Handling It in Secret

Zhenzhu was suddenly seized by the throat. She struggled instinctively, only to realize that the one holding her was Eldest Master. Her face turned deathly pale, and she could only squeeze out two words:

"Eldest Master!"

Wei Lingyue said coldly:

"You were the one who put a Spirit Melting Pill in Yunxi's spirit meal!"

Zhenzhu struggled and shook her head, but Wei Lingyue's hand was like a pair of iron pincers, not loosening in the slightest. Instead, it tightened bit by bit.

"Eldest Master, spare me!!!"

Zhenzhu's will to survive was strong. She exhausted all her strength to force those words from her throat.

Wei Lingyue felt that was enough. He threw her to the ground, crippled her cultivation with a strike, then dragged her to Begonia Courtyard.

Du Ruolan's eyelids had been twitching nonstop since earlier, giving her an ominous feeling. When Wei Lingyue threw the cultivation-crippled Zhenzhu at her feet, she knew something had gone wrong.

Wei Lingyue's face was icy. With a sweep of his sleeve, he flung Du Ruolan, who had been seated at the head, to the ground. His voice was cold enough to freeze the air:

"Du Ruolan, have I given you too much face? You actually dared to harm my offspring!"

Du Ruolan gritted her teeth and said:

"Eldest Master, what are you talking about? Ruolan does not understand."

Wei Lingyue snorted coldly.

"Du Ruolan, I allowed you to have your own little schemes, and I allowed you to place your own people around Yunxi. But of all things, you should never have tried to destroy Yunxi's Spiritual Root."

"I—"

Du Ruolan had only uttered one word when Wei Lingyue raised a hand to cut her off.

"Do not argue, or I will search your soul!"

At those words, Du Ruolan's face turned as pale as Zhenzhu's, who lay sprawled on the ground. If her soul were searched, not only would Wei Lingyue learn of her schemes, but she herself would become an idiot.

One look at Du Ruolan's expression told Wei Lingyue that she had ordered Zhenzhu to do this. As for the reason, he could more or less guess it.

Wei Lingyue struck Zhenzhu directly on the crown of her head. She did not even manage a cry before blood poured from her seven orifices and she died. As her body went limp on the floor, her eyes remained fixed viciously on Du Ruolan.

"Ah!" Du Ruolan was frightened. After that brief cry, she clamped her mouth tightly shut.

Wei Lingyue sat in the seat of honor and smoothed his sleeve.

"Du Ruolan, since I gave you the position of Madam Wei, I can also make you disappear without a sound, just like Feng Jiayun. You had best put away your petty schemes. Yunxi is my daughter, and she is also the link between the Wei and Feng Families. Before we obtain the Feng Family's Alchemy, nothing can happen to Yunxi.

"Aren't you simply afraid that Yunxi will take away Yunqing's cultivation resources? Let me tell you, the two of them are headed in different directions. Before Yunxi can serve the Wei Family, if anything happens to her, I will hold you solely accountable. Do you understand?"

Du Ruolan's heart pounded like a drum. After hearing Wei Lingyue's words, she hurriedly nodded, not daring to defy him in the slightest.

Wei Lingyue continued:

"Zhenzhu is your person. Deal with the aftermath yourself."

With that, he rose and left Begonia Courtyard without hesitation.

Only after he had left did Du Ruolan brace herself against the chair and stand. Tears filled her eyes, while her heart had gone utterly cold.

Only today did she realize that the man beside her pillow did not care for her as much as she had thought. What Wei Lingyue cared about more was the family's interests and the advancement of his own cultivation. She was merely a dispensable ornament at his side, her only merit being that she had borne him a daughter with good Spiritual Root aptitude.

Du Ruolan staggered back into her chair and gave a self-mocking laugh. She raised a hand and placed Zhenzhu's corpse into her Storage Pouch before calling out:

"Someone!"

