Chapter 8: A New Favorite?
By the lotus pond not far away, Attendant Lord Jun and the others saw Li Xuanyue emerge from Xihe Hall, accompanied by a tall and imposing man. In unison, they all frowned.
A new favorite already?
The Attendant Lords all wondered the same thing. This Princess Xuanyue of the Phoenix Clan was truly something else. It had been barely two days since she welcomed them, and now she already had a new flame by her side. Who would believe she wasn’t promiscuous?
“Attendant Lord Jun, shall we go take a look?”
Among the Attendant Lords, Jun’s status was the most noble. He was a prince of the Snake Clan, unlike the rest of them, who were merely sons of powerful nobles. Therefore, they all decided to ask for his opinion before approaching.
It wasn’t that they had any particular feelings for Princess Xuanyue. It was simply that her actions showed a complete disregard for them. They were, after all, princes and sons of nobles from their respective clans. Even if the princess wanted to find a new paramour, shouldn’t she have waited a while? To find one at this moment and keep him by her side—was she treating her newly arrived Attendant Lords as if they were dead?
Attendant Lord Jun glanced in Li Xuanyue’s direction.
“How boring.”
He clearly held both Li Xuanyue and the man beside her, Xiao Han, in contempt. With those two simple words, he turned and left with his personal guard.
The other Attendant Lords: “…”
“What did you say? Li Xuanyue threw Lin Yue out of Fenghe Hall?”
Inside Chaoren Hall, Li Qinghe was shaken to her core upon hearing the news from Ruyue.
“Doesn’t she usually dote on Lin Yue the most? Why would she send him here to me?” she demanded. “Are you sure you didn’t mishear, Ruyue?”
She had hidden her true nature for so many years; it was impossible for her dear sister to have discovered it. Or… had that person in Xihe Hall said something to her again? Otherwise, why on earth would Li Xuanyue actually cast Lin Yue aside?
“Your Highness, the news has already spread throughout the entire Phoenix Clan. How could I have misheard?” Ruyue paused for a moment before continuing, “And… it seems Attendant Lord Lin was cast out of Fenghe Hall because of you, Your Highness.” As she finished, Ruyue lowered her head.
Li Qinghe narrowed her eyes. It all made sense now. Lin Yue had previously told her that he would ask Li Xuanyue to plead with the Phoenix Emperor for her forgiveness and to end her solitary confinement. It was likely this matter that had earned her sister’s displeasure.
After all… who was Li Xuanyue? The Grand Princess of the Phoenix Clan, and perhaps even the future Crown Princess. Her status was unparalleled. She had humbled herself before Lin Yue time and time again, just to win a smile from him, yet he had always treated her with disdain. Now, he had bowed his head to Li Xuanyue for her sake. It was no wonder her sister was furious enough to throw him out of Fenghe Hall.
“Your Highness, what should we do now?” Li Qinghe’s prolonged silence was making Ruyue so anxious she felt like she was on fire. “Is Attendant Lord Lin really going to live here in Chaoren Hall?”
Everyone in the Phoenix Clan knew that Lin Yue had belonged to Li Xuanyue from the very beginning. Now, Li Xuanyue had given him to Li Qinghe. Wasn’t this openly telling everyone that Li Qinghe was nothing more than a dumping ground for Li Xuanyue’s trash? After this, who in the Phoenix Clan would still respectfully call her the Second Princess?
Li Qinghe’s dark eyes hardened. “What are you worried about?” In stark contrast to Ruyue’s frantic worry, Li Qinghe was perfectly calm and composed. “On my sister’s wedding night, didn’t the five Attendant Lords already fall victim to the Soul-Devouring Poison we administered?”
This had been her plan all along. So what if Li Xuanyue had avoided the bout of madness and failed to kill the five Attendant Lords as planned? Weren’t their minds still susceptible to being clouded by the Soul-Devouring Poison? As long as she pulled a few strings from the shadows, wouldn’t her dear sister still die at the hands of her own Attendant Lords?
“Your Highness means… to activate it with incense?” A flash of understanding crossed Ruyue’s eyes.
The Soul-Devouring Poison did not take effect immediately; it required a special kind of incense to be activated. This incense was exceedingly rare, and very few in the Phoenix Clan possessed it. But that didn’t mean Li Qinghe wasn’t one of them.
“Find an opportunity and see to it.”
With Li Qinghe’s instructions being so clear, Ruyue immediately nodded in understanding.
“Furthermore, when Attendant Lord Lin arrives, arrange for him to stay in Zhaohua Hall.”
A piece of damaged goods like him was not worthy of living with her. However, considering Lin Yue might still be useful to her in the future, Li Qinghe couldn’t afford to completely alienate him. Zhaohua Hall was separated from her Chaoren Hall by only a single wall. The arrangement was perfect. It would make him feel valued, yet she wouldn’t have to worry about him holding a grudge over the distance.
“Your Highness, the Second Princess’s people have just taken Attendant Lord Lin away.”
Back in the brightly lit Fenghe Hall, Yin Xin immediately reported the news she had just received to Li Xuanyue.
“She certainly is impatient.” Li Xuanyue sneered. “She couldn’t even wait for her confinement to end before sending someone to fetch him.”
“No matter. He was an eyesore here anyway.”
Although Li Qinghe’s actions displeased her, Li Xuanyue knew that Attendant Lord Lin was not the right match for her. It was better to send him away now than to keep him by her side, only for him to join forces with Li Qinghe against her as he had in her past life.
Yin Xin opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately gave up. “Your Highness… aren’t you angry at all?”
Yin Xin found herself understanding Li Xuanyue less and less. Li Qinghe’s actions were a blatant provocation. In the past, Li Xuanyue might have overlooked it for the sake of their sisterly bond. But Attendant Lord Lin was, after all, someone she had once genuinely invested her heart in. Could it be that she truly didn’t care at all? Had she completely let go?
Li Xuanyue only smiled meaningfully without answering Yin Xin’s question, leaving her servant even more puzzled.
“Xiao Han,” Li Xuanyue said, turning to her new guard, “take these portraits and this list I’ve prepared. I need you to find these people for me.”
Li Xuanyue hadn’t been wasting her time writing and drawing in the hall. In her previous life, she had been mentally controlled by Li Qinghe’s drugs for three whole years. The antidote for such a poison was not something an ordinary person could create. Her only hope of survival lay in finding the Divine Doctor Liu of the Baicao Clan.
And now, although she had not yet been controlled for a full three years, the poison had already been at work in her body for the past two. If she wanted to break free from its grasp, she had to find Divine Doctor Liu. If she continued to ignore it, even without ingesting any more of Li Qinghe’s mind-controlling drug, the toxins already in her system would slowly corrode her nerves, eventually turning her into a bloodthirsty and cruel lunatic.
