression darkened.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly.

Shen Qianmo and Lu Ziqing stood together at the gates of the Xuanzhan Prince’s residence. From afar, when she saw Changdong pushing Meng Yuanheng toward them, she felt somewhat guilty.

Today had been the day Little Guai was to be bled, but not only had she gone with Lu Ziqing all the way to Guan Village to investigate a case, she had even ordered He Qing early on to bring Little Guai to the prince’s residence, using the chance to send He Qing away.

She had originally assumed she would return very soon, and that it would not be too late to come to the prince’s residence afterward and explain everything to Meng Yuanheng.

She had not expected matters to turn out this way.

From a distance, Meng Yuanheng saw Shen Qianmo standing side by side with Lu Ziqing at the residence gate, waiting there together, and felt extremely displeased.

His Mo’er—how could she stand shoulder to shoulder with another man, facing him together?

As the wheelchair rolled slowly forward, he cast a cold sidelong glance at Lu Ziqing, who had lowered his head to salute him, then turned to Shen Qianmo and said in a deep voice, “Mo’er, come here.”

The one who could stand hand in hand with Mo’er and face everything together with her could be no one other than him.

Hearing the displeasure in his tone, Shen Qianmo knew she was in the wrong. She answered softly and obediently went to his side, crouching down so that they were level.

“Ah Heng, is Godfather in the residence?”

Sensing the seriousness in her voice, Meng Yuanheng frowned slightly. Could something have happened?

At that moment, Mo Qingshan happened to emerge. Seeing that Lu Ziqing was in official dress and wore a solemn expression, clearly here on business, he said, “Lord Lu from the Ministry of Justice has come to the Xuanzhan Prince’s residence. May I ask what matter brings you to seek out this old man?”

Shen Qianmo rose and called him, “Godfather.”

Mo Qingshan nodded to her, his expression calm and composed.

Of course Shen Qianmo absolutely did not believe that Mo Qingshan would do such a beastly, inhuman thing as harming young children. But she also understood Lu Ziqing. In an investigation, one could not let a single thread of evidence slip by.

Since for the moment there was only this one lead, he naturally had to follow it through.

Lu Ziqing produced the portrait Shen Qianmo had just drawn according to Guan Wu’s description and showed it to Mo Qingshan. “Elder Mo, please forgive my rudeness. A murder has occurred in Guan Family Village, and several children have been brutally killed. An eyewitness testified that he was attacked there by this man.”

He unfolded the portrait and compared it with Mo Qingshan.

Shen Qianmo’s portrait skills were clearly excellent; anyone with eyes could tell that the man in the picture was a dead ringer for Mo Qingshan.

Yet the person most shocked by the image was none other than Mo Qingshan himself.

He stared fixedly at the portrait and asked uncertainly, “Did Lord Lu just say... Guan Family Village?”

“That is correct.” Lu Ziqing nodded.

Mo Qingshan wore an expression of utter disbelief and murmured, “This... how is that possible? Could it be that Han Shan is still alive? But back then, I clearly saw his corpse with my own eyes...”

Han Shan? Shen Qianmo’s mind turned. Could it be that Mo Qingshan had a twin brother?

Sure enough! Mo Qingshan’s explanation that followed immediately confirmed her guess.

Mo Qingshan did indeed have a twin brother, named Mo Hanshan.

To be precise, Hanshan’s talent far surpassed Mo Qingshan’s, and his ability to handle affairs was stronger as well, so he had long been groomed as the next elder of the Mo Sect. Unfortunately, Hanshan’s nature was crooked and his greed excessive. Convinced of his own incomparable gifts, he secretly cultivated the art of the pupil and aspired to become the second sect master in the Mo Sect’s history.

However, because this pupil art lacked a proper and systematic internal method, it was extremely difficult to cultivate. Hanshan, impatient for success, eventually succumbed to inner deviation and went astray in his practice.

Had he been an ordinary man, he might long since have gone mad and become a ruined shell. But Hanshan was not. He was a rare martial genius, and by accident, he actually managed to devise a new skill of his own, which he called the Violet Enchantment Divine Art.

The Violet Enchantment Divine Art? It sounded somewhat familiar. Shen Qianmo thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered that the fiendish leader of the Utmost Realm Cult, Yin Zhan, also knew this technique. So this art had been created by Mo Hanshan.

She recalled that Meng Yuanheng had called it the Violet Enchantment Demon Art at the time.

Because the Violet Enchantment technique was vicious beyond measure and not a righteous form of martial art, the former elder had, in order to suppress Hanshan’s demonic nature, no choice but to imprison him at the cold pool of the Mo Estate and make him face the wall in repentance.

Who would have thought that Hanshan, instead, used the icy qi of the pool to cultivate with greater diligence, his strength improving even further. That day, he broke through the barrier of the cold pool, injured the former elder, and fled the Mo Sect.

At the former elder’s command, Mo Qingshan led several fellow disciples from the Mo Sect in pursuit along the route. At last, outside Guan Family Village, the group joined forces and captured Hanshan.

That night, everyone rested in the nearby Guan Emperor Temple, only to encounter a sudden heavenly fire. By the time Mo Qingshan and several other fellow disciples returned from buying food, the temple had already been reduced to ruins. The few Mo Sect disciples left behind to guard it were dead or wounded, and Hanshan, bound to a pillar, had been burned alive, leaving only a charred corpse.

It was Mo Qingshan himself who had brought Hanshan’s body back to the Mo Sect for burial.

But that corpse had been so badly burned as to be unrecognizable. Could it be that it had not been him, and the real Hanshan was still alive in this world?