Chapter 31 - Finding Out The Truth (2)
Lian Hu started shivering more than before but he didn't tried to deny the truth.
"What happened after that?" Li Ming asked him.
At first he kept silent but the cold eyes if Li Ming made him terrified and he started reciting everything.
"When I returned back home, I told everyone that we both got separated in the storm and I couldn't find him. Our families tried to find him but of course no one found him. After that it took me a complete year and a half to prepare tools for the mining. But I had only 6-8 people and they were not enough. But 5 years ago, I found Han Zhe talking about his plan with his wife, who didn't want him to do any such thing. I thought that I could also benefit from it. So after discussing we both decided to work together. Because of the less production of last two seasons, the villagers were in bad condition. So, I offered them money and in return asked for 80% of their production and for their grown up children to work for me. In the past 4 years they had only seen their children a few times and the children are not allowed to leak any information about the iron mines." Lian Hu completed his story and fell completely silent.
"Then according to you the villagers were already struggling with the poisoned fields even before you started your plans." Li Ming looked at the both men who nodded their heads in affirmation.
'How could that be possible? If not these two then who poisoned the fields?'
It was the first time in this world that Li Ming had came across a really tricky situation.
"Snowy, go and bring Sir Liu and his family here!" Li Ming told Snowy who left immediately.
"Why no one from the Capital city found about the mine?" Li Ming asked Lian Hu.
"The Thundering Mountains are the safest mountain ranges in Han Empire, which means that there are very small amount of spiritual herbs and spirit beasts. It also means that the people from the Imperial City don't have enough time to waste on such a place where they will not find something useful. The only people who went into the Thundering Mountains are from the nearby villages. They go into the forest only for catching some prey, wood or collecting fruits and wild veggies. And for such things they don't need to venture deep into the mountains. So, no one found about the mine and my work."
Li Ming rubbed her forehead. She had never thought that these two people would be committing such a high treason.
"Other than this, is there anything else you would like to confess?" Li Ming asked the duo.
"Nothing.....there is nothing more to tell." Lian Hu said but soon chocked on his words.
It was a clear sign that he was still hiding something. The Truth Seeking Pill would not let him lie. Li Ming didn't say anything and waited.
After a minutes later, Snowy came back with the Liu family. Li Ming asked both Lian Hu and Han Zhe to repeat what they had told her.
At first Lian Hu didn't comply but he didn't have many options. Due to the Truth Seeking Pill, he told the Liu family everything.
After listening that the children from the village were actually working in the iron mines, Sir Liu was ready to kill both the culprits right there.
After everything was clear, Li Ming asked some of the villagers to bring the families of both Han Zhe and Lian Hu there.
Lian Hu had a wife and two sons (both were over twenty years old) in his family and after asking a few questions after feeding the Truth Seeking Pills to the three of them, everyone found that his entire family was taking part in the treason.
Han Zhe had a wife, an 18 year old daughter and a 5-6 year old son. But what shocked everyone was the condition of both his wife and daughter. They both looked like they had been beaten by someone. Even the little boy had some marks on his face and arms.
Li Ming also gave them the pills and then asked, "What happened to the three of you?"
Both the woman and the girl didn't say anything and kept quiet. Li Ming looked at the girl and said in a soft voice, "Don't be afraid, I will not let anyone here hurt you. Just tell me the truth. Who did this to you?"
For a moment Li Ming thought that the girl was going to tell her but then she looked at someone behind her and suddenly recoiled in fear.
Li Ming turned around and saw Han Zhe staring at the girl. After thinking for a while Li Ming took the girls chin in her hand and pulled her face up. She looked into her eyes and said, "Don't worry about your father, just tell us the truth." She was using her compulsion magic.
"This monster is not my father!" The girl suddenly cried out loud. Many nearby families had already gathered around when the Liu family had arrived.
After listening the girls words everyone started talking in whispers. Everyone had their own theories and speculations.
"Silence!" Li Ming shouted loudly and everyone felt quiet. She looked at the trembling girl who was crying non-stop.
"What do you mean? Tell everything clearly." Li Ming told the girl.
