Chapter 466: Han Yunxi’s serious side
What would Gu Qi Sha’s newly laid pieces reveal? Black and white together?
No, those fragments still had white insides—the original color of the porcelain bottle. In other words, they hadn’t been affected at all!
The two sets of pieces were placed side by side on the table, the contrast of black and white ironclad proof that was undeniable. In other words, it showed that only a full bottle of antidote would’ve been able to produce the reaction that turned the insides of the porcelain black. An eight-parts full bottle would’ve never yielded such results.
The bottle that Han Yunxi had brought with her here had completely black insides, which meant that Long Feiye must have had a full bottle of antidote when he took the bottle from Gu Qi Sha!
Both Han Yunxi and Long Feiye exchanged apprehensive glances, each wearing different expressions. Han Yunxi looked serious, while Long Feiye….remained as unmoved and expressionless as ever! Gu Qi Sha admired the sight of the pair as he recalled his ingenious counter. Naturally, he wasn’t letting Long Feiye off.
“Lass, there’s only five parts of antidote total right now, which was why this excellency performed the demonstration with half of the total quantity to show you the difference between a full bottle and a bottle eight parts full. Only a full bottle could’ve produced this reaction in the porcelain, not one less than that. Are you satisfied with the evidence?” Gu Qi Sha asked patiently.
Han Yunxi stared at the fragments in silence. Gu Qi Sha was very smart. He hadn’t rushed to denounce Long Feiye, but simply chuckled coldly at Han Yunxi. “Qin Wangfei, you could be considered an insider in the field. For the sake of one portion of antidote, you ran all this way to get even with this excellency. How savage of you!”
Han Yunxi immediately shot him a glare, looking a little angry.
“What, you still want to argue after this undeniable proof? It’s a good thing I had the foresight to leave a counter. Otherwise, I don’t know how you’d keep smearing my name! Tsk tsk, this is a dangerous world!” Gu Qi Sha sighed with feeling.
When Long Feiye saw Han Yunxi looking so solemn, a trace of anxiety finally cracked through his face. He was very clear that he should provide an explanation to Gu Qi Sha’s provocative statements, but what was he supposed to say? Pill Fiend’s trap had been too specialized for him to catch it. Even though he and the head of the Wang Clan had studied much about the antidote to Broomcorn Millet Poison, he still couldn’t compare to a medical genius like Gu Qi Sha. He hadn’t underestimated Gu Qi Sha’s skills at all, but overlooked his motives. It felt like the man’s stealing and countering antics were all planned to draw Han Yunxi to his side.
“Aiya, esteemed wangfei, you should say something! Are you the one that owes me, or am I the one that owes you? What kind of recompense are you looking for now?” Gu Qi Sha’s exaggerated, pompous air was enough to make someone beat him up.
Long Feiye couldn’t stand someone picking on Han Yunxi like that, so he prepared to speak up when Han Yunxi suddenly raged, “Are you done yet, Gu Qi Sha? Some people have face but don’t want to lose it. You though, you were simply born too shameless to have any face at all!”
Gu Qi Sha was startled. The lass was still cursing him with all the evidence before her eyes. Why isn’t she questioning Long Feiye instead? Long Feiye was caught off guard as well. He was supposed to be nervous, but her reaction elicited a faint smile from him instead. Gu Qi Sha was about to start another well-grounded argument when an indignant Han Yunxi scattered the remnants of the miscellaneous powder in his face.
“Gu Qi Sha, this is what we call undeniable proof! What do I owe ‘your excellency?’ You make it sound like you don’t owe us anything in turn! We’ll talk about whether the bottle was full later, but explain this fake powder to me first!”
The powder ended up landing all over the face mask and Gu Qi Sha’s long eyelashes. He should be angry at this, but he couldn’t bring himself to lose his temper at this lass’s rage. After painstakingly setting up this chessboard and waiting for half a year, he didn’t mind yielding a bit in her favor. His hand lightly dusted powder off his eyelashes, the skinny fingers bony and blackish in hue. It was a horrific sight, but his movements were still undeniably elegant.
Next, he slowly brushed the excess powder off his mask and said, “This excellency dares to be domineering. That’s right, this excellency cheated you! So what?” His cocky tone made Han Yunxi uncomfortable just from listening to him.
She smiled coldly and said, “You admit it so easily that those who didn’t know better might even think you’re doing this out of your own free will.”
Just previously, the two of them had been engaged in a heated debate of calculations. She’d expended much effort to prove that he’d slipped in fake powder and that she and Long Feiye weren’t willing to let him off. Gu Qi Sha almost choked on his spit. Lass, can you be any more poisonous with that tongue?
“Just what do you want?” Gu Qi Sha asked.
“Ten times the compensation for one incidence of cheating!” Han Yunxi had thought this up ages ago.
Gu Qi Sha was extremely generous. “Heheh, I can even afford 100 times the compensation for one incidence of cheating. But we have to be clear on exactly how much was faked! This excellency won’t agree to anything else!”
Once again, the topic was back on the issue of ‘quantities.’ The amount of Serpent Fruit proved that they could only make a six portion antidote, but Long Feiye had only received four portions in his bottle while the rest was all just fake powder. Gu Qi Sha had handed over one portion of antidote from his side, which meant there was still one portion missing. If Gu Qi Sha was found to be hiding the final portion for himself, then he should compensate Han Yunxi with two portions. If he went with Han Yunxi’s demands of ‘ten for one,’ then the total he owed her would be 20 portions, or two full bottles of antidote.
