Chapter 494: She doesn’t dare to consider the truth
He didn’t claim the last portion of Broomcorn Millet antidote for himself? What does that mean? If he didn’t take it, then where did it go?
Han Yunxi’s other reason for leaving Gu Qishao here was to ask him who he’d sold the antidote to, but Gu Qishao simply said he never took it!
“Gu Qishao, wait up!” Han Yunxi chased him out the door, but he was already gone. She stood there blankly, her head still in a fog from her recent fever and sleepiness. She carefully reviewed his words and everything that had happened with the antidote before she started to get a headache.
At the very onset, she had calculated the approximate quantity of antidote possible from the size of the Serpent Fruit in Pill Fiend Valley. Gu Qishao had used inert medicinal powders mixed in with the pure antidote to cause a reaction within the porcelain bottles, thus dying them black. The results had proved that he had given Long Feiye a full bottle of antidote. Back then, she hadn’t thought much of it and assumed he’d given Long Feiye a black bottle to start with. Thus, she’d rejected Gu Qishao’s evidence.
If Gu Qishao wanted to give her fake antidote, why did he bother picking a mixture that would react with the same thing at a given quantity? Why leave himself a back door out of the mess? She had thought over the same issue back then, but only superficially. Her assumption was that the man had been trying to cheat them out of the unaccounted portion of antidote. She had been so persistent with her ‘quantities’ argument, not because she had something to prove, but because she had wanted to disprove Gu Qishao. She was already convinced of his guilt before they arrived at Pill Fiend Valley! There was no way she could suspect her own husband against a man who cheated them of antidote in the first place.
But!
What about now? It was Gu Qishao who had cheated us out of the antidote! Gu Qishao was the one who took her to see Mute Nanny in the first place, so he had no reason to kidnap the woman and use that portion of antidote to cure her poison. One portion was the perfect quantity for a one-time cure of Broomcorn Millet Poison. If it was Gu Qishao who stole it, then who? And what had they done with it?
Han Yunxi suddenly felt a sense of fear. She was afraid to pursue the thought any further, nor was she willing. In hindsight, it looks like Gu Qishao’s actions with the fake antidote was all done on purpose. Was it possible he knew something she didn’t?
“Gu Qishao! Get back here!”
“Gu Qishao, I know you’re there. Come out and explain yourself!”
“Gu Qishao!”
Han Yunxi ran into the courtyard, yelling at the top of her lungs. But this time Gu Qishao had left for real, so nobody answered her calls.
Can I pretend to be ignorant? Can I pretend I know nothing at all? Han Yunxi’s heart murmured to herself. She had never been afraid of the truth until now.
If…if it really was Long Feiye who had lied to me, then why?!
She felt like she seriously needed to calm down. She didn’t dare to consider any further, but paced restlessly in circles until she saw a familiar form standing by her door. That tall and lofty form, that cold and handsome face—it was him, Long Feiye!
“Your High…” she started out of habit before coming to a stop and choosing to fall silent.
Long Feiye looked at her coldly, his black robes emanating an aura of emotionless indifference. The two of them were less than ten steps apart, but it felt like they were in completely different worlds to her.
I was not when you were born, you were old when I was born. 1 Time was the greatest distance of all!
Long Feiye, if I hadn’t transmigrated, would you already be old and gone in my world? Would you be nothing more than a piece of ancient history?
If that were the case, would I be less sad?
Long Feiye didn’t speak and Han Yunxi’s thoughts were all disordered. Her heart felt even worse, and she desperately needed time to calm down. She turned to leave when Long Feiye suddenly asked in a cold voice, “You saw Gu Qishao?”
So, Chu Xifeng went back to tattle on me?
So, after last night, he finally came here to find me because of Gu Qishao?
She had left her medical pouch at the brothel and purposely refused to go back and get it, just so he could see. Then he’d have an excuse to find her again. She knew that he would search the entire room, so it’d be impossible that he’d miss it. Yet, today he had come only because Chu Xifeng told him what had happened!
Han Yunxi’s heart turned completely cold. She didn’t answer him, but walked away. Long Feiye quickly dashed forward until he was right in front of her. “You haven’t answered your lordship’s question yet.”
Han Yunxi sucked in a breath before raising herself up with a warning tone. “Yes, I saw him! May I ask if Your Highness Duke of Qin has any other business?”
Her overly formal tone was like a thorn deep in Long Feiye’s side.
“What, you were so reluctant to see him leave? It looks like your lordship came at the wrong time,” he laughed coldly.
Han Yunxi’s eyes stung before she finally lost it and provoked him. “Yes!”
“Han Yunxi!” Long Feiye flew into a rage. He grabbed her shoulder, nearly crushing her beneath the force. Lady Helian arrived just then and cried out in alarm.
“Your Highness Duke of Qin, have mercy! Your Highness Duke of Qin, esteemed wangfei has a shoulder injury, you cannot be so fierce! You cannot!”
Long Feiye finally remembered the wound he’s seen on her shoulder back at the brothel and abruptly released her, but it was already too late. Fresh blood seeped through the fabric on her shoulders and dyed his fingers red. He looked dazedly at the blood on his hands, then at Han Yunxi’s ashen, stubborn little face. It felt like a knife had sliced through his heart. He was about to apologize when Han Yunxi burst into a brilliant smile as lovely as a flower, beautiful and dazzling to the eye.
Long Feiye, everyone saw my injury but you! You were the only one who saw nothing, from last night until now!
