Chapter 39 – Spitting blood
Radiant sunlight shone through the mosaic pattern of the leaves onto the emerald floor of the palace, reflecting halos of light. Murong Xue bathed in the golden ethereal light, with one hand holding the wine, she paced forward.
“Murong Xue!” a familiar voice broke the peaceful scene. Murong Xue turned and saw Mr.Du with a 30 year old man who was charging towards her. Behind the 2 men were about 10 female slaves and their grandma.
She knew the man, he was the Du family’s nephew, Du Chen Jiang’s father, Du Yi. He was in-charge of the Tai Chung Temple, he was also one of the 4 officials of it.
Murong Xue’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. They had come quickly, it was almost as if the moment she stepped into the manor, Mr.Du had received news that she had returned. He then proceeded to bring a large number of people with him to block her way.
“Grandma, Official Du, why have you brought such a huge parade to welcome me? Is this a trial for religious offenses or a trial for crime?”
“Murong Xue, don’t you interrupt! Chen Jiang has accused you of seriously injuring him! How did this happen?!” Du Yi interrogated with an air of seriousness.
Murong Xue raised her brow: And thus, the trial has begun. There wasn’t any rubbish talk at the front but it was straight to the point. And so, she had to oblige to play along.
“It was he who teased me. That’s why I had to teach him a lesson…..”
“Rubbish! Chen Jiang is your cousin, he would never have teased you!” Du Yi’s hoarse voice interrupted her, not believing her explanation.
“You watched Du Chen Jiang grow up, you must very well know about his lustful manner towards beautiful women. Whenever he sees one, he goes up to tease them, isn’t that what he normally does?”
Du Yi choked. Upon close examination, he found she had inky black hair, her eyebrows were beautifully arched like a painting, her face exquisite. Murong Xue saw him examining her beauty. Just then, he spoke up again, “Even if Chen Jiang did tease you, you could’ve just punished him lightly, why did you inflict such serious injuries on him? Did you know that you had kicked Chen Jiang until he had almost become crippled…..”
“Don’t worry, Du Chen Jiang is related to me, I would never have the heart to cripple him. At the most, I would just teach him a lesson that will be etched into his memory, serving as a purpose to remind him to never tease me again.”
Du Chen Jiang is the Du family’s eldest grandson, if she had crippled him, the Du family would never let her go easily. She wasn’t afraid of their evil plans to get back at her, it was just that she didn’t have much power in her current position now, since her parents couldn’t protect her and the Du family was waiting for the chance for revenge, of course she wouldn’t let them have it their way!
Seeing that Murong Xue still wore a casual manner when confronted, Du Yi’s face darkened. He muttered, “You’ve seriously injured someone, not only did you not reflect on what you did or apologized, moreover, you had the audacity to rebut our accusations, what an uneducated child…….”
“Shut up! Whether I was properly educated or not, isn’t something that you are in a position to tell me off!” Murong Xue interrupted his mutterings and gazed coldly at him, “Not to mention you, Official Du, have you ever heard of the idiom, “Like father, Like son”? Du Chen Jiang would never have become like this, it was you who shaped it. But you should be grateful as the person he teased was me, not a royal monarchy princess. If not, he would have long become an eunuch by now or lay in the dungeons to rot…..”
Du Yi spouted, “Why you…..”
“You didn’t have the ability to educate your son, and I, helped you do so. With him punished, he would most probably cause less trouble. Fine, if you’re ungrateful for it, but you had the nerve ridiculed me instead…” Murong Xue finished what she left unsaid and eyed Du Yi with contempt.
“Fine, fine, fine!” Du Yi was so angry that he was laughing, which was odd, even odder was the fact he uttered “fine” 3 times in a row even though nothing was fine, “You really are good with words and a pro in confusing the truth with falsehood…..”
“I’m just being honest, how can that be confusing the truth with falsehood?” Murong Xue look sideways at him, her face innocent, “I don’t find it weird that you don’t listen to me. Since stone, cold truth is always hard to accept. The truth is ugly, and this world has very few of those who are emphatic and just. Most of them are corrupted and unreasonable!”
Du Yi’s face became green, is she implying that he is an unreasonable person who uses his power to bully the weak?
“Murong Xue, I am your uncle. Who taught you to speak so rudely to an elder? Don’t you know how to respect the elderly and love the young?”
The fact that she kept replying him sarcastically made him furious!
“Respect the elderly and love the young?” Murong Xue raised her brow at Du Yi, as if mocking him, “Official Du, respect should be mutual. You, yourself don’t even love the young and you want me to respect the elderly? You must be joking!”
“You….” Du Yi glared at Murong Xue, he was so enraged that he couldn’t even speak. Suddenly, a spit swelled in his throat. Unable to contain it, he spitted it out.
It was blood.
“ Ah Yi, what happened to you? Someone, please help!” Mr. Du panicked and shouted. The female slaves and the grandma surrounded them. Some wiped blood, some helped to carry Du Yi, it was a chaotic scene.
Murong Xue stood outside the scene gazing at the pale-faced Du Yi, she lightly raised her brow: It was just a few sentences and it was enough to make him spit out blood? He must be really weak, I don’t understand how he could even become one of the officials of the Tai Chang Temple.
“Grandma, Official Du, take your time, I must excuse myself to go to my residence now!” Murong Xue casually responded. Smiling politely, she turned and went towards her residence: Du Yi was so angry that he had spitted out blood, he must not be in the mood to punish me right now, I can finally be at peace.
Turning a corner, she had reached the door of her residence. Murong Xue ordered, “Hong Xiu, come out to take my Jiaowei Yangqin and my things! Also, go to the kitchen to prepare a few dishes for me……”
From noon till now, she was busy handling a bunch of terrible people. She hadn’t even had the chance to have lunch! A glass of wine that Ouyang Shaochen had given to her and a few dishes sounded like a good idea!
“Sister…Sister….” A surprised voice poured into her ears, Murong Ye rushed out of Murong Xue’s residence. His robe was a mess, his hair ornament had swayed to one side, his eyes had thin streaks of red lines in them and he had dark circles under his eyes.
Seeing Murong Xue, his eyes shone. After skimming her for any damages, he let out a long sigh, his expression brightened and said, “You’re alright!”
Murong Xue gave out a wry smile. After she had consumed the fire lotus seed, she had fallen asleep without saying Goodnight to Murong Ye: “You didn’t sleep the whole night?”
“How could I sleep after you had disappeared…….” MuRong Ye said flailing his hands in the air. Suddenly he thought of something and whispered, “Sister, did you take any fire lotus seeds last night?”
Murong Xue nodded, “Yup.”
If she hadn’t, she would’ve been dead by now!
“Then, how come you are back so early?” MuRong Ye asked, shocked, “Last time, when you took them, you would sleep for at least 12 hours…..”
Murong Xue jolted. Every time when she attacks strike, the host would be tormented endlessly. She never noticed how long she was out. But when she thought about it, it was true that she would be asleep for at least 10 hours.
However, she took the fire lotus seed between 11pm to 1am and awoke between 7am to 9am. She had only been asleep for about 4 hours. What was happening?
Just then, a purple robe drifted into the corner of her eye, Murong Xue immediately returned to her senses. Gazing up, she saw a familiar handsome face. Her gaze turned into a fierce, defensive one, “Ye Yi Chen, why are you here?”