Chapter 525: Unveiling truths
A few minutes later;
Shang Wei stood there in silence with his head hung down as Mark got up and patted his shoulder, "It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, but this is the truth. I'm going to send you to our Lan Sect's guardian where you will stay disconnected from the rest of the world and spend there until I'm done with tearing apart the Shang Dynasty that our dear forefathers painstakingly built it up.
Take this time to make up your thoughts."
"I…" Shang Wei wanted to say something but in the end, he cooperated, not because he blindly trusted Mark's words or because the truth is too much to take in. It is because he was worried about Lin Xue's safety.
"Steve…"
With a call from Mark, the 15-year-old entered and once again confirmed with his appearance that it was Mark who was behind Shang Jun's arm severing incident.
As Shang Wei's cultivation was sealed and taken away to Zheng, Mark sent a message to Song Yue to bring her friend to him upon reading her message through their communication scroll.
After a while, Lin Xue and Song Yue made their way to the royal gardens where Mark was seen sitting alongside Sylvandria with a kid in the middle as all of them were having tea. From far away, they seemed like one happy family.
Lin Xue was slightly taken aback as she saw the scene. She couldn't help but whisper to her friend, enquiring her about the situation.
As Song Yue cleared the misunderstanding, Lin Xue nodded in understanding and went on to take the seat.
Jingwei was quick to hug Mark's arm as soon as she saw Song Yue, "Papa, the scary lady is here…"
Her gaze didn't appear friendly and both the ladies were stunned for a moment. "Scary Lady?" Lin Xue looked at her once again while frowning inwardly. As for her outer expression, it remained blank.
Meanwhile, Mark quickly acted by giving a knock to her head using great force enough to kill a normal human usually, "I already told you not to address her like that."
"Ouch, it hurts…" Jingwei grabbed her head, "But, she is very scary."
"Ssss"
Letting out a sharp hiss of displeasure, Mark threatened her, "call her scary once again and I will throw you in the…"
"Lu Zhen," The elven beauty interrupted him and placed her hand on Jingwei's head. Divine energy started flowing through her hand and entering her head, "Let me handle it."
Jingwei's eyes widened as she hugged Sylvandria's arm this time, "Thank you, Pretty miss. You were the best mama I could ever have." She then turned her head to Mark, "Papa, can I call her mama please?"
"No." Mark's reply was instant and his tone was firm.
Lin Xue leaned her head to Song Yue's ear and whispered, "Are you sure this little girl is not his illegitimate daughter?"
"Don't spout nonsense," Song Yue gave a nudge with her elbow.
However, Sylvandria's ears perked up and the words entered her ears. She immediately looked at the blank-faced Lin Xue and spoke, "According to Jingwei, Lu Zhen is her birth father's reincarnation."
"What?" "Huh?"
As Song Yue and Lin Xue were surprised by Sylvandria's statement, Mark brushed her off, "That's just bullshit. I remember my past life very well. That world is located far away from here."
"What did she say?" Lin Xue was even more shocked now. She couldn't just believe what she heard and looked at her friend, who looked way calmer as if she knew about it.
However, Sylvandria argued, "It doesn't have to be your past life. It could be one of your past lives."
"Nope. It doesn't make sense," Mark didn't agree with her statement. "Are you telling me that I was born in this world, and then, somehow, reincarnated in a faraway world, and then reborn in this same world once again? How ridiculous it sounds?"
"Not if some god purposely reincarnated here," Sylvandria seemed adamant about believing Jingwei's words.
Mark stared at her while narrowing his eyes and she folded her hands to the chest and calmly stared back at him. Both of them participated in the staring contest for a few seconds before the guy admitted defeat and let out a sigh, "Fine, believe whatever you want to believe, Grandma."
"You should also believe my words, my dear grandson," Sylvandria let out a mischievous grin as she reached out to his head, patting him, "Now, be a good boy and…"
"Hey, don't go too far," Mark swatted her arm in displeasure.
Sylvandria's expression returned to calmness in an instant. "tch, you are too boring," She remarked before observing the two ladies who were staring at them. One looked very uncomfortable while the other was hard to read, although not for her. "Uhh, Lu Zhen, it looked like your friends have questions to ask."
Mark stopped talking to the elf and looked at Lin Xue, "Sorry, we drifted away. Let's speak of your situation."
Lin Xue sorted out her thoughts and asked in her plain tone, "Do you know anything about the recent mass murder incident, back at Imperial City?"
Mark responded with a question, "Who do you think is the mastermind?"
Lin Xue looked down for a few seconds and then looked at him, replying, "The most likely suspect is the Crown prince."
*Pfft*
Mark suddenly broke out into laughter, startling the ladies for a moment. As he continued to laugh, Lin Xue's mood turned sour, and she grabbed the edge of the table so tight that she might break it at any second. The observant Sylvandria intervened to stop his laughter.
After his laughter subsided, Mark continued, "A civil war erupted in the empire with two powerful major noble clans allied with the crown prince in hiding, creating the rebel force.
Surprisingly, within just a few days, the clan leaders, key elders from those noble families, and various former officials were assassinated right in the imperial city, despite it being under the protection of the entire northern division army." His demeanor eventually shifted to that of seriousness as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on top of it and fixing his gaze on the woman, "Now, who do you think is the likely suspect?"
"His Majesty?" Realization dawned upon Lin Xue instantly.