“Your Highness Duke of Qin,” she said, “If there’s nothing else, please leave at your convenience. I’m still searching for Qi gege rather urgently.”
‘Qi gege?’ A frightening aura of killing intent enveloped Long Feiye. His bloodied fingers slowly clenched into a fist, his knuckles cracking under the strain. It seemed like he could punch the air at any moment, leaving Lady Helian to gape silently at the sight. The pain in Han Yunxi’s shoulder was almost killing her, but it couldn’t compare with the agony in her heart.
She didn’t say anything more, much less ask him about the Broomcorn Millet Poison. She simply bowed slightly and turned to leave. Long Feiye watched her go with narrowed eyes, but he didn’t move even after she was out of sight. It was only after Chu Xifeng finally caught up that he regained his senses.
“Your Highness, this subordinate…this subordinate…” Chu Xifeng didn’t know what to say. He had gone back to make his report, but didn’t find His Highness anywhere in the Duke of Qin’s estate. He could only double back to the Han Estate, only to see His Highness right here.
Before Chu Xifeng could figure out what had happened, Long Feiye simply turned and left. The other hand hidden behind his back had been holding a medical pouch the entire time. Who else could it belong to but Han Yunxi?
“Guard Chu, did you go back to tattle? A subordinate should wish his masters well. It’s fine if you don’t want to play mediator, but why did you stir things up instead? What kind of motives are you harboring in that heart?! Yunxi definitely isn’t that type of girl, she must have found Sir Gu to discuss serious matters! I’m telling you now, that pair will never let you off after they make up!” Lady Helian warned him indignantly.
Chu Xifeng felt grossly wronged. “I didn’t say a thing! I only found His Highness just now!”
“Then why did the two of them end up arguing again?!” Lady Helian huffed in her rage.
“Go ask your family’s married daughter!” Chu Xifeng was both aggrieved and angry. He couldn’t be bothered with so many details and decided to chase after His Highness instead.
Who cares about that woman who can’t even tell good from bad! His Highness’s health is more important! He needs two to three days of seclusion to properly treat such a serious internal injury, or else his body won’t be able to take it.
Once everyone was gone, the Han Estate resumed its previous peace. Han Yunxi hid herself in the medical storehouse and took care of her injury herself. It was a deep wound to begin with, and Long Feiye’s aggravation only wasted all of the previous care and treatment. Now blood was pouring out of it continuously. She used the medicine left for her by the white-robed man and combined it with the Han Estate’s blood-staunching medicine; fortunately, it yielded good results. After carelessly binding it up, she was left tired and listless. She lay back in a pile of medicinal materials, loathe to move a muscle. Her head ached fiercely, making her reluctant to think about anything, But Mute Nanny’s case and Gu Qishao’s reminder, along with Mu Linger’s roadside accusations, all repeated themselves in her head. She thought and thought until she inexplicably fell asleep in the medical storehouse.
Lil Thing poked its head out from a corner and saw the state of Mama Yunxi’s wound before scampering about anxiously. Just then, it’d been ready to bite that Duke of Qin to death, but refrained because it knew that would just make Mama Yunxi sad. It could only huddle up docilely next to Mama Yunxi’s body. How it wished its gentleman could take Mama Yunxi away! The gentleman was the only person in the world who would never hurt its Mama Yunxi.
As night fell, the entire capital city was still ablaze with lights. Soldiers searched through all the houses for traces of the assassins, making it hard for anyone to get a good night’s sleep. Near the Han Estate, Gu Qishao was lying on a roof with both arms behind his head, staring at the starry skies. Eventually he started muttering to himself.
“Qi’er, be good…Qi’er, good, good…”
When he was young, his father used to coax him to sleep that way. It had already been ages since he thought of his childhood. Today, Poison lass’s words had stirred his memories of the past. He didn’t recall how old he was, only that he had once been a child, but his favorite thing to do was roll up his sleeves and trousers before running barefoot through the mountainous woods behind the medical academy. Every time father found him, he’d pick him up high and place him on his shoulders for a ride back to their house concealed in the woods. Back then, he always had trouble sleeping. No matter how hard he played during the daytime, he still needed someone to coax him to sleep at night.
Father used to hold him and say, “Qi’er, be good…Qi’er, good good…Qi’er, be good…Qi’er, good, good…”
But one day, father had suddenly handed him over to the head elder of the medical academy and told him, “Qi’er’s been afflicted with a strange disease, so the head elder will adopt you. In the future, you have to eat all the medicine he gives you.”
Father had explained many things to him, but he hadn’t understood any of it. In the end, he discovered that his father was an elder of the medical academy with both name and repute. Because of that, he wasn’t allowed to have any children of his own, much less allowed to expose the whereabouts of his secret house in the woods. After all, those lands belonged to the Poison Sect. Ever since that day, he became the foster son of medical academy’s head elder. He never saw his father again, but began to eat medicine day after day, taking it as his three meals.
Whenever he ate to the point of throwing up, his foster father would tell him that he’d only get to see his father if he was good, stayed alive, and ate all of his medicine. All he ever wanted to do was see father again, because he didn’t have any mother. His earliest memories only had a single papa…
Suddenly, a loud boom sent the entire capital city quaking. Gu Qishao immediately recovered his senses and bolted to his feet!
Where did that explosion come from? What’s going on now?!
1. I was not…you were old… (君生我未生, 我生君已老) – junshengwoweilao, woshengjunyilao, lines from a classic Tang Dynasty poem, author unknown, in which the speaker laments having fallen in love with a much older lover. You can read the full text here under Poem #8 and listen to the lines here.