Chapter 561: Chapter 197 Others_2

"The young master went out with his mother to wander the temple fair at night and somehow disappeared. Director Li, upon hearing the news, was beside himself, and he immediately notified all the forces and the City Guards, vowing not to stop until he had turned Shengjing upside down."

"After such a commotion, they actually found him."

Miao Liangfang paused at this point and looked at the people around him, "Guess where the young master was found?"

The crowd was clueless.

Pei Yunming’s eyes moved slightly, "Hidden in the Mo Residence?"

Miao Liangfang was startled, "How did you know?"

Pei Yunming shrugged, "I guessed randomly based on your long preamble."

Miao Liangfang was taken aback.

"Found in the Mo Residence?" Lin Danqing was surprised, "How could the child end up in the Mo Residence?"

"Not just—"

Miao Liangfang looked at the wine bowl in front of him, his eyes suddenly changing, "Not just Director Li’s young master, but also the little girl who had been poisoned, rescued, and then went missing again... and the young children who had disappeared one after another in Shengjing this past year..."

"...All of them were found in the flower garden of Miss Mo’s backyard."

The room fell silent at these words.

Lu Tong kept his head down, his expression unreadable.

Duan Xiaoyan was astonished and Zhu Ling shrank back a little in fear.

"Did Miss Mo kill the children?" Yin Zheng asked, her voice trembling.

Miao Liangfang shook her head.

"There is a secret chamber in Miss Mo’s boudoir. Director Li’s young master was still alive. By the time the government officers found him, he was nothing but skin and bones, barely breathing. It was only after Director Li questioned him that they learned of a shocking secret from the child," he continued.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Miss Mo was collecting young children from all over to serve as ’Medicine Men’ for her experiments."

"Medicine Men?" Lin Danqing exclaimed.

The crowd looked at her, and she explained, "I had heard that some people conducted new medicine trials on human subjects to develop treatments, but such methods caused great harm to those being tested, and were considered unethical by medical practitioners, so I have only heard about it in rumors."

Miao Liangfang nodded, "Correct."

"The day the officers found many children’s bones buried in the backyard of Miss Mo, they later discovered she had been secretly acquiring children to use as ’Medicine Men’."

"It started with the young girls in her courtyard, but the frequent replacement of servants within a month raised suspicions. Later, she began buying poor children from various traffickers, because she offered much Silver Coin, gradually enlisting a group of people who deliberately looked for beggar children and farmers’ children to buy."

"She hid these children in the secret room, providing them with food and drink, feeding them various poisons, and then counteracting them, over and over again. The children’s bodies were fragile to begin with; how could they endure such torment? At most they would last only a few months before they perished."

Miao Liangfang lamented, "As Doctor Ji once said, practicing medicine and diagnosing illness requires seeing a large number of patients. Although Miss Mo was exceptionally gifted, these children she treated as ’Medicine Men’ were key to her frequent miraculous remedies."

"The children led a miserable existence under her, worse than death. Except for the newly caught ’Medicine Man’, none survived."

"Had those people not happened to abduct Director Li’s illegitimate son from his concubine, who knows when this case would have been solved, or how many more innocent children would have died by her hand."

Duan Xiaoyan frowned deeply, "Is this not utterly devoid of conscience? What happened to that woman afterward? Was she executed on the spot?"

Miao Liangfang nodded, then shook his head.

"At the time, this case shocked Capital City, and the Mo Family was implicated as a result. Mo Wensheng was also thrown into prison. He claimed to be unaware of his granddaughter’s rearing of ’Medicine Men,’ but given the gravity of the situation, the Mo Family could not be exempt from responsibility, and all were imprisoned."

"On the day of the incident, Miss Mo happened to be out and thus escaped, but the Emperor ordered a city-wide manhunt. However, Miss Mo secretly returned to her residence one night."

Yin Zheng asked curiously, "What did she go back for?"

"It is said that there were many medical prescriptions hidden in Miss Mo’s boudoir, all developed while she was rearing ’Medicine Men.’ Miss Mo set her room ablaze, burning all those left-behind prescriptions to ashes. The government officers uncovered a charred body in the burnt-down residence, and the prison guards brought old Doctor Mo to the scene, who personally confirmed it was indeed Miss Mo. Not long after, Mo Wensheng was sentenced to death, and the case was closed."

A cool breeze carried a fine chill on the skin. Miao Liangfang picked up his wine bowl, moistening his lips that had become dry from talking, and said, "The story is finished."

The story is finished.

It was a tale of retribution for good and evil, but there was an undeniable sense of melancholy upon hearing the end.

Lin Danqing muttered to herself, "So that’s how it was. But why have I never heard this person’s name from childhood to adulthood? My father has never mentioned it, either."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read