"Such an evil person can never be my father! He always beats me and mother!" The girl started crying more loudly.
"When I was younger, I saw him getting drunk and then beating my mom but that only happened once or twice a month. My mother said that it's very common but everything changed since past 3 years. He started to get drunk more and more but the worst part is that he also started bringing that Lian Hu and his two sons at our home. Then one day that bastard Lian Hu tried.....tried to f....force himself on me!"
The girl was crying so hard that it was nearly impossible to speak.
The crowd was silent as it listened to the girl's words. No one dared to utter a single word. Every now and then, they gave Han Zhe a killing glance before continuing to listen to the girl's grievances.
After a few seconds of silence the girl continued, "But my mom saved me. When I told my father he said that it was not a big deal. I should not make his friend angry. Later I found out that for saving me my mother paid the price. She had secretly saved some money. So she gave me the money to get far away from the village. Since my brother was a boy he was safe from those beasts. That night I tried to run away but I got caught by Lian Qin, the eldest son of Lian Hu. He brought me back to the house and my father beated both me and my mother. That day we realized that there is no other way for us than excepting the harsh truth of our lives."
Everyone was so shocked after hearing the truth that none had any words to speak. All of them were thinking about the pain that these two mother and daughter pair had suffered.
"My husband never beated our son but he also never stopped the Lian boys from hurting him." The woman spoke for the first time.
The whole area was completely silent. Other than the crying mother and daughter, no one made a single noise. Suddenly the voice of four powerful slaps one after the other echoed through the silence of the night.
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Chapter 32 - Finding Out The Truth (3)
It was Liu Hansi who had slapped Han Zhe, Lian Hu and his sons one after the other.
Although she had slapped really hard but a fragile hand of a young woman was not enough to teach the bastards a proper lesson.
"A slap is not enough punishment for them, they should be beaten to death. What are we waiting for, let's kill these four demons right now!" One of the woman from the gathered crowd said with anger.
Hearing her words, the other people were also ready to free the earth from the burden of these four scums.
"You are right. These kind of human don't deserve to live!" Another man said.
"Why are you calling them human? They don't even deserve to be called human! They are demons and they should not be allowed to live a single day more!" One after the other, all the people started to curse them.
But before any of them could do something, Sir Liu stopped them. He looked at Li Ming and asked, "Miss Li, what are we going to do with them?"
Li Ming first looked at the kneeling group and then at the fuming crowd. She knew that all of them were angry about the situation of their children who were working in the iron mines.
She finally turned towards Sir Liu and said, "This case is no longer just the matter of this village but also attached to treason against the imperial family. So, it's basically the Emperor who will take care of them. Don't worry, I'll arrange everything and I'll make sure that your children will return to their homes." Her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Li Ming went towards the group of culprits. She asked a man to search their bodies and another woman searched the three women. Other than a few accessories and money, they didn't find anything.
After the search was complete, Li Ming closed her eyes and murmured a spell that she had nearly forgotten. Next moment, the five culprits were captured inside prison circles.
Li Ming had put all of them in a different circle just to be safe. The circles were magical and no one other than her could break the spell. The reason was not that the others were not powerful but they had no idea what they were dealing with.
Until or unless someone knew exactly what was the spell, it's impossible to break it.
She also put a circle around Han Zhe's wife, daughter and son. But she put all three of them in a single circle.
"I'll try to get the three of you out from this case but I can't promise." Li Ming told them silently before walking away.
She then placed an alarm spell in the area which would alert her if someone tried to harm the circles. Then Sir Liu ordered few of his trusted people to guard the place.
Everyone returned to their house as they had to work the next morning. Although no one said anything but they all had started to trust Li Ming after working with her for a while. And they all believed that their children would be back with them soon!
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Li Ming directly teleported to the Fourth Prince's manor at the outskirts of the imperial city.
She had not been into the Royal Palace, so she could not teleport there to find Zhang Yong. That's why she decided to came here.
When she appeared there she only found the royal guards and the staff. The Prince and his personal guard were no where to be seen.
The guards and the staff had already seen Li Ming before with their Master. Therefore all of them bowed to her in greeting.
