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Chapter 20: Not for Nothing

Yun Ruoyan hadn’t expected that her grandmother, who had seemed to be favoring her, would suddenly tell her this. “Grandmother, even though Pei Ziao did jump into the lake, it wasn’t just in order to save me!”

“Oh?” Upon hearing these words, her grandmother revealed a gratifying smile. “In what sense?”

“Although Pei Ziao’s always been very solicitous toward me, I can tell that it’s not because he wants to.” Yun Ruoyan continued, “Although he tries to hide it, I can see flashes of discomfort and disgust at times when he looks toward me.”

Yun Ruoyan subconsciously touched the birthmark on her cheek, reminded of his naked revulsion upon looking at it when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.

How had she not realized his true feelings in the past?

At the time, she had been so self-abasing that when a man treated her nicely, she handed him everything without a second thought!

Her grandmother sighed, pulling his hand, her gaze both praising and pitying. “Ruoyan, you’re truly a smart girl, and I’m relieved that you understand this.” She patted Yun Ruoyan’s hands and continued, “The Peis want to establish better relations with us, and the only way Pei Yingxiong can do so is through his son. I’m sure Pei Ziao must be trying to get close to you on his father’s orders.”

Yun Ruoyan looked at her grandmother’s old, lined face, feeling as if nothing escaped her eyes. Even her grandmother hadn’t approved of her marrying Pei Ziao, but she had been so clouded by her infatuation that she didn’t realize.

“It’s just that, I’m sure Pei Yingxiong himself didn’t expect such an incident to occur. Pei Ziao’s the only son of the Pei family, and if he really dies, then that’s it for the two families.”

The Yun matriarch looked at Yun Ruoyan. “All the forces of the Li kingdom are mustering, and it’ll be better for the Yuns to have another ally than another enemy. Ruoyan, for the greater good, you have to save Pei Ziao.”

Her grandmother’s reasoning was perfectly reasonable, so much so that Yun Ruoyan had no words in rebuttal. She wanted to tell her grandmother that saving Pei Ziao would harm both the Yuns and the Lins, but no one would believe the words of a thirteen-year-old like her.

“Grandmother,” Yun Ruoyan lowered her head obediently, speaking softly, “I’ll listen to you.”

Yun Ruoyan brought Pei Yingxiong to the Lins immediately, and when Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen saw Yun Ruoyan, they passionately pulled her aside in order to talk to her. This small gesture touched Yun Ruoyan immensely, given her dearth of affection in the past.

“Miss Yun, be conscious of the time.” Pei Yingxiong urged her on impatiently.

Seeing a stranger follow Yun Ruoyan into their house and speak so impolitely, Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen looked at Yun Ruoyan curiously.

Yun Ruoyan had no time to explain herself, and she only asked directly where her grandfather was.

Lin Qingxue informed her that he had cooped himself up in his chambers these last few days. Yun Ruoyan understood that her grandfather must have been trying to make an antidote for her, and another bout of passion suffused her heart.

Yun Ruoyan headed straight to his chambers. Pei Yingxiong was about to follow her there, but Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen blocked him and bade him stay in the living room.

“Grandfather,” Yun Ruoyan called out as she walked into his outer chambers.

Refining pills was a mentally taxing task, and any sort of disruption could have severe consequences. After calling out softly, Yun Ruoyan waited quietly where she was.

“Ruoyan, you’re here!” Not too long after, Lin Zainan’s voice rang out from within his rooms. “Come on in.”

Only then did Yun Ruoyan walk into his pill-refining chambers.

Lin Zainan sat cross-legged in front of a furnace, about half as tall as a man. A white flame burned grandly from within, fueled by Lin Zainan’s spiritual qi which he transferred to the fire through his hands.

On the Chenyuan continent, there were four professions related to cultivation: pillmasters, forgemasters, blademasters, and beastmasters. Of these, pillmasters were fewest in number and hence greatest in demand, and there couldn’t have been more than three pillmasters of Lin Zainan’s caliber in the entire Li kingdom.

