Chapter 90: Chapter 90 - The Incumbent Queen

“In a while, people of Ouyang Mansion in Water City will come here to pick up Grandma Medicine. When they do, I want you to go with her and take care of her. And there’s also another thing I need you to help with… ”

She was supposed to do that herself. But, under the circumstances, she didn’t really have another choice.

After telling him what she needed him to do, Yun Wu fished out a small bottle of pills and passed it to him.

“There are three antidotal pills here. When you show symptoms, each of you three should take one. And–”

However, Yun Wu knitted her eyebrows tightly before she could finish her sentence.

‘Damn it.’

‘They came back so soon.’

“Miss Wu, did something happened to you?” watching Yun Wu who had a deep frown on her face, Li Xuyang asked in concern.

Feeling the two Qi getting closer and closer, Yun Wu didn’t have time to tell him more details, so she made one last remark.

“Remember what I told you. If I don’t come back, help me take care of my granny and Little Leaf.”

On finishing the last word, Yun Wu leaped upwards.

Meanwhile, she flipped her hands, conjured two flames, clasped them together and with that a fire dragon appeared.

“Roar–”

Dragon roars were instantly heard in the whole village.

At the same time, she clasped her hands again and with that a blue ice python materialized out of thin air, gelid Qi spreading outwards.

“Hiss–Hiss–”

Down below, Li Xuyang widened his eyes in shock on the sight of this scene.

Soon after the two elemental beasts were summoned, she saw that two black figures were rapidly approaching the cottage from the forest.

Before the two arrived, Yun Wu enwrapped herself with wind element, turned into a beam of light and instantaneously disappeared into mid-air.

“You fledgling little girl. How dare you fool us.”

“You’re courting death.”

Two cold and angry voices were heard, potent Qi permeating in all directions.

Eighteen and Nineteen whipped out their swords and instantly cleaved the fire dragon and the python formed of fire element and water element respectively.

What kind of power was that?

The noises attracted the attention of all villagers down below and those people outside the village, including Ouyang Ke.

They were all surprised when they saw Yun Wu conjure up flames and water which were then condensed into a fire dragon and a ice python.

However, their surprise didn’t last long, since the two middle-aged men showed up soon.

When they saw that the two middle-aged men halved the fire dragon and the ice python in a flash, everybody took a shiver, eyes full of amazement.

Grand Assassins?

They were actually Grand Assassins.

The awe-inspiring Qi pervading the whole village could almost make people’s hearts quiver.

However, villagers involuntarily knitted their eyebrows.

The two assassins were hostile to Miss Wu?

There was also a deep frown on Ouyang Ke’s face.

In mid-air, after they overcame the obstacles in their path, the two Grand Assassins also turned into two giant beams of light and flashed in Yun Wu’s direction.

Killing aura lingered in the air after the three figures’ disappearance.

…

The Imperial City.

General-in-chief Yun’s Mansion.

The atmosphere in the mansion was somewhat weird this day. Servants and guards were replaced by expressionless soldiers dressed in neat uniforms.

In the Imperial City, armies were not allowed to enter without the King’s permission.

But currently, the whole mansion of General-in-chief Yun was surrounded by an army.

This was really weird.

In the living room.

At this moment, the room was full of people kneeling on the ground. On the main seat sat an elegant, noble woman. Though she was in her thirties, her well-featured face could still make people’s eyes light up.

This woman was the incumbent Queen, Xue Liu.

Behind the Queen stood a military officer. There was a hideous, long scar on his emotionless face, which made him look rather ferocious.

He scared a lot of people by merely standing there.

The Venerable Master of Yun Mansion, Yun Qi, was standing on the right side of the living room.

“My Queen, May I ask why you and General Liu brought so many soldiers here and surrounded Yun Mansion?” on his old face was a calm, commanding look.

But the discontent in his tone could be distinctly detected.

In a graceful manner, Xue Liu picked up the teacup, slowly took a sip and then raised her pretty eyes, looking in the direction of Yun Qi, “Don’t be nervous, Venerable Master Yun, I’m just trying to share the His Majesty’s cares and burdens. You must have heard it. Last night, a kung fu expert attacked the Grand Maester Mansion. Grand Maester’s son, Nangong Yi, was severely injured.”

This news had spread through the whole Imperial City. Naturally, people of Yun Mansion knew it.

The night before, someone sneaked into Grand Maester Mansion and alarmed all people in the mansion when that person was discovered, but that person only took some of Nangong Yi’s blood and then fled.

Highly talented, Grand Maester’s son was a promising candidate for the office of the next Grand Maester, a future leader carrying expectations from a lot of people.

The King set great store by this case after hearing the attack.

Soldiers were searching the whole city. In merely a day, nervousness and panic rippled through all residents.

On this day, the Queen led large numbers of troops, intruded into the mansion of General-in-chief Yun and immediately replaced all guards in it with these soldiers.

Outsiders  thought that members of the Yun Mansion did something wrong.

“May I ask what kind of relation there is between what Queen has just said and Yun Mansion? Does Queen by any chance suspect that the person who attacked Master Nangong in Grand Maester Mansion was a member of Yun Mansion?”

