Concubine Quâ forehead furrowed when she saw senile Grandma Medicine. Clearly, it was not until Grandma Medicine stood up from the couch to slowly walk towards her that she recognized her.
Concubine Quâs pupils suddenly contracted and her face became somewhat hideous. Almost subconsciously, she blurted in a brittle voice, âItâs you? Youâre still alive?â
Grandma Medicine looked at Concubine Qu whose face had just changed, wryness tinged with bitterness glinting in her eyes which had witnessed vicissitudes of her life, âI also hoped that I had died in that âaccidentâ that you arranged, so that I wouldnât have to watch my own younger sister take my life, my husband and my son away from me.â
Her remarks induced waves of shock in everybodyâs mind like a giant rock dropped into a still-surfaced lakeâ¦
Her own younger sister?
Taking her life away from her?
And her husband and son?
That old woman was referring to Elder Mistress? How was it possible? She was almost old enough to be Elder Mistressâs mother.
However, Concubine Quâs face abruptly changed as if provoked, eyes ablaze with anger, âWhat are you still standing there for? Take these people to the Yamen[1. Yamen is a government office in feudal China] right away. They dare to talk nonsense here. Theyâre courting death.â
Hearing this, the guards were about to take action.
All of a sudden, with a gleam of cold light, a big saber was swung downwards.
âClang!â the saber hit the marble ground, generating a shower of sparks. The after-effects of the impact rippled through the floor beneath everybodyâs feet.
âWhoever dares to touch her will lose his hands and feet,â her extremely callous and domineering voice was heard by everyone in the room.
Angry, Concubine Qu thundered, âHow dare you be so unruly in Murong Mansion? Kill them!â
Those guardsâ eyes became ferocious after hearing the order. They whipped out their swords and launched an attack on Yun Wu and Grandma Medicine.
With a cold in her eyes, Yun Wu moved sideways to the front of Grandma Medicine, swinging the saber laterally at those guards in an extremely uncanny manner.
âBang, bangâ¦â two ringing sounds of sabers dropping to the ground were heard.
Without any fierce moves, she cut off the arms of the two guards in front of the others with only one saber slash.
Watching blood gushing out of the wounds in their arms, the two guards who were at the front widened their eyes in horror and sharp pain instantly surged through their nerves, âAh⦠â
Two pained screams were heard, horrifying the other guards behind them.
Concubine Quâs heart lurched, âThis teenage girl actually can⦠â
âEnough! All of you!â finally, Cloud Murong intervened, reprimanding.
Seeing that Cloud Murong stopped the guards, Concubine Qu looked at him with a displeased frown, âYunâer! You canât⦠â
But before she could finish speaking, the look on his face scared her silent.
Cloud Murongâs face, which had always been mild and steady, was now icy, unusually icy.
âLittle Li, take Elder Mistress to the living room,â the order was given in a cold voice and nobody dared to disobey.
The handmaid beside Concubine Qu stretched out her hand to assist Concubine Qu who then got angry, eyes ablaze with anger, but she didnât disobey Cloud Murongâs order in public. She pushed that handmaid aside, twitched her hand and led those guards out of the room.
The room returned to quietness, but the atmosphere was a little intense.
âWhatâre you going to do about it? Before you answer, Iâd like to make this straight â from now on, Grandma Medicineâs issues are my issues. If anyone dares to bully her or have some kind of stupid ideas, then he or she will make an enemy of me.â
Originally, she had had no interest in intervening in their family issues, but since Grandma Medicine had once saved her life and the Murong family had happened to have offended her, she might as well push the boat along with the current and help Grandma Medicine get back what was rightfully hers, thinking of it as returning the favor she owed Grandma Medicine.
As regards why she had known Grandma Medicineâs relation with the Murong Mansion, actually it hadnât been difficult for her to deduce. Apart from Grandma Medicineâs unusual reactions to the Murong family, she had also accidentally found out an issue from the guard who had led the way.
All members of the Murong family bore a kind of special totemic symbol on them, and previously, she had accidentally saw one on Grandma Medicineâs shoulder, which was the word âwildernessâ.
The Venerable Master of the Murong familyâs name was Wilderness Murong.
Her deductions and Grandma Medicineâs reactions had added up to the answer.
This was also the exact reason why she had forced Cloud Murong to intervene.
All this aside, it was also the only way to save that small village of simplicity.
Since they had offended the Murong family, it was very unlikely that villagers of the small village could return to their previous peaceful life, so she might as well make this complicated situation even more complicated.
âIs this your original purpose?â without answering her question, Cloud Murong glanced at Grandma Medicine and then gazed at Yun Wu with a cold look in his eyes.
Smiling wryly, Yun Wu looked him in the eye, âSort of.â
Actually, there had been another reasonâ¦
âEven if what she said is true, it will be the Murong familyâs family issue. As an outsider, donât you think you are being a busybody?â staring at Yun Wu, Cloud Murong said.
Grandma Medicineâs heart lurched when she heard his remarks. Did this mean that he believed her?
Yun Wu took out a handkerchief and started wiping the blood off the saber in a seemingly leisurely manner, âIâm not interested in your family issue, but not long ago, I decided that I would regard Grandma Medicine as my own grandmother. I wonât allow anybody to bully my relative.â
Those casual words were said in a highly arrogant and domineering tone.
She wouldnât allow anybody to bully her relative?
Hearing her words, Cloud Murong was briefly stunned.
But the next second, a piercing look flashed across the bottom of his eyes.