Zhuohua Courtyard

Wei Yunxi obediently remained in the courtyard reading and did not cultivate. She knew Wei Lingyue would definitely give her an explanation for this matter—or rather, an explanation to the Feng Family.

After Wei Lingyue took Zhenzhu away, Feng Xiu told Wei Yunxi what had happened and quietly shared her own speculation.

"Miss, what Zhenzhu put in your spirit meal was a Spirit Melting Pill. Once this elixir enters a cultivator's body, it can silently melt away their Spiritual Root. It is extremely vicious and is forbidden in the Cultivation Realm."

Wei Yunxi's eyes widened. She had only seen this kind of elixir in novels before; she had not expected it to truly exist in the Weiyu Realm. She swallowed and asked:

"Sister Feng, if I had taken this elixir, would I have been unable to cultivate from then on?"

"Yes. Spiritual Roots are bestowed by the Heavenly Dao. Once a Spiritual Root is destroyed, it cannot be repaired, unless—"

Feng Xiu was afraid of frightening Yunxi, so she did not voice the rest.

Yet Wei Yunxi knew. Unless one extracted another person's Spiritual Root for one's own use.

". . . In any case, Miss, you must be cautious when taking elixirs in the future. Especially since you have not yet reached fasting, you must carefully watch anything that enters your mouth."

What Feng Xiu did not say was that this was also one of the reasons the Feng Family had sent her to care for Miss. She was a first-rank Alchemist of the family. While protecting Miss, she would also teach her the introductory lessons of Alchemy.

However, after learning that the Wei Family had suddenly gained three spots to enter the Haoran Sect for cultivation, she felt that matters might change.

After dealing with Zhenzhu, Wei Lingyue returned to Zhuohua Courtyard.

Wei Yunxi put down the book in her hands, stepped forward to bow respectfully, then cautiously asked:

"Father, how did the investigation go? Who wanted to harm your daughter?"

Wei Lingyue sighed before taking his seat and explaining:

"Yunxi, Father did not handle this matter well. I failed to vet things properly and sent a scheming maidservant to your side."

At the proper moment, Wei Yunxi showed a surprised, innocent expression. Inside, however, she was frantically mocking him: Make it up! Go on, make it up! Let's see what kind of nonsense you can come up with!

Seeing that his daughter's reaction was not too intense, Wei Lingyue continued:

"It was Zhenzhu, the one by your side, who did this."

"Ah? Why? Why did she drug your daughter?"

Wei Yunxi cooperatively picked up the thread.

"She was jealous that you valued Feng Xiu, and she was also dissatisfied that you sent her to the outer courtyard. So she put medicine in your spirit meal, intending to make you ill for a few days. Then, using Feng Xiu's failure to care for you properly as an excuse, she planned to take the opportunity to return to your side."

Feng Xiu worked hard to maintain her expression. She could not drag Miss down, or the fact that she had pretended not to recognize the Spirit Melting Pill would be exposed.

Wei Yunxi felt as though a herd of alpacas had thundered past before her eyes. Then a look of surprise appeared on her little face as well.

"Father, how could she have such malicious thoughts? Sister Feng's cultivation is higher than hers, so of course I am willing to have Sister Feng protect me!

"Besides, before every cultivation session, Sister Feng carefully explains the key points of cultivation to me. And as soon as Sister Feng arrived, I successfully completed Qi Introduction. That only proves that Zhenzhu herself is incapable. How can she blame me for not valuing her? Even Yueying by Sister Yunqing's side is better than she is!"

Wei Yunxi chattered on, her face filled with indignation.

At last, she threw a little tantrum as well.

"Father, I do not want this maidservant anymore. Send her away!"

Only then did Wei Lingyue say:

"Rest assured, Yunxi. Such a malicious person has already been dealt with. The Wei Family cannot employ someone like that.

"Additionally, I have good news for you. This time, you can go to the Haoran Sect to cultivate together with Yunqing."

Wei Lingyue's words were within Feng Xiu's expectations. Wei Yunxi, on the other hand, froze for a moment before a smile appeared on her face.