"Where is his highness? I have something urgent to talk to him." Li Ming said to one of the guards.
"Miss Li, the Prince had left for some important work two weeks ago. Right now we don't know his current location but we got the information in the morning that he will be returning after two days." The guard answered politely.
Li Ming thought for a while and then said, "It's alright. Just inform him about my visit."
Li Ming then teleported back to the orphanage. She was a little tired after using so much of her magical powers in such a short time.
It was already too late, so she didn't disturb anyone and silently entered the mansion.
She ate her dinner, took a quick shower and changed into her pajama bottoms. Then she went into the spell room.
It had been more than two weeks since she had stepped into the spell room but nothing prepared her for the view that she saw after setting her foot inside the room.
The door of the room had an ancient spell on it that makes sure no one other than the owner of the mansion could enter the spell room. That's the only reason the destruction that happened was limited to the spell room. Otherwise her whole mansion could be in pieces.
The spell room was beyond recognition. The books were scattered on the floor, the potion bottles were lying broken, the ingredients were also scattered around the room and even the tables and chairs were overturned. It looked like a tornado had passed through the room.
"What the heck happened here?" Li Ming was shocked beyond words. First it was nearly impossible for anyone to enter the mansion without her permission and even if by some miracle someone entered the mansion then it was IMPOSSIBLE to enter the spell room!
The floor was covered with broken glass and spilled potions. Li Ming didn't have the energy to carry on another case after such a long night.
Also she had suffered such a great loss. Most of the potions and the ingredients were hundreds of years old that had been prepared by her mother when she was the clan leader. And she still had not learned to make all of them. Moreover it was impossible to restore the wasted potions.
Li Ming wanted to curse the entire universe at the moment!
She took a long breath and decided to clean up the room. With the help of Snowy and her magic, she soon completed the task. But the now spell room was far from the previous one. The shelves which were initially filled with various potions, herbs and books were now empty and the room looked more like a broken storage than the sparkling spell room.
Since the book were torn apart, she had put all of them into the Regeneration Ball. It would fix the books again.
"Why there's no Regeneration Ball for these potions?" Li Ming said to no one in particular with a pout.
After looking at the empty spaces, Li Ming really wanted to spill some of her precious tears.
She took a last glance at the room and decided to take a break for the day. Just as she was going to leave the room, her gaze landed on the far corner of the room.
The room was really big and the only light was coming from one of the lamp, so Li Ming could not clearly see what was in there. But she was sure that she had seen something behind the sofa.
She pulled out a dagger from one of the shelves. The moment Li Ming touched the dagger it started shining with a red light.
She moved towards the corner with light movements. She moved around the sofa and raised her dagger to attack whatever was behind the sofa but the moment her eyes landed on the floor, the dagger fell from her hand with a loud clatter.
And before she could react, Snowy flew from the room barking at his full volume!
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Chapter 33 - The Culprit!
"Stupid Dog!" Li Ming shouted loudly at Snowy who ran out of the room like he had seen a ghost. His screaming/barking had nearly given her a heart attack just now.
She looked back at the man lying on the floor covered in black smoke or black mist or.....was it the poison that she had gathered from the fields.....Whatever!
It looked like she was doomed to exhaust herself tonight!!
Li Ming couldn't clearly see the face of the person who was lying like a dead man on the floor because of the black smoke. She was sure that the black smoke was the same poison that she had collected from the fields in the crystal ball but how it ended up attacking this man was a mystery.
Although it was important to find exactly how this man entered the mansion and what he did to her spell room but she was in no condition to interrogate another person tonight. Moreover the condition of the man was not looking good enough to answer her questions.
With some effort she found his hand and checked his pulse. After a while she finally found the problem.
It seemed like she had found the culprit who had turned her spell room upside down. His body was overflowing with the potions that were the pride of her spell room for decades or even centuries.
The idiot had drank all the potions not even caring whether they were even drinkable or not.
'What was he thinking? Was he trying to commit suicide? Fool!'