The cold look in his eyes was replaced by his normal steadiness and an inexplicable smile suddenly appeared on his face, âSince youâve made your point clear to such an extent, then as your godfather, I definitely wonât let my mother suffer from any grievance.â
Yun Wuâs hands with which she was wiping the saber abruptly paused.
Godfather?
What godfather?
Suddenly, light dawned on Yun Wu. Frowning, she looked at Cloud Murong who was smiling mildly, âCloud Murong, donât regard yourself as someone youâre not. I â â
However, Cloud Murong didnât give her the chance to finish her speaking. After nodding at Grandma Medicine with a smile, he quickly turned around and left the room.
He behaved as if he had made up his mind to regard her as his goddaughter, which seemed a little shameless.
Yun Wu knitted her brows together tightly.
âMiss. Wu, actually you didnât have to do these things for me. I⦠have resigned myself to my fate a long time ago,â Grandma Medicine said with a sigh, sorrow glinting in her eyes which had witnessed numerous ups and downs of her life.
Today, her son had carried her and walked such a distance. She had no regrets now.
Besides, she was unwilling to let her husband see her current senile looks.
âGranny, if you really have resigned yourself to your fate, you would have kept that symbol of the Murong family on your shoulder.â
With Grandma Medicineâs pharmacological knowledge, she could get rid of that symbol at any time, but she hadnât done that. Instead, she had been keeping it for decades. If she had really given up and made peace with destiny, she wouldnât have shown sorrow in her eyes so frequently, and she wouldnât have stayed single to this age either.
When Grandma Medicine heard Yun Wuâs remarks, her heart lurched and she felt somewhat bitter and pensiveâ¦
Yes. During the past few decades, if she had really resigned herself to her fate, she wouldnât have kept this symbol, but even if she had refused to resign herself to her fate, even if she had wanted to fight her fate, what else could she have done?
âGranny, thank you for saving my life. Iâll return the favor. Iâve just said that Iâll regard you as my grandmother, so from now on, you are my grandmother. Iâll help you get back whatâs rightfully yours if you want,â looking at Grandma Medicine, Yun Wu said seriously.
Grandma Medicine was stunned but soon understood that she was backing her up and offering to help her take revenge.
How did she feel? She felt pensive, touched and gratefulâ¦
She had lived a few extra decades and also suffered for a few extra decades. Now she was already in her seventies and didnât have much time left.
She was just a teenage girl, but she was willing to make an enemy of the Murong family to help her, an old woman who didnât have many years ahead. Was it worth the risk?
Grandma Medicineâs eyes slightly reddened as she looked at Yun Wu, âMiss. Wu, Iâm just an old woman. Am I worth you doing this?â
Slightly curving her lips, Yun Wu reached out her hand and slowly wiped off the tears at the corners of Grandma Medicineâs eyes. In her last incarnation, she had been an orphan who had been taken to a killer organization to receive training since childhood. She had never had any concepts of kinship, and neither had she had any previous experience of it.
Maybe having a grandmother was a pretty nice attempt for her.
âAs long as I think itâs worth it, then itâs worth it. Granny, just think of it as you getting an extra granddaughter. All you have to do is be happy about it. You donât have to worry about whatâs coming next,â now that she had intervened, then she would naturally get the job done.
Before long, Cloud Murong had a servant send three suits of clothes to their room.
Now that she had decided to retaliate against the Murong Mansion, Yun Wu naturally wouldnât be polite. She asked Grandma Medicine to change. She herself also changed those gunny clothes to the light blue brocade clothes that had just been sent here.
Little Leafâs clothes had been put aside. With those wounds, she wouldnât be able to get out of bed in a day or two.
After they changed, Yun Wu took some jewels out of the Storage Space and helped Grandma Medicine dress up. Though Grandma Medicine looked a lot older than Concubine Qu due to her gray hair and wrinkles, with Yun Wuâs impressive make-up skills, there was an air of natural nobility and dignity about Grandma Medicine.
There was a saying: clothes make a man just as a saddle makes a horse. Though Grandma Medicine was old, her intrinsic temperament was still in her. And with just a little efforts, it was fully revealed.
Looking into the mirror, Grandma Medicine was somewhat stunned.
âGranny, the most beautiful woman is the most confident one,â Yun Wu whispered into Grandma Medicineâs ears like a hypnotist.
Hearing this, Grandma Medicine couldnât help laughing, âWuâer, granny is already over seventy. Iâm an old woman now.â
âAs long as you have your confidence, your inward beauty will not wane a little bit even when youâre ninety. So, granny, if you really want to get back what you have lost, then thereâs no need for you to be afraid. You just have to think that this Murong family has always been your home, and that in this home, there are your son and your husband,â said Yun Wu very seriously.
That kind of seriousness was engraved in Grandma Medicineâs heart like an incantation.
Her home? Her husband and her son?
Previously, Yun Wu had noticed that Grandma Medicine was inexplicably afraid of that Concubine Qu. Maybe something happened in the past had cast a shadow over her life, which had lasted decades.
So, before they walked out of this room, she needed Grandma Medicine to get rid of this shadow.
â¦
In the main living room.
At this moment, a lot of people were sitting in the roomy, luxurious living room. Apart from Sky Murong and Earth Murong, there were also some of their uncles.
The one who had summoned these people here was naturally Concubine Qu.
âWhy exactly did you summon us here so urgently today?â in a commanding tone, an old man sitting in the first seat on the right side asked Concubine Qu who was sitting in the host seat.