Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 294: Inquiry

The Yun matriarch had rushed to the great hall fearing that Yun Ruoyan would be bullied into an arrangement that she wouldn’t be happy with, but she hadn’t known her true feelings about Li Mo.

“Yan’er, are you sure? Think carefully! Don’t ruin your life on a moment’s impulse, on external pressure,” the Yun matriarch continued, still a little worried for her granddaughter. “Even if you don’t feel strongly about anyone at the moment, there’s no need to rush. You’ll only be of age next spring, and postponing any marriage arrangements until then isn’t out of the question.”

Yun Ruoyan glanced at Li Mo, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. She hadn’t realized how unfavorable her grandmother viewed the Slaughtering King. After all, the Slaughtering King was a rising star in the Li kingdom, and all sorts of noble families had been trying to forge connections with him in recent years. The only reason they had stopped was because of his frosty demeanor.

Unexpectedly, the Yun matriarch had unequivocally rejected him—even before knowing that she and Li Mo were master and disciple!

Yun Ruoyan’s filial piety toward her grandmother was being reciprocated in kind.

“Grandmother, I really am thankful for your concern, but I’m willing to marry Li Mo,” Yun Ruoyan reaffirmed sincerely.

The Yun matriarch appeared a little taken aback. She had heard that Li Mo was interested in Yun Ruoyan, and that her son was naturally invested in making this marriage a reality, but she had never learned Yun Ruoyan’s own view on the matter.

“Mother, please allow me to handle this matter,” Yun Lan then began.

“Ah…” The Yun matriarch patted Yun Ruoyan’s hands and sighed weakly. “It looks like I really am getting old and muddle-headed. In that case, I’ll leave your affairs in your own hands.” She turned toward her son. “I expect only the best for Ruoyan. A wife-born daughter of the noble house of Yun is fit for royalty.”

“Yes, Mother, I understand.”

“Good. I’m getting a little tired, so if you don’t mind, Your Highness, I’ll be retiring to my rooms for the moment.” She turned back to Li Mo. He had made clear that he was approaching the Yun family as a suitor rather than as the Slaughtering King, and the Yun matriarch’s slightly informal treatment was acknowledgment on her part.

“Naturally, Grandmother,” Li Mo replied. Although he didn’t bow, his tone was clearly respectful.

Yun Ruoyan glanced at her grandmother’s back as she was brought away on her palanquin. It looks as though Grandmother doesn’t know that I’m not really a member of the Yun family.

She had once suspected that the Yun matriarch was aware that she wasn’t Yun Lan’s child, because she had indeed been rather cold to her in her past life. Despite being thrown out of the family academy by Yun Lan, the Yun matriarch hadn’t stepped in to shield her.

Now, however, she had to rethink her assumptions. If the Yun matriarch didn’t know of her background, then there were only two reasons for her relative coldness: first, that she didn’t like Lin Yuemei, or second, that Yun Ruoyan herself was an unlikable child in her past life.

Did no one else from the Yun family know the secret truth behind her parentage? Otherwise, how could no one have brought it up?

“Qin Jianmei greets the Slaughtering King.” Madam Qin, who had been standing by the side, stepped forward, followed by Yun Ruoyu and Yun Moxiao.

“Please, dispense with the formalities. As I’ve mentioned, I’m here merely as a suitor for Ruoyan.”

After their greeting, Qin Jianmei, Yun Ruoyu, and Yun Moxiao all stood by a side of the chamber. Although Li Mo had mentioned that he wasn’t here as the Slaughtering King, no one really dared to neglect his identity completely. As a result, while he and Yun Ruoyan continued to stand in the great hall, no one would sit, not even Yun Lan.

Given the Yun matriarch’s approval, Li Mo felt as though the marriage proposal would easily go through, but he still had to carry out the formalities in full. He revealed a sandalwood box containing the fruit of cloud and sky. The last time he came to the Yun manor to propose marriage, Yun Ruoyan wasn’t present. Yun Lan used her as an excuse to avoid responding then, so the fruit was still in Li Mo’s hands.

“Official Yun, Yan’er and I have an affinity with each other, and we already have a prospective date for our marriage in mind. We hope for your approval.” He handed the box to Yun Lan.

Yun Lan looked at Li Mo, then at Yun Ruoyan, before finally taking the box. “Your Highness, it is truly an honor for our families to be brought closer by marriage. However, as for the matter of your being master and disciple…”

“Please don’t worry, Official Yun,” Li Mo swiftly replied. “I will petition the emperor to proclaim the details of the marriage, absolving the Yun family from any smear on its reputation.”

Only then did Yun Lan truly relax.

