Poison Genius Consort

istance from the pair, choosing to ride on the horse’s butt instead.

It felt so disconsolate!

In the past, it used to hide in its owner’s sleeve for a nap every time it ate its fill.
But now Long Feiye’s hands were either pulling its owner into his arms, or resting against its owner’s waist.
Sometimes he’d hold on to her arms as well, making it impossible for Lil Thing to nap there in peace.
Lil Thing poked its paws together in resentment, unaware that it was the own cause of its misfortunes.
Still, it was quite ambitious.
It silently bared its two front teeth. Hateful Duke of Qin, you better hope you’re not begging me for mercy one day!

“Long Feiye, do you think my father could be both a descendent of the Poison Sect and the West Qin imperial family?” Han Yunxi had been thinking over the possibility for the whole journey.

She’d asked him the same question back at the poison grounds, but Long Feiye had simply said it wasn’t likely to dismiss her concerns.
Actually, she’d never planned to hide her birth origins from him at all.
Naturally, she suspected Mu Xin of connections to the West Qin imperial clan, but that didn’t seem very likely.
Instead, her father looked like the more probably candidate.

A complicated look flitted past Long Feiye’s eyes before he said mildly, “The West Qin imperial clan is already extinct.
Its last heir was a baby boy who was shot to death with arrows by the Nether Clan2.
The history books didn’t record this in detail, but many members of the Seven Noble Families witnessed the assassination with their own eyes.

The meaning of his words was obvious: West Qin’s imperial clan had no orphan.

But Han Yunxi still had her doubts.
“That white-robed man…”

“He was aiming for the poison beast,” Long Feiye’s tone was decisive.

But Han Yunxi didn’t believe it.
“Perhaps he wasn’t…”

If the white-robed man hadn’t saved her from Jun Yixie’s clutches, she might have thought he was there for the poison beast as well and sought her help to steal it.
But the man had risked his life to save her, so she couldn’t help but suspect.
She’d asked the white-robed man, but he only said he’d tell her the next time they met.
After some hesitation, Han Yunxi revealed the details of how the white-robed man had saved her, though she avoided telling Long Feiye how Jun Yixie had taken advantage of her.
What was past was passed, and she wasn’t used to telling others about her sufferings, especially a man.

“Jun Yixie…” Long Feiye muttered to himself.
If Han Yunxi hadn’t mentioned him, he would have neglected him! He assumed that Jun Yixie would think the white-robed man was after the poison beast as well.
That way, he wouldn’t suspect Han Yunxi’s identity too much.
But as things stood, now there was one more person who might connect the dots.

“Mu Xin’s identity can’t be wrong.
The Shadow Clan wouldn’t mistake their master,” Han Yunxi said with determination.

Whether Mu Xin was Lady Tianxin and how she got involved with the Poison Sect were all questions for Mute Granny after she was cured.
Still, Han Yunxi was convinced by the Shadow Clan’s protection.
When Long Feiye heard Han Yunxi say the exact same things that Tang Li had spoken, he couldn’t help but laugh coldly at himself.

Instead of explaining, he asked, “If he’s sure about your identity, why didn’t he tell you the truth?” Long Feiye himself had been pondering over this question, but he only gave the problem to Han Yunxi for consideration.
He didn’t put much stock in the answer himself.
In his heart, there was only one answer.
Han Yunxi wasn’t the descendent of the West Qin imperial clan, not now nor ever.
“He said he’d tell me the next time we met,” Han Yunxi murmured to herself.

Long Feiye’s eyes flickered with a complicated look again, but he didn’t continue the topic.
A few days afterwards, they reached Tianning’s capital city.
As soon as they arrived at the Duke of Qin’s estate, Chu Xifeng hurried over, covered in blood and wounds.

Han Yunxi was shocked.
“You…where’s Mute Granny?”

Chu Xifeng furrowed his eyebrows so fiercely that wrinkles appeared between them.
He was covered in sweat and extremely anxious.
“Your Highness, esteemed wangfei, this subordinate ran into a group of assassins on the road.
We fought at close quarters for an entire day and night, but we didn’t have enough people on our side.
Your subordinate really couldn’t…”

“Where’s Mute Granny?” Han Yunxi was ill at ease.

Chu Xifeng hung his head, his voice heavy.
“Mute Granny was stubborn and would rather jump off a cliff than submit.
Your subordinate’s already sent people down to search, but…”

Han Yunxi’s face immediately paled.
She never thought that this would happen.
She had already told Long Feiye the prescription for Mute Granny’s antidote on the way back so he could start searching for its ingredients!

“Which cliff was it?!” she cried.

“The one in the west, behind the Dragon King3 temple,” Chu Xifeng hastened to reply.

Without another word, Han Yunxi prepared to dash over.
Mute Granny was the key to unlocking the truth.
Moreover, she was only an innocent old woman who’d been maltreated enough.
And now…

Long Feiye pulled back Han Yunxi.
“Where are you going?”

“To find her!” Han Yunxi was frantic.
If she knew this was going to happen earlier, she would have never let Mute Granny go.

Long Feiye ignored her and held on tightly.
“Chu Xifeng, add more men to the search.
If she’s dead, I want to see a corpse.”

“Yes!” Chu Xifeng obeyed and left.

Only then did Han Yunxi calm down.
She knew that it’d be useless for her to go herself, so she sat down as her eyes turned cold.
“Was it the Mu Clan?”

Who else would want to silence Mute Granny besides the Mu Clan?

“Let them search before you jump to conclusions,” Long Feiye said calmly.

Han Yunxi remained sitting for a while before she rose to her feet.
“Where’s Mu Linger? I want to see her.”

Emperor Chongrui (崇瑞皇帝) – Chong means “high, lofty, sublime; esteem, worship,” Rui means “auspicious, lucky.”  Nether Clan (幽族) – one of the Seven Noble Families of the Great Qin Empire. You is a word that could mean multiple things: “deep and remote, secluded, dim, secret, hidden, quiet, serene, imprison, of the nether world,” so I went with the last example.
Most of the Seven Noble Families will be named with English equivalent names to maintain a sense of consistency throughout the story.  Dragon King (龙王) – in Chinese mythology, dragon kings were deities that ruled over rain.