Ming's first thought was to kick the man out of the mansion and let him die. But if he died then wouldn't she be the one in disadvantage. He had ruined hundreds of the rare and special potions, she had to find a way to compensate herself!
After checking his condition from head to toe, Li Ming was slightly confused or rather shocked. He had control over black fire!
Did that mean he was a demon?
Li Ming looked at the man with a frown. He also had a lot of poison in his body. What's wrong with this man?
Li Ming struggled a little bit but finally succeeded in putting the man on the couch. She found some herbs and placed them while forming a charm, on his body.
Then she prepared a few potions and let the man drink all of them, which was not easy at all since she was unable to see his face clearly and he was also unconscious.
By the time she finished it was already 4:00 in the morning. She just left the room to take her much needed sleep.
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Li Ming woke up late in the morning next day. Though everyone in the orphanage were shocked since it was the first time when she was late, but no one disturbed her.
Li Ming spent the rest of her day teaching in the orphanage. It was kind of refreshing to spend her time in the company of small and innocent children. (Though half of them were her own age).
She visited the fields in the evening and took a look at Lian Hu and his group. Everything was perfect and she had to wait for one more day for Zhang Yong's return.
Li Ming had her dinner with the others in the garden. After everyone went to bed, Li Ming also entered the mansion.
She entered the spell and to her relief everything was in proper condition.
After seeing the room in tatters yesterday she was now afraid to find her spell room in that exact condition again.
The man was lying on the couch but due to the charm that she had placed on him last night, the black smoke had left his body.
Li Ming went close to the couch and looked at the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. His beauty was beyond words. In other words he could give a proper challenge to Zhang Yong in terms of handsomeness.
The long silver hair was covering the cushions like a blanket.
Li Ming had special love for silver hairs. Her own hair was silver back in her previous life.
The man was still sleeping and his jade white skin was sparkling in the florescent lights of the room.
The man was wearing dark purple and black color clothes which gave him a dark aura.
Li Ming sat down beside him and murmured a cleansing charm on the man. She checked his pulse which was now normal. After feeding him the potions that she had prepared last night, Li Ming closed the door of the spell room and left for her room.
That night Li Ming didn't sleep but read a lot of potion books. She needed to restock her spell room as soon as possible. After midnight she started cultivating.
Next day she also got late. It was nearly noon when she finally stopped her cultivation and got ready for the day.
When Li Ming came out in the garden, she was greeted by Long Jie, Zhang Yong's bodyguard.
"What's wrong? Why you came here alone?" Li Ming asked him.
"Miss Li, His Highness received your message and sent me to take you to him as soon as possible. He's a little bit tired after the long journey so he is resting at the Nan Xia Manor. But he doesn't want to make you wait. That's why he sent me here." Long Jie said in a hurry.
Li Ming looked at the guard who was standing before her. Although she was a little bit suspicious but she also knew that Long Jie was Zhang Yong's most trusted man.
She sighed and looked at the man with a smirk. "Are you sure that he sent you to take me to the Nan Xia manor and not the other way around?"
Long Jie was confused by Miss Li's words but he didn't got a chance to question.
The very next second his whole world started spinning and he had a strong urge to throw up. Just a few seconds later he was kneeling on the ground in the front garden of the Nan Xia manor.
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Chapter 34 - Poison (1)
Li Ming left the sick Long Jie with the servants. She was quite too familiar with his condition.
When her father taught her how to teleport, for the first few months she ended up getting sick after every lesson. That was the first time in her life when she wanted to give up on something.
But of course, being the heir of the mage clan, she was not given the privilege to say no. Specially when it comes to magic.
She walked through the silent halls of the manor and finally reached Zhang Yong's bed chamber.
Although Long Jie said that he (Zhang Yong) was only a little bit exhausted after their journey but Li Ming had a feeling that it was not that simple.
Before she could knock on the door, it opened from inside and she was engulfed in a tight hug.
"I missed you." Zhang Yong said as he released her. He closed the door behind them and ushered her to sit down at the table.
"Did you miss me too?" Zhang Yong asked as he sat opposite her.
