Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Handling It in Secret

Zhen Zhu suddenly had her neck seized. She struggled on instinct, and only then realized the one holding her was Eldest Master. Her face went pale in an instant, and she could only squeeze out two words.

“Eldest… Master!”

Wei Ling Yue’s face was cold as he said, “You were the one who put a Spirit-Melting Pill into Yun Xi’s spirit meal!”

Zhen Zhu struggled and shook her head, but Wei Ling Yue’s hand was like iron tongs. It did not loosen at all, and it tightened little by little.

“No… Eldest Master… spare me!!!” Zhen Zhu’s will to live was strong. She forced those words out of her throat with all her might.

Wei Ling Yue felt it was enough. He threw her to the ground, crippled her cultivation, then grabbed her and took her to Begonia Courtyard.

Du Ruo Lan’s eyelid had been twitching nonstop since earlier, giving her a bad feeling. When Wei Ling Yue threw the crippled Zhen Zhu at her feet, she knew something had gone wrong.

Wei Ling Yue’s face was icy. With a sweep of his sleeve, he flung Du Ruo Lan from the seat of honor onto the ground, his voice cold enough to cut. “Du Ruo Lan, have I been giving you too much face? You actually dared to harm my child!”

Du Ruo Lan gritted her teeth. “Eldest Master, what are you talking about? Ruo Lan doesn’t understand!”

Wei Ling Yue snorted. “Du Ruo Lan, I allowed you to have your little schemes. I even allowed you to plant your own people at Yun Xi’s side. But you never should have tried to ruin Yun Xi’s aptitude.”

“I…” Du Ruo Lan had only managed one word before Wei Ling Yue raised his hand to stop her. “Don’t argue. If you do, I’ll soul-search you!”

Du Ruo Lan’s face turned as white as Zhen Zhu’s. If she was soul-searched, not only would her plotting be exposed to Wei Ling Yue, she herself would become a fool.

Wei Ling Yue took one look at Du Ruo Lan’s expression and knew she had ordered Zhen Zhu to do it. As for the reason, he could more or less guess it.

Wei Ling Yue struck a palm down on Zhen Zhu’s head. She didn’t even have time to cry out. Blood streamed from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as she died. When her body went limp on the ground, her eyes were still locked on Du Ruo Lan.

“Ah!” Du Ruo Lan was terrified. After that brief scream, she clamped her mouth shut.

Wei Ling Yue sat in the main seat and smoothed his sleeve as he said, “Du Ruo Lan, since I gave you the position of Madam Wei, I can also make you disappear without a sound, just like Feng Jia Yun. You’d better put away your little schemes. Yun Xi is my daughter, and she is also the tie between the Wei and Feng families. Until the Feng Family’s alchemy arts are in hand, nothing can happen to Yun Xi.”

He stared at her and continued, “Aren’t you just afraid Yun Xi will take away Yun Qing’s cultivation resources? Let me tell you, the two of them are headed in different directions. Before Yun Xi can serve the Wei Family, if anything happens to her, I will hold you responsible. Did you hear me clearly?”

Du Ruo Lan’s heart pounded like a drum. The moment she heard Wei Ling Yue’s words, she nodded frantically, not daring to go against him at all.

Wei Ling Yue continued, “Zhen Zhu was your person. Clean up after her yourself.”

With that, he got up and left Begonia Courtyard cleanly and without hesitation.

After he left, Du Ruo Lan used the chair to pull herself upright. Tears filled her eyes, and her heart felt icy cold.

Only today did she realize the man beside her pillow did not care for her as much as she thought. What Wei Ling Yue cared about was family?? and the growth of his own cultivation. She was just a decoration at his side, something he could take or leave.

Du Ruo Lan staggered back into her chair, gave a self-mocking laugh, raised her hand, and stored Zhen Zhu’s corpse into a storage pouch. Only then did she call out loudly, “Someone come!”

