Mo Zi had been furious, but Yuan Cheng’s scolding broke her composure, making it impossible to keep a stern face. “What kind of fate is good? He’s not even related to Prince Su, so why are you so pleased?”

“Elder Sister.” Dou Lu listened in confusion. Though she didn’t understand who they were talking about, it seemed to have something to do with Mother’s side of the family.

Mo Zi turned her head and said apologetically, “I wanted to tell you, but never knew how to bring it up, because no matter how I looked at it, I felt Grandfather’s family wasn’t worth acknowledging.” Her instincts had been correct after all.

Dou Lu’s brow furrowed, her hand tightening on the reins. She wanted to ask, but didn’t know where to begin.

Prince Su had been stabbed by Yuan Cheng’s words and received Mo Zi’s cold mockery, but this old ginger was spicy indeed—unruffled, he could still speak his piece. “You can’t say that. Your grandfather and I are the best of friends. Now that old and young can recognize each other, this is a great joy for me too.”

He called out behind him, “Minister Wang, come say a fair word.”

Mo Zi focused her gaze and saw a person slowly walking forward, wearing a gray fur cloak and a fur-lined hat. The person reached up to remove the hat, revealing an aged face, though the eyes remained sharp and the expression clear and dignified.

She had never seen Wang Yang before, but she knew this was him. That Great Zhou’s illustrious two-dynasty prime minister, Wang Wanlian’s birth father, hers and Dou Lu’s maternal grandfather, finally separated from Prince Su’s shadow.

At this moment, she truly had many questions she wanted to ask, but when she opened her mouth, only three words came out: “Why is this?”

Wang Yang looked at her without warmth in his eyes. Only when he saw Dou Lu did a trace of tenderness appear, before turning cold again toward her. “Why what?”

“Why must you obtain the treasure? The Wang family already has status, reputation, and wealth. Why are you still appearing here now?” With unlimited glory and possessing everything, she truly couldn’t understand this old man’s thinking.

“Have you ever been poor? Poor enough to fight wild dogs for food, to the point of starving to death?” Wang Yang’s face showed a cold smile. “I’ve been that poor, so I swore I would never let my children and grandchildren encounter the same circumstances I did. The treasure has no owner—the capable claim it. What are you to dare condemn me? You’re just like your father, utterly naive. Not knowing the heights of heaven or the depths of earth, thinking you can make a living with your own two hands. In truth, you’re the most humble of ants—anyone with a bit of power or money can crush you.”

Mo Zi felt no pain from these words.

“Don’t you dare speak of my father and elder sister that way!” Dou Lu stepped forward boldly. “How do you know we haven’t been poor? When I escaped from Yuling and got separated from Elder Sister, I had no silver, no food. I was hungry for days with only water to drink, and in the end I scavenged dried rations from dead bodies to eat. But so what? That’s all in the past—I came back to life. And I understand now that as long as you can eat your fill and dress warmly, life is good. What use is silver? Between me and a hundred taels of silver, my godmother gave white flour steamed buns to me and saved my life. True feelings in this world are most precious. You possess them but cannot see them. Elder Sister is right. This family relation cannot be acknowledged.”

Jin Yin clapped his hands. “Jiu Jiu, well said! Speaking frankly, who doesn’t have one or two embarrassing poor relatives? With so many people present today, sever the relationship immediately. Besides, being together with rebels—when word reaches the Great Zhou Emperor, sooner or later the whole family will be executed. Cut ties early to avoid sharing their misfortune.”

Wang Yang was undaunted, as if he had prepared for this long ago.

Mo Zi then asked, “Did you order our parents’ deaths?”

Dou Lu stared at Wang Yang in horror.

“I gave no order, but I also didn’t save them. Wanlian was devoted heart and soul to that man who wasn’t worthy of her at all. She refused to come home and refused to hand over the Water Purification Pearl. There was nothing I could do.” Wang Yang had been aware of everything from beginning to end.

Mo Zi closed her eyes tightly, hearing Dou Lu’s sobbing. This twisted soul before her, she was powerless to save. “She was your own daughter.”

“And the pearl in my palm that I cherished most.” Among many children, Wanlian was most like him in cleverness, but she was too kind. “I paved the road for her, to make her the most supreme and noble of people. But how did she treat her father?” Condemn him for not valuing family affection?

“She actually said she wanted to marry a craftsman, and the child of the Min family that I despised.” Wang Yang snorted coldly. “When Min Zhen used the treasure to build his fortune, my ancestors were still clearing wasteland. When the Min clan expanded their business and wealth filled their gates, my grandfather worked himself to death. My father sold my sister to a brothel so I could study. Laughably, having clearly stolen and grown rich from it, they praised that old Master Min Zhen as a peerless master craftsman—”

“…” Mo Zi sighed. A person could be poor, but perhaps if poverty reached the bones, even flying to success and eminence couldn’t cure the poverty sickness. This was a pathology. An inability to balance, a repressed pathology.

“I became the top scholar at seventeen, a minister at twenty-eight, left vice premier at thirty-five, rose to prime minister at forty-one—below one person, above ten thousand. The Wang family could finally far surpass the merchant Min family. But my daughter wanted to become the Min family’s daughter-in-law, to bow to the Min family’s ancestors—this I could never tolerate.”