Subsequently, they began discussing the more mundane details of the marriage. Because Qin Jianmei was now responsible for the household affairs of the Yun family, she too remained for the discussion.

They stayed in the great hall for four whole hours before they had worked out all the details of the wedding.

“Your Highness, I didn’t expect you would be so meticulous as to discuss this with us yourself,” Madam Qin couldn’t help commenting.

There were a considerable number of details to go over in the planning stage, and most noble families would have sent a respected housekeeper to work through the details. Unexpectedly, Li Mo had done so himself.

“My goal is to give Yan’er a flawless wedding.” He turned to look at Yun Ruoyan, who smiled back at him.

Yun Lan felt that he should have been happy to see him and Yun Ruoyan so close—after all, Yun Ruoyan was a daughter of the Yun family at least in name, if not in blood. Their marriage would certainly elevate the status of the Yun family, but Yun Lan had a very complicated view of her relationship with Li Mo.

He couldn’t help thinking back to Lin Yuemei’s last request: to have Yun Lan take care of Yun Ruoyan, on account of their feelings for each other. Lin Yuemei had been at death’s door. To prevent her from dying with this regret, he had unwillingly accepted her request.

During the first few years of Yun Ruoyan’s childhood, he was able to feel some sense of affection for Yun Ruoyan, but this affection slowly dried up as Yun Ruoyan turned ugly and her cultivation retrogressed.

Yun Lan had almost given up on Yun Ruoyan entirely when, a few months later, Yun Ruoyan managed to regain her footing based on nothing but her own will. Not only that, she had even snagged a man like the Slaughtering King! This was truly Lin Yuemei’s daughter—no, Lin Yuemei’s and his daughter!

“Official Yun, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be taking our leave for the moment. I shall send for the matchmakers to arrive tomorrow,” Li Mo stated.

Li Mo held hands with Yun Ruoyan as they walked out of the great hall, followed by Yun Moxiao. Li Mo had originally intended on taking Yun Ruoyan straight back to the Slaughtering King’s manor, but Yun Ruoyan asked for them to head to her cottage instead. “Brother, come with us. I need to tell you both something.”

Back in her rooms, Yun Ruoyan had Peony and Xi Lan keep guard outside before she turned to Yun Moxiao. “Brother, I’m about to marry Li Mo, so I don’t want to keep anything hidden from him. However, this concerns both you and me, so I’d like to get your approval before I mention anything to Li Mo.”

Yun Moxiao naturally understood what Yun Ruoyan was referring to. “I can definitely trust His Highness. With his help, it might even be possible to discover Mother’s whereabouts more quickly.”

Having obtained Yun Moxiao’s approval, Yun Ruoyan told Li Mo all that they had discovered about their mother, Lin Yuemei.

“You claim that your mother might still be alive?”

“Right. It’s very likely that our mother isn’t dead, so we’ve been spending a lot of effort on trying to figure out her whereabouts,” Yun Moxiao replied.

“The reason I went to the Farsighted King’s lands was to search for a physician who had been taking care of Mother while she was gravely ill. We had hoped to figure out the truth behind her illness,” Yun Ruoyan then mentioned. “Furthermore, I wanted to discover the culprit behind her poisoning. What sort of grudge did he harbor toward Mother to dose her with such a frightful poison—one that would even affect me, still in her womb!”

Yun Ruoyan had already discussed with her brother all that she had learned about her poison from Li Mo. Li Mo had had his men keep tabs on the whereabouts of the tribes from which this poison had originated, but although there were traces of their existence scattered all around the capital, they seemed to have simply vanished from the continent.

“Were you able to find that physician?” Li Mo asked.

Yun Ruoyan nodded, then turned to Yun Moxiao. “Where’s Physician Ceng at the moment?”

“Yesterday, after you left, I intended to bring him to the Yun manor. However, once there, he turned incredibly scared, refused to enter, and even tried to escape! With no other choice, I could only bring him to the Lin manor.”

“This Physician Ceng must know something,” Li Mo muttered. “Let’s go pay him a visit first.”

The three of them then headed to the Lin manor, where Lin Zainan himself brought them to a small cottage where Physician Ceng was currently locked up. As they entered, Physician Ceng immediately rushed toward Yun Ruoyan. “Miss Yun, I came with you to visit a patient on His Highness’ orders. Why am I being locked up?!”

“Physician Ceng, the reason I brought you to the capital was to ask you a few questions, not to have you inspect a patient,” Yun Ruoyan explained.

“To ask me a few questions?” Physician Ceng’s face was clearly pale. He slowly slumped down on a seat. When he next spoke, his voice had gotten far quieter. “I don’t know any of you. What could I possibly know?”