Ye Yuxuan was no longer suspicious of her words. He turned toward Su Yufeng, and his eyes seemed as if they might shoot flames at her. "Malicious woman, you dared to harm my beloved daughter?"
Before, she had been Ye Yuxuan's most worthless daughter. But now that her Wood Fire Spiritual Root had awakened, she had abruptly transformed into his "beloved daughter." Because the Wood Fire Spiritual Root's elements were complementary, Ye Ruyi was now the most suitable candidate to practice elixir creation techniques. Although Ye Shanshan was known as a gifted Spiritual Elixir Alchemist, she possessed the inferior Fire Spiritual Root. Compared with the Wood Fire Spiritual Root, there was a huge difference.
Ye Yuxuan himself had proclaimed that the Ye Clan had the best lineage of elixir alchemists in the Lei Kingdom. However, he had allowed such a gem to gather dust in his residence. Not only that, he had almost caused her death. If this news got out, he would certainly be a laughing stock.
"Old Master, I have been wrongly accused!" Su Yufeng said, gaping at Ye Yuxuan pitifully.
After being his wife for so many years, Su Yufeng understood Ye Yuxuan's personality well. He was not furious because of his profound feelings for the Fifth Concubine and Ye Ruyi, but because she had failed to fulfill her promise to bring Ye Jiuge to her knees. He felt that he had been lied to. Su Yufeng felt slightly anxious. She did not understand how her perfect plan had culminated in this situation.
"Wicked woman, just you wait. I will return later and get even with you." Ye Yuxuan flung up his sleeves in anger then headed off to the Fifth Concubine's residence with hurried steps.
He was in a rush to find out if his beloved daughter truly possessed the Wood Fire Spiritual Root. Su Yufeng and Ye Shanshan did not dare follow him. They could only watch the Fifth Concubine leave, grasping after Ye Jiuge with vengeful eyes.
"Mother, what should we do now?" As Ye Shanshan helped Su Yufeng up, she looked downtrodden. The red palm print on her face had not yet faded.
"It's not a big deal. Your father's anger is just temporary. Once it subsides, everything will be fine." Su Yufeng's expression hardened.
This time, her plan had not gone as expected: She had underestimated the Fifth Concubine's guts. She would not make the same mistake again. The Fifth Concubine, Ye Jiuge, and Ye Ruyi—she would not spare any of these b*tches.
After the Fifth Concubine left the Shuimo Garden with Ye Jiuge supporting her, Ye Jiuge asked softly, "Fifth Concubine, are you all right?"
The Fifth Concubine had only needed to pretend to be as pitiful as possible in front of Ye Yuxuan. Ye Jiuge had never expected the Fifth Concubine to risk her life. Luckily, Su Yufeng had not hit her with all her might. Otherwise, the Fifth Concubine would have been struck dead on the spot.
"It's only a small matter. I am glad to receive this blow." The Fifth Concubine laughed happily. She felt that one mouthful of blood was worth it to see Su Yufeng admonished.
"After this, I will prescribe you a few medicines. For the next few days, you should rest in your bed so that you can avoid illness in the future." In recent years, the Fifth Concubine's health had deteriorated. Since she was afflicted by ailments at such a young age and had endured a blow today, Ye Jiuge worried that she would die young.
The Fifth Concubine shook her head and remained silent. She hastened her steps and followed Ye Yuxuan into her dilapidated residence.
Ye Ruyi was still laying semi-conscious on her bed. Qing Mama and Zhen Zhu were keeping watch beside her. When they saw Ye Yuxuan enter, they quickly curtseyed and said, "Greetings to you, Old Master!"
Ye Yuxuan waved them away impatiently. Afterwards, he took out a Spirit Appraisal Stone and personally a.s.sessed Ye Ruyi's spiritual root. When a green and red glow appeared, he immediately clapped his hand on his thigh and said, "Great, great, great!"
Zi Shang grinned. "Tsk, tsk. If your despicable father is this excited merely discovering a Wood Fire Spiritual Root, what about when he finds out that yours is a rare Lightning Fire Spiritual Root that only appears once every ten thousand years? Won't he be overjoyed?"
