Chapter 455: Indignant, wanting to claim damages (1/2)

Chapter 455: Indignant, wanting to claim damages

Summer mornings were especially refreshing, with pleasant temperatures perfect for a comfortable day out. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had just finished steeping their tea when Baili Mingxiang and Zhao mama arrived with Han Yunxi’s tea snacks. By now, Baili Mingxiang had calmed down enough to remember esteemed wangfei’s birthmark. She personally made sure to serve His Highness Duke of Qin his share of snacks, but the man was too busy pouring his tea to notice her.

After a pause, she bowed and said, “Esteemed wangfei, Mingxiang was wrong.”

“It’s fine. The medicine’s already been applied, so it’ll heal within a few days,” Han Yunxi might have liked to hold grudges, but she didn’t sweat the small stuff.

“Thank you, esteemed wangfei.” After expressing her gratitude, Baili Mingxiang added, “Esteemed wangfei, this servant helped you apply medicine four times already. If the burns still don’t recover, we might have to change to another medicine.”

“Alright, you can withdraw now,” Han Yunxi didn’t want to broach the subject, afraid that Long Feiye would make her lie down again. Her burns hadn’t been infected, so all she needed was time to make a full recovery. A few days’ delay wouldn’t cause any major lasting side effects. Baili Mingxiang’s eyes flashed with a complex expression before she and Zhao mama withdrew.

Actually, she had spoken those extra words on purpose so that His Highness Duke of Qin could hear her. He would now know that she’d seen esteemed wangfei’s back multiple times after applying multiple instances of medicine. If His Highness Duke of Qin knows about esteemed wangfei’s winged phoenix birthmark and its origins, he should be planning to kill me to eliminate any witnesses by now. Judging by His Highness’s lack of reaction, he probably doesn’t know yet.

But the careful and prudent Baili Mingxiang still couldn’t set her fears at rest. That was because she had no way to confirm whether His Highness Duke of Qin even knew about the birthmark in the first place, or if he’d seen it and didn’t know what it meant. Although His Highness and esteemed wangfei had been married for a long time, they rarely interacted. Esteemed wangfei’s cinnabar gecko mark was still intact, so nobody else besides themselves knew whether he had ever seen her back.

She hadn’t been present when His Highness applied the medicine last night, so she wasn’t sure whether he’d seen it then, either. Perhaps he hadn’t, perhaps he had and didn’t know it was a sign of the West Qin imperial clan. Baili Mingxiang creased her brows slightly as she considered all the possibilities. Before esteemed wangfei fully recovers from her burns, I have to get an answer to this issue once and for all.

After all, the implications of such a birthmark weren’t small. As a member of the Mermaid Clan, generations of her clansmen had sworn loyalty to the East Qin imperial family. The enemies of the East Qin were the enemies of the Mermaid Clan as well. Faced with these facts, her best course of action should be to tell His Highness Duke of Qin the truth directly. Even if he killed her as a witness, she was still duty-bound to report what she knew and advise His Highness not to be soft-hearted and befuddled by sentiment.

But esteemed wangfei was her lifesaver. How could she repay her kindness with such enmity? And yet, in her heart, His Highness Duke of Qin was much more important than the East Qin imperial clan. How could she bear to cause him such difficulties? She really had no idea how to deal with this situation. She only knew that she had to get a clear picture of the situation first.

Actually, Long Feiye hadn’t seen the birthmark on Han Yunxi’s back at all. While applying medicine, his whole focus was on the two burns on her back. He hadn’t even realized she was wearing a dudou, much less such specific details. Besides, what could he see when Han Yunxi had the covers all bundled up around her to stare at him? He was so careful with applying the salve and just the salve that he never thought to look down.

His Highness Duke of Qin could turn into a wolf too, but he was perfectly rational when it came to dealing with Han Yunxi’s burns. He took in Baili Mingxiang’s words and said, “Give it one more day. If the medicine isn’t effective, call in the female physicians from the palace.”

Long Feiye only respected Gu Beiyue’s skills in the entirety of the Imperial Physician Courtyard, but things like undressing a patient and checking her injuries could only be done by a female doctor.

“It’s fine, I promise it’ll be better within a couple of days,” Han Yunxi knew her injuries best. She hastily added, “Your Highness, you must have been busy the past few days?”

“Do you need something?” Long Feiye asked.

“Chenqie was thinking, if we really can’t find Mute Granny, we’ll probably have to pay the Mu Clan in the Medicine City a visit,” Han Yunxi had been wondering about her origins this entire time.

Since Mu Yingdong knew nothing of the West Qin, Long Feiye wasn’t afraid of her asking the man questions. He wanted to bring up the Broomcorn Millet Poison issue himself, because he couldn’t be at ease until he settled things with Han Yunxi. From his sleeve, he took out a bottle and placed it on the table. “Here, what you wanted.”

Han Yunxi was puzzled. She hadn’t asked for anything, but after looking at the bottle, she immediately understood. “The antidote to Broomcorn Millet Poison!”

Bear chuan, Panoptic Red Lotus, and Serpent Fruit all had very strong odors, so their combined scents in the antidote was enough for her to verify its identity.

“I got word that Gu Qi Sha found the Bear chuan while I was out of the city. Originally, I wanted to take you along, but I was worried about any unforeseen accidents in case of delays and went myself,” Long Feiye said as he raised his tea and feigned a careless air. “Your lordship couldn’t tell the authenticity of the Bear chuan, so I simply had Pill Fiend create the antidote before my eyes. It looks like this is the real thing after all.”

Since childhood, he had lived in the imperial clan and experienced his share of mutual deception and covert struggles in the court. Making up lies was a trifling task for Long Feiye, but he still needed to drink tea in front of this woman to calm his guilty conscience. And while Han Yunxi was a meticulous thinker, she would never suspect Long Feiye without reason.

She only asked him curiously, “Your Highness knew that the Bear chuan could be authenticated as long as the antidote itself succeeded?”

“Before, I went to Medicine City to ask the head of the Wang Clan for the ingredients. He had mentioned the fact that fake Bear chuan would never be able to mix successfully with Panoptic Red Lotus or Serpent Fruit to create medicine,” Long Feiye explained.

Han Yunxi nodded. “That’s right. This antidote is real.”