Zhuo Hua Courtyard

Wei Yun Xi obediently stayed in her courtyard reading, and she did not cultivate. She knew Wei Ling Yue would definitely have to give her an explanation, and really, it was also an explanation for the Feng Family.

After Wei Ling Yue took Zhen Zhu away, Feng Xiu told Wei Yun Xi what happened and quietly shared her own guess.

“Miss, what Zhen Zhu put in your spirit meal was a Spirit-Melting Pill. Once it enters a cultivator’s body, it can silently dissolve the spirit root. It’s extremely vicious, and it’s a forbidden drug in the Cultivation World.”

Wei Yun Xi’s eyes widened. She had only seen a pill like that in novels. She never expected it to truly exist in the Vast Cosmos Realm. She swallowed and asked, “Sister Feng, if I ate that pill, would that mean I couldn’t cultivate anymore?”

“Yes. Spirit roots are granted by the Heavenly Dao. If the spirit root is destroyed, it can’t be repaired, unless…” Feng Xiu was afraid of frightening Yun Xi, so she didn’t finish.

But Wei Yun Xi knew. Unless you took someone else’s spirit root and used it for yourself.

“…In any case, Miss, you must be careful with pills in the future. Especially since you haven’t begun fasting yet, you need to be very careful with anything you eat or drink.”

What Feng Xiu didn’t say was that this was also one of the reasons the Feng Family sent her to care for the Miss. She was a top first-grade alchemist in the family. While protecting the Miss, she would also teach the Miss beginner lessons in alchemy.

But after learning that the Wei Family suddenly had three additional slots to enter the Hao Ran Sect to cultivate, she felt things might change.

After handling Zhen Zhu’s matter, Wei Ling Yue came to Zhuo Hua Courtyard again.

Wei Yun Xi set down her book, stepped forward, and saluted respectfully. Then she asked carefully, “Father, what did you find? Who wanted to harm your daughter?”

Wei Ling Yue sighed before sitting down, then explained, “Yun Xi, this is my fault. I didn’t help you keep a proper watch, and I let a scheming maidservant end up at your side.”

Wei Yun Xi put on a suitably surprised and confused expression, but inside she was ranting like crazy. [Go on, make it up. I want to see what kind of story you can spin.]

Seeing that his daughter’s reaction wasn’t too intense, Wei Ling Yue continued, “It was Zhen Zhu who did it.”

“Ah? Why? Why would she drug your daughter?” Wei Yun Xi cooperated smoothly.

“She was jealous that you valued the maid Feng Xiu, and she also resented you for sending her to the outer courtyard. So she put medicine into your spirit meal, hoping you’d be sick for a few days. Then she could claim Feng Xiu didn’t take good care of you and use that chance to return to your side.”

Feng Xiu worked hard to keep her expression steady. She couldn’t drag the Miss down, or her earlier act of pretending she didn’t recognize the Spirit-Melting Pill would be exposed.

Wei Yun Xi felt like a herd of alpacas stampeded through her head. Still, she put on an astonished face and said, “Father, how could she have such bad thoughts? Sister Feng’s cultivation is higher than hers, so of course I’d rather have Sister Feng protect me!”

She kept talking, her small face full of indignation. “And every time before I cultivate, Sister Feng carefully tells me the key points. The moment Sister Feng came, I succeeded in Qi Induction. That only proves she has no ability. How can she blame me for not using her? Even Yue Ying beside Sister Yun Qing is better than her!”

In the end, she even threw a little tantrum. “Father, I don’t want this maid anymore. Send her away!”

Only then did Wei Ling Yue say, “Don’t worry, Yun Xi. Someone with evil intentions like that has already been dealt with. The Wei Family cannot use someone like her.”

He added, “And I have another piece of good news. This time, you can go to the Hao Ran Sect to cultivate together with Yun Qing.”

That result was within Feng Xiu’s expectations. Wei Yun Xi froze for a moment, then a smile appeared on her face.