Leaving the Wanzhang Depths with Little Jiuge had been an excellent decision. Every single day, Zi Shang was able to watch interesting dramas unfold!
"He will not have the chance to find out." A hint of contempt flashed across Ye Jiuge's twinkling eyes. By the time he became aware of its existence, she would already be standing on a pedestal he could never reach.
"Old Master, Fourth Miss has been unconscious ever since Madame forced poison down her throat last night. Can you please check on her?" As the Fifth Concubine spoke, her voice was choked with emotion.
To ensure that their deception would appear completely genuine, Ye Jiuge had fed Ye Ruyi some False Dream that morning.
"It is not a serious matter. Our fourth daughter is merely experiencing the effects of Mind-calming Powder. She will be fine after consuming some medicine that will help her regain her consciousness," Ye Yuxuan said flatly. With these words, he absolved Su Yufeng of her crime of forcing Ye Ruyi to ingest poison. Regardless of how furious he was with Su Yufeng, he still needed to protect her reputation.
The Fifth Concubine dug her fingernails deeply into her own skin. She was afraid that her expression would expose her hatred, so she did not dare raise her head.
Since Ye Jiuge was already well-aware that Ye Yuxuan would not displace Su Yufeng so easily, she was not angry at all. When she saw that Ye Yuxuan had brought out the antidote to False Dream, she stalled him, saying, "Father, let me give Fourth Sister the antidote!"
"Okay!" Ye Yuxuan pa.s.sed the antidote to Ye Jiuge.
Ye Jiuge propped up Ye Ruyi and wedged the tiny red elixir in between her thin pale lips. After Ye Ruyi consumed it, her eyebrows trembled slightly. Then, slowly, her eyes opened.
"Fourth Sister, how are you feeling right now?" Ye Jiuge placed a pillow behind her back so that she could rest on the headboard.
"Eldest Sister, why are you here?" Ye Ruyi was perplexed.
"I heard that you were sick, so I came over to visit you." Ye Jiuge patted Ye Ruyi's small hand. While she did not expect these words to bring back last night's nightmare of being forced to swallow poison, Ye Ruyi shuddered. Her eyes searched everywhere for her mother. When she found her, she was stunned by her mother's awful appearance. Shocked, she asked, "Mother, why is your chest covered in blood?"
"I am fine." The Fifth Concubine quickly covered up the blood on her chest. Then said, stuttering, "This, this is because I…"
"Wu, wu. I am certain that this happened because Madame wanted to harm you. She, she…" Ye Ruyi wheezed as she cried. Then, she rolled her eyes and fainted again.
"Fourth Miss, what is happening to you?" The Fifth Concubine was so startled that she felt like her soul was detaching from her body.
"Do not worry, Fifth Concubine, Father is here." Ye Jiuge looked at Ye Yuxuan.
Regardless of who had administered the treatment, there was no difference! As a third stage high-level Elixir Alchemist, Ye Yuxuan was skilled at treating illnesses. With concentration, he reached out and checked his fourth daughter's pulse. His expression immediately became most unpleasant.
He had never thought that his daughter's body's condition would be so feeble.
To produce elixirs, one was required, not only to possess a special spiritual root endowed with favorable attribute, but to be in good health. Otherwise, even the most optimal attribute was futile.
"Old Master, what is wrong with Fourth Miss?" asked the Fifth Concubine anxiously.
"How did the condition of my fourth daughter's body become so weak? How do you usually care for her?" Ye Yuxuan retracted his hand and glared at the Fifth Concubine fiercely. His daughter was perfectly fine, but because of her parenting, she had ended up in this state. She really was a worthless woman.
"Old Master, it is my fault for being so useless. For the past few years, I have not been able to feed Fourth Miss well." Fresh tears flowed again from the Fifth Concubine's swollen red eyes.
"What do you mean by 'not being able to feed her well'?" Despite his anger, Ye Yuxuan laughed. Did she have the impression that his Ye Residence was a beggar's nest?
"Father, before replying, you should take a look at the room where the Fifth Concubine and Fourth Sister were living!" Ye Jiuge's eyelids were slightly lowered, and her long eyelashes concealed her sneer.