But if the final portion had actually been hidden away by Long Feiye, then Gu Qi Sha would only need to hand over one portion to Han Yunxi. With her ‘ten for one’ formula, he would then owe her 10 portions of antidote, enough to fill one bottle. The antidote to Broomcorn Millet Poison was an uncommon good. It would be almost impossible to find all three ingredients again to make another portion, so this was no small cost.
Gu Qi Sha purposely looked at Long Feiye with a smile. “Your Highness Duke of Qin, isn’t that sound logic?”
Han Yunxi glanced at Long Feiye as well, her face wearing the same serious expression she used when saving her patients. Perhaps it even looked more solemn than that. This wasn’t the first time that Long Feiye found himself unable to see through her eyes, but it was definitely the most absolute. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.
What does it mean, that she’s looking at me like that? What is she thinking of now?
Long Feiye appeared calm, but his fingers digging into the table had long betrayed his mood. This was the first time he’d felt uneasy beneath this woman’s gaze! Actually, he should be countering Gu Qi Sha’s words now, but he had nothing to offer. Gu Qi Sha was right—here was their irrefutable evidence. He could admit that he took away a full bottle of antidote, but how was he to explain why the bottle came back eight parts full? The woman in front of him now was no idiot. Moreover, now that Mu Linger had provoked her, she’d definitely think about Mute Granny too!
After all, the antidote was only used to treat Broomcorn Millet Poison!
As Long Feiye remained silent, Han Yunxi watched him quietly with a severe expression. A sense of tension began to rise between the pair.
“Your Highness Duke of Qin, you should say something, yah,” Gu Qi Sha had politely used the formal version of ‘you,’ seemingly polite while applying more pressure. “Your Highness Duke of Qin, you were always so anxious to get the antidote. Originally, you gave this excellency a one-year deadline, but then reduced it to six months. Perhaps you were in a rush to cure someone from Broomcorn Millet Poison? Don’t you come biting me again after saving your person. This excellency had to help you find the ingredients, then make the antidote for you. Even if I didn’t win my share of merits, I did do hard work, wouldn’t you say?”
Han Yunxi’s brows gradually furrowed at the words. Faced with her complicated expression, Long Feiye’s brows tightened as well. His face was nothing but cold and blank, but Heaven knows how many waves were surging in his heart!
“Aiya, Your Highness Duke of Qin, a single word will do! This excellency really did give you a full bottle, so hurry and say something lest esteemed wangfei misunderstands. I can’t afford the loss in that case!” Gu Qi Sha feigned tears as his taunting intensified.
Meanwhile, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi stared at each other in silence. Gu Qi Sha loved the current mood and broke into cold laughter. “You husband and wife pair should stop putting on plays in front of me. You two should know full well how much real antidote you have in your hands! In any case, this excellency only took away one portion for myself, so I can accept the ten times compensation! But I refuse to accept anything else!”
Unexpectedly, his words suddenly caused Han Yunxi’s brows to smooth out before she sent Long Feiye a crafty smile.
She remembered!
While staring at Long Feiye, she’d been trying to find a weak point in Gu Qi Sha’s solid-as-a-mountain evidence! She had never suspected Long Feiye at all, because why would he lie to her about something like this? She firmly believed that Gu Qi Sha had given him an eight parts full bottle, so she had persisted in looking for ways to counter the man. Any hole or crack in his argument would do the trick.
Now she finally thought of something!
“Gu Qi Sha, neither this wangfei nor His Highness have accepted your crappy claims as proof! What are you so impatient for?” Han Yunxi said coldly.
Long Feiye was caught off guard. What does she by that?
Gu Qi Sha sucked in a cold breath. Others won’t cry until they see their coffins, but this lass still doesn’t care even with the coffin right there! “If this isn’t proof, then what is it? Han Yunxi, even the most shameless types don’t act like you, right?” Gu Qi Sha’s voice took on a chilly tone.
“Heaven knows whether you gave His Highness a bottle with black insides to start? If you have the guts to cheat us, that makes you untrustworthy to start! What else couldn’t you do?” Han Yunxi countered as she arched a brow.
Long Feiye narrowly broke into soundless laughter at the words, while Gu Qi Sha narrowly spat out blood. “Han Yunxi, you!” he sputtered. “Youyouyou!”
“Me? What about me? How can you prove that the first bottle you used was white to begin with? That the black insides weren’t there from the start?” Han Yunxi pressed.
Gu Qi Sha was truly furious. This woman…just what is her brain made of? Why is she so smart? She can even think of a weak point like this?! He had considered all aspects of this problem but never thought of this point himself.
Why didn’t this stinkin’ girl take up a career as a plaintiff instead?!
But Gu Qi Sha quickly calmed down and said confidently, “Time! Han Yunxi, time can prove it all!”
“There’s a time process in the breakdown of the porcelain by the medicinal ingredients. If you don’t believe me, we can do another test with a bottle. There will definitely be differences in a bottle that started out black, versus a bottle that was blackened over time!” Gu Qi Sha explained meticulously.
But Han Yunxi simply laughed in disdain. “Gu Qi Sha, forget it! You’re the one providing all the bottles. Who knows whether you’ve tampered with them already?”
Gu Qi Sha really was going to spit up blood. I’ve been treated unjustly, ah!
Things have already gotten this far, so doesn’t Han Yunxi suspect Long Feiye at all? Does she insist on doubting me instead?
“Stinkin’ lass, this old fellow can’t say anything to those claims! But in any case, this old fellow refuses to recognize it! I just won’t!” Gu Qi Sha huffed.
“That’s not up to you to decide!” Han Yunxi grew more aggressive.