The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Mo Qingfeng

Xia Wenjin laughed out of anger: ”Can you be any more roundabout?”

The monk in white rolled his eyes. The image he had painstakingly crafted was unraveling because of Xia Wenjin, and now even his words were being despised. However, after rolling his eyes, he decided to just let it all go.

Moments ago, he had the demeanor of a high monk, lofty and unworldly, standing tall with great presence. But now, he simply sat down by the eaves, his body slumped, and said, ”I’ve already told you my real name, are you satisfied now?”

Xia Wenjin said, ”Remove your disguise!”

The monk in white snorted, lifted his white eyebrows, pulled off his white beard, and rubbed his face vigorously. As white make-up crumbled, the old monk with white eyebrows, white beard, and wrinkles on his face was transformed into a handsome youth in his twenties.

Xia Wenjin looked at the top of his head with a half-smile and said, ”What about the tonsure scar? Not removing it?”

Mo Qingfeng rolled his eyes dramatically, protecting his head as if fearing that Xia Wenjin might peel off his scalp, and replied irritably, ”Why are you so malicious? This scar is real!”

”You’re not a real monk, so how can your tonsure scar be real?”

Mo Qingfeng opened his mouth, glaring at Xia Wenjin in exasperation, but soon he laughed again, with an animated air as if showing off, ”Though I’m a fake monk, the ordination certificate is real. It was a stroke of luck that I saw the old monk from Bodhi Temple going out to beg for alms, so I played a joke on him and took over his certificate. Since I had the certificate, I had to shave my head and burn a few tonsure scars to really look like a monk so I could make a living. Pairing that with my unrivaled disguise technique, I styled myself like that old monk and managed to coast along eating and drinking until I got here.”

”I knew you were a fake monk!”

Mo Qingfeng wanted to argue but opened his mouth and realized there was nothing to argue about. Nonetheless, he snorted proudly and said, ”Even if I’m a fake monk, who along the way hasn’t called me a high monk?”

If Xia Wenjin hadn’t spotted the flaws, he wouldn’t have needed to reveal all his secrets.

Xia Wenjin said with a half-smile, ”Whether you came to Shian Temple to swindle for free meals is none of my business, but why did you pretend that the missing women in River Mouth Village were taken as brides by the River God, leading the government to ignore it and the villagers to believe it?”

Mo Qingfeng murmured, ”River Mouth Village... Oh, you’re talking about the village where several young women went missing!”

”Besides that, did you not do any good deeds in other villages either?”

”How can you say I didn’t do any good?” Mo Qingfeng retorted indignantly, ”The missing women had nothing to do with me. I said what I did to comfort the victims. Moreover, didn’t I leave a message telling people to come find me here?”

”Who did you tell to find you here?”

”Anyone with a destiny!” Mo Qingfeng glanced at her with a grin and said, ”Young lady, destiny is a profound thing. Don’t ask me what counts as having a destiny! It’s something you comprehend but can’t express; it comes naturally when it’s meant to be, and you can’t summon it when it’s not time.”

Xia Wenjin’s gaze sharpened, and her brow furrowed: ”What did you just call me?”

Mo Qingfeng raised his eyebrows, giving a little shake, and said in surprise, ”I called you young lady. Should I call you young master instead? I can do that too, young master. I’m an enlightened monk, detached from worldly concerns. You say what you are, and that’s what you are—I’m very amenable!”

Xia Wenjin: ”...”

Feeling a bit unwilling, she said, ”How did you find out?”

”Find out?” Mo Qingfeng shook his head repeatedly, ”Your disguise technique isn’t bad; it’s about eighty percent as good as mine. You can’t tell by looking!”

With that, Xia Wenjin felt much more relieved, as she was very confident in her disguise skills.

Still, she was puzzled: ”Then how did you know?”

”By observing with heart!” Mo Qingfeng gloated, ”At the very least, this poor monk is an enlightened high... cough, though not with Eyes of Golden Flame, this heart of mine is indeed a Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart!”

Xia Wenjin smiled sweetly, ”Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart? I’ve never seen it, how about I dig it out for a look?”

Mo Qingfeng jumped in fright, leaning back so much he nearly pressed against the tiles, ”How can you be so malicious? A young lady talking about digging out hearts and killing people, aren’t you afraid you won’t get married!”

”Who says I want to get married?” Xia Wenjin snorted, half-smiling, ”You’d better fess up, what is your purpose in deceiving and bullying the villagers by pretending to be a godman? Are you, perhaps, the demon abducting women?”

Mo Qingfeng jumped up, shouting, ”You’re the demon! I’m just trying to make a living. I never expected people to believe what I said completely; if they did, how’s that my fault?”

Xia Wenjin’s face darkened: ”Fraudulent rogues, utterly unapologetic! Don’t forget, I know your true identity, aren’t you afraid I’ll report to the Abbott of Shian Temple and expose your little tricks to the world?”

The previously incensed Mo Qingfeng suddenly laughed upon hearing this. He lazily sat back down, waved his hand, and smugly raised his eyebrows: ”Go ahead and report! You know my secret, and I know yours. If you tell the Abbott, I’ll reveal that you’re a woman!”

”You’re threatening me?”

”No, it’s an exchange!” Mo Qingfeng leaned on the eaves railing, even crossing his legs and shaking his leg as he said, ”You have my secret, and I have yours. We could have peacefully coexisted, but you insist on ripping off the masks, forcing me to let it all go!”

Xia Wenjin turned her head, smiling brightly: ”Fine. If my identity as a woman is exposed, it doesn’t matter; at worst, I won’t disguise myself as a man anymore. You, on the other hand, with your fraudulent practices using a purloined ordination certificate, can never pretend to be a monk again! Come on, let’s go to the Abbott together and talk it out!”

Saying so, she turned as if to leave.

The previously carefree, unconcerned Mo Qingfeng sprang up like a spring, blocking Xia Wenjin, face plastered with smiles: ”Stop, stop, stop, my lady, I was just joking with you, why take it seriously? No need to get worked up, let’s talk it over calmly!”

Xia Wenjin smiled, ”This won’t do, it’s not fair to you. I know your secret, and you know mine. We should both make our secrets public; that would be the fairest way!”

”No, no, no. Little monk believes that suffering can be a blessing. Fairness, whether it exists or not, is not really important!”

”Really?”

”Of course, it’s even truer than pearls!”

”Will you tell me everything I want to know?”

”Absolutely, I’ll speak what I know, and spare no detail!”

Mo Qingfeng grinned ingratiatingly, ”Young lady... oh no, young master, please sit, please take the upper seat!”

Trying not to laugh, Xia Wenjin boldly sat back by the eaves, looking at Mo Qingfeng with her chin raised, speaking unhurriedly, ”Alright then, what’s the real story about River Mouth Village? Why did you deceive the villagers with a false River God wedding tale, making them believe there truly was a River God, to the extent that they would drown people alive! Explain it, please!”