Chapter 459: I’ll boil them to death
Who am I? Han Yunxi wanted to laugh and rage at the same time. This rotten brat, she’s actually asking who I am?
It had to be said that amnesia was a helpless, hateful thing for them all! Amnesiacs could give up responsibility for all they did, while those who remembered were burdened with the knowledge in their place. It was completely unfair!
Han Yunxi glanced at Gu Beiyue, who had no choice but to shake his head. Seeing his expression, Han Yunxi knew that Su Xiaoyu couldn’t possibly be pretending. The doctor had been worried about the girl’s brain from the start, though the amnesia had been an unexpected aftereffect. Still, that was better than lying in a coma for the rest of one’s life.
Long Feiye approached the bed to examine Su Xiaoyu before glancing at Gu Beiyue. Gu Beiyue only nodded in response, confirming Long Feiye’s unspoken question that the amnesia was genuine. Su Xiaoyu only felt confused after looked at the score of surprised faces around her. Although she’d lost her memory, her original personality was still intact—a rude, blunt girl despite her young age.
Once again, she asked Han Yunxi, “Who’re you? Why’re you calling me a stinker, how do I stink?”
This, this…
Han Yunxi rolled up her sleeves in amusement, preparing to teach the brat a lesson, but Baili Mingxiang spoke up first. “Little Yu’er, you can’t be rude! She’s esteemed wangfei, your lifesaver! Did you forget?”
“My lifesaver…” Now Su Xiaoyu was even more confused. She glanced down at her body, which seemed perfectly fine.
“You were an orphan that suffered serious burns. It was esteemed wangfei who saved you and brought you back. Without her, you would’ve been long dead by now!” Baili Mingxiang explained earnestly.
Everyone was at a loss to Baili Mingxiang’s words. But she was technically speaking the truth. Han Yunxi really had saved Su Xiaoyu’s life, or else she would’ve been boiled alive ages ago.
“Burns…” Su Xiaoyu muttered suspiciously before examining herself. She happened to brush against the bandages on her head and immediately reached for her skull, before touching it with both hands to feel the tight, taut skin against her scalp.
“Have a look yourself!” Zhao mama unceremoniously handed over a mirror, and Su Xiaoyu shrieked at the sight of her reflection.
“My hair! Where did my hair go?!” Right now she looked like a little nun with her head all bald and covered in gauze. Her features were young, tender and delicate, but they clashed with her unusually mature expression.
“Your scalp was injured by the burns, so how could you still have hair left?” Zhao mama said unhappily.
“Who burnt me?” Su Xiaoyu was in a foul temper. The room grew silent at her words. Neither Baili Mingxiang nor Zhao mama wanted to single out His Highness Duke of Qin, nor could they imagine his current expression. But Han Yunxi stared at him with mirth in her eyes, narrowing avoiding laughing out loud. With her so amused, what could Long Feiye do? He simply kept a cold, expressionless face and refused to speak.
“You got burnt by accident; fortunately, we managed to rescue you in time. Once your skin heals, your hair will grow back, don’t worry,” Han Yunxi promised. Losing her memories is like granting her a new life. Perhaps I’ll send her away after she gets better—she still has a long life ahead of her.
But Su Xiaoyu simply stared at Han Yunxi before she grew extremely serious. Word by word, she enunciated, “Then I’ll follow you for the rest of your life. And I’ll boil to death anyone who dares to bully you!”
For a second, the childish features of Su Xiaoyu morphed into an evil, almost demonic expression. Those bright, big eyes were filled with a deadset determination, causing the adults in the room to grow astonished. They couldn’t help but take her words seriously, because this was nothing short of an oath!
Han Yunxi’s heart suddenly filled with a peculiar feeling. She’d saved plenty of people in both her lives and had her share of grateful patients, but she’d never hear such a fervent vow from such a young face. She wasn’t even planning to keep Su Xiaoyu around anymore, but the girl’s sudden promise made her like the little devil a bit more.
“Do you mean it?” Han Yunxi asked seriously.
“If I’m lying to you, then let me die right here!” Su Xiaoyu replied without hesitation.
“You stinker, can’t you speak properly? So young and so venomous with your words already! What will you do in the future?” Zhao mama couldn’t help lecturing.
Heaven knows what kind of personality the girl had before, but she was probably wicked to the extreme. Still, Han Yunxi found herself taken in by the little girl. If she’d been moved before, she was seriously considering keeping her now.
“Fine, you can follow me. If you dare change loyalties in the future…” Han Yunxi paused to twist her lips into a threatening smile as she leaned in close, “I’ll poison you to death!”
Su Xiaoyu gave a start before her expression grew haughty again. “Hmph, I’ll never betray you!”
Before Gu Beiyue left, Han Yunxi made sure to ask him, “Will this girl ever recover her memories?”
“If this official isn’t mistaken, she suffered a blood clot in her brain. It’s likely that she’ll never heal from the damage in this lifetime,” Gu Beiyue said mildly. Han Yunxi was relieved by the words, but Long Feiye couldn’t help but worry. He eventually found at least ten doctors of Divine rank or above to examine Su Xiaoyu, all of whom gave the same prognosis: thanks to the combination of fright and brain damage, the girl would likely never make a full recovery in her lifetime. Of course, all of these are details that came later.
Just like that, Su Xiaoyu remained at the Duke of Qin’s estate. She grew restless on the same day she woke and had enough courage go leave her room even while sporting a large bald head. Her figure strolling around the courtyard only made Zhao mama shake her head.
“Mingxiang, do you bear any grudges against that girl?” Zhao mama asked.
