Consort of a Thousand Faces Chapter 567.2 - beat him to the punch

Chapter 567.2: beat him to the punch

“Xie Yun will leave the capital city with Zhen Yu, so the two of them wouldn’t meet.” Pei Qianhao patted her back in reassurance.
Su Xi-er bit her lip. Will everything really be okay?
“Xi-er, be good and rest. I’m going out for a while, but I’ll be back soon.” Pei Qianhao tucked her back into the blanket and patted her cheeks before exiting the room.
Su Xi-er listened to his steadily departing footsteps as she thought about Shi Mo’s intentions.
If everything is as A-Jing says, then Shi Mo’s face wasn’t like that when he was born, but was eventually disfigured. If that’s the case, and A-Jing remembers meeting Shi Mo when he already had that face… Could it be that it wasn’t only because he did something to Rong Qing, but because of his face that Shi Mo was abandoned by A-Jing’s parents?
Shi Mo is the only one who knows the truth. Getting to know him better is key to unraveling the mystery behind A-Jing’s background.
Pei Qianhao and Du Ling were now in Shu Xian’s repose palace, and the three of them were coming up with strategies to counter Shi Mo.
After they had finished their discussion, a guard was immediately sent to freeze all assets under Shi Mo’s name, with the order going out just in time to hinder the latter’s plans.
Shi Mo smashed his winecup on the floor in anger when he found out.
“Master, what do we do next?” His henchmen bowed as he spoke; it was no longer possible to proceed with what they had in mind.
“If that’s the case, there’s no need to sell the remaining land and property. Burn them all, and spread a rumour among the commoners that calamity will befall Dongling very soon.” Shi Mo instructed coldly.
“Master, you’ll incur huge losses if we do that.”
Shi Mo scoffed. “Not everything is here in Dongling. I have loads of spare cash. For the fields of land, make sure to burn as much as you can. It will be even better if it can spread to fields owned by others.”
Seeing him bent on destroying his assets, the henchmen left to carry out their orders immediately.
Within just four hours, several places inside and around the capital caught fire. The county magistrate had to wake up in the middle of the night to oversee the firefighting efforts. He then drafted up a letter detailing the losses and had it sent to the imperial palace.
Night was supposed to be peaceful, but everyone in the capital seemed to be afraid of what was to come. There had been several groups of palace guards running around the streets in the day, and now there were rumours about a calamity befalling Dongling.
The commoners were panic-stricken, with some even packing up their belongings in case they had to leave the capital.
The capital city of Dongling was thrown into chaos in just one night, an outcome that Shi Mo was pleased about as he sipped wine while reminiscing about his past.
“I bring calamity to my parents? Hmph, I wonder who my real parents are. Sending me away because they were cornered by a bandit. It was those very bandits who destroyed my face!” Shi Mo cackled, tears falling from his undamaged eye, while the other practically glowed with a murderous aura.
“It was me- me! I threw Rong Qing into the wolf’s den! Who knew that he could survive a wolf attack.” A frown appeared on Shi Mo before he slumped onto the table and mumbled, “Who would have expected that there would be a child who killed his own father!”
He fell silent after this. This was the first time he had lost control of his emotions in many years.
Outside the door, Chu Linglong had heard everything. This man has so many secrets hidden in his heart. You’re not the only one who did that. Chu Xian killed his father too.