Chapter 67 Bringing You to Confess and the Good Deed You Did

Inside the Hall of Ruthlessness, the little dumpling blankly lowered the sound-transmission bell in her hand, cutting off her connection with Lady Mengpo.

Panic surged through her heart. It was over—she was completely finished.

That so-called fairy had actually gone so far as to lodge a formal complaint right before His Highness Yuheng, and had even provoked her father into launching a massive search for her.

What on earth was she supposed to do now?

The little dumpling was in such a state of utter disarray that she completely forgot there was someone standing right in front of her.

"Little Highness?"

What should she do?

"Little Highness?!"

Should she go and confess her crime?

"Little Highness! What is wrong with you?!"

What would her father do?

"Little Highness!" Weng Ze used every ounce of his strength to let out a tremendous roar, finally snapping her entirely back to reality.

"Ah, what is it?" The little dumpling gave a start, hastily scrambling to her feet to look at him.

"I should be the one asking you that, Little Highness. Whatever is the matter with you?"

"Ah... I, I'm fine," she shook her little head, evidently at a loss as to where to begin.

"Well, I called out to you several times just now. Why didn't you respond?"

"Did—did you?"

Weng Ze wore a solemn expression as he nodded. "Indeed. I know not what the Little Highness was pondering, to be so utterly absorbed?"

"Ha," the little dumpling let out a dry laugh, rubbing her hands together in helpless agitation. "I wasn't thinking of anything in particular... it's just what Lady Mengpo said a moment ago. Grandfather Weng, you heard it too."

"If it were you—"

"Me?" Weng Ze followed her pointing finger toward himself, looking rather puzzled.

"Yes, you," the little dumpling nodded emphatically, stressing every word. "If you were the one who injured that fairy from the Celestial Clan, and now my father is going to take you to confess your crime... would you... would you confess?"

Weng Ze blurted out without the slightest hesitation, "I would."

"What?!"

"I did the deed, and I committed the wrong. Of course I must confess. Why wouldn't I?"

"No, no, no, no," the little dumpling shook her head frantically. "That's not what I mean. I'm asking: if you hadn't done wrong, and hadn't committed any error, but they demanded that you confess anyway... would you... would you confess?"

"I would not!" Weng Ze lifted his chin high, his entire demeanor turning haughty and proud. "I have done nothing wrong. By what right should I confess?"

The little dumpling felt her heart ease slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching upward in a faint smile. "Then... what if the fairy of the Celestial Clan was indeed injured by you? Would you confess then?"

"I would." The reply was ironclad, crisp, and resolute.

This plunged the heart that the little dumpling had just laid to rest straight down into an abyss of despair. She protested indignantly, "Just because they belong to the Celestial Clan, does that mean whenever they are hurt, everyone else is automatically in the wrong?"

***

Yes!

That snake had been released by the big snake, and it was the big snake that had sought out a particularly venomous serpent to bite them.

She had learned of this from his own lips after he emerged, which meant she was equally complicit in the affair—after all, had it not been for her, the big snake would never have placed himself in such peril.

Therefore, it was effectively as though she, Miaoyuan, had unleashed the snake herself.

And now, the person they were searching for, the person expected to confess and take the blame, was none other than her.

"Little Highness, your words are somewhat extreme," Weng Ze advised gently.

Yet the little dumpling was in no frame of mind to listen; she was thoroughly exasperated. "Am I extreme? Grandfather Weng, even you said you would confess. How can you call me extreme?"

"Therefore," Weng Ze gazed at the somewhat unglued little pink dumpling before him, lowering his voice with certainty, "Little Highness, you are the one the Celestial Clan is looking for."

Her voice hitched, and her gaze snapped directly toward him. Time seemed to freeze in that exact moment.

Even the sound of the surrounding wind grew soft.

"Gran... Grandfather Weng..." The little dumpling's voice trembled faintly.

"It is quite all right, Little Highness," Weng Ze stepped forward and patted her small head consolingly. "Who among us has never made a mistake?"

"Besides, I believe that our sweet and adorable Little Highness would never intentionally go out of her way to harm anyone, am I right?"

"Right..." The little dumpling's eyes grew somewhat red. She reached out to clutch the edge of his robe, looking pitiful. "I didn't mean to hurt them."

"It was them—they struck at me first, wuwuwu. They even whipped me, and right now... right now I still have the lash marks they left behind on my body."