This remark of Venerable Master Yun’s was very sharp.

Hearing this, Xue Liu smiled blandly, “You’re being too sensitive, Venerable Master Yun. Yun Mansion’s loyalty to the royal family has lasted so many generations. Who dares to question it?”

“I brought General Li here today because Grand Maester has just practiced divination not long ago, finding that the demonic dragon imprisoned in Yun Mansion would probably try to break out in a day or two. His Majesty is worried that the demonic dragon might cause casualties in Yun Mansion if it breaks out, so he dispatched General Li here to offer assist.”

To assist?

She replaced all guards of Yun Mansion with her soldiers, yet she called it assistance?

“Incidentally, I heard that the Ninth Lady of Yun family got seriously wounded during the last royal hunting contest, that she was still in bed. Today, before I came here, I mentioned this to His Majesty. His Majesty was very concerned and sent an royal physician here to check on the Ninth Lady.”

Seeming to have suddenly recalled this, Xue Liu said in an graceful, bland tone.

But her words sent a brief frown on Yun Qi’s face.

During the past month or so, the Queen had paid many visits to Yun Mansion, inquiring as to Yun Wu’s condition in a seemingly casual manner. There’d even been several occasions when she tried to enter Yun Wu’s room.

Yun Qi declined all her request, using Yun Wu’s severe injury as an excuse.

But this time, she brought an royal physician here on the pretext of His Majesty’s concern. Clearly she wanted to find out the truth.

Was the Queen by any chance the one the Ninth Lady had been trying to evade all this time?

Whether it was the case or not, he couldn’t let the royal physician into the room. No matter how lifelike the “Yun Wu” in bed was, the royal physician would surely find flaws once he felt her pulse.

“I’m grateful for His Majesty’s concern, but there’s no need for royal physician go through all the trouble. My ninth daughter’s almost recovered. It is just that she was born feeble. After the injury, her constitution went even weaker. But I think after a few days’ rehabilitation, she would be able to get off bed.”

Xue Liu gave a faint smile, a deep and unfathomable look in her eyes, “Since royal physician is already here, you might as well let him feel her pulse and prescribe some tonics.”

Upon this, she turned her head aside and gave a glimpse at the old royal physician standing on the side.

Having the order, the old royal physician walked forward and said to Yun Qi respectfully, “Would you please have someone lead the way for me, Venerable Master Yun?”

It seemed that she made it impossible for Yun Qi to make any excuses.

However, right at this moment!

“Grandpa, since the Queen and His Majesty care about me so much, you might as well let the royal physician feel my pulse. I’m kind of losing my breath.”

A weak, faint voice came from outside the door.

With a sickly, pale face, supported by a handmaid, “Yun Wu” slowly walked inside the living room.

Wearing a long cape, she paused every two steps, gasping for air. Her legs appeared limp, as if a mere breeze could blow her away.

Seeing “Yun Wu” walking in, Yun Wu furrowed his brow.

His wife, his daughter Yun Ling’er and the others, who were still kneeling one the ground because the Queen hadn’t allowed them to rise, looked at that sickly “Yun Wu”, disgust and scorn glinting in their eyes.

For some reason, this invalid had been the only one that the Venerable Master favored recently.

He even tended her himself when she was ill, which was why other family members were all jealous.

The moment “Yun Wu” walked in, Xue Liu immediately rested her eyes on her, sizing her up. Her gaze was so piercing that it seemed as if it was able to penetrate “Yun Wu” bones.

Back then at the time when the sorcery power on this continent awoke, Xue Liu dispatched a lot of assassins to the Magic Beasts Forest in the north, including her henchman Zuo Feng, but so far, not a single message had been sent back to her. They all disappeared like rocks sank into the ocean. She sent another batch of men to investigate and eventually found that they were all killed.

Rumor said that not long ago, a purple-eyed girl in Luo City located near the northern border, who was capable of condensing fire into elemental beasts, made a scene in Murong Mansion.

Purple-eyed!

That was specific to members of noble Sorcery-Tribe blood.

That teenage girl might be the one who awoke sorcery power in the Magic Beasts Forest in the north.

And all these happened after Yun Wu got “injured” and confined to bed.

She was that woman’s daughter and possessed that blood. Besides, these things seemed too suspicious to be coincidences.

She must come and see it herself to verify whether that purple-eyed teenage girl was this Yun Wu or not. She couldn’t trust anybody else with this issue.

But all her previous attempts failed due to Yun Qi’s intervention.

This attack on the son of Grand Maester naturally gave her an opportunity. How could she let it slip away?

“Imperial physician, why aren’t you feeling the Ninth Lady’s pulse?” Xue Liu asked in a bland tone.

Sitting in a chair on the side, Yun Wu cooperatively let the old royal physician feel her pulse, coughing occasionally, her face ghastly pale and lackluster, her eyes unfocused.

The living room went quiet.

After quite a while.

The old royal physician withdrew his hand, turned around and said to Xue Liu respectfully, “My Queen, the Ninth Lady is feeble and suffers from anemia caused by severe injury. She needs a few days to build up her health by rest and by taking nourishing food. Otherwise, the condition might become a chronic complaint.”