“Of those who equally knew the secret, one was extremely wealthy, one extremely poor. Your hatred has reason, and it has no reason. To say you don’t believe in the treasure is false. Starting from a young eunuch, the Wang family has likely harbored resentment for generations, and by your generation you possessed the conditions to unearth the secret and obtain it. But bearing so much resentment, you went to extremes. You say you gave my mother a chance, but I say Heaven gave you a chance. A Min-Wang family marriage—if you had accumulated virtue and good fortune, one day the treasure would have belonged to both families.” It seemed there was no need to doubt the treasure’s authenticity anymore. Mo Zi sighed again. “But my parents fulfilled their final filial duty to you. A few days before foster father went out, Father said happily that someone from the family was coming to ask him for good wine. That family member was you, wasn’t it? You never planned to really come—you merely used this to keep our family of four at home, making it convenient for Prince Su’s assassins to seize the pearl and kill people. I wonder if in your dreams you can smell the aroma of the wine Father and Mother prepared for you?”

Wang Yang narrowed his eyes. No, he had never felt remorse.

Prince Su interrupted them. “Let grandfather and granddaughter chat another day. Quickly hand over the ten Water Purification Pearls.”

Yuan Cheng dealt with him. “Prince Su has it wrong. Although there are several Water Purification Pearls, there aren’t ten, and how could such precious items possibly be carried on our persons?”

“Prime Minister Yuan, that’s no fun. How could I speak out without assurance?” This time Prince Su was determined to succeed. “Unless you won’t shed tears until you see the coffin? Just now you said money is useless, true feelings are most precious—very well, I want money, you want true feelings. I’ll make an exchange with you right now!”

Jin Yin scoffed. “You still have such things?”

Prince Su waved his hand, and someone was brought forward from behind.

That person wore shackles on hands and feet, struggling somewhat unwillingly. When the face lifted, curses came out: “Wu Wansheng, you dog, your word means nothing.”

Mother Yuan Qiao!

There had been too many shocking things today—Mo Zi remained calm.

Yuan Cheng was perfectly composed, smiling as he said, “May I ask Prince Su, where are these feelings?”

Mother Yuan Qiao immediately flew into a rage. “You unfilial son! Seeing your own mother bound hand and foot without any concern—aren’t you afraid the whole world will condemn you for lack of filial piety?”

This was a decision to tear off all pretense, to abandon everything.

Jin Yin made a sound and said to Yuan Cheng, “Hey, you really can hide things. Your mother escaped with you, yet you pretended to be an orphan in front of us to gain sympathy.”

Mo Zi felt that being able to joke at this moment was simply divine—she almost laughed.

“I also didn’t know my mother was still alive.” But Yuan Cheng only smiled. “And after so many years apart, I can’t recognize her at all. What’s with this face? Although I was young then, Mother had a small mole on her left cheek—I remember it clearly. Second Brother, quickly help me look—did it grow to the other side?”

“Nearly twenty years have passed—she’s bound to be a bit older and uglier. As her son, are you still being picky about your mother?” Jin Yin also smiled.

Prince Su hadn’t expected that using Mother Yuan Qiao as a threat wouldn’t work. His eyes darkened somewhat before he said, “Prime Minister Yuan, although this woman was foolish enough to abandon you, she is your birth mother regardless. No matter how heartless a person is, they cannot refuse to acknowledge their own mother like this.”

“Prince Su, she’s foolish, but why are you being foolish too? Everyone knows I’m the youngest son of the Yuan family, who at age five became a criminal condemned by imperial decree and fled to another country. Speaking of which, this was your scheme. You destroyed my entire Yuan clan, and now you say this woman is my mother to threaten me. If it were you, would you eagerly acknowledge the relationship? Not to mention this woman isn’t my mother—even if she were, today I could only righteously eliminate kin. The moment she saw me she cursed viciously—not like treating a son, but like a mortal enemy.” Yuan Cheng clapped his hands and called out Huayi. “You say she’s my mother, I say this is your son. With just a mouth, who can’t make things up?”

Huayi stared blankly for a long while, then lowered his head.

Unable to continue the act, Prince Su glanced sideways at Mother Yuan Qiao. “Still saying he cares about your life or death? I think he’d clap with joy. So useless—keeping you is superfluous.” As he said these words, he secretly observed Yuan Cheng’s reaction, but found the other still showed not the slightest concern. He simply hardened his heart. “Someone, kill this woman.”

Mother Yuan Qiao immediately knelt down. “Your Highness, spare my life. Allow me to say a few more words to them.”

Prince Su said nothing, tacitly permitting it.

Mother Yuan Qiao stood up, turned around and looked at Mo Zi. “If you want A Hao and A Yue to live, take out the Water Purification Pearls.”

“Your tricks are really plentiful.” Jin Yin rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong with A Hao and A Yue?” Asking wouldn’t hurt. Mo Zi spoke.

“Those two have taken poison. Within one year, without the antidote they’ll die.” Whether they refused to continue serving her or not—she disdained keeping useless people anyway.

Mo Zi called the two out. “Is what Mother Yuan Qiao says true or false?”

The two looked at each other and said in unison, “False.”

“You can look at the soles of their feet. If the poison is attacking the heart, it shows as purple.” After Mother Yuan Qiao finished speaking, A Hao’s feet shuffled back.

A Yue denied it. “I’ve already found a solution. Miss need not worry.”

Mo Zi then knew the two had indeed been poisoned. No wonder A Yue was always poring over medical texts.

“Water Purification Pearls in exchange for two lives.” Mother Yuan Qiao stared intently at Mo Zi.

Mo Zi complained to Yuan Cheng, “When you first gave these two to me, having me keep people for fun, you said they were my sworn guards. Now look—raised them too expensively, didn’t we?” Who protected whom?

Prince Su finally lost patience. “Who would give up a priceless treasure for two sworn guards?”

Guards stepped forward, raising their blades toward Mother Yuan Qiao.

“I would.”

Everyone looked at Mo Zi.

Mo Zi took out a wooden box. “Dead objects in exchange for lives—acceptable. But I have one small request.”