“Even esteemed wangfei let go of hers, so why would Mingxiang hold grudges against a little child?” Baili Mingxiang smiled faintly in response.
Zhao mama was gratified by the answer. With a sigh, she said, “That child’s forgotten about everything that happened, so we may as well forget them too!”
Baili Mingxiang didn’t reply. Over the past few days, she’d been quietly searching for any hints or clues that Su Xiaoyu might’ve left behind in Leisurely Cloud Pavilion. Even if the girl had lost her memory, her masters were probably still keeping an eye on esteemed wangfei!
As soon as Han Yunxi settled things with Su Xiaoyu, she found Long Feiye and said, “Let’s go to Pill Fiend Valley right away! We’ve delayed for so long, but I want to settle accounts with Gu Qi Sha!”
Long Feiye’s mouth twitched. “Your back injury’s still recovering.”
“It’s fine, it’ll heal after two more times with the medicine.” What can be more important than tracking down Gu Qi Sha? I’ve been waiting for this chance for ages.
But no matter how Han Yunxi coaxed, wheedled, or acted cute, the cold-faced duke refused to yield on matters concerning her body. Long Feiye simply replied, “Then we’ll wait until you use the medicine two more times.”
“Your Highness, you agreed to leave right away before,” Han Yunxi said seriously. If not for Su Xiaoyu, they would’ve been at Pill Fiend Valley by now. Back then, Long Feiye had been too preoccupied with the matter of the inconsistent antidote quantities, so he’d agreed to leave without a second thought.
But now he simply retorted, “You didn’t end up going immediately anyways.”
“I… You…” the glib-tongued Han Yunxi was left at a loss for words.
“We’ll go after your injuries heal, your lordship promises,” Long Feiye said sincerely.
But he technically already promised, though that didn’t completely count, I guess. Han Yunxi didn’t answer, but gave him a sad, pitiful look.
“Cough…” Long Feiye sidestepped to avoid her delicate and lovely image. “You should go rest.”
Han Yunxi was about to encircle him and win her over with her eyes; unfortunately, Long Feiye turned on his heel and hurriedly stalked off.
“Your Highness…” Han Yunxi called out tenderly, but a certain man simply pretended not to hear.
Fine, I give up. Acting all soft like that just gave me goosebumps, much less going full-on coquette.
…if I really tried that on him, he’d probably run away even faster.
Self-help was better than asking others. Han Yunxi decided to lie down in the Leisurely Cloud Pavilion for the rest of the day so her injury could fully recover. She refused to believe that she couldn’t heal!
Actually, Long Feiye hadn’t left the scene at all. He was standing right inside the door to the courtyard, leaning against the wall so he was hidden out of sight. The expression on his usually cold face was peculiar to the extreme, like a palette of indescribable colors. It was only after Han Yunxi left that he walked back out.
Han Yunxi’s injuries were already forming a scab by the time Long Feiye re-applied her medicine. Over the past few days, they’d recovered wonderfully so that there were no more major issues. It was only the spot that Baili Mingxiang had accidentally disturbed that needed extra care. She found Baili Mingxiang to help her apply medicine, but stopped the girl before she could add bandages. “No need to bind them up this time, just expose the scabs so they’ll heal faster!”
Baili Mingxiang was thrilled. Her eyes flickered to Han Yunxi’s lower case, where Han Yunxi’s winged phoenix birthmark was peeking out a bit.
“Bring over a book of poisons for me,” Han Yunxi said. She was still a little dejected that she hadn’t made much progress with the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion, but she was too lazy to start up the detox system for a look inside. She even doubted whether she could crack its mystery with so little clues!
Originally, she assumed that Long Feiye would be in a rush to pursue the matter, but his attitude didn’t seem troubled at all. For all of his grand plans and aspirations, why did he never seem like he was in a hurry at all? After taking the chance during the famine disaster to bring Tianning’s three largest central provinces under his control, he hadn’t done much else. Wasn’t he anxious at all?
What’s he always busying himself with everyday, anyways?
Han Yunxi had private aspirations to command wars and go on campaigns. She wished her poison skills could be more formidable, that she could learn some martial arts or even political strategies so she could fight side-by-side with Long Feiye to create a new world for them both. Her daydreams were so wonderful that she fell asleep by the time Baili Mingxiang returned with the book of poisons. Baili Mingxiang carefully covered her with the bedcovers right up to the half-revealed birthmark to keep her warm.
After watching over her for a bit, Baili Mingxiang grew restless. Hesitation was written all over her face, but it finally settled down into resolution. Esteemed wangfei’s almost fully recovered. If I can’t gauge His Highness Duke of Qin’s stance on the birthmark soon, I won’t have much chance in the future.
She got up and went downstairs. “Zhao mama, I have urgent matters to tell His Highness.”
Even though she was living at the Duke of Qin’s estate state, finding him wasn’t easy! At least, Baili Mingxiang had no idea where to look, nor did she dare approach his personal rooms and their secrets.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao mama was puzzled. Baili Mingxiang had never sought to look for His Highness ever since she moved in.
“There’s a spot on esteemed wangfei’s burns that’s a bit troublesome. She’s sleeping right now, so I don’t want to make the judgement call. I’d rather consult with His Highness first,” Baili Mingxiang replied.
“What it is? Did the burns start festering?” Zhao mama grew alarmed.
“No, it’s just a question of how to apply the medicine. Zhao mama, can you find His Highness? I have to look after esteemed wangfei!” Baili Mingxiang said.
Afraid to tarry, Zhao mama set off to search at once…