A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 26

"Zhan Zhao understands," Zhan Zhao said in a deep voice.

Sensing something odd about his tone, Mo Yan turned her head and saw him silently gritting his teeth.

"Ultimately, the Song Dynasty's rule belongs to the Zhao family. The Emperor hopes that the Kaifeng Prefecture will understand the people's sentiments and solve cases with divine insight, but he doesn't like the Kaifeng Prefecture to keep doing things again and again..."

Zhan Zhao had already figured out the reason and interrupted rudely, "Could it be that His Majesty already knows that the Jiangnan embezzlement case is related to members of the royal family?"

"Your Majesty has probably guessed something, otherwise why would I have bothered to come all the way from Lingnan to Suzhou..." Ning Jin's tone softened considerably when he saw Zhan Zhao's unfriendly words, and he added with some reassurance, "Of course, don't worry, I will never obstruct the Kaifeng Prefecture's handling of the case. I'm just covering up the royal family's embarrassment and making Your Majesty look better."

Mo Yan was a little confused. Looking at Zhan Zhao's expressionless face, she noticed that Ning Jin had a faint smile on his face, as if the situation had been reversed.

"So, Your Highness, you led us here last night..." Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly.

“I knew someone was watching you, so I sent Zichu to check if they were from the Imperial Palace. If so, I ordered them not to cause any trouble and to return to the capital immediately. But those two were rather dimwits; they actually started fighting with Zichu. I guess I did you a favor in a way…” Ning Jin said, then realized something was amiss and asked curiously, “Didn’t you already know? Why are you asking me?”

Zhan Zhao remained silent, knowing that although Ning Jin spoke in a high-sounding manner, he was afraid that they would implicate the person behind it all.

Chapter Nineteen

"We just found out too, from what you told us." Mo Yan smiled brightly, deliberately trying to annoy him.

Ning Jin stared at her without blinking and said, word by word, "You don't know?"

She shook her head with utmost sincerity.

"Then how did you know Zichu was injured?"

"His breathing was unsteady, clearly indicating that he had suffered internal injuries."

"How do you know that the other party is using a sword?"

"There was a small scratch on the outside of his right sleeve, from a sword."

"How do you know it's a sword, and not a knife?"

"A sword is double-edged, while a knife is single-edged, so the marks they leave are naturally different. Your Highness is an amateur when it comes to weapons. Even knives come in many varieties, such as willow-leaf knives, curved knives, and nine-ringed gold-backed cleavers, each leaving different marks and wounds. You wouldn't understand even if I explained."

"How do you know that the other person is his friend?"

"If they could have seriously injured him, but instead held back and stopped short of killing him, it can only mean that they have a relationship with each other."

"...And, and..." Ning Jin didn't know how to ask her for a moment.

"You'd better not ask anymore. You led us here, thinking you had everything covered up, but actually..." Mo Yan looked at him with pity.

Ning Jin gritted his teeth and made a final struggle. He couldn't lose face in front of this little girl no matter what: "I deliberately showed some flaws to see how capable the Kaifeng Prefecture was at handling cases. You guys are passable."

"I didn't see that," Mo Yan turned to Zhan Zhao and asked, "Did you see it?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, showing Ning Jin no respect whatsoever: "I didn't realize."

Ning Jin glared fiercely at Zhan Zhao, who had always been kind and generous, but now... it seemed that he had truly become like those he kept near.

"Your Highness, if there is nothing else, Zhan Zhao will take his leave. I will also be taking Miss Mo with me."

"Take her away, take her away! ...I never want to see her again!" Ning Jin said angrily.

Mo Yan didn't mind at all, her face clearly showing that she had the same idea. She simply gestured to Zhan Zhao to show her still bound hands and feet.

Cutting with a sword would be the quickest way, but Ning Jin was, after all, a prince, and it was not appropriate to draw his sword in front of him. Zhan Zhao bent down and slowly untied the ropes for Mo Yan.

The ropes were tied quite tightly. Wu Zichu was a martial artist and only wanted them to be tied securely. When Zhan Zhao untied the ropes from her hands, he was shocked to see that her wrists were purplish-red and swollen almost immediately.

Zhan Zhao didn't speak, then half-squatted down and untied the ropes binding her feet, his displeasure growing.

Although Mo Yan was a martial artist, she was still a girl, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't in pain. She rubbed her hand, wincing and gasping for breath. Suddenly, she looked up and saw Zhan Zhao squatting right in front of her, inches away, his head slightly lowered, his features clear and handsome; she could even see each of his eyelashes…

Hearing Mo Yan gasp for breath, Ning Jin suppressed his impatience and glanced at her, only to find that Mo Yan was staring intently at Zhan Zhao with an extremely strange and focused expression.

Ning Jin deliberately coughed loudly.

Nobody paid him any attention.

Mo Yan didn't even blink.

Zhan Zhao was still untying the ropes, and he was almost done.

"Alright." Zhan Zhao straightened up and saw Mo Yan still staring blankly at him. "What's wrong?"

"Like the sun in one's presence, like clouds in one's gaze"—these two phrases swirled vaguely in Mo Yan's mind. Previously, when Xiao Chen had asked her to recite the *Records of the Grand Historian*, she had always only vaguely understood the meaning of these two phrases, but somehow they suddenly popped into her head now, and she vaguely felt that they were perfectly suited to describe the person in front of her.

"Miss Mo, what's wrong?" Zhan Zhao thought he had done something wrong.

"Um?"

Mo Yan gave a vague reply, but her face still looked like she was lost in thought.

"Let's go."

"oh……"

Without thinking, she stood up and started to walk, but her legs had been bound for too long and were already numb. As soon as she took a step, she fell forward involuntarily.

Rao's Zhan Zhao reacted quickly, grabbing her arm to prevent her from falling headfirst to the ground, though her knees slammed heavily onto the ground.

"Ouch!" Mo Yan cried out in pain, now fully awake.

"Are you... alright?" Zhan Zhao looked at her with a hint of helplessness.