Chapter 241.1 - Those Who Use Poison Must Be Good at Medicine
The girl in a palace dress abandoned the plan to persuade the pother party and called her maid coldly.
“Yes!”
Yinping interposed herself between Xue Qilin and Gong Yue, grabbed Gong Yue’s right arm, and threw him over her shoulder. After he fell on the floor, she pressed the tip of her still sheathed sword against his neck.
“Impudence before the princess is the great crime of lèse-majesté. Sir Gong, do you dislike having a long life?”
“You –!”
Gong Yue tried to get up, but was hindered by the sword that stuck to him like his shadow.
Seeing the signs of things going out of hand, Gong Jing was forced to react.
He first bowed to the Ninth Princess, and then apologize humbly, an expressionless look on his face, “Your Highness the Ninth Princess, although Yue’er was reckless, but people are not inanimate objects. Yang’er tragically died just now. As his father, Yue’er can’t help being impulsive. This old one asks the Ninth Princess to please forgive him.”
“Yinping.”
After a moment of silence, the Ninth Princesses — Qin Shiyu called the maid’s name in a flat tone.
Just from this, Yinping understood what she meant and took back her sword. After glancing warily at Qin Shiyu, Gong Yue got up from the floor.
Seeing that his son regained his freedom, Gong Jing said respectfully, “Thank Ninth Princess” and straightened up his body.
“But...”
After uttering this word, Gong Jing gazed at Xue Qilin with cold eyes.
“Lady Xue should give this old one an explanation. This is absolutely fair and reasonable. Even if it is Ninth Princess, you have no right to interfere.”
“Grand, grandfather, it’s definitely unrelated to Young Ancestor! She’s not that king of person!”
Gong Tianqing barely suppressed her crying and spoke in defense of the lass.
Her trust is probably Xue Qilin’s only salvation right now.
Gong Jing asked in a plaintive voice, “Qing’er, your younger brother died under dubious circumstances. Do you want grandfather to accept this without knowing anything?”
Gong Tianqing’s small shoulder’s shivered in response, and she revealed a “to want to say something but then hesitate” expression.
“B, but...”
She didn’t know how to answer, so she could only shut up, feeling sad.
“Lady Xue, this old one is not doubting you. I also think that what Ninth Princess said is reasonable. But this old one hopes that Lady Xue can give me an explanation. Otherwise — this old one can’t let go...”
In fact, Gong Jing’s request isn’t excessive.
For a loved one to die due to unknown reasons, this is one of the saddest things in the world.
Perhaps there may be no relation, but Gong Tianyang did indeed die after receiving treatment from Xue Qilin. In this case, as Gong Tianyang’s grandfather, it is a natural thing for Gong Jing to ask Xue Qilin for an explanation.
Xue Qilin understands Gong Jing’s frame of mind. But, she doesn’t know what to say.
Gong Tianyang’s death was too sudden. She still can’t fully wrap her head around it. To her, this is an unsolvable matter to begin with.
However, Gong Jing didn’t empathize with Xue Qilin and instead urged her in a cold voice, “Why aren’t you saying anything, Lady Xue? Do you have no clue, or is it as Yue’er said... you deliberately killed Yang’er? If the latter is true, then it explains why you left in a hurry just now.”
The death of his grandson made Gong Jing lose his usual calm and steadiness.
His conjecture contains explicit malice. The expression on his face distorted subsequently.
Her face pale, Xue Qilin shook her head sluggishly. Then, in a hoarse voice, she whispered with difficulty “I don’t know” in reply.
“Lady Xue, do you think I can accept such an answer?”
Likely not.
If the two swapped places, Xue Qilin wouldn’t be able to accept “I don’t know” as an explanation.
So, Xue Qilin tried to explain, “I really don’t know... there was some kind of force destroying Little Yang’s meridians. I tried to stimulate Little Yang’s vitality, but I still couldn’t reverse the situation...”
“You’re saying that some kind of force attacked Yang’er? What force?”
“Gong Jing, I also want to know! I also want to find out what happened!”
Xue Qilin screamed like crazy and clenched her fists tightly.
“Do you think Little Yang’s death will make me feel good? You said that I share common bad traits with Little Yang, that you think that I have a good relationship with him. In that case, if I watch as he dies slowly before my very eyes, would that make me feel good? What do you think, Gong Jing!”
The image of Gong Tianyang’s bright smile tinged with mischief streaked across her mind, and Xue Qilin nearly couldn’t help crying.
“I am unreconciled, as well! I said that I would cure him, yet... I couldn’t do anything but watch him... watch him... why couldn’t I save him –!”
The nails bore deep into the palms and pierced the skin. Then, bright red blood slid down along the delicate fingers, dripped on the floor, and turned into flowers of blood.
However, Xue Qilin isn’t aware of this.
Seeing the lass’s remorseful appearance, Gong Jing’s throat tightened, and he couldn’t utter a word.
“Sorry, I can’t give you an answer, I really don’t know the cause... I really don’t know...”
Xue Qilin kept shaking her head and repeating the words “I don’t know”.
“Heaven is really unfair...”
Gong Jing sighed, lifted Gong Tianyang’s bloody body, and moved it to the bed. After caressing his grandson’s face for a while, he covered the petite body with a quilt, broken-hearted.
“I’m sorry for your loss, General Gong.”
Qin Shiyu comforted expressionlessly, and Gong Jing expressed his thanks by saying, “thank Ninth Princess for your kindness”.
“Oh, but it wasn’t out of kindness. It’s just the socially acceptable thing to say.”
Shedding her attitude of indifference, Qin Shiyu covered her mouth with a hand and snickered. Her laughter was beautiful. But on such an occasion, it sounded a little harsh.
What is she laughing about? Xue Qilin raised her eyebrows in aversion. At the same time, Gong Yue cast Qin Shiyu a sharp gaze.
“Ninth Princess, please pay attention to your words and deeds.”
Gong Jing denounced in a deep voice, a stern expression on his face. But Qin Shiyu just issued “oh” disapprovingly.
“This princess just stated a fact, nothing more. Besides, this princess is free to laugh whenever I want. Sir Gong is way out of line.”
Maybe its a misconception, but Xue Qilin feels like Qin Shiyu’s provocation is a little too deliberate. She suspects that the other party wants to infuriate Gong Jing on purpose.
Qin Shiyu clasped her hands behind her back and took a few steps.
“This princess in the lord, while you are the subjects. If this princess wants to laugh at Gong Tianyang’s deserved death, what can you do?”
When she uttered this sentence, four intense killing intents enveloped her.
The source of the killing intents are Xue Qilin and the three members of the Gong Clan.
They stared at Qin Shiyu with sharp gazes — especially Xue Qilin, who gazed at Qin Shiyu with intense hatred. She would like to wring the other party’s neck.
In order to take precaution against the four people possibly ignoring Qin Shiyu’s identity and try to harm her, Yinping silently shielded her behind her. She stretched her muscles taut and looked straight at the four people.
However, Qin Shiyu, who doesn’t seem to intend to accept Yinping’s protection, walked around Yinping and fearlessly bathed in the gazes of the four.
“Great, it seems that you’re thinking of offending a superior.”
Qin Shiyu nodded with satisfaction and chuckled, looking like she’s happy from the bottom of her heart.
“People often say that the Gong Clan is loyal and devoted, but now it seems that it is not the case... or is the Gong Clan loyal to the state rather than the royal family?”