"What?!" Weng Ze was greatly alarmed. He hurriedly crouched down, inspecting her from top to bottom. "Where are you hurt?"

"Whereabouts?"

"Have you summoned a ghost physician to examine it?"

"Have you applied any medicine, ah?"

"Wah wuwuwu," the little dumpling could no longer hold back her tears, weeping bitterly in her profound sorrow. "I haven't had a ghost physician look at it, nor have I applied any medicine. Even my father doesn't know. Not a single person cares about me..."

The only one who had cared was the big snake back at Peach Wood Spring, who had applied healing ointment to her wounds and even given her his finest scale of protection to shield her heart.

He had warned her that the next time she encountered danger, she must protect vital areas such as her heart source and bloodline to avoid severe trauma—otherwise, next time it would not merely be superficial flesh wounds like this.

Yet these mere flesh wounds from a single whip had made her suffer agony in the dungeon for a full ten days. It was only yesterday, upon her release from the dungeon, that she had begun to feel somewhat better.

She hadn't even dared to tell her little uncle, and the only other person who knew—the white radish—was also recovering from injuries. She knew that the white radish had suffered an even harsher and more severe punishment than both she and her little uncle. How could she possibly dare to speak of her own injuries now, and risk having the white radish and her little uncle subjected to punishment all over again?

"Oh dear, my Little Highness, you are going to worry this old man to death." Weng Ze's heart ached fiercely. He hurriedly pulled her into his embrace and coaxed her with utmost care, terrified that this little ancestral deity of his might suffer even the slightest bump or fall.

"Tell me, whatever possessed you to endure this?"

"Such a massive affair, why... why didn't you tell the Lord and let him dispense justice for you?"

The little dumpling wept pitifully. "Wuwuwu, I didn't dare tell Father. I was afraid Father would punish me."

"And do you think that by speaking of it now, I shall spare you from punishment?"

Weng Ze's aged frame trembled, and he spun around in sheer disbelief.

"Wha... what?" The little dumpling belatedly poked out her small head to look toward the source of the voice, her little face freezing abruptly.

***

"Fa... Father?!"

Yin Yi strode into the hall, followed closely by Black Impermanence and White Impermanence. Judging by their posture, they must have been hiding outside the hall doors eavesdropping the entire time.

"Lord... Lord of Hell—" Weng Ze hurriedly spun around and bowed respectfully.

The little dumpling also stood up straight, swiftly wiping the tears from her face. Like a misbehaving child caught in the act, she stood rigidly at attention, awaiting her reprimand.

"At ease."

"Thank you, Lord."

Yin Yi walked right up before the two of them, let out a light chuckle, and remarked, "No wonder I issued orders throughout the underworld to thoroughly investigate this matter, yet turned up not the slightest whisper of news."

The little dumpling shrank her small shoulders, feeling the wound on her chest ache faintly in foreboding.

"So it turns out—"

The others all slowed their breathing, bowing their heads low in dead silence.

"It was the fine handiwork of my very own daughter?!"

"Thud." The little dumpling dropped neatly to her knees, her eyes instantly welling up with a pitiful, aggrieved red. "Father..."

"I was wronged."

"I didn't hurt her at all."

"It was her own attitude that was atrocious, and she fancied herself superior to everyone else. Her maid attacked me first, and only after that did I strike back."

"Are you saying you didn't injure her?" Yin Yi's expression turned somewhat icy as his voice dropped low. "They informed me that Lan Mei was struck by serpent venom!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." The little dumpling's tongue tied itself in knots from fright. "It is—it is not me."

Weng Ze: "!?"

Black Impermanence: "..."

White Impermanence: "..."

"But that big snake only attacked them because he was trying to help me."

The little dumpling's bravado withered away. Dropping her head, she muttered in a tiny voice, "It has nothing to do with him. If Father wants to punish someone, punish me."

"And you suppose I will not punish you?"

"Lord?!" The others stepped forward in unison.

Yin Yi swept his gaze across them, a trace of chill lurking within his eyes, frightening them into hastily retracting the steps they had just taken forward. He fixed his gaze intently upon the little dumpling. "However, the one who wishes to punish you right now is not me."

The little dumpling raised her small head, her tear-reddened eyes filled with resolve. "I am not afraid of their punishment."

"Then what is it you fear?"

"I fear that Father does not believe me."