Chapter 20: Life and Death
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"My Lord, I thought we should be rewarding him handsomely instead of executing him?" Prefecture Duke Han Chengan stood up and responded immediately.
"Why is that so?" Situ Qian frowned and answered.
From the very beginning he had never liked Mo Tiancheng, the Prefecture Lord of Northern Qin Prefecture. Not only did the Mo Clan’s descendant not offer the medication which they owned, to Cheng Yu State, he also let everyone know of its formula. Situ Qian did not care about Mo Wuji’s motive but just wanted him dead.
"My Lord, Mo Wuji's contribution in the form of the Nine Lives Healing solution has been beneficial to both the country and its people. You could have executed him before he came up with this drug. However, you must not do anything to him now. If word were to spread that he was executed even though he had developed such a miraculous drug for the people, it would ruin your reputation and be very unfavourable towards Cheng Yu State.
On the other hand, if people were to find out that you did not sentence him to death but rewarded him handsomely for saving the lives of many commoners, Cheng Yu State will be more stable and people will be more united."
Prefecture Duke Han Chengan said his piece and retreated to the side.
Although his words were not very clear, Situ Qian understood them well. Mo Wuji offended him, but Situ Qian should look past the offence and reward him handsomely. This act would stabilise his position as the Lord and people would love him even more.
He could not have cared less about the life of a commoner like Mo Wuji. However, he had to care about how it will affect the stability of his position. Moreover, things had already happened and it was up to him to act upon it to improve or ruin his own reputation. The answer was very clear, even to an idiot. Furthermore, he could have easily executed Mo Wuji after the hype over him dissolved as everyone would have forgotten about him.
"The Duke’s words makes much sense. Someone bring Mo Wuji to me now, " Situ Qian immediately understood the key to this matter.
A moment later, a pale looking young man with messy hair was brought into the hall.
Could this be the drug refiner who developed the Nine Lives Healing solution?
Everyone was shocked at the outfit and appearance of Mo Wuji. Yes, normally a drug refiner would not bother about his appearance but that was only when he was actually doing work in the laboratory. In most cases, a drug refiner would still dress decently outside of work. Even if he was at work, he should not look as pathetic as Mo Wuji did then.
"Get on your knees, " The guard who brought Mo Wuji in shouted as he saw Mo Wuji assessing the situation in the hall.
It appeared as though Mo Wuji had not heard him as he continued looking around. As though he had no idea that he was visiting the Lord.
"You may go back. To succeed as a drug refiner and to have made such a huge contribution to the country, I shall allow him to stand and speak," Situ Qian waved to the guard and spoke in a pleasant tone.
After the guard retreated, Situ Qian looked at Mo Wuji and asked, "So you are Mo Wuji?"
Mo Wuji seemed to have a clearer idea of the situation now, and looked curiously and shockingly at Situ Qian and said, "Yes I am Mo Wuji. And are you the Lord? "
A minister standing by the side suddenly stood up and scrambled to question Mo Wuji but was stopped in his tracks by Situ Qian, "I've heard you developed a top quality drug like the Nine Lives Healing solution. Could you tell me how you did it?"
He heard about the incident where Mo Wuji went crazy. After all, Mo Wuji was still the descendant of the Northern Qin Prefecture's Lord, he was bound to receive news about him. It’s just that Situ Qian could not care less about him. In other words, if Mo Wuji had not developed the Nine Lives Healing solution, the Lord himself would not care even if he were to die on the streets.
However, he could make full use of Mo Wuji's talent if he really was a talented drug refiner.
Mo Wuji heaved a sigh of relief, having walked through the gates of hell to find out that the Lord would not have him killed. Having almost died from the Channel Opening Solution and constantly being worried about penicillin bringing him bad luck, he barely had a moment of peace and rest. How could he still not spirited now?
Entering the hall looking like an idiot could have been part of his plan too. He was a crazy person to begin with so it was only natural that his reaction was a little slow.
