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Chapter 52: This Can’t Be It!

“Sister.” Yun Ruoyan turned her gaze back to Yun Ruoyu once more. “I’ve repeatedly claimed that I can’t take out the core now, but that’s because I handed it to Housekeeper Wu as soon as I stepped through the front doors. I’m sure it’s already in the warehouse by now, but if you don’t believe me, you can call Housekeeper Wu over to have a look.”

Yun Ruoyan’s words took everyone by surprise.

Yun Ruoyao, Yun Ruoyu, and Yi Qianying had only obtained some low-grade monster cores, and they couldn’t wait to hand them directly to Yun Lan as proof of their efforts. But Yun Ruoyan had handed the mid-tier beast core to the housekeeper?

Who would believe that?!

The Yun matriarch, who had sat still by Yun Lan’s side as if asleep, finally opened her eyes and turned to one of her maids. “Call Old Wu over and get him to bring the tiger’s core with him. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a veritable treasure, and I’d like to have a look.”

“Yes, Madam.” She bowed and hurried out.

Not long afterwards, Housekeeper Wu came in with a black velvet box, which he handed over to the old matriarch.

She slowly opened the box and saw a golden-yellow crystal, as large as a baby’s fist.

The illumination from that crystal brightened her old, wrinkled, smiling face.

“A treasure, a treasure indeed!” She smiled and handed the box to Yun Lan, whose icy demeanor finally melted a little when he saw it.

“Child, you must have worked hard for this!” She extended a lined, ancient claw towards Yun Ruoyan.

Yun Ruoyan immediately stepped forward to help support her grandmother. “It’s nothing, Grandmother. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do something to help our family.” She raised her hand and wiped at her eyes, her voice choked with emotion.

“Good, such a good girl.” The Yun matriarch patted Yun Ruoyan’s hand kindly. “It’s good that you think this way. After all, you’re the sole wife-born daughter of the Yun family, and you should bear more of the family’s responsibility.”

As soon as the Yun matriarch spoke these words, Madam An and Yun Ruoyao’s faces darkened. For a long, long time, Yun Ruoyan’s position as the sole wife-born daughter had been all but supplanted.

During this time, Madam An had been intent on finding some opportunity to get rid of Yun Ruoyan entirely so that her daughter, Yun Ruoyao, could fill that position.

But the Yun matriarch’s words all but confirmed Yun Ruoyan’s position once more. Were her long-laid plans to go to waste, just like that? Madam An couldn’t help but clasp the handkerchief in her hands even more tightly.

“But Sister Ruoyan ignored the rest of us so that she could claim the treasure! Is she going to get off scot-free for that?” Yun Ruoyu refused to give up.

If she hadn’t spoken up, Yun Ruoyan wouldn’t have made a point of it, but she wasn’t going to give up such an easy opportunity to strike back. “Ruoyu, I really don’t understand your words.”

She stood up from her grandmother’s side and walked to her sister. “You’ve said once and again that you were the ones attacked by the tiger, while I left with Qingchen and Qingxue. At the same time, you keep telling me to hand over the saber-toothed tiger’s core. Don’t you think there’s a gap in your logic?!”

Yun Ruoyu was momentarily struck dumb. She turned to her side and looked at Yun Ruoyao for help, but Yun Ruoyao simply sat up straight, not saying a word.

When Housekeeper Wu had walked in with the ornate box, Yun Ruoyao knew that they had lost once again.

Yun Ruoyu glared daggers at Yun Ruoyan. She couldn’t help but think back to their grandmother’s anniversary last year, when they’d all walked up to their grandmother together to hand her their gifts.

She was walking right next to Yun Ruoyan and had deliberately stepped on her dress, causing Yun Ruoyan to have a bad fall and to break the jade ornament she’d prepared as her gift.

But when Yun Ruoyu apologized insincerely to Yun Ruoyan, she blamed herself for her clumsiness instead.

From then on, Yun Ruoyu had treated Yun Ruoyan like a pushover.

Yun Ruoyan’s doormat personality was so ingrained in everyone’s minds, and Yun Ruoyao’s group so anxious in framing her, that they’d actually all missed the logical inconsistency in their words.

But Yun Ruoyan was no longer the Yun Ruoyan of before, and not only had she dispelled the charges laid against her, she had even turned the tables on them.

Yun Ruoyu grit her teeth, thinking that she much preferred the Yun Ruoyan of the past. She really couldn’t imagine what had caused such a drastic shift in Yun Ruoyan’s personality!”

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” Yun Ruoyan’s face was mocking.

Yun Ruoyu’s face turned red as she stuttered, “That, that, the situation was complicated—”

“Alright!” The Yun matriarch waved her hands, clearly impatient. “We’re all a family, so let’s drop these baseless claims against each other. I’m tired, so let’s adjourn for the day.” Then she smiled and turned to Yun Ruoyan. “Ruoyan, you must be tired. Why don’t you return to your cottage and have a good rest?”

Then she turned to her maid. “From now on, start sending some tonics over to Ruoyan’s residence daily. She’s too thin and needs more nourishment.”

Yun Ruoyan understood that their grandmother was trying to appease Yun Ruoyan so that she would drop the matter. Although she was somewhat unwilling, she knew that it wasn’t an opportune time to push further, and she only replied, “Thank you, Grandmother.”

The Yun matriarch walked slowly out of the hall, supported by her maid, while Madam An left with Yun Ruoyao and the other girls. Just as Yun Ruoyan was about to leave, Yun Lan called her back.