Li Ming looked at the man and don't know why she felt like something was off about him that day. But she didn't voice out her doubts and said with a smirk, "Why you have the misunderstanding that I was busy missing you?"
"If you were not missing me then why you came here to find me?" Zhang Yong asked with a smile.
"Because I have something important to talk to you." Li Ming said seriously.
"Really! Now I'm excited to know that what is important enough to make you come here to find me." Zhang Yong said with a fake curiosity.
Li Ming shook her head at his acting but told him about everything that she had found out from Han Zhe and Lian Hu.
Nearly after twenty minutes or so, she finally completed telling him every single detail & information.
She was nearly out of breath by the end and quickly gulped down the water offered by Zhang Yong.
"What do you want me to do about this?" Zhang Yong asked curiously.
"I have two requests." Li Ming said seriously as she looked at the man in front of her.
"Go on. I'm listening."
"First, I want you to send all the children back to the village from the mines." Li Ming said.
"And...?" Zhang Yong was still waiting for her second request.
Li Ming stood up and went to the window. The view of blooming flowers outside the window was very beautiful.
"I want you to save Han Zhe's family. I don't care what happens to others but I want his wife, daughter and son. The three of them are innocent." Li Ming said as she continued to stare out into the garden.
She felt Zhang Yong coming behind her. She turned around to look at him. He was looking at her with an expression that she was unable to read at the moment.
"Your first request is not too much but the second one is not easy. According to the laws, a traitor's whole family is punished with him and saving Han Zhe's family would be difficult. Why do you think that I'll help you?" Zhang Yong asked her.
The expression on his face at that moment were unreadable. It was hard to say whether he was serious or testing her.
Li Ming smiled as she heard his question. "Your highness, I'm not a fool. I never thought that you will help me. That's why I said that I have two requests not two wishes. There's a very little but strong difference between these two."
"But I still can't think of any reason to help you." Zhang Yong said as he also looked at the flowers outside the window.
Li Ming smiled lightly and nodded her head. She came a little closer to Zhang Yong and said, "Maybe I can give you a reason. You help me in getting my two requests done and in return I will treat the poison that is running in your blood right now."
Before Li Ming could make a move she was pulled against the wall by Zhang Yong. He put both of his hands on either side of her shoulder, caging her within.
Although the force used by him was strong but he still made sure that Li Ming would not get hurt.
He looked at the girl who was not even a little bit afraid from him. He looked into her bright eyes and asked, "How do you know that I'm poisoned?"
Li Ming face broke into a soft smile as she replied with a smirk, "Did I forgot to mention that I have some talents in medical field?"
Zhang Yong started laughing and said in a cold voice, "Whenever I think that you can't amaze me anymore you proves me wrong everytime."
"And whenever I think that I'm starting to know you a little bit, you also proves me wrong." Li Ming replied with the same coldness.
Zhang Yong kept looking at the girl and finally sighed as he put his head on her shoulder. She had a very light fragrance of lilac on her body which helped him in relaxing.
Both of them kept quiet for a while. "Do you think I am being too much?" Zhang Yong finally asked after sometime but didn't move away from his position.
"I have seen worse!" Li Ming replied with a soft tone. She didn't try to push him away but neither made any move to hug him back. She could feel the tension in his body. Due to some unknown reason he was a little disturbed. Moreover she was actually interested to know what happened to him in the past few days.
Zhang Yong looked at her face as he stood up straight. "Is it possible to keep a secret from you?"
Li Ming looked in his eyes as she said, "Trust me Prince Yong, you are the only person around me whose secrets I still have not uncovered!"
Her words brought a smile on Zhang Yong's face and his sad and depressed mood suddenly changed into a happy one.
"You are the most amazing person I have known in my entire life!" Zhang Yong said as he embraced the girl in his arms tightly. It was like a silent promise to never let her go!!
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Chapter 35 - Poison (2)
Li Ming and Zhang Yong both were playing Stratego for past three hours. Li Ming was actually surprised by the speed at which Zhang Yong had learned the game.
One could say that he's a natural talent. But what angered Li Ming was the sad reality that Zhang Yong had already defeated her in the last game. And she was sure that she's going to loose again.