This was why, despite not having a large family, the Lins weren’t afraid of outsiders and didn’t place the Peis in high regard. If not for Yun Ruoyan’s presence, Pei Yingxiong likely wouldn’t have been able to get past even the front doors of the Lin estate.

Lin Zainan clasped both hands together as he motioned at the furnace, and a mud-yellow pill flew from the furnace into his outstretched palms. He turned to Yun Ruoyan, a kindly smile on his face.

“Ruoyan, is something the matter?”

Under usual circumstances, Yun Ruoyan would never have bothered him while he was refining pills, so Lin Zainan immediately guessed that she had some pressing matter to take care of.

“Grandfather, I do have a request.” Yun Ruoyan quickly recounted the entire chain of events that had brought her here. “I know the core foundation pill has been passed down the Lins for generations, but...” Despite having no other recourse, Yun Ruoyan was unwilling to just take the pill.

Lin Zainan was silent for a moment before he spoke up once more. “Although pills are precious, they’re not as valuable as talent.”

Lin Zainan stretched out his hand at Yun Ruoyan, and she quickly helped him up. “There aren’t that many people left in the Lin family. Of your generation, there’s only Qingxue, Qingchen, and you, and the three of you are what’s most important to me.”

“This is the antidote.” Lin Zainan handed the pill that he had just refined to Yun Ruoyan. “Although it won’t be able to get rid of the poison in your body in one go, it can help prevent the poison from spreading much further. Consume it now, and then we’ll go get the core foundation pill.”

Yun Ruoyan took the pill, her eyes glimmering with tears, a sudden memory of the past resurfacing. In it, she had knelt and begged her grandfather for the pill to save Pei Ziao, and he had looked at her in disappointment and pain before acquiescing.

“Grandfather, I’ll be sure to protect the Lin family with my sisters.” Yun Ruoyan swallowed the pill, feeling a refreshing gust emanating from her dantian, rejuvenating her entire body.

Lin Zainan brought her to a hidden room where he stored his most valuable pills and handed a sandalwood box to Yun Ruoyan.

She opened the box and saw a purplish-red pill, which gave off a concentrated herbal fragrance. That had to be the core foundation pill!

“To make the core foundation pill requires a sixth-rank pillmaster, and I’ve never been able to improve past the fifth rank. In my lifetime, I doubt I’ll ever be able to produce one.” Lin Zainan looked at the pill, his expression complicated. “This pill was made by my own grandfather, and is the last left in our family.”

Yun Ruoyan slammed the sandalwood box shut, her gaze determined. “We can’t just give this to the Peis for free!”

Hearing these words, Lin Zainan arched her eyebrows. “Do you have any ideas, Ruoyan?”

Yun Ruoyan nodded. “I’ve heard that the Peis have a prized possession too, a high-grade pill furnace. How about letting Pei Yingxiong trade that furnace for this pill?”

Lin Zainan looked at Yun Ruoyan with shock. After all, the fact that the Peis had a high-grade pill furnace wasn’t a fact known to one and all.

A few centuries ago, the Peis had had a particularly talented pillmaster, but ever since then, there had never been another descendant with talent for pillmaking.

And the furnace that that master had left behind had remained ornamental and decorative since then, all but forgotten by the public.

In her past life, Pei Yingxiong had presented the furnace as a gift to another kingdom’s pillmaker, and Yun Ruoyan was there for the occasion.

Lin Zainan didn’t know that Yun Ruoyan had been given a second chance at life, of course. He simply thought that his granddaughter had simply been hiding her skills and biding her time. She had likely heard about this from an off-handed remark, but had kept it in the back of her mind since then.

The Yuns were a large family, and its inner workings were particularly complex. Without her mother to shield her, and with her growth stunted by poison, she likely wouldn’t have lived to the present day if she weren’t clever.

He was really liking this granddaughter of his more and more by the day!

“Alright, we’ll do as you say, Ruoyan.” Lin Zainan smiled.