Mo Jiuye learned from the officials that Eight Brother had left with Prince Rui, and immediately went after them with He Zhiran.
Prince Rui ordered the guards to invite them in.
Mo Jiuye's eyes were cold as he said solemnly, "Greetings to Prince Rui." His words were polite, but his tone held no respect at all. He didn't even bother to bow.
He Zhiran had never cared much for the etiquette of this era to begin with. She stood beside Mo Jiuye without moving, not even opening her mouth.
Prince Rui glanced at the two of them, then made a welcoming gesture. "Please sit."
Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran to sit unceremoniously next to Eight Brother.
His hearing was excellent. When he had asked the guard to announce them to Prince Rui outside the door earlier, he had already overheard snippets of the conversation inside the room.
When dealing with someone who was likely an enemy, Mo Jiuye held nothing back with his words. "Based on what Prince Rui just said, the puppet worm in my Eight Brother was indeed your doing?"
Faced with Mo Jiuye's question, Prince Rui was quite frank. "I can only say I'm involved."
Mo Jiuye raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't put the puppet worm in my Eight Brother?"
Prince Rui shook his head and smiled wryly. "I didn't, but now that the mother worm is in my hands, I'm implicated regardless."
Seeing that was Prince Rui's response, Mo Jiuye decided to hear his explanation before interrupting.
Prince Rui continued, "Five years ago, I went on an outing to the suburbs with some staff. On the way, a mysterious man appeared and scattered some poisonous powder right in front of me. The people with me all fainted from the poison, but I was unaffected."
Mo Jiuye asked, "Why?"
Prince Rui gave a bitter laugh. "I've had a unique constitution since childhood that makes me immune to worms and poisons, so I didn't fall victim."
"What happened after?" Mo Jiuye intended to hear the full story before commenting.
"Afterwards, the mysterious man knocked me out and took me away. When I woke up, I was in a basement.
There were many skilled guards watching me, so I couldn't escape. It wasn't until a day later that the mysterious man appeared again.
He told me that he had used worms on my Imperial Mother. If I didn't do as he said, he would use the worms to torment her.
Knowing I didn't believe him, he sent me directly to the palace to visit my mother. Within three hours, my mother would suffer agonizing worm bites all over her body. If I wanted her to live, I had to go to Wangpo Pavilion twenty li south of the capital to find him after that happened.
I rushed back to the palace as fast as I could, and found that my mother was suffering exactly as the mysterious man had described, her whole body writhing as if from worm bites. It was a fate worse than death.
To save my mother, I didn't dare hesitate. I hurried to Wangpo Pavilion where the man was indeed waiting, just as he'd said."
As he spoke, the pain in Prince Rui's eyes grew clearer.
"The man took out a white porcelain bottle again, and told me this contained the mother worm controlling my mother. Whether she lived or died was now in my hands.
I asked what he wanted me to do. The mysterious man said I had to obey his every order, or he would crush the mother worm and kill my mother.
To save my mother's life, I had no choice but to compromise for the time being, while I looked for a way to get the worm out of her."
Hearing this, the three listeners had countless questions arise in their minds.
Mo Jiuye asked, "What did he make you do?"
Speaking of this brought a look of shame to Prince Rui's face.
"He told me to get close with people from the Ministry of War. I'm not skilled in forming factions and plotting privately. I found out that He Zhiyuan's concubine had borne him a daughter, so I set my sights there..."
This completely confirmed what He Zhiyuan had told them. The one behind everything was indeed Prince Rui, just as they'd suspected.
"So you were the one who had He Zhiyuan withhold supplies from the Border Pass soldiers?"
Seeing that the Mo brothers were glaring at him like tigers eyeing prey, Prince Rui felt a chill down his spine.
But since he had chosen to come here, he was prepared for the consequences. He had no intention of shirking responsibility.
"Yes, I told him to do that."
Mo Chuhan slammed the table and jumped to his feet.
"Prince Rui, you are an imperial prince of the Da Shun Dynasty. How could you do something like this?"
Prince Rui didn't call anyone in to restrain Mo Chuhan as expected. Instead, he explained,
"I openly told He Zhiyuan to withhold supplies, while secretly tipping off Nan Qi. I knew if something happened, the Mo Family would never just stand by."
Mo Chuhan was hot-tempered by nature. Even with this explanation, he still didn't look pleased.
"That doesn't erase your crimes."
"I know I'm guilty. Once I find someone who can remove the worm from my mother, my wish will be fulfilled. When that time comes, I'll accept whatever you brothers decide to do with me." Prince Rui said sincerely.
Mo Chuhan gave a cold snort. "Hmph! As mere commoners, what right do we have to deal with an imperial prince of Da Shun?"
Mo Jiuye still had many questions. He pulled Eight Brother's sleeve to signal him to keep calm.
Seeing Eight Brother sit back down and fall silent, Mo Jiuye asked,
"What about the puppet worm in my Eight Brother?"
When it came to the puppet worm in Mo Chuhan, Prince Rui took the initiative to hand over the bottle to the brothers.
"While searching for ways to remove the worm from my mother, I privately found many books related to worm techniques, so I gained some understanding in that area.
One day the mysterious man sent a messenger to bring me a message. The messenger wore black robes and a face covering, but his eyes were blank and dull. I could tell with one look that he was under the control of a puppet worm.
Perhaps because the will of the man in black was strong, after delivering the letter he was supposed to leave immediately but instead lingered in front of me, wandering back and forth.
Out of curiosity, I took the chance to pull down the black-robed man's face covering, and recognized him as Mo Chuhan with one glance.
I was completely shocked in that moment. As far as I knew, Mo Chuhan had died at the Border Pass, so how could he be this man's puppet?
At that time, only you, Mo Jiuye, remained of the Mo bloodline. I respect the Mo Family, so I decided to try to rescue Mo Chuhan.
Before Mo Chuhan could return to report, I hurriedly scribbled a note saying I didn't have many skilled fighters by my side and wanted Mo Chuhan to stay and help me.
I was just taking a chance with this. My mother's life was in his hands, so there was nothing I could do if he refused.
I had already given up hope and was thinking of other ways when, to my surprise, the man brought Mo Chuhan to me himself.
He said he was very satisfied with how I handled things, and I would need capable guards by my side when I ascended the Da Shun throne in the future. Therefore, he agreed to give me Mo Chuhan, and also handed over the mother worm controlling Mo Chuhan."
On this point, neither He Zhiran nor Mo Jiuye doubted him. When they read that book "Compendium of Worms", it mentioned that transferring control of a mother worm only required the worm master to make the new master drip a drop of blood.