"My Lord, this was a product my late father passed down to me. He told me that if I were struggling to survive, I could bring it out to save myself. Previously, I suffered from trauma and went crazy. Now that I've just recovered, I thought of the product my father left me. I took it out and decided to work with Dan Han Drug Refinery. I had no clues on how to actually refine drugs," Mo Wuji explained.
Situ Qian felt a little remorseful for not paying more attention to Mo Wuji's life after Mo Wuji explained himself. He did not suspect Mo Wuji's words. He knew Mo Tiancheng was a drug refiner. When he went missing, Mo Wuji was not born yet. Therefore it made perfect sense that Mo Wuji was not able to learn how to refine drugs from his father. After all, drug refining was not something everyone could learn easily.
"So why did you spread the formula around then?" Situ Qian continued to question him.
Mo Wuji pretended to look nervous and said," This formula was passed down from my grandfather to my father, so that he could present it to the people when he succeeded the throne. However, he died early and did not manage to succeed the throne. Previously, I was too obsessed with being the Lord that I entered a blind alley. Now that I've recovered and know that the Mo family will no longer have a chance to succeed the Northern Qin Prefecture's throne, I wanted to make use of this opportunity to do something for the people. Nine Lives Healing solution would be able to save the lives of many, gaining some praise and recognition for the Mo Clan."
Situ Qian nodded his head subtly. As the Northern Qin Prefecture's Lord had always been from the Mo Clan, this would have been the best way to gain some prestige and garner support for his reign, especially for a new Lord like himself. Up till then, he believed as much as 90% of Mo Wuji's words.
"If this was the case, why did you work with Dan Han Drug Refinery to sell the drug at such a steep price? Only to give away the formula after producing a batch of drugs," Situ Qian questioned and stared straight at him.
Mo Wuji said with a little bit of fear, “Previously, I did not even have enough gold coins to fill my stomach. Where would i find the money to publicise the drug? Dan Han Drug Refinery's owner treated me very well. So I have three main reasons for doing so. Firstly, I needed the money to publicise it. Secondly, I wanted to repay Owner Lu's kindness towards me. Thirdly, I wanted to let everyone know that Nine Lives Healing solution is a top grade healing solution, not just something I exaggerated."
Situ Qian was filled with even more regret after he heard Mo Wuji's reply. If he knew of this a day earlier, he could have prevented the formula from being leaked out.
Situ Qian forcefully put aside his unhappiness towards Mo Wuji, pondered for a moment and said, "Mo Wuji, even though you did not personally develop the Nine Lives Healing solution, it is still part of the Mo Clan’s contribution to Cheng Yu State. As the Lord, I've decided to reward you. If you still dream of succeeding the throne, it is not exactly impossible."
Those who knew about Mo Wuji's past lamented his luck when they heard these words. This was like the saying: "A watched flower never blooms but an untended willow grows." The Mo Clan wanted the throne so badly that Mo Guangyuan died and Mo Xinghe went crazy. Now that Mo Wuji introduced this drug, he was given the hope of succeeding the throne.
Almost everyone believed that Mo Wuji would want to succeed the throne of Northern Qin Prefecture especially since he went crazy after his failure to do so. Even after he recovered, many believed he still dreams about it.
Mo Wuji sneered. If Situ Qian was to give up the throne to the Mo Clan, his father would never have lost his life in Rao Zhou City. Looking at the big picture, if he were to agree to succeed the throne, he might not be too far away from death.
Let's not talk about whether he could make it out of Rao Zhou City to Northern Qin Prefecture safely. Let's say he made it to Northern Qin Prefecture with a stamp by Lord Situ Qian to be a Lord there, was he not courting death? How could he have possibly forgotten that he was almost poisoned to death just yesterday?
No matter who was the one who tried to poison him, Mo Wuji was dead sure that even if he died yesterday, this Lord of Cheng Yu State would definitely not have said anything about his death.