Li Ming put the board aside and looked at Zhang Yong with a sad pout. "You should have at least given me some face as your master! Shameless!"
Zhang Yong laughed after seeing her sad but cute reaction. "Alright! I promise, from today onwards I'll be the one to loose when it comes to you. Now are you happy?"
"Hmm. I think I am!" Li Ming replied with a soft smile.
undefined"Ming'er, are you really not going to treat me before your requests are completed? What if something happene to me? " Zhang Yong asked as he pretended to be in pain.
"Stop overacting! The poison is not going to kill you. Rather it will make you bald within two weeks. And according to our deal I'll treat you after you will complete my two requests. Don't think I will change my mind." Li Ming said as she rubbed Snowy's ears.
"Ming'er, you are too cruel!" Zhang Yong said with a sad face. But Li Ming completely ignored him.
"Alright, tell me how you got that poison inside you? I really wanted to know whom you had angered in the past week that the person even punished you with such a poison!" Li Ming couldn't stop laughing just by thinking about the situation.
"I don't know what you are talking about?" Zhang Yong pretended to be busy with the rolls that were covering half of the table.
"Alright! I know that it's embarrassing for you to tell me about the person who can actually defeat you. I will not pressure you." Li Ming said as she chuckled softly.
"You...!! Hey Snow ball, come here! I will be a better host. I'm sure this cruel woman tortures you every single day." Zhang Yong said as he tried to pick Snowy out of Li Ming's hands.
But before his hands could touch Snowy, the white fluffy ball was seen running out of the room like he was being chased by a death reaper.
Li Ming looked at the Fourth Prince and asked with a cold tone, "Whom are you calling a bad master?"
"When did I call someone a bad master? It's you who is assuming too much!" Zhang Yong replied innocently as he watched the snow ball fleeing out of the room.
"Ming'er, why that dog ran away like that?" Zhang Yong asked with a puzzled look.
Li Ming started laughing after hearing his question."Your highness, did you forget that not too long ago you had ordered your guards to put him in boiling water! How come you are expecting him to not react like that?"
"But that was only an act. It's not like I really boiled him!!" Zhang Yong protested.
Li Ming looked at the man who was acting like he was actually being wronged. "Do you really expect for a little animal to differentiate between your act and threat?"
It's not like Snowy could not differentiate between real threat or acting. It's just the dog like to overreact every now and then.
"Ming'er, your cultivation level is increasing rapidly. You are already at the last level of basic cultivators. I think it's time for you to have a spirit beast. Trust me, it will be much more helpful than that snow ball!" Zhang Yong said after thinking for a while.
"Stop calling him snow ball. It has a name, SNOWY! And thanks for the offer but I already regret having this idiot with me. If another one joined the group then I will probably end up in an asylum." Li Ming said bitterly.
"What's an as--sylum?" Zhang Yong asked as he had never heard that word before.
"It's a.....a...never mind. Now I'm getting late, I'll be going now." Li Ming said and stood up to leave the place.
After making sure that everything was in order for the plan, Li Ming teleported back to the orphanage.
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Within a day the matter of Lian Hu and Han Zhe was completely handled by Long Jie. All of them were taken to the capital and were locked up in the prison.
The very next day, all the children from the iron mines were back and met with their families.
In all the months Li Ming had been in this world, it was the first time she had felt true happiness, not only for her but also for others. The whole village was filled with warmth and love.
This was the day when the whole village kneeled down in front of Li Ming and vowed to be loyal to her from that day onwards. The villagers decided to follow Li Ming and the village was named as Dongji Village (Dongji means Winter).
It was Li Ming's idea to name the village after her previous name. Now, don't judge her, okay!
The iron mines were given to The Fourth Prince by the Emperor and the culprits were sentenced to death.
After two days, Long Jie came to the Dongji village with Han Zhe's family.
Just when Li Ming was thinking that she could finally take a break, she had another problem in her hands.
There were more than 50 children who had returned back to the village. Li Ming couldn't let these children waste their talents in the fields.
So with the help of the Old Sir Liu and Liu Hansi, she formed a plan.