Yun Ruoyan stood there silently, her head slightly lowered, as she waited for Yun Lan to speak.

Yun Lan looked at the slender girl in front of him, seemingly shocked by how she’d seemed to grow up all of a sudden.

In the past, Yun Ruoyan would have hidden in a corner, shrivelled up like a shrimp, never daring to raise her head in front of him. Even when she met him on occasion and called out “Father,” it would always be with a small, small voice, as if he would gobble her up alive.

But the Yun Ruoyan in front of his eyes was already half a woman, wearing a pink gown that he’d never seen her in before. When her head was lowered at that angle, she really did resemble her mother.

“Father?” Yun Ruoyan raised her head curiously, since Yun Lan hadn’t spoken.

Only did Yun Lan come to his senses, but what he asked then was something that left Yun Ruoyan speechless. “How old are you?”

How old are you?! Although she’d more or less expected her father’s negligence, she didn’t know it was to this extent. As her father, how could he not know her age?!

Yun Ruoyan laughed bitterly in her heart, but her expression was a perfect, respectful mask. “Father, I’m thirteen, and I’ll be fourteen in two months.”

“Oh,” Yun Lan seemed to murmur to himself. “Almost at a marriageable age.”

On the Chenyuan continent, a girl became a woman at fifteen, and would then be eligible for marriage.

Yun Ruoyan was still a little curious about the sudden vein of inquiry.

“Alright, you can go now.” Yun Lan waved a hand at her.

“Yes, Father.” Yun Ruoyan turned around and left.

Yun Lan looked at Yun Ruoyan’s back and sighed, pitying his daughter’s appearance. If not for her birthmark, based on Lin Yuemei’s beauty, she would have been beautiful if she had inherited only one-tenth of her mother’s genes.

If that were the case, coupled with her status as the sole wife-born daughter of the Yun family, it wouldn’t have been impossible for her to marry into the palace.

He narrowed his eyes, suddenly thinking of something, and his lips couldn’t help but curve.

Yun Ruoyan returned to her residence, and Peony and Xi Lan were naturally overjoyed to see her. They battered her with reports about what had happened while she was away.

Xi Lan mentioned that, ever since Yun Ruoyan had obtained the qualifications for entering the imperial territory, the other servants had begun treating them much more politely, though there were still a persistent few waiting to laugh at her anticipated failure.

Then, the two servants looked at Yun Ruoyan expectantly. Ever since Yun Ruoyao and the others returned, the two girls had been like ants on a stove, eagerly going out each day in an attempt to get some news about how their mistress was doing.

And now she was finally back.

Yun Ruoyan wanted to make them wait a little longer. Only after a long, circuitous recounting did she finally relent and announce that she had indeed passed the trial and would soon be a student at Kongming Academy.

Cheering sounds exploded from her room at the pronouncement.

Peony, on the other hand, commented on how much more quiet it had been ever since the unnecessary servants were removed from the residence. Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but think of Ling Lan, the servant she’d planted at Madam An’s residence, and asked about how she was doing.

Because Yun Ruoyan hadn’t been present, Madam An hadn’t asked anything unusual of Ling Lan, and she had simply reported that to Peony.

Yun Ruoyan began to think as she snacked on the fresh green bean pastries that Peony had made. Having foiled Madam An’s plans once again, she was sure that Madam An would make a move, and Ling Lan would come in handy then. Peony would have to be certain to keep a close eye on her in the near future.

“Qiu,” While Yun Ruoyan ruminated, Qiuqiu’s voice came from her mind. “Mistress, now that you’ve purged the poison from your body, the next few days will be a wonderful opportunity for cultivation. Don’t fall behind on your training, Mistress!”

Qiuqiu’s reminder immediately made Yun Ruoyan drop her thoughts. In order to find the culprit who had poisoned her and her mother and carry out her revenge, she needed strength.

She took a long, warm bath, washing away her fatigue, before beginning to cultivate once more.

Meanwhile, returning to the fate of the poor Dou Yao who had repulsed Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen when he’d peeped on them bathing…

The hair that he’d kept for seventeen long years was shorn off by a single blow from Yun Ruoyan, and he was so distraught that, in his hurry to escape, he actually lost his way.

When night fell, he quickly found a bush to hide in. Cursing his luck, he lay down carelessly and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t help but shudder when he recalled the scene of the two girls showering.

He thought that he’d be in for a treat, but the two girls had somehow managed to make him bald instead.

Oh, how his brothers were going to laugh at him!

While he was in a daze, he suddenly heard a call for help from afar.

“Help, help!” That voice was faint, as if the person was having difficulty speaking.

Dou Yao immediately woke up from his stupor. “Who is it?” He asked quietly from within his bush.

“Save me, brother, please save me.” The voice became louder.

Do Yao crept over cautiously. The moonlight filtered through the undergrowth, and he saw a woman’s seductive form on the ground. If it were the usual him, he’d have pounced on her without hesitation, but his encounter from earlier in the day had left him shaken.

“Are you a human or a ghost? I can’t have such bad luck to encounter a ghost at night as well, right?” Dou Yao carefully tiptoed forward, but not too far, remaining a cautious distance away from the prone figure.

“Brother, I’m not a ghost. My group betrayed me, and I’m seriously injured. Please, save me,” the girl beseeched as she slowly raised her head.

Under the moonlight, Dou Yao could see a beautiful girl’s face, albeit stained with blood.

And this girl was none other than the girl from the Yue kingdom who had been stabbed in the heart by Pei Ziao, Jin Fei’er!