Chapter 446: The Seven Noble Families’ Nether Clan (2/2)

Su Xiaoyu remained silent as she stared at Han Yunxi’s eyes, a flash of regret passing through her heart. It’s a pity. It’s really a pity that I didn’t meet Han Yunxi sooner. If I had met her instead of Chu Tianyin, maybe I’d even be able to follow her and learn poisons.

Somewhere along the way, she’d ended up admiring this woman.

Seeing Su Xiaoyu’s silence, Han Yunxi then asked, “Who sent you here? Just what do you want to do?”

Su Xiaoyu still remained silent. There was no way that she’d betray her master.

Han Yunxi waited a bit longer before rising to her feet. Coldly she commanded, “Someone come, string this damned girl on that tree and starve her to death!”

So vicious!

Su Xiaoyu grit her teeth as she stared at Han Yunxi, still refusing to say a word. Meanwhile, Han Yunxi tossed a bottle of poison at Wang Laifu, who caught it in confusion until he opened it to see its contents. Then he banged his head against the ground as he begged, “Esteemed wangfei, have mercy, ah! Esteemed wangfei, you said you wouldn’t kill me! Esteemed wangfei…”

“Those who betray the Duke of Qin’s estate can escape execution, but they’ll definitely live a life worse than death! All of you, look closely! This wangfei will never beat someone without cause, much less treat them injustly. But once this wangfei finds the guilty culprit, this will be their end!” Immediately afterwards, she order, “Xu Donglin, feed him the pills!”

Frightened, Wang Laifu attempted to flee, but a servant like him was no match for specialized guards. Xu Donglin quickly forced the entire bottle of poison down Wang Laifu’s throat. Once he released the boy, Wang Laifu spat out a mouthful of black blood before all the skin on his face began to fester. Bit by bit, piece by piece, his face rotted and broke away.

“This wangfei promised not to kill him, but it won’t be my fault if he can’t take it and begs for death instead,” Han Yunxi finished as she turned to leave. By now, half of Wang Laifu’s face was covered in ulcers that were quickly spreading down to his neck. It was a terrifying, disgusting sight that sent a wave of veneration rushing through the servants’ hearts.

That’s right, veneration. A deep respect mixed with fear. Every word and action of their mistress was different from any masters they’d had before. She earned the acceptance and respect of all her servants even as her intelligence, shrewd mind, and cruel methods gained their deepset dread. They held fear against His Highness Duke of Qin as well, of course, but with esteemed wangfei it was both terror and reverence.

Su Xiaoyu stared at Wang Laifu for awhile before involuntarily looking away. She had always been bold and ruthless herself, but Wang Laifu’s end made her heart quaver. When she saw Han Yunxi’s retreating form, then swept her eyes across the frightened servants and various guards, her face gradually paled. Finally, she realized that she’d made a mistake.

This woman wasn’t soft-hearted at all, but brutal and astute. She used the case to move the hearts of all the people at the estate. It would probably be impossible to bribe or threaten any servants here in the future. Soon enough, Xu Donglin hung Su Xiaoyu off the tallest tree in the Duke of Qin’s estate. The crowd dispersed, leaving her and a writhing Wang Laifu at her feet, crying out in agony. Su Xiaoyu didn’t dare to look down, afraid that she’d be the next Wang Laifu.

It was only after everyone else lift that she finally raised her head and viciously spat out a weapon concealed in her mouth. The object flew high into the air before exploding in a bright white light in the sky. Naturally, the guards on duty saw this, but didn’t move to stop it. Esteemed wangfei had clearly hung up the damned girl to attract the real master behind the scenes. Despite this, both her and the guards were grossly mistaken.

Currently, a scout stationed near the Duke of Qin’s estate had seen the signal in the sky. After waiting a few moments, he quickly rushed to report to Chu Tianyin.

“To report to master, Su Xiaoyu sent out a white flare signal!”

Chu Tianyin could guess that Su Xiaoyu was in trouble, but he never expected her to deliver a white flare! He creased his brows and asked, “You saw it clearly?”

“This subordinate saw it extremely clearly. It’s one of our signs for sure, a white flare!” the scout replied.

Chu Tianyin seemed greatly shaken by the news as he fell heavily into his chair. He repeatedly shook his head and muttered, “How could this be? How could…”

He had made ample preparations before slipping Su Xiaoyu into the Duke of Qin’s estate. Different letters sent with different colors of paper would signify different things. Moreover, she was to find a way to relay her intel even if she was sentenced to death. A white flare meant that everything had been a futile effort, that Su Xiaoyu had seen Han Yunxi’s back but didn’t find the winged phoenix birthmark. In other words, Han Yunxi wasn’t the person the Chu Clan wanted!

His Chu Clan was none other than a member of the Seven Noble Families—the Nether Clan! The very same clan who killed West Qin’s last heir while the baby was still in his swaddling clothes! Many other clans had witnessed the assassination with their own eyes, but only the Shadow Clan amongst them knew the truth. The boy baby that was murdered wasn’t royalty at all, but a replacement for the true heir!

The last surviving member of the West Qin imperial clan had been a girl. For the sake of protecting her, the noble consort had sent the baby away and adopted a boy in her place. And for the sake of protecting that very same girl, the Nether Clan had put on a farce to fool the East Qin imperial clan and the rest of the Seven Noble Families into thinking that they’d betrayed their masters and shot the heir to death.

The royal daughter had been sent amongst the civilians and disappeared during the turmoil and chaos of the war. The Nether Clan had kept searching for her and her descendents over the next 100 years, but never found a trace. They only got wind of a clue by chance when a wet nurse mentioned that the eldest daughter of the Han Clan had a winged phoenix birthmark on her back. Then they’d followed the hint to here.

Every female member of the West Qin imperial clan were born with a winged phoenix birthmark!

This was their first lead after 100 years, yet the white flare had eliminated Han Yunxi as a possibility! How could he and father accept such news?

1. Wang Laifu (王来福) – Wang is a surname that also means prince or king, Laifu means “wealth/good fortune comes.” Curiously enough, his name also sounds like “One Life,” lol.