Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Hui Hui Strikes

Lin Zhao froze. “No one can be born with Heavenly Phoenix Phoenix Fortune?”

Granny immediately waved it away. “Too early. When your cultivation reaches Nascent Soul, you’ll be qualified to know these things.”

Lin Zhao held back her questions, letting the mystery settle like a stone she would carry for later.

Granny’s tone snapped brisk. “Now take out the herbs Granny told you to collect.”

Lin Zhao pulled them from the Spatial Ring. “These are for treating Ning Wen Gui, right?”

Granny nodded. “Your friend was poisoned by a Fifth-Rank Nether Python. A Fifth-Rank spirit beast isn’t the true issue. The problem is that he carries a trace of Ancient Dragon bloodline. That’s why those healers are helpless.”

The ancient Dragon Clan was one of the few ancient races that could rival the Heavenly Phoenix. Any creature carrying even a sliver of either bloodline was extraordinary.

To break poison tied to an ancient Dragon bloodline, you needed an antidote born from the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline—or, better yet, something even purer from the Dragon Clan.

But spirit beasts with those inheritances had their own lineage protections. They were not easily obtained.

Lin Zhao gave a bitter smile. “But these herbs don’t carry Phoenix bloodline. My Phoenix Fortune can’t be used like a bloodline, can it?”

“It can’t be used as bloodline,” Granny said, “but when it comes to suppressing Python Poison, it works similarly. In ancient times, even if the Nether Python’s old ancestor, the Nine Nether Python, were alive, it would still have been food for the Heavenly Phoenix.”

Lin Zhao’s expression tightened.

Granny nodded, satisfied the ingredients were complete. “Now grind these into medicinal juice, boil it, and take a bath in it.”

Lin Zhao stared. “A bath?”

Granny’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want to save him or not?”

Lin Zhao’s instincts screamed bad omen, but she didn’t argue. She went down to the inn’s small kitchen, paid an extra low-grade spirit stone, and boiled the medicine herself.

When she poured the brew into the bath back in her room, the stench hit her like a fist.

Lin Zhao stared at the swirling liquid and thought, not for the first time tonight, that her friendship with Ning Wen Gui maybe wasn’t that deep.

“Now,” Granny barked, “while it’s still hot, get in!”

Lin Zhao didn’t hesitate. She stripped and stepped into the foul liquid, letting it rise over her skin.

It didn’t burn, but she felt something gradually seep into her body as the color faded.

Granny’s voice turned instructive. “That brat’s body is wrapped in Python Poison and already extremely weak. He can’t take medicine like this, and he can’t suppress the corrosive effects from the poison either. Only after your Phoenix Fortune pins the poison down can you let the medicine’s power soak through his entire body little by little and truly save him.”

It sounded simple.

It wasn’t.

By the time the bathwater turned completely clear, two hours had passed. Lin Zhao’s skin prickled with exhaustion, her spiritual energy running in slow, steady circles.

She had left the auction house four hours ago. Outside, the sky had fully darkened.

A knock came at the door.

Lin Zhao opened it to find Steward Wang. He cupped his hands, polite and hurried. “His Highness invites Miss Lin to the auction house for a talk.”

They were both smart. No more explanation was needed.

Lu Mei’s matter had come to a head.

Lin Zhao only hadn’t expected it to blow up so late.

Sensing her surprise, Steward Wang gave a strained chuckle. “The Emperor Lord was present this time as well. He saw the Second Imperial Prince and Miss Lu losing control on the spot and scolded them harshly, but…”

Lin Zhao’s gaze sharpened. “They tried to drag me down with them.”

Steward Wang’s expression tightened with apology. “We really made a spectacle of you.”

Following him back to the auction house, Lin Zhao found the private room had been cleaned spotless—no trace of what had happened, no lingering scent, no broken cups, no shame.

A burly man sat at the head, hawk-eyed and hard. When he looked at Lin Zhao, something complicated flashed through his gaze.

The You Lan Emperor Lord.

Lin Zhao offered a junior’s salute. “Lin Zhao greets the Emperor Lord.”

Then she looked at the two kneeling on the ground, faces twisted with hatred, and smiled without warmth.

“What’s going on?” she asked lightly. “Is the engaged couple here to beg the Emperor Lord’s forgiveness for committing a wrong together?”

Lu Mei’s teeth ground audibly. “Miss Lin, if your heart is set on the Second Imperial Prince, why drag me into it? Today was supposed to be the day you and the Second Imperial Prince—”

The Emperor Lord lifted one hand.

A crushing pressure fell.

Lu Mei’s words died in her throat. Her eyes widened in terror.

She knew what she said was absurd. She didn’t care.

The disgust of being defiled by scum like Ning Wen Yue had burned away her reason. If she couldn’t climb out, she would drag Lin Zhao down with her.

“Your Majesty,” Lu Mei choked, voice shaking, “every word I said is true! Miss Lin drugged me and the Second Prince, and that’s why I did this here… Sixth His Highness even made the nobles of the Imperial City see it… If you don’t give me justice, I won’t be able to live!”

If the setting weren’t so public, the Emperor Lord might have slapped her to death on the spot.

What was Lin Zhao’s status? Who had her previous fiancé been? How could she possibly fancy his useless second son?

He had once thought the Lu Family girl fairly clever, which was why he’d considered marrying her to his younger son.

He’d never imagined that once feelings took hold, she could become this vicious and stupid.

He was almost relieved his youngest son hadn’t liked her back then. Otherwise, the most outstanding imperial prince of the You Lan Empire would have been ruined.

The Emperor Lord asked, voice flat and cold, “How exactly do you want me to ‘give you justice’?”

Lu Mei shivered under the chill. Reality finally snapped at her like a whip. Her face went pale as she glanced at Ning Wen Yue.

Ning Wen Yue swallowed, then spoke, reluctant but opportunistic. “Imperial Father, since Miss Lin holds such feelings for your son, your son shouldn’t disappoint her. Why not let her enter the residence together with Mei Er?”

His eyes brightened the more he spoke, as if he could already see his future laid out in gold. “It’s just that Miss Lin’s methods are… unpresentable. So she will be the lesser, and Mei Er the principal. Then we’ll be even more closely tied with the Lin Family.”

The Emperor Lord’s mouth twitched.

He badly wanted to grab the two of them, shake the water out of their brains, and only then let them speak.

Make a Young Lord of the Noble Houses a concubine?

Was the You Lan Empire trying to destroy itself?

In a corner no one noticed, Yang Hui Hui rubbed a small bottle in her hand and flashed a sly smile.

She hadn’t done much, really.

Before leaving earlier, she’d slipped a bit of incense into the burner. Inhale too much, and your mind would muddle for a while.

Those two would come to their senses soon. The incense had already been cleaned away, leaving no trace.

Who would ever know the babbling nonsense of the engaged couple kneeling here was her handiwork?