112 This Was Merely the Beginning

The situation was more serious than Mo Lian expected, so he did not plan to hide it from his mother and explained the events that happened on his journey back to his mother.

Hearing the peril that the crown prince experienced on his return to the capital, Queen Zhao's face turned pale from fright. She grasped onto the crown prince's hand and asked, "Were you harmed?"

"Mother, don't worry. Your son is unharmed," Crown Prince Mo comforted. "As for the root cause of this matter, your son has already ordered Yu Xiu to investigate it. However, currently, from the looks of it, it should be related to the mutation of corpses. Therefore, a thorough search will need to be led inside the city for the next few days with the focus being families who held a burial recently."

Queen Zhao nodded furiously.

"Royal Mother, I'm afraid Guanlan City will be chaotic for a while. You and Twelfth Brother should stay inside the palace for now and not go out."

"Mother understands." Queen Zhao gently said with a frown, "It's you who should be more cautious since you frequently leave the palace."

Mo Lian nodded and spoke with his mother for a little longer before hastily bidding farewell and heading for the royal study.

He should naturally report this situation to the king so as to avoid criticism later.

As Mo Lian slowly walked on the quiet and secluded path powdered with osmanthus flowers, Mo Lian could sense that this calamity of mutated corpses was merely… the beginning.

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The rain stopped, but the ground remained wet.

Clack clack clack. A horse and carriage were the only presence on this empty street.

There was not a single person on the boisterous main street of Anshan Town. The stalls of street vendors that were placed on both sides of the street were also missing.

The doors of grain shops and steamed bun shops were knocked down long ago and the inside was ransacked thoroughly, as though a tornado had visited.

Qiao Zhongxing lightly sighed and pulled on the horse's reins to stop the carriage. He turned to look inside the cabin, "Qiaoqiao, we have arrived at Anshan Town."

Qiao Mu was still muddled from sleep. Upon hearing Second Uncle's call, she opened her fatigued eyes.

She did not close her eyes until the latter part of the night yesterday, so she had not slept for more than four hours.

The little foodie also woke up, but she was well-rested and energetically called "Sister" when she opened her eyes.

Qiao Mu had no words for her and placed the child into their mother's arms before putting on her outer robes. She opened the cabin curtain and nimbly jumped down.

"Second Uncle, let's rest here for a bit." Second Uncle had driven a whole night, she had to let him rest.

"Miss."

Qiao Mu turned around and saw Shaoyao jogging over with a small sac in her arms. "Here's some mantou and water. Have some."

"Okay." Qiao Mu nodded. She looked behind Shaoyao but did not see Ao'ye's figure. He must have hidden himself in some corner.

"Second Uncle, eat a mantou."

The timing was perfect. Qiao Zhongxing just happened to be starving beyond belief and hastily took two white mantou and a sack of water.

After giving some food to the impatiently watching Qiao Zhongbang, Shaoyao went into the cabin to distribute the rest of the food. However, the pleasant meal was quickly disrupted by a jarring voice.

"You want me to eat this???" A voice an octave higher than normal was heard from inside the carriage.

The anger that Miss High and Mighty, Qiao Wenjuan, had repressed the entire journey erupted for good at this moment!

Slap! She stretched out and knocked the mantou out of Elderly Lady Qiao's hand and also splattered the water from the water sack onto the old woman's hands.

"Mother! How could I eat such coarse and lowly food? I might get a stomachache after eating it!" Qiao Wenjuan completely disregarded the stab of pain in her mother's heart and ignored her mother's longing stare at the white mantou that rolled onto the ground.

"It won't, it won't! This is kneaded and made by Shaoyao last night. It's very clean and